American Prisoners of the Revolution

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 accounts could have been given in the compiler’s own words, but they would only, thereby, have lost in strength. The original narratives are all out of print, very scarce and hard to obtain, and the writer feels justified in reprinting them in this collection, for the sake of the general reader interested in the subject, and not able to search for himself through the mass of original material, some of which she has only discovered after months of research. Her work has mainly consisted in abridging these records, collected from so many different sources.

The writer desires to express her thanks to the courteous librarians of the Library of Congress and of the War and Navy Departments; to Dr. Langworthy for permission to publish his able and interesting paper on the subject of the prisons in New York, and to many others who have helped her in her task.

DANSKE DANDRIDGE.

December 6th, 1910.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER

PREFACE

I. INTRODUCTORY

II. THE RIFLEMEN OF THE REVOLUTION

III. NAMES OF SOME OF THE PRISONERS OF 1776

IV. THE PRISONERS OF NEW YORK--JONATHAN GILLETT

V. WILLIAM CUNNINGHAM, THE PROVOST MARSHAL

VI. THE CASE OF JABEZ FITCH

VII. THE HOSPITAL DOCTOR--A TORY’S ACCOUNT OF NEW YORK IN 1777--ETHAN ALLEN’S ACCOUNT OF THE PRISONERS

VIII. THE ACCOUNT OF ALEXANDER GRAYDON

IX. A FOUL PAGE OF ENGLISH HISTORY

X. A BOY IN PRISON

XI. THE NEWSPAPERS OF THE REVOLUTION

XII. THE TRUMBULL PAPERS AND OTHER SOURCES OF INFORMATION

XIII. A JOURNAL KEPT IN THE PROVOST

XIV. FURTHER TESTIMONY OF CRUELTIES ENDURED BY AMERICAN PRISONERS

XV. THE OLD SUGAR HOUSE--TRINITY CHURCHYARD

XVI. CASE OF JOHN BLATCHFORD

XVII. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS ON THE SUBJECT OF AMERICAN PRISONERS

XVIII. THE ADVENTURES OF ANDREW SHERBURNE

XIX. MORE ABOUT THE ENGLISH PRISONS--MEMOIR OF ELI BICKFORD--CAPTAIN FANNING

XX. SOME SOUTHERN NAVAL PRISONERS

XXI. EXTRACTS FROM NEWSPAPERS--SOME OF THE PRISON SHIPS--CASE OF CAPTAIN BIRDSALL

XXII. THE JOURNAL OF DR. ELIAS CORNELIUS--BRITISH PRISONS IN THE SOUTH

XXIII. A POET ON A PRISON SHIP

XXIV. “THERE WAS A SHIP!”

XXV. A DESCRIPTION OF THE JERSEY

XXVI. THE EXPERIENCE OF EBENEZER FOX

XXVII. THE EXPERIENCE OF EBENEZER FOX (CONTINUED)

XXVIII. THE CASE OF CHRISTOPHER HAWKINS

XXIX. TESTIMONY OF PRISONERS ON BOARD THE JERSEY

XXX. RECOLLECTIONS OF ANDREW SHERBURNE

XXXI. CAPTAIN ROSWELL PALMER

XXXII. THE NARRATIVE OF CAPTAIN ALEXANDER COFFIN

XXXIII. A WONDERFUL DELIVERANCE

XXXIV. THE NARRATIVE OF CAPTAIN DRING

XXXV. THE NARRATIVE OF CAPTAIN DRING (CONTINUED)

XXXVI. THE INTERMENT OF THE DEAD

XXXVII. DAME GRANT AND HER BOAT

XXXVIII. THE SUPPLIES FOR THE PRISONERS

XXXIX. FOURTH OF JULY ON THE JERSEY

XL. AN ATTEMPT TO ESCAPE

XLI. THE MEMORIAL TO GENERAL WASHINGTON

XLII. THE EXCHANGE

XLIII. THE CARTEL--CAPTAIN DRING’S NARRATIVE (CONTINUED)

XLIV. CORRESPONDENCE OF WASHINGTON AND OTHERS

XLV. GENERAL WASHINGTON AND REAR ADMIRAL DIGBY--COMMISSARIES SPROAT AND SKINNER