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PREFACE
PREFACE
The writer of this book has been interested for many years in the subject of the sufferings of the American prisoners of the Revolution. Finding the information she sought widely scattered, she has, for her own use, and for that of all students of the subject, gathered all the facts she could obtain within the covers of this volume. There is little that is original in the compilation. The reader will find that extensive use has been made of such narratives as that Captain Dring has left us. The
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CHAPTER I. — INTRODUCTORY
CHAPTER I. — INTRODUCTORY
It is with no desire to excite animosity against a people whose blood is in our veins that we publish this volume of facts about some of the Americans, seamen and soldiers, who were so unfortunate as to fall into the hands of the enemy during the period of the Revolution. We have concealed nothing of the truth, but we have set nothing down in malice, or with undue recrimination. It is for the sake of the martyrs of the prisons themselves that this work has been executed. It is because we, as a p
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CHAPTER II. — THE RIFLEMEN OF THE REVOLUTION
CHAPTER II. — THE RIFLEMEN OF THE REVOLUTION
We will first endeavor to give the reader some idea of the men who were imprisoned in New York in the fall and winter of 1776, It was in the summer of that year that Congress ordered a regiment of riflemen to be raised in Maryland and Virginia. These, with the so-called “Flying Camp” of Pennsylvania, made the bulk of the soldiers taken prisoners at Fort Washington on the fatal 16th of November. Washington had already proved to his own satisfaction the value of such soldiers; not only by his expe
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CHAPTER III. — NAMES OF SOME OF THE PRISONERS OF 1776
CHAPTER III. — NAMES OF SOME OF THE PRISONERS OF 1776
As we have seen, the officers fared well in comparison with the wretched privates. Paroled and allowed the freedom of the city, they had far better opportunities to obtain the necessities of life. “Our poor soldiers fared most wretchedly different,” says Major Bedinger. Before we begin, however, to speak of the treatment they received, we must make some attempt to tell the reader who they were. We wish it were possible to give the name of every private who died, or rather who was murdered, in th
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CHAPTER IV. — THE PRISONS OF NEW YORK—JONATHAN GILLETT
CHAPTER IV. — THE PRISONS OF NEW YORK—JONATHAN GILLETT
We will now endeavor to describe the principal places of confinement used by the British in New York during the early years of the war. Lossing, in his Field Book of the Revolution, thus speaks of these dens of misery: “At the fight around Fort Washington,” he says, “only one hundred Americans were killed, while the British loss was one thousand, chiefly Hessians, But the British took a most cruel revenge. Out of over 2600 prisoners taken on that day, in two months & four days 1900 were
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CHAPTER V. — WILLIAM CUNNINGHAM, THE PROVOST MARSHAL
CHAPTER V. — WILLIAM CUNNINGHAM, THE PROVOST MARSHAL
We will condense all that we have to say of this man, whose cruelty and wickedness are almost inconceivable, into one chapter, and have done with the dreadful subject. As far as we have been able to learn, the facts about his life are the following. William Cunningham was an Irishman, born in Dublin Barracks in 1738. His father was a trumpeter in the Blue Dragoons. When he was sixteen he became an assistant to the riding-master of the troop. In 1761 he was made a sergeant of dragoons, but peace
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CHAPTER VI. — THE CASE OF JABEZ FITCH
CHAPTER VI. — THE CASE OF JABEZ FITCH
In presenting our gleanings from the books, papers, letters, pamphlets, and other documents that have been written on the subject of our prisoners during the Revolution, we will endeavor to follow some chronological order, so that we may carry the story on month by month and year by year until that last day of the British possession of New York when Sergeant O’Keefe threw down upon the pavement of the Provost the keys of that prison, and made his escape on board a British man-of-war. One of the
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CHAPTER VII. — THE HOSPITAL DOCTOR—A TORY’S ACCOUNT OF NEW YORK IN 1777—ETHAN ALLEN’S
CHAPTER VII. — THE HOSPITAL DOCTOR—A TORY’S ACCOUNT OF NEW YORK IN 1777—ETHAN ALLEN’S
ACCOUNT OF THE PRISONERS The doctor spoken of by Jabez Fitch as Dr. Dibuke is perhaps the notorious character described by Mr. Elias Boudinot in the Journal from which we have already quoted. On page 35 of this book he gives us the following: “AN ACCOUNT OF THE FRENCHMAN WHO POISONED. AMERICAN PRISONERS IN NEW YORK, AND WAS REWARDED FOR SO DOING BY GENERAL, HOWE “When the British Army took possession of New York they found a Frenchman in Goal, under Condemnation for Burglery and Robbery. He was
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CHAPTER VIII. — THE ACCOUNT OF ALEXANDER GRAYDON
CHAPTER VIII. — THE ACCOUNT OF ALEXANDER GRAYDON
One of the most interesting and best memoirs of revolutionary times is that written by Alexander Graydon, and as he was taken prisoner at Fort Washington, and closely connected with the events in New York during the winter of 1776-7, we will quote here his account of his captivity. He describes the building of Fort Washington in July of 1776 by the men of Magaw’s and Hand’s regiments. General Putnam was the engineer. It was poorly built for defence, and not adapted for a siege. Graydon was a cap
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CHAPTER IX. — A FOUL PAGE OF ENGLISH HISTORY
CHAPTER IX. — A FOUL PAGE OF ENGLISH HISTORY
We will not follow Mr. Graydon now to Long Island. It was then late in January, 1777. The survivors of the American prisoners were, many of them, exchanged for healthy British soldiers. The crime had been committed, one of the blackest which stains the annals of English history. By the most accurate computation at least two thousand helpless American prisoners had been slowly starved, frozen, or poisoned to death in the churches and other prisons in New York. No excuse for this monstrous crime c
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CHAPTER X. — A BOY IN PRISON
CHAPTER X. — A BOY IN PRISON
In the winter of 1761 a boy was born in a German settlement near Lancaster, Pennsylvania, the third son of Henry Bedinger and his wife, whose maiden name was Magdalene von Schlegel. These Germans, whom we have already mentioned, moved, in 1762, to the neighborhood of the little hamlet, then called Mecklenburg, Berkeley County, Virginia. Afterwards the name of the town was changed to Shepherdstown, in honor of its chief proprietor, Thomas Shepherd. Daniel was a boy of fourteen when the first comp
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CHAPTER XI. — THE NEWSPAPERS OF THE REVOLUTION
CHAPTER XI. — THE NEWSPAPERS OF THE REVOLUTION
What we have been able to glean from the periodicals of the day about the state of the prisons in New York during the years 1776 and 1777 we will condense into one short chapter. We will also give an abstract taken from a note book written by General Jeremiah Johnson, who as a boy, lived near Wallabout Bay during the Revolution and who thus describes one of the first prison ships used by the British at New York. He says: “The subject of the naval prisoners, and of the British prisons-ships, stat
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CHAPTER XII. — THE TRUMBULL PAPERS AND OTHER SOURCES OF INFORMATION
CHAPTER XII. — THE TRUMBULL PAPERS AND OTHER SOURCES OF INFORMATION
We will now quote from the Trumbull Papers and other productions, what is revealed to the public of the state of the prisoners in New York in 1776 and 1777. Some of our information we have obtained from a book published in 1866 called “Documents and Letters Intended to Illustrate the Revolutionary Incidents of Long Island, by Henry Onderdonk, Jr.” He gives an affecting account of the wounding of General Woodhull, after his surrender, and when he had given up his sword. The British ruffians who h
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CHAPTER XIII. — A JOURNAL KEPT IN THE PROVOST
CHAPTER XIII. — A JOURNAL KEPT IN THE PROVOST
An old man named John Fell was taken up by the British, and confined for some months in the Provost prison. He managed to secrete writing materials and made notes of his treatment. He was imprisoned for being a Whig and one of the councilmen of Bergen, New Jersey. We will give his journal entire, as it is quoted by Mr. Onderdonk. April 23rd, 1777. Last night I was taken prisoner from my house by 25 armed men (he lived in Bergen) who brought me down to Colonel Buskirk’s at Bergen Point, and from
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CHAPTER XIV. — FURTHER TESTIMONY OF CRUELTIES ENDURED BY AMERICAN PRISONERS
CHAPTER XIV. — FURTHER TESTIMONY OF CRUELTIES ENDURED BY AMERICAN PRISONERS
Mr. Fell’s notes on his imprisonment present the best picture we can find of the condition of the Provost Jail during the term of his captivity. We have already seen how Mr Elias Boudinot, American Commissary of Prisoners, came to that place of confinement, and what he found there. This was in February, 1778. Boudinot also describes the sufferings of the American prisoners in the early part of 1778 in Philadelphia, and Mr. Fell speaks of Cunningham’s return to New York. He had, it appears, been
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CHAPTER XV. — THE OLD SUGAR HOUSE—TRINTY CHURCHYARD
CHAPTER XV. — THE OLD SUGAR HOUSE—TRINTY CHURCHYARD
We will now take our readers with us to the Sugar House on Liberty Street, long called the Old Sugar House, and the only one of the three Sugar Houses which appear to have been used as a place of confinement for American prisoners of war after the year 1777. We have already mentioned this dreary abode of wretchedness, but it deserves a more elaborate description. From Valentine’s Manual of the Common Council of New York for 1844 we will copy the following brief sketch of the British Prisons in N
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CHAPTER XVI. — THE CASE OF JOHN BLATCHFORD
CHAPTER XVI. — THE CASE OF JOHN BLATCHFORD
In our attempt to describe the sufferings of American prisoners taken during the Revolution, we have, for the most part, confined ourselves to New York, only because we have been unable to make extensive research into the records of the British prisons in other places. But what little we have been able to gather on the subject of the prisoners sent out of America we will also lay before our readers. We have already stated the fact that some of our prisoners were sent to India and some to Africa.
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CHAPTER XVII. — BENJAMIN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS ON THE SUBJECT OF AMERICAN PRISONERS
CHAPTER XVII. — BENJAMIN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS ON THE SUBJECT OF AMERICAN PRISONERS
When Benjamin Franklin and Silas Deane were in Paris they wrote the following letter to Lord Stormont, the English Ambassador to France. Paris, April 2nd, 1777. My Lord:— We did ourselves the honor of writing some time since to your Lordship on the subject of exchanging prisoners: you did not condescend to give us any answer, and therefore we expect none to this. We, however, take the liberty of sending you copies of certain depositions which we shall transmit to Congress, whereby it will be kno
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CHAPTER XVIII. — THE ADVENTURES OF ANDREW SHERBURNE
CHAPTER XVIII. — THE ADVENTURES OF ANDREW SHERBURNE
While we are on the subject of the treatment of American prisoners in England, which forms a most grateful contrast to that which they received in New York, Philadelphia, and other parts of America, we will give an abstract of the adventures of another young man who was confined in the Old Mill Prison at Plymouth, England. This young man was named Andrew Sherburne. He was born at Rye, New Hampshire, on the 3oth of September, 1765. He first served on the continental ship of war, Ranger, which shi
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CHAPTER XIX. — MORE ABOUT THE ENGLISH PRISONS—MEMOIR OF ELI BICKFORD—CAPTAIN FANNING
CHAPTER XIX. — MORE ABOUT THE ENGLISH PRISONS—MEMOIR OF ELI BICKFORD—CAPTAIN FANNING
Eli Bickford, who was born on the 29th of September, 1754, in the town of Durham, N. H., and enlisted on a privateer, was taken prisoner by the British, confined at first on the Old Jersey, and afterwards sent to England with many others, in a vessel commanded by Captain Smallcorn, whom he called “a sample of the smallest corn he had ever met.” While on board this vessel he was taken down with the smallpox. No beds or bedding were provided for the prisoners and a plank on deck was his only pillo
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CHAPTER XX. — SOME SOUTHERN NAVAL PRISONERS
CHAPTER XX. — SOME SOUTHERN NAVAL PRISONERS
Very little is known of the State navies of the south during the Revolution. Each State had her own small navy, and many were the interesting adventures, some successful, and others unfortunate, that the hardy sailors encountered. The story of each one of these little vessels would be as interesting as a romance, but we are here only concerned with the meagre accounts that have reached us of the sufferings of some of the crews of the privateers who were so unlucky as to fall into the hands of th
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CHAPTER XXI. — EXTRACTS FROM NEWSPAPERS—SOME OF THE PRISON SHIPS—CASE OF CAPTAIN
CHAPTER XXI. — EXTRACTS FROM NEWSPAPERS—SOME OF THE PRISON SHIPS—CASE OF CAPTAIN
BIRDSALL At the risk of repetition of some facts that have already been given, we must again refer the reader to some extracts from the newspapers of the day. In this instance the truth can best be established by the mouths of many witnesses, and we do not hesitate to give the English side whenever we have been able to discover anything bearing on the subject in the so-called loyal periodicals of the time. From Freeman’s Journal, date of Jan. 19th, 1777, we take the following: “General Howe has
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CHAPTER XXII. — THE JOURNAL OF DR. ELIAS CORNELIUS—BRITISH PRISONS IN THE SOUTH
CHAPTER XXII. — THE JOURNAL OF DR. ELIAS CORNELIUS—BRITISH PRISONS IN THE SOUTH
We must now conduct our readers back to the Provost Prison in New York, where, for some time, Colonel Ethan Allen was incarcerated. Dr. Elias Cornelius, a surgeon’s mate, was taken prisoner by the British on the 22nd of August, 1777. On that day he had ridden to the enemy’s advanced post to make observations, voluntarily accompanying a scouting party. On his way back he was surprised, over-powered, and captured by a party of British soldiers. This was at East Chester. He seems to have lagged beh
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CHAPTER XXIII. — A POET ON A PRISON SHIP
CHAPTER XXIII. — A POET ON A PRISON SHIP
Philip Freneau, the poet of the Revolution, as he has been called, was of French Huguenot ancestry. The Freneaus came to New York in 1685. His mother was Agnes Watson, a resident of New York, and the poet was born on the second of January, 1752. In the year 1780 a vessel of which he was the owner, called the Aurora, was taken by the British. Freneau was on board, though he was not the captain of the ship. The British man-of-war, Iris, made the Aurora her prize, after a fight in which the sailing
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CHAPTER XXIV. — “THERE WAS A SHIP”
CHAPTER XXIV. — “THERE WAS A SHIP”
Of all the ships that were ever launched the “Old Jersey” is the most notorious. Never before or since, in the dark annals of human sufferings, has so small a space enclosed such a heavy weight of misery. No other prison has destroyed so many human beings in so short a space of time. And yet the Jersey was once as staunch and beautiful a vessel as ever formed a part of the Royal Navy of one of the proudest nations of the world. How little did her builders imagine that she would go down to histor
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CHAPTER XXV. — A DESCRIPTION OF THE JERSEY
CHAPTER XXV. — A DESCRIPTION OF THE JERSEY
SONNET SUGGESTED BY A VISION OF THE JERSEY PRISON SHIP BY W P P It was stated in the portion of the eloquent oration given in our last chapter that more than 11,000 prisoners perished on board the Jersey alone, during the space of three years and a half that she was moored in the waters of Wallabout Bay. This statement has never been contradicted, as far as we know, by British authority. Yet we trust that it is exaggerated. It would give an average of more than three thousand deaths a year. The
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CHAPTER XXVI. — THE EXPERIENCE OF EBENEZER FOX. —
CHAPTER XXVI. — THE EXPERIENCE OF EBENEZER FOX. —
Ebenezer Fox, a prisoner on board the Jersey, wrote a little book about his dreadful experiences when he was a very old man. The book was written in 1838, and published by Charles Fox in Boston in 1848. Ebenezer Fox was born in the East Parish of Roxbury, Mass., in 1763. In the spring of 1775 he and another boy named Kelly ran away to sea. Fox shipped as a cabin boy in a vessel commanded by Captain Joseph Manchester. He made several cruises and returned home. In 1779 he enlisted, going as a subs
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CHAPTER XXVII. — THE EXPERIENCE OF EBENEZER FOX (CONTINUED)
CHAPTER XXVII. — THE EXPERIENCE OF EBENEZER FOX (CONTINUED)
The miseries of our condition were continually increasing. The pestilence on board spread rapidly; and every day added to our bill of mortality. The young were its most frequent victims. The number of the prisoners was constantly augmenting, notwithstanding the frequent and successful attempts to escape. When we were mustered and called upon to answer to our names, and it was ascertained that nearly two hundred had mysteriously disappeared, without leaving any information of their departure, the
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CHAPTER XXVIII. — THE CASE OF CHRISTOPHER HAWKINS
CHAPTER XXVIII. — THE CASE OF CHRISTOPHER HAWKINS
Christopher Hawkins was born in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1764. When he was in his thirteenth year he sailed on board an American privateer as a cabin boy. The privateer was a schooner, called the Eagle, commanded by Captain Potter. Taken prisoner by the British, Hawkins was sent on board the Asia, an old transport ship, but was soon taken off this vessel, then used for the confinement of American prisoners, and sent on board a frigate, the Maidstone, to serve as a waiter to the British offic
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CHAPTER XXIX. — TESTIMONY OF PRISONERS ON BOARD THE JERSEY
CHAPTER XXIX. — TESTIMONY OF PRISONERS ON BOARD THE JERSEY
We must again quote from Ebenezer Fox, whose description of the provisions dealt out to the prisoners on board the prison ships shall now be given. “The prisoners received their mess rations at nine in the morning. * * * All our food appeared to be damaged. The bread was mostly mouldy, and filled with worms. It required considerable rapping upon the deck, before these worms could be dislodged from their lurking places in a biscuit. As for the pork, we were cheated out of it more than half the ti
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CHAPTER XXX. — RECOLLECTIONS OF ANDREW SHERBURNE
CHAPTER XXX. — RECOLLECTIONS OF ANDREW SHERBURNE
Andrew Sherburne, a lad of seventeen, shipped on the Scorpion, Captain R. Salter, a small vessel, with a crew of eighteen men. This vessel was captured by the Amphion, about the middle of November, 1782. Sherburne says that the sailors plundered them of everything they possessed, and that thirteen of them were put on board the Amphion, and sent down to the cable tiers between the two decks, where they found nearly a hundred of their countrymen, who were prisoners of war. “We were very much crowd
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CHAPTER XXXI. — CAPTAIN ROSWELL PALMER
CHAPTER XXXI. — CAPTAIN ROSWELL PALMER
In the year 1865 a son of Captain Roswell Palmer, of Connecticut, wrote a letter to Mr. Henry Drowne, in which he narrates the story of his father’s captivity, which we will condense in these pages. He says that his father was born in Stonington, Conn., in August, 1764, and was about seventeen at the time of his capture by the British, which must have been in 1781. Palmer had several relations in the army, and was anxious to enlist, but was rejected as too young. His uncle, however, received him
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CHAPTER XXXII. — THE NARRATIVE OF CAPTAIN ALEXANDER COFFIN
CHAPTER XXXII. — THE NARRATIVE OF CAPTAIN ALEXANDER COFFIN
In 1807 Dr. Mitchell, of New York published a small volume entitled: “The Destructive Operation of Foul Air, Tainted Provisions, Bad Water, and Personal Filthiness, Upon Human Constitutions, Exemplified in the Unparallelled Cruelty of the British to the American Captives at New York During the Revolutionary War, on Board their Prison and Hospital ships. By Captain Alexander Coffin, Junior, One of the Surviving Sufferers. In a Communication to Dr. Mitchell, dated September 4th, 1807.” Truly our a
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CHAPTER XXXIII. — A WONDERFUL DELIVERANCE
CHAPTER XXXIII. — A WONDERFUL DELIVERANCE
There are few records of religious feeling on board the “Jersey, vulgarly called ‘Hell.’” No clergyman was ever known to set foot on board of her, although a city of churches was so near. The fear of contagion may have kept ministers of the gospel away. Visitors came, as we have seen, but not to soothe the sufferings of the prisoners, or to comfort those who were dying. It is said that a young doctor, named George Vandewater attended the sick, until he took a fatal disease and died. He was a res
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CHAPTER XXXIV. — THE NARRATIVE OF CAPTAIN DRING
CHAPTER XXXIV. — THE NARRATIVE OF CAPTAIN DRING
By far the most complete account of life on board the Old Jersey is contained in Captain Dring’s Recollections. His nature was hopeful, and his constitution strong and enduring. He attempted to make the best of his situation, and succeeded in leading as nearly a tolerable life on board the prison-ship as was possible. His book is too long for insertion in these pages, but we will endeavor to give the reader an abstract of it. This book was published in 1865, having been prepared for the press an
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CHAPTER XXXV. — THE NARRATIVE OF CAPTAIN DRING (CONTINUED)
CHAPTER XXXV. — THE NARRATIVE OF CAPTAIN DRING (CONTINUED)
“The quarter-deck of the Jersey covered about one-fourth of the upper deck, and the forecastle extended from the stern, about one-eighth part of the length of the upper deck. Sentinels were stationed on the gangways on each side of the upper deck, leading from the quarter-deck to the forecastle. These gangways were about five feet wide; and here the prisoners were allowed to pass and repass. The intermediate space from the bulkhead of the quarter-deck to the forecastle was filled with long spars
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CHAPTER XXXVI. — THE INTERMENT OF THE DEAD
CHAPTER XXXVI. — THE INTERMENT OF THE DEAD
Captain Dring continues his narrative by describing the manner in which the dead were interred in the sand of the Wallabout. Every morning, he says, the dead bodies were carried to the upper deck and there laid upon the gratings. Any person who could procure, and chose to furnish, a blanket, was allowed to sew it around the remains of his departed companion. “The signal being made, a boat was soon seen approaching from the Hunter, and if there were any dead on board the other ships, the boat rec
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CHAPTER XXXVII. — DAME GRANT AND HER BOAT
CHAPTER XXXVII. — DAME GRANT AND HER BOAT
“One indulgence was allowed us by our keepers, if indulgence it can be called. They had given permission for a boat to come alongside the ship, with a supply of a few necessary articles, to be sold to such of the prisoners as possessed the means of paying for them. This trade was carried on by a very corpulent old woman, known among us by the name of Dame Grant. Her visits, which were made every other day, were of much benefit to us, and, I presume, a source of profit to herself. She brought us
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CHAPTER XXXVIII. — THE SUPPLIES FOR THE PRISONERS
CHAPTER XXXVIII. — THE SUPPLIES FOR THE PRISONERS
“After the death of Dame Grant, we were under the necessity of puchasing from the Sutler such small supplies as we needed. This man was one of the Mates of the ship, and occupied one of the apartments under the quarter-deck, through the bulkhead of which an opening had been cut, from which he delivered his goods. He here kept for sale a variety of articles, among which was usually a supply of ardent spirits, which was not allowed to be brought alongside the ship, for sale. It could, therefore, o
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CHAPTER XXXIX. — FOURTH OF JULY ON THE JERSEY
CHAPTER XXXIX. — FOURTH OF JULY ON THE JERSEY
A few days before the fourth of July we had made such preparations as our circumstances would admit for an observance of the anniversary of American Independence. We had procured some supplies with which to make ourselves merry on the occasion, and intended to spend the day in such innocent pastimes as our situation would afford, not dreaming that our proceeding would give umbrage to our keepers, as it was far from our intention to trouble or insult them. We thought that, though prisoners, we ha
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CHAPTER XL. — AN ATTEMPT TO ESCAPE
CHAPTER XL. — AN ATTEMPT TO ESCAPE
It had been for some time in contemplation among a few inmates of the Gun-room to make a desperate attempt to escape, by cutting a hole through the stern or counter of the ship. In order that their operations might proceed with even the least probability of success, it was absolutely necessary that but few of the prisoners should be admitted to the secret. At the same time it was impossible for them to make any progress in their labor unless they first confided their plan to all the other occupa
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CHAPTER XLI. — THE MEMORIAL TO GENERAL WASHINGTON
CHAPTER XLI. — THE MEMORIAL TO GENERAL WASHINGTON
“Notwithstanding the destroying pestilence which was now raging to a degree hitherto unknown on board, new companies of victims were continually arriving; so that, although the mortality was very great, our numbers were increasing daily. Thus situated, and seeing no prospect of our liberty by exchange, we began to despair, and to believe that our certain fate was rapidly approaching. “One expedient was at length proposed among us and adopted. We petitioned General Clinton, who was then in comman
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CHAPTER XLII. — THE EXCHANGE
CHAPTER XLII. — THE EXCHANGE
“Soon after Captain Aborn had been permitted to go to Long Island on his parole, he sent a message on board the Jersey, informing us that his parole had been extended so far as to allow him to return home, but that he should visit us previous to his departure. He requested our First Lieutenant, Mr. John Tillinghast, to provide a list of the names of those captured in the Chance who had died, and also a list of the survivors, noting where each survivor was then confined, whether on board the Jers
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CHAPTER XLIII. — THE CARTEL—CAPTAIN DRING’S NARRATIVE (CONTINUED)
CHAPTER XLIII. — THE CARTEL—CAPTAIN DRING’S NARRATIVE (CONTINUED)
“On his arrival in Providence Captain Aborn had lost no time in making the details of our sufferings publicly known; and a feeling of deep commiseration was excited among our fellow citizens. Messrs. Clarke and Nightingale, the former owners of the Chance, in conjunction with other gentlemen, expressed their determination to spare no exertion or expense necessary to procure our liberty. It was found that forty British prisoners were at that time in Boston. These were immediately procured, and ma
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CHAPTER XLIV. — CORRESPONDENCE OF WASHINGTON AND OTHERS
CHAPTER XLIV. — CORRESPONDENCE OF WASHINGTON AND OTHERS
General Washington cannot with justice be blamed for any part of the sufferings inflicted upon the naval prisoners on board the prison ships. Although he had nothing whatever to do with the American Navy, or the crews of privateers captured by the British, yet he exerted himself in every way open to him to endeavor to obtain their exchange, or, at least, a mitigation of their sufferings, and this in spite of the immense weight of cares and anxieties that devolved upon him in his conduct of the w
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CHAPTER XLV. — GENERAL WASHINGTON AND REAR ADMIRAL DIGBY—COMMISSARIES SPROAT AND
CHAPTER XLV. — GENERAL WASHINGTON AND REAR ADMIRAL DIGBY—COMMISSARIES SPROAT AND
SKINNER Washington’s best vindication against the charge of undue neglect of American prisoners is found in the correspondence on the subject. We will therefore give his letter to Rear Admiral Digby, after his interview with the committee of three sent from the Jersey to complain of their treatment by the British, and to endeavor to negotiate an exchange. GENERAL WASHINGTON TO REAR ADMIRAL DIGBY Head-Quarters, June 5 1782 Sir: By a parole, granted to two gentlemen, Messrs. Aborn and Bowen, I per
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CHAPTER XLVI. — SOME OF THE PRISONERS ON BOARD THE JERSEY
CHAPTER XLVI. — SOME OF THE PRISONERS ON BOARD THE JERSEY
We have seen that the crew of the Chance was exchanged in the fall of 1782. A few of the men who composed this crew were ill at the time that the exchange was affected, and had been sent to Blackwell’s Island. Among these unfortunate sufferers was the sailing-master of the Chance, whose name was Sylvester Rhodes. This gentleman was born at Warwick, R. I., November 21, 1745. He married Mary Aborn, youngest sister of Captain Daniel Aborn, and entered the service of his country, in the early part o
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CONCLUSION
CONCLUSION
Such of the prisoners as escaped after months of suffering with health sufficient for future usefulness in the field often re-enlisted, burning for revenge. Mr. Scharf, in his “History of Western Maryland,” speaks of Colonel William Kunkel, who had served in Prussia, and emigrated to America about the year 1732. He first settled in Lancaster, Pa., but afterwards moved to Western Maryland. He had six sons in the Revolution. One of these sons entered the American army at the age of eighteen. Taken
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LIST OF 8000 MEN WHO WERE PRISONERS ON BOARD THE OLD JERSEY
LIST OF 8000 MEN WHO WERE PRISONERS ON BOARD THE OLD JERSEY
PRINTED BY PERMISSION OF THE SOCIETY OF OLD BROOKLYNITES This list of names was copied from the papers of the British War Department. There is nothing to indicate what became of any of these prisoners, whether they died, escaped, or were exchanged. The list seems to have been carelessly kept, and is full of obvious mistakes in spelling the names. Yet it shall be given just as it is, except that the names are arranged differently, for easier reference. This list of prisoners is the only one that
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APPENDIX B
APPENDIX B
THE PRISON SHIP MARTYRS OF THE REVOLUTION, AND AN UNPUBLISHED DIARY OF ONE OF THEM, WILLIAM SLADE, NEW CANAAN, CONN., LATER OF CORNWALL, VT. The following extremely interesting article on the prisoners and prison ships of the Revolution was written by Dr. Longworthy of the United States Department of agriculture for a patriotic society. Through his courtesy I am allowed to publish it here. I am sorry I did not receive it in time to embody it in the first part of this book. D D Doubtless all of u
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
BIBLIOGRAPHY
The writer of this volume has been very much assisted in her task by Mr. Frank Moore’s Diary of the Revolution, a collection of extracts from the periodicals of the day. This valuable compilation has saved much time and trouble. Other books that have been useful are the following. Adventures of Christopher Hawkins. Adventures of Ebenezer Fox. Published in Boston, by Charles Fox, in 1848. History of Brooklyn by Stiles. Bolton’s Private Soldier of the Revolution. Bigelow’s Life of B. Franklin, vol
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