George Washington letter: “George Washington to Rear Admiral Robert Digby,” June 5, 1782, in Washington, Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), vol. 24, p. 316.
Lowenthal: Lowenthal, Hell on the East River, p. 10.
Peckham: Peckham, Toll of Independence, p. 132.
Lemisch: Lemisch, “Listening.”
Report that listed 8,000 names: Society of Old Brooklynites, A Christmas Reminder, p. 3; “American Prisoners of the Revolution: Names of 8000 Men.”
Peckham’s study: Peckham, Toll of Independence, pp. 130–133.
Lowenthal on the relative population: Lowenthal, Hell on the East River, p. 67.
Lossing quote and Andros quote: Lossing, Pictoral Field-Book; and Andros, Old Jersey Captive, p. 8.
Scholars have weighed in on the issue: Lowenthal, Hell on the East River, p. 60; Armbruster, Wallabout Prison Ships, pp. 24–28; Ranlet, New York Loyalists, pp. 186, 199; and Burrows, “Prisoners of New York,” p. 2.
CHAPTER 19. REDISCOVERY
Jackson procuring the land at Wallabout Bay: West, Horrors, p. 9.
The involvement of Tammany Hall: Cray, “Commemorating,” pp. 576–578.
Effort to build a memorial: Lossing, Pictoral Field-Book; and Cray, “Commemorating,” pp. 578–579.
The politics of Jefferson, the Anti-Federalists, and impressment: Watson, America’s First Crisis.
Dewitt’s oration and the ceremony: West, Horrors, p. 13.
The nickname “Tomb of the Patriots”: West, Horrors, pp. 11–12.
Details and quotes on the dedication in 1808: Dring, Recollections, p. 146; and West, Horrors, pp. 10–13.
Romaine’s role and passing: Armbruster, Wallabout Prison Ships, p. 22.
The Martyr Monument Association of 1855: Taylor, Martyrs to the Revolution, p. 45.
“The Orator”: Dring, Recollections, p. 94.
Developments in 1873: West, Horrors, p. 19; see also New York Times, June 9, 1783, p. 2.
One of the stories of boys’ stealing the bones from the crypt was told by A. J. Spooner late in life. He recalled watching boys vandalize the memorial as a thirteen-year-old. The account is in Stiles, History of the City of Brooklyn, vol. I, pp. 372–373.
Looting at the mausoleum and memorial: “Huge Bronze Eagle Stolen from Park,” New York Times, February 2, 1914, and “Smashed Bronze Door to Martyrs’ Tomb,” New York Times, May 12, 1923.
The Burrows quote about developing the memorial: Burrows, Forgotten Patriots. Developments in the early 1900s: Coggins, Ships and Seamen, p. 79; and West, “Prison Ships,” p. 123. Discovery of bones in the early 1900s: Wisner, “The HMS Jersey.” Architectural plans and artifacts are held at the old Navy Yard: Wisner, “The HMS Jersey.” The DAR and Brooklyn Historical Society have found items that they believe to be from the HMS Jersey. They are held at the Brooklyn Historical Society.
Walt Whitman and others’ complaining of the neglect: McCullough, Brooklyn, p. 109.
Quotes and details from 1908 ceremony: “Taft and Hughes at Martyrs’ Shaft,” New York Times, November, 15, 1908.
Hawkins’s quote: Hawkins, Life and Adventure, p. iv. “God grant that”: Taylor, Martyrs to the Revolution, p. 33. Andros quote: Andros, Old Jersey Captive, p. 14.
POSTSCRIPT
Laird: Dandridge, American Prisoners, p. 292.
Loring: Ranlet, “Tory David Sproat,” p. 198.
Cunningham’s evacuating city: Lossing, Pictoral Field-Book, vol. 2, p. 632, Connecticut Journal, December 3, 1783; Onderdonk, Revolutionary Incidents, pp. 247–248; and Stiles, History of the City of Brooklyn, vol. I, p. 332. End of Cunningham’s life: Bruce, Romance of the Revolution; Onderdonk, Revolutionary Incidents, pp. 245–247; and Lowenthal, Hell on the East River, p. 105.
In defense of Sproat: Ranlet, “Tory David Sproat,” p. 189; see the letter “Sproat to Abraham Skinner,” January 29, 1781, in Banks, David Sproat, pp. 41–42; and “Sproat to John Dickinson,” July 5, 1783, in Hazard, Pennsylvania Archives, 1st Series, vol. 10, p. 68. Sproat’s cruelty to prisoners until the end of the war: Hannay, Rodney, pp. 144–146. See also “Rodney Letters to Commissioners for Sick and Hurt Seamen,” October 28, 1780, in Rodney, Letter-Books, vol. I, pp. 63–64; and Brown, Valentine’s Manual, p. 211.
Sproat’s being reimbursed: Letter, “David Sproat to Robert Morris,” December 10, 1783, in Banks, David Sproat, pp. 107–110, and “Robert Morris to the President of Congress,” January 16, 1784, in Banks, p. 112. Congress and the repayment of Sproat: Ranlet, “Tory David Sproat,” p. 201. See also United States Continental Congress, Journals, vol. XXVI, pp. 337–338. End of his life: Lowenthal, Hell on the East River, p. 104; McKinney, Pennsylvania Archives, 9th Series, “May 14, 1791”; and Sabine, Biographical Sketches.
Hawkins: Hawkins, Life and Adventures, p. iv.
Sherburne: Sherburne, Memoirs, pp. v, 123.
Andros after the Jersey: Andros, Old Jersey Captive, pp. 46, 49. Andros’s reflecting on imprisonment: Andros, p. 61. Andros’s memoir: Andros, p. 46. Description of Andros: Andros, pp. 3–4, preface.
Dring’s being exchanged: Dring, Recollections, pp. 134, 138. Story of Bicknell: Dring, pp. 139–140. Yellow fever scare on way home and charity of residents: Dring, pp. 142–143. Descriptions of Dring: Dring, p. iv. “Captivity nor my feelings”: Dring, p. 105. “To record the history”: Dring, p. 2. “They have not been exaggerated”: Dring, pp. 2–3.
APPENDIX I
Freneau’s early life and legacy: Bowden, “In Search of,” pp. 174–192.
Stories of sailing and capture: Freneau, Some Account.
Stories of the Scorpion and imprisonment: Freneau, “British Prison-Ship.”
Index
Aarons, Garret, 216
Aborn, Daniel, 52, 201, 202–203, 204
Adams, John, 181, 182, 206
“the Adams Third,” 181
Aeneid (Virgil), 231n
Affleck, Edmund, 124
Allen, Ethan, 131–133
American prisoners of British, 29–30
deaths of, 32–33, 34
offer of enlistment with British, 130–131
privateer crews as, 47, 77, 88, 135, 143
purchase of freedom, 134, 148
racial integration of, 78
role of cartels in releasing, 68n, 71, 142, 193–194, 197
starvation of, 33
survivors accounts, 7–8, 183–186, 229–234
theft of clothing from, 95
torture of, 37, 39
treatment of, 32–39, 87–88
Washington’s efforts to improve treatment of, 39–41, 188
Whitman’s commemoration of, 4–5
See also HMS Jersey (prison ship); prisoner exchanges
“America’s Wars” (report), 216
Amherst, Jeffrey, 149
Andros, Thomas, 7
on boarding the Jersey, 92–93
on care of sick aboard the Jersey, 122–123
on deaths of fellow prisoners, 114–115
on death toll aboard the Jersey, 215, 217
on diseases afflicting prisoners, 120
escape from the Jersey, 170–178, 181
first days aboard the Jersey, 100–102
on food aboard the Jersey, 106
on hospital ships, 126
on Independence Day massacre, 154
on the Jersey as Hell, 101–102
on Jersey guards, 117–118
memoir and life after war, 230–231
on memory of the Jersey, 225
military service, 53–55
on morning ritual of bringing up the dead, 112–113
on patriotism of prisoners, 131
on prisoner bylaws and punishments, 88–89
on prisoner exchanges, 142
as privateer crew member, 55–56
refusal of impressment, 150
religious faith and, 128, 146–147, 178, 230–231
on suffering of prisoners aboard the Jersey, 100–101
taken as prisoner
, 56–57
on working parties, 110–111
Anglo-Spanish War, 12
Arbuthnot, John, 50n
Arbuthnot, Mariot, 92, 149, 188, 195, 196, 228
Armbruster, Eugene, 214
Atlee, Samuel, 22
Aycrigg (mayor), 220
Babcock, Oliver, 143, 189
Banks, David Lenox, 227–228
Banks, James Lenox, 92n
Barbados, Lawrence Washington and, 15
Barlow, Joel, 214
Battle of Brooklyn, 23–25, 37, 141, 210
Battle of Brooklyn Heights, 23n
Battle of Bunker Hill, 136
Battle of Concord, 6, 19, 31, 57, 59, 87, 180
Battle of Germantown, 139–140
Battle of Harlem Heights, 38
Battle of Lexington, 6, 19, 31, 57, 59, 87, 180, 192
Battle of Long Island, 23n
Battle of Rhode Island, 55
Battle of White Plains, 26
Battle of Yorktown, 6, 206
Baylis, Elias, 37
Beaty, John, 39
Bicknell, Dring and, 232
Black Hole of Calcutta, 125, 125n
black soldiers, 180
Blackwell’s Island (Brooklyn), 203, 207, 208
Blatchford, John, 151
boatswain, 65n, 71
Boston Massacre (1770), 9, 18, 186
Boston Tea Party (1773), 18
Boucher, Jonathan, 182
Boudinot, Elias, 40–41, 213–214
Bowen, Joseph, 201, 202
Britain
American prisoners and, 29–30, 32–39, 87–88
battle for New York City, 22–26
colonial unrest and, 18–19
desire to punish Americans for revolution, 31–32
history of using ships as prisons, 73–75
military presence in America, 182–183
occupation of New York City, 27–28, 182–183
offer of enlistment to American prisoners, 130–131
policy on prisoner exchanges, 195–197
propaganda in colonies, 187–188
reports about wars and prison ships and waning support for war, 189–190
rivalry with Spain, 11–12
use of prison ships, 6–7
use of privateers, 46
War of Jenkin’s Ear, 12–15
See also Royal Navy
Brooklyn Daily Eagle (newspaper), 4
Brooklyn Heights, battle for, 23–25
Brooklyn Navy Yard, 218–219, 223
Brooklyn Standard (newspaper), 4
Bunker Hill, 19, 29
Burd, Edward, 22
Burgin, Elizabeth, 156–158
“burgoo,” 105
Burgoyne, “Gentleman Johnny,” 134, 141
burial detail on the Jersey, 112–115
burial of prison ship bodies, 100, 113, 114
Burke, William, 118
Burrows, Edwin G., 214, 223
Bushwick (Brooklyn), 76–77
Caesar (privateering ship), 46
Calhoon, Robert, 181–182
Calville, James, 157
Carleton, Guy, 207, 209
Carlyle, Thomas, 13
Cartagena, siege of, 13–14
cartels, 68n
prisoner exchanges and, 193–194, 197
release of prisoners and, 68, 71, 142
Carver, Robert, 113, 121–122
Chance (privateer ship), 52, 86, 94, 97, 98, 122, 233
prisoner exchange for crew of, 201–205
A Christmas Reminder (report), 216
churches, used as prisons in New York City, 31
Clark (co-owner of Chance), 233
Clinton, George, 193
Clinton, Henry, 40, 199, 207
codes of conduct aboard the Jersey, 88–89, 147
Coffin, Alexander, Jr., 106, 124, 220
Committees of Correspondence, 186
Common Sense (Paine), 186, 186n
Connecticut Courant (newspaper), 9
Connecticut Gazette (newspaper), 79, 184–185, 193, 212
Connecticut Journal (newspaper), 184
Continental Army, shortages of manpower, 180
Continental Congress
Burgin and, 158
commissaries to inspect British prisons, 39–41
Continental Navy and, 44
decree on retaliation against prisoners held by Americans, 143
inquiry into prison ships, 194
legislation on privateering and, 45–46
prisoner exchanges and, 192, 195
Washington and, 21
Continental Navy, 44–45, 60
cook, on the Jersey, 108–109
Cooper (proxy preacher), 147–148, 222
Corey, William, 204
Cornwallis, Charles, 6, 196, 206
Creed, John, 232
Cuba, Vernon and, 14
Cunningham, William
Boudinot and, 40
life after war, 226–227
prisoner exchanges and, 142–143, 196
propaganda and, 187
treatment of American prisoners and, 36–39, 40, 91, 104
Washington’s complaint about, 41
Daughters of the American Revolution, 224
David Sproat and Naval Prisoners in the War of Revolution (Banks), 92n
Davis, Daniel, 127
Dawson, George, 188
“dead boat,” 100, 112–113
death rate
of prisoners on hospital ships, 126
of prisoners on prison ships, 87
of prisoners on the Jersey, 123–124, 144, 199
death toll, Jersey’s, 211–217
Declaration of Independence, 28
de Grasse, François Joseph Paul, 139
Dewitt, Benjamin, 221
Dickens, Charles, 6
Dickinson, John, 228
Digby, Robert, 138–139, 196, 199–200
disease
aboard the Jersey, 98–100, 101, 120–123, 170–171
American prisoners and, 32, 39
Dorchester Heights, evacuation of British and, 19
Dring, Thomas
on boarding the Jersey, 91, 93–94
on burial detail, 113–114
on cleaning latrines, 112
on composition of prison population, 88
on cook aboard the Jersey, 108–109
on “Dame Grant” visits, 144, 145
on death toll on prisons ships, 214–215
on diseases afflicting prisoners, 120
early life, 51–52
enforcement of bylaws and, 89
escape plan, 168–170
first days aboard the Jersey, 97–100
on food aboard the Jersey, 104, 106, 107
on hospital ships, 125
on Independence Day massacre, 153–155
on Jersey’s crew, 116
on Jersey’s guards, 117, 118–119
on lack of basic hygiene for prisoners, 119–120
on loyalist guards, 118–119
making friends among prisoners, 128–129
memoir and life after war, 231–234
on nickname for yellow fever, 181
on nurses aboard the Jersey, 121–122
as officer prisoner on the Jersey, 86, 87
on patriotism of prisoners, 130
poem, 129
prisoner exchange and, 199–205
on prisoners’ depression, 127–128
prison ship memoir, 7
as privateer crew member, 52, 60
on proxy preacher, 147, 148
refusal of impressment, 150
self-inoculation against smallpox, 97–98, 99
taken as prisoner, 52–53
on temporary transfers off the Jersey, 111
on washing upper decks of the Jersey, 111
on water rations, 110
Drowne, William, 208
dysentery, 120
Eagle (privateer schooner), 49�
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Eden, William, 74–75
Edes, Peter, 38
European prisoners, treatment by British, 87
Everett, Edward, 3
The Fair American (privateer brig), 56–57
Fall, John and Abraham, 127
Fandiño, Julio León, 12
Fay, Joseph D., 220
Ferling, John, 179
fevers, 120–121
Fish, Nicholas, 24
Fisher, Sydney George, 181n
Fleming, Thomas, 182
food, theft of, among prisoners, 88
food rations, 86, 103–108, 154
weekly schedule, 104–105
Fort Greene Park (Brooklyn), 5, 223n, 224–225
Fort Necessity campaign (1754), 21n
Fort Putnam, 223n
Fort Ticonderoga, 19, 131
Fort Washington, 26
Foster, Thomas, 24
fourth rate ships, 16, 16n
Fox, Ebenezer
on British press gangs, 149–150
enlistment with Boston militia, 61–62
enlistment with Royal Navy (impressment), 150–151, 230
on escape attempts, 159–160, 161
on food aboard the Jersey, 105
memoir and life after war, 7, 230
on prisoner resistance efforts, 151
on prisoners held in lower dungeon, 87
as privateer crew member, 57–58, 61
as sailor on warship Protector, 62–65
taken prisoner, 64–65
on treatment of sailor prisoners, 87–88
France, aid to Americans, 87n
Franklin, Benjamin, 91n, 132, 197, 206
Franklin, Thomas, 39
Franklin, William, 91
Fraunces Tavern (New York City), 210
Freeman’s Journal (newspaper), 184
French and Indian War (aka Seven Years’ War), 21n, 73, 189
Freneau, Philip, 122, 213, 235–240
frigates, Continental Navy, 44
frostbite, 126, 127
funeral oration
at dedication of the Jersey memorial, 221
Pericles’s, 1–2, 3
Gage, Thomas, 19, 36, 135–136, 190, 193
Gaine’s Mercury (newspaper), 187
George III, 19
Germain, George, 137
Gettysburg address, 2–3
Gibbs, Isaac, 114
Gillet, Jonathan, 24
gimlet, 168n
Gist, Mordecai, 25
Glover, John, 25
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