Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1888-04-03
The Martyrs Of the British 6hips-The
Story of their 6ufferings.

In the minds Of the present generation
the horrors of Libby and Salisbury prisons.
where MANY thousands of Union soldiers
persisted through want of proper care.
starvation. and abuse. have taken the place
Of the terrible memories of the British
prisons In which persisted thousands OF
the patriotic American soldiers of the
Revolution. Public attention of late has
been called To the latter by the resolution
now pending in Congress pointing to the
the .'martyrs Of the British prison ships
ia waIlabout Bay during the Revolution
airy War This has led to many inquiries
recently at the Brooklyn Navy Yard to
have pointed out where these prison ships
we're berthed and where the heroes suf
fered and persisted for their country's in
dependence. The y. Y. Tribune says
that couple years ago, when an excava-
tion for new sewer was being made in
the Navy Yard, large number Of bones
were thrown up by the workmen. The
ppbF- NFIf bibhfD but thN
skulls, more than hundred in all. were
found entire and well-pre-erved. They
were all found together in nearly the same
spot, heaped together a. though the exca-
walton had crossed one of the trenches and
lay beneath clayey subsoil in stratum
Of beach sand that probably formed the
beach during the period of the Revolution.
The finding Of these bones was the Sc
quel to one of the most horrible and bar
barous crimes that were ever practised in
a civilized age and in civilized country,
and which began shortly after the capture
Of New York by the British and did not
entirely cease till the close of the war.
The British prison ships, some half dozen
n all, were anchored Off the mouth Of the
Wallabout Bay. They were dismantled
and lay there mere hulks, their holds
crowded to suffocatiOn with prisoners,
ateers, against whom the British were
especially bitter and cruel. The two most
noted of these vessels were the Whitby
and the Jersey. and the brutal, barbarOua
treatment of the prisoners upon them was
equal to if not worse, than that practised
upon the Federal soldiers in the rebel
prisons at Andersonville and Richmond
and which excited general eXecration.
The prisoners were half-starved, and the
sanitary condition Of the ships were sc
vile with the foul air and filth that con
tagious diseases were contracted, and the
wretched and sick men, being without
medical aid, died by scores daily. The
bodies of the victims were taken t
the shore and thrown into hastily dug
trenches with so slight covering OF
earth over them that it soon washed away
and left the bodies exposed. The number
these ships was said to be II 900, but thi,
il thought to have been ii low estimate.
In many instances the prisoners, prefer
ring death to their misery, contrived I,
set fire to the vessels in which they were
confined. and hundreds were sufiocated b,
the smoke but the vessels were savet
from destruction until. ultimately, til,
Whitby was burned, The Jersey was an
chored in the channel, and there il re
manned for som" time after the close o
the war. so infected by disease that no on
dared to go on board. Finally she rottet
and sunk. In 1908, several hundred of til,
bodies were removed to a spot near wher'
the Marine Hospital now tands. an,
where the burial spot was marked by
temporary monument. 1t is earnestl,
hoped that the movement for the erection
of a solid and enduring monument, a fit
ting representative of the nations grateful
memory. will receive the approval o
Congress and faithfully be carried int
effect.