Port Royal commercial and Beaufort County Republican. [volume] (Port Royal, S.C.) 1873-1874, 1873-11-13
Life on a Prison Ship.
A Reminiscencs af the Revoiutionar
War.


lutionary War, is fair sample of the
life of the prisoners on board of the
rest for, although the Jersey has
gained a bad pre-eminence as a prison
ship, which would naturally lead many
to suppose that her prisoners alone were
subjected to suffering and privation, the
testimony of those confined in the other
vessels prove clearly that their treat
ment was everywhere the same. The
only difference lay in the fact that the
jersey was larger than the others, and
continued in the service longer. Of all
the vessels so used as prisons, the Jersey
gained the greatest notoriety, her name
striking terror to the heart of every
American sailsr. Originally 64-gun
ship, condemned as unfit for service,
she had been stripped of spars and rig
ging, and anchored at Wallabout as q
store.ship, and for want Of other prison
accommodations subsequently, convert
ed to q prison-honse, as were also the
Good Hope, Good Intent, Hunter, rui.
mouth, Bristol, and others. On board
the Jersey the crew.consisted of cap.
tain, two mates, a steward, cook, and q
dozen sailors, with q guard of twelve
marines and about thirty soldiers. A
prisoner on being brought on board was
questioned Us to his. name and rank,
which were registered, after which he
was searched for weapons and money.
Many were the devices resorted to by
the prisoner in order to ,retaie e portio!
if not the whole CT tne money in his
poscsesion, For newell knew that if once
placed in the keeping of his jailers that
was the last of it as far as he was con.
cerped, while a small portion saved
might eventually be of great service to
him in obtaining favor from his guards.
Clothing and bedding they were per.
mitted to retain, and however scanty
they might be, no more rsS supplied
while On board lie prison-ship.
Fc would be then ordered down into
the hold, where from a thousand to
twelve hundred men were congregated,
covered with rags and filth, and ghastly
from breathing the pestilentiel air
many sick with typhus fever, dysentery
and smallpox, from which the vessel
was never free. The prisoners were
divided into messes of six each, who,
every morning at the ringing of the
stewards bell received their daily al.
lowance of pork or beef, peas and his
cult, to which butter suet oatmeal and
-four were occasionally added, but there
being only one fireplace to cook the
food Of such number, the latter deli
casies were frequently of no avail as
food,
The allowances were frequently de-
layed, the steward not beginning to
serve out the rations until II A. NJ, so
thet The whole could not be served until
late in the afternoon. At sunset the
fire was ordered to be quenched, and
those that had not their food dressed
by that time were obliged either to eat
it raw or 60 hungry. Articles suited to
the condition of infrm people were
never allowed to the many sick, al.
though the officers and crew had them
in profusion. The prisoners were con.
fined in the two lower maindecks, the
lower dungeon being filled with for
eigners, who were treated with even
moro inhumanity than the Americans.
Every morning the prisoners were
greeted with the cry of Rebels, turn
out your dead !" The order was obeyed,
and the bodies of those who had died
during the night were brought up upon
the deck and placed upon the gratings.
If the deceased had owned a blanket,
any prisoner was at liberty to sew il
aronnd the corpse, after which it was
sent on shore to be placed in the COM
mon ditch with those of the day pre-.
vious.
The prisoners were allowed upon
deck in squads until sunset, when they
were saluted with the insulting cry OF
"Down, rebels, down -
When the order of "Down, rebels,
down ~ had been obeycd, the main
hatch was closed, leaving small trap.
door, large enough for one man to
ascend it at a time, over which sen.
tinel was placed, with orders to permit
but one man to come up at time al
night. These sentinels were often
guilty of the most wanton cruelty. One
night while the prisoners were huddled
about the CRATE of the hatchway to OBJ
tain fresh air, awaiting their turn to
go on deck, the sentinel thrust his
bayonet among them, killing twenty.
| five of their number, which outrage, to
lesser extent, was frequentlyrepeated.
Prisoners, constantly seeking to escape.
cherished life that they might one day
take vengeance for their suferings.
"Two yonng men, brothers, belonging
to rifle corps" says the author of the
Life OF Silas Talbot, "were made
prisoners, and sent on board the Jersey.
The elder took the fever and became
delirious. One night, as his end was
fast approaching, he became calm and
sensible, and, lamenting his hard fate
and the absence of his mother, begged
for little water. His brother, with
tears, entreated the guard to give him
some, but all in vain. The sick youth
was soon in his last struggles, when the
brother offered the guard a guinea for
an inch of candle only that he might
have light to see him die. Even this
was refused. Now said he, drying
his te.rs, if it please God that I ever
regain my Liberty, I'll be most bitter
enemy He regained his liberty, re-
joined the army, and when the wal
ended, Re had eight large and one hun
dred and twenty-scven small notches
on his rihe-stOck.
But in spite of all their severity and
watchiulness, escapes were frequent,
and whole mess would sometimes be
found missing without the slightest indi,