American Prisoners of the RevolutionDandridge, Danske
History
American Prisoners of the Revolution
Dandridge, Danske
United States -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783 -- Prisoners and prisons
“Lieutenant Dowdswell, with a party of Marines sent on board for our
Guard; this Mr. Dowdswell treated us with considerable humanity, and
appeared to be a Gentleman, nor were the Marines in General so Insolent
as the Ships Crew....On the 31st the Commissary of Prisoners came on
Board and took down the names, etc, of the prisoners....he told us
Colonel Clark and many other Officers were confined at Flatbush. On
Sunday, September 1st, we were removed to the ship Lord Rochford,
commanded by one Lambert. This ship was much crowded. Most of
the Officers were lodged on the quarter deck. Some nights we were
considerably wet with rain.”
The Lord Rochford lay off New Utrecht. On the third of September the
officers that had been confined at Flatbush were brought on board the
snow called the Mentor. “On the fifth,” says Fitch, in his written
account, of which this is an abstract, “we were removed on board this
Snow, which was our prison for a long time. * * * We were about 90 in
number, and ye Field Officers had Liberty of ye Cabbin, etc. * * * This
Snow was commanded by one Davis, a very worthless, low-lived fellow. * *
* When we first met on board the Mentor we spent a considerable time in
Relating to each other ye particular Circumstances of our first being
Taken, and also ye various Treatment with which we met on yt occasion,
nor was this a disagreeable Entertainment in our Melancholy Situation.
* * * Many of the officers and men were almost Destitute of Clothes,
several having neither Britches, Stockings or Shoes, many of them when
first taken were stripped entirely naked. Corporal Raymond of the 17th
Regiment after being taken and Stripped was shamefully insulted and
Abused by Gen’l Dehightler, seized by ye Hair of his head, thrown on
the ground, etc. Some present, who had some small degree of humanity in
their Composition, were so good as to favor them (the prisoners) with
some old durty worn Garments, just sufficient to cover their nakedness,
and in this Situation (they) were made Objects of Ridicule for ye
Diversion of those Foreign Butchers.
“One Sam Talman (an Indian fellow belonging to the 17th Regiment) was
Stripped and set up as a mark for them to Shoot at for Diversion or
Practice, by which he Received two severe wounds, in the neck and arm
* * * afterwards they destroyed him with many hundreds others by
starvation in the prisons of New York.
“On October first orders came to land the prisoners in New York. This
was not done until the seventh. On Monday about four o’clock Mr. Loring
conducted us to a very large house on the West side of Broadway in the
corner south of Warren Street near Bridewell, where we were assigned a
small yard back of the house, and a Stoop in ye Front for our Walk. We
were also Indulged with Liberty to pass and Repass to an adjacent pump
in Ye Street.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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