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NAPOLEONIC PRISONERS OF WAR IN LLANFYLLIN MURRAY Ll. CHAPMAN. B.Sc.. C.Eng., M.I.C.E., M.I.W.E.S. The presence of French prisoners taken during the Napoleonic Wars, held on parole in the towns of Llanfyllin, Montgomery, Newtown and Welshpool has been previously recorded in the transactions of the Powysland Club. However, records of the numbers and personal details of the prisoners have not been recorded and by way of illustrating the degree of detail of the records now in the Public Record Office, those for the town of Llanfyllin are reproduced here. The attached schedule, Public Record Office ref Adm 105/588, unfortunately does not record where the 148 prisoners on parole in Llanfyllin were billeted. During the period the prisoners were in Llanfyllin, i.e. 22nd May 1812 to 19th May 1814, there were approximately 150 households in the old town.2 Previous accounts have recorded the prisoners as being billeted at Bachie Place, Council House and Rhiwlas. but the large number on parole would indicate that the majority of households were probably used. Of the prisoners on parole, only four went on the run (Nos 13, 18, 88 and 89 on the attached schedule) and it is not known if they were ever recaptured; the silence of the record perhaps indicates that they successfully returned to the Continent. In its own way the record of where the prisoners were captured traces the various campaigns; the Duke of Wellington's progresss from the town of Badajos which guarded the strategic 'Southern Corridor' to Salamanca and then Madrid is well illustrated. The taking of Badajos, a Spanish town near the border with Portugal was vital to Wellington's campaign in Spain. In fact, when Badajos was taken on 6th April 1812 it had been subjected to a siege since 16th March 1812.3 Napoleon's governor General Phillipon had 5,000 defenders including 600 sick, comprising 5 French battalions and 2 regiments of Hesse Darmstadt, whilst Wellington brought 32,000 men to Badajos. During the siege and the preparatory phases to the assault on the town the allied troops lost 1.410 of their number and a further 3.350 of their number were lost during at least 40 assaults on the town before it was taken. The French lost 1,350 killed and wounded. It was because of the severe losses inflicted on the Allies that the troops vented their fury on the hapless Spanish population once the town was taken and for three days the town was put to sack. Wellington who was renowned for his discipline of the troops was unable to gain control of them until 1 1th April. Contemporary accounts of the taking of Badajos are given in the copies of despatches from Wellington before Badajos on 3rd, 7th and 8th of April and these were published in the Salopian Journal. lMont. Coll. Vol. XVIII pages 225-228; Mont. Coll. Vol. XXXVII page 131; Mont. Coll. Vol. XLVI pages 95-96; Mont. ColT' Vol. L pages 73-76. 2The number of 150 households in the town of Llanfyllin has been derived from the Courts Leet for the town during the period: see Powis Castle Manorial Records. Llanfyllin, Box 4, National Library of Wales. 3 Badajos had been subjected to two previous sieges during the early years of the war; see Dictionary of the Napoleonic Wars David G. Chandler for further details. 4Salopian Journal Vol. 19 No. 953. Wednesday April 29th 1812.