American Prisoners of the RevolutionDandridge, Danske
History
American Prisoners of the Revolution
Dandridge, Danske
United States -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783 -- Prisoners and prisons
“The corpse was laid upon a board, to which some ropes were attached
as straps; as it was often the case that bodies were sent on shore for
interment before they had become sufficiently stiff to be lowered into
the boat by a single strap. Thus prepared a tackle was attached to the
board, and the remains * * * were hoisted over the side of the ship into
the boat, without further ceremony. If several bodies were waiting for
interment, but one of them was lowered into the boat at a time, for the
sake of decency. The prisoners were always very anxious to be engaged in
the duty of interment, not so much from a feeling of humanity, or from
a wish to pay respect to the remains of the dead, for to these feelings
they had almost become strangers, as from the desire of once more
placing their feet on the land, if but for a few minutes. A sufficient
number of prisoners having received permission to assist in this duty,
they entered the boat accompanied by a guard of soldiers, and put off
from the ship.
“I obtained leave to assist in the burial of the body of Mr. Carver, * *
* and after landing at a low wharf which had been built from the shore,
we first went to a small hut, which stood near the wharf, and was used
as a place of deposit for the handbarrows and shovels provided for these
occasions. Having placed the corpses on the barrows, and received
our hoes and shovels, we proceeded to the side of the bank near the
Waleboght. Here a vacant space having been selected, we were directed
to dig a trench in the sand, of a proper length for the reception of
the bodies. We continued our labor until the guards considered that a
sufficient space had been excavated. The corpses were then laid in the
trench without ceremony, and we threw the sand over them. The whole
appeared to produce no more effect upon our guards than if they were
burying the bodies of dead animals, instead of men. They scarcely
allowed us time to look about us; for no sooner had we heaped the earth
upon the trench, than we were ordered to march. But a single glance was
sufficient to show us parts of many bodies which were exposed to view,
although they had probably been placed there with the same mockery of
interment but a few days before.
“Having thus performed, as well as we were permitted to do it, the last
duty to the dead, and the guards having stationed themselves on each
side of us, we began reluctantly to retrace our steps to the boat. We
had enjoyed the pleasure of breathing for a few minutes the air of our
native soil; and the thought of return to the crowded prison-ship was
terrible in the extreme. As we passed by the waterside we implored
our guards to allow us to bathe, or even to wash ourselves for a few
minutes, but this was refused us.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account