Produced by Dave Maddock Charlz Franksand the Online Distributed Proofreading TeamAMERICAN PRISONERS OF THE REVOLUTIONBYDANSKE DANDRIDGEDedicationTO THE MEMORY OF MY GRANDFATHERLieutenant Daniel Bedinger of Bedford VirginiaA BOY IN PRISONAS REPRESENTATIVE OF ALL THAT WAS BRAVEST AND MOST HONORABLE IN THELIFE AND CHARACTER OF THE PATRIOTS OF 1776PREFACEThe writer of this book has been interested for many years in thesubject of the sufferings of the American prisoners of theRevolution Finding the information she sought widely scattered shehas for her own use and for that of all students of the subjectgathered all the facts she could obtain within the covers of thisvolume There is little that is original in the compilation Thereader will find that extensive use has been made of such narrativesas that Captain Dring has left us The accounts could have been givenin the compilers own words but they would only thereby have lostin strength The original narratives are all out of print very scarceand hard to obtain and the writer feels justified in reprinting themin this collection for the sake of the general reader interested inthe subject and not able to search for himself through the mass oforiginal material some of which she has only discovered after monthsof research Her work has mainly consisted in abridging these recordscollected from so many different sourcesThe writer desires to express her thanks to the courteous librariansof the Library of Congress and of the War and Navy Departments toDr Langworthy for permission to publish his able and interestingpaper on the subject of the prisons in New York and to many otherswho have helped her in her taskDANSKE DANDRIDGE_December 6th 1910_CONTENTSCHAPTER         PREFACE      I INTRODUCTORY     II THE RIFLEMEN OF THE REVOLUTION    III NAMES OF SOME OF THE PRISONERS OF 1776     IV THE PRISONERS OF NEW YORKJONATHAN GILLETT      V WILLIAM CUNNINGHAM THE PROVOST MARSHAL     VI THE CASE OF JABEZ FITCH    VII THE HOSPITAL DOCTORA TORYS ACCOUNT OF NEW YORK IN    1777ETHAN ALLENS 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 HOUSETRINITY 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 PRISONSMEMOIR OF ELI    BICKFORDCAPTAIN FANNING     XX SOME SOUTHERN NAVAL PRISONERS    XXI EXTRACTS FROM NEWSPAPERSSOME OF THE PRISON SHIPSCASE OF    CAPTAIN BIRDSALL   XXII THE JOURNAL OF DR ELIAS CORNELIUSBRITISH 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 BOATXXXVIII 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 CARTELCAPTAIN DRINGS NARRATIVE CONTINUED   XLIV CORRESPONDENCE OF WASHINGTON AND OTHERS    XLV GENERAL WASHINGTON AND REAR ADMIRAL DIGBYCOMMISSARIES    SPROAT AND SKINNER   XLVI SOME OF THE PRISONERS ON BOARD THE JERSEY         CONCLUSION   APPENDIX A LIST OF 8000 MEN WHO WERE PRISONERS ON BOARD THE OLD   JERSEY   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   APPENDIX C BIBLIOGRAPHYCHAPTER IINTRODUCTORYIt is with no desire to excite animosity against a people whose bloodis in our veins that we publish this volume of facts about some of theAmericans seamen and soldiers who were so unfortunate as to fallinto the hands of the enemy during the period of the Revolution Wehave concealed nothing of the truth but we have set nothing down inmalice or with undue recriminationIt is for the sake of the martyrs of the prisons themselves that thiswork has been executed It is because we as a people ought to knowwhat was endured what wretchedness what relentless torture evenunto death was nobly borne by the men who perished by thousands inBritish prisons and prison ships of the Revolution it is because weare in danger of forgetting the sacrifice they made of their freshyoung lives in the service of their country because the story hasnever been adequately told that we however unfit we may feelourselves for the task have made an effort to give the people ofAmerica some account of the manner in which these young heroes theflower of the land in the prime of their vigorous manhood met theirterrible fateToo long have they lain in the ditches where they were thrown acartfull at a time like dead dogs by their heartless murderersunknown unwept unhonored and unremembered Who can tell