American Prisoners of the RevolutionDandridge, Danske
History
American Prisoners of the Revolution
Dandridge, Danske
United States -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783 -- Prisoners and prisons
“I have since seen and conversed with one of these unfortunate men, who
afterwards made his escape. He informed me that their removal from the
Jersey to the Island was productive of the most beneficial effects upon
their health, and that they had been exulting at the improvement of
their condition; but their terrible disappointment overwhelmed them with
despair. They then considered their fate inevitable, believing that in a
few days they must again be conveyed on board the hulk; there to undergo
all the agonies of a second death. * * * Several of our crew were sick
when we entered the Cartel, and the sudden change of air and diet caused
some new cases of fever. One of our number, thus seized by the fever,
was a young man named Bicknell of Barrington, R. I. He was unwell when
we left the Jersey, and his symptoms indicated the approaching fever;
and when we entered Narragansett Bay, he was apparently dying. Being
informed that we were in the Bay he begged to be taken on deck, or at
least to the hatchway, that he might look once more upon his native
land. He said that he was sensible of his condition; that the hand of
death was upon him; but that he was consoled by the thought that he
should be decently interred, and be suffered to rest among his friends
and kindred. I was astonished at the degree of resignation and composure
with which he spoke. He pointed to his father’s house, as we approached
it, and said it contained all that was dear to him upon earth. He
requested to be put on shore.
“Our Captain was intimately acquainted with the family of the sufferer;
and as the wind was light we dropped our anchor, and complied with his
request. He was placed in the boat, where I took a seat by his side; in
order to support him; and, with two boys at the oars, we left the
sloop. In a few minutes his strength began rapidly to fail. He laid his
fainting head upon my shoulder, and said he was going to the shore to
be buried with his ancestors; that this had long been his ardent desire,
and that God had heard his prayers. No sooner had we touched the shore
than one of the boys was sent to inform his family of the event. They
hastened to the boat to receive their long lost son and brother, but we
could only give them his yet warm and lifeless corpse.”
OUR ARRIVAL HOME
“After remaining a few moments with the friends of our deceased comrade
we returned to the sloop and proceeded up the river. It was about
eight o’clock in the evening when we reached Providence. There were no
quarantine regulations to detain us; but, as the yellow fever was raging
among us, we took the precaution to anchor in the middle of the stream.
It was a beautiful moonlit evening, and the intelligence of our arrival
having spread through the town, the nearest wharf was in a short time
crowded with people drawn together by curiosity, and a desire for
information relative to the fate of their friends and connections.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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