AilERICAE COPIPION SEAPIEN PRISONERS DB WAR fM BRITAXM DURING THE BBERICAN BEVOLUTfON

Ralph Nelson Skinner

B. A,, Occidental College, 1867 1

A THESIS SUBBITTED IN PABTIAL FULFILLBENT OF

THE REQBLREHENTS FOR THE DBGfEE OB

BASTER OF AWTS in the Departseat

History

> @ RALPH lJ3lSON SRINIBR 1975 SIMON f BBSEB UNZVEBSITX

, September 1975

All sights reserved, This thesis way not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, vitbout pernission of the author, Don 5. Kirschner

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Title of Thesis I~issertation:

American Revolution.

Author: - . - - - / I ., / / (signature) Ralph Nelson Skinner

(name )

December 9, 1975

(date) ABSTRACT

The history of the coB@on man has &t to be uritten,

This thesis atteatpts to begin that task by exploring the material left by the American common seaaten prisonefs of war: in Britain during the B merican fevolutioa, The secondary literature on the prisoners in the war for Aserican indepenuence has failed to distinguish between the experience of officers and that of the comaaq soldiers and seamen, Using the numerous diaries, journals, letters, petitions, and re~iniscencesof the prisoners during the American revolution, as well as the British documents and other contewporary scurces, resulted in the ~oaclusioathat distinguishing between the differeat captiye experiences of officer and comoner was treaendously significant Eor an understanding of the com~tan=an as WEPI as the pzisoner of war in the American revolutisa,

Essential prereguisites for uaderstanding the outlook and reactions oi the Aaerican coaiaon seamen prisoners of war sere the oppressive relatienship of the British navy togard the colonial seamen, the lack of opportunities for advaaceatent irr colonial society, the manpawer needs of the

British in the face of a naval war of attrition, and the

iii uncertain legal status as grisoner or rebel, The expansion of the British e~pirenecessitated an enlarged nawy with ever increasing duties, Britain relied on the ancient prerogative of impressment to raise tbe needed men* Colonial seamen were eretapt f roop irapxessment in theory, thongh hardly in practice, A legacy of resentasat toward the Bzitish navy and a tradition of resistance aad desertion on the part of the colonial seamen set the stage for their loyal service on privateers in the war for isdependenae,

The lack of other opportunities for advancement from the bottoa strata of colonial society resulted in a side range of people trying their hand at a life at sea, Aunavaf slaves, Indians, and Earmboys joined the traditional pool of seaboard citizens, making the group of seamen who fought for a chance to make their fortune as well as independence anything but a unified class of radical rebels. The traditional **psivate vatusen adprivateer prize shares tended to give the coaaon seaaan the look of the aspiring petty entrepreneur rather than working class ahlitant,

A large number of the seaBen raised through impressment deserted British service, causing a continual strain on Britaints ability to supply crews for the waiting vessels, As a partial solution to this dileama, pressure was brought to bear on captured seamen to join the British service, The ambiguity over whether these captured seameu were traitorous rebels or prisoners deserving the protection of internationai precedents ccocerning tzea tment of prisoners of war was used as part of the British pressuring tactics, The prisoner resgoase was i~pressiveia its frequent escape attentpts and low number of en.listiwnts into British service.

British reliaace upcn t ransputatioa of convices overseas prior to the outbreak of hostilities resnfted in aa less than adequate facitlities being available for prisoners of war and resorting to the *temporary expedientn qf using hulks ol decominissioaed ships for their confinement, Bhile

Bulks continued to be used throughout the war, hospitals and barracks were converted to serve as the ~aiadepots for Baerican prisoners at Pf praioukh and Portsnoutft, With spacious grounds and relatively uncrowded bui2dings, these prisons were generally heal thy places of confine~eat, The low death rate of the prisoners confined in England is best attribnked to the efforts of the prisoners %henselvesto oktain adequate food and clothing and the suppport they recei~edfroa sympathizers in Britain, The role of the Baerican yovernraent thfough the agency of Benjaain Franklin in Prance has been much orerrated, The aid provided gas &ore in the fora of exteosion of credit to cover the expense of escape than maintenance of a healthy regimen for aff those remaining in prison, Efforts made by Franklin touafd expediting an exchange failed repeatedly,

Cansideration of the harshness of the prisoa experience in Britain in the Americaa Revolution must take into account the two vorfds of experience--officer and common seaman, The difference between official British policy and the practice at the local level is also i~portant,the significant factor governing the coadition of the prisoners was the subscription funds raised by humanitarians and friends of the American cause,

Concentration solely on the situation of the prisogers and crediting the low deatb rate to enlightened British policy is misguided, Likewise, a8 emphasis on the coapiaints of the prisoners without an analysis of the changes in their condition through the course of the gar leads to inaccurate conclusions, The treatma& of prisoners of war sust be viewed in a larger context including the need for manpower by the expanding British navy, the conf 1iytiag economic forces between Britain and the colonies, alwd the typical job conditions of the seaman in the eighteenth century- Oqly in comprehending these perspectives does an accurate picture of the common man begin to eBerge, TABLE CP CONTEKTS

CHAPTER 1: IITRODUCTION

FOOTNOTES

CBAPTEZ 11: TBE BRITISH NAVY BBD TBE COLONIAL SEA&AN

CHAPTER 1x1: HATUBE OF THE WAR

CBAPTER IV: STATUS OF PRISCIEBS OF WAR

FOOT NOTES

CBAPTEB V: THE BRfTfSH PBISQN SYSTEM

FOOTNOTES

P CHAPTEB VI: P$ISOBEf EXPEBEENCE f N BBITAIN The history of the prisoner of war in the American

R~VO~U~~QZ~is vesy much a record of the common man- Siaply in terms of nuwbers, enlisted soldiers and sailors constituted the vast mjority of the men Caken captive in the war of American indiependeace, The history of She cowon iaan in the American Re~olutionhas yet to be mitten, and, despite his numerical i~portanceas prisoner of war, he Bas not been the focus of the work done on prisoaers of war in the American Revolution- (3) This thesis is an attieapt to begin the task of writing that history of the common Ban.

When historians have written about the coaaon soldier or seama, they have usually been concerned with his performance, 42) That is, the emphasis has bees placed on such things as the results of battles and the performance of the navy- This focus has left the actors in the dark, with only their collective deeds in the 3. ight 02 history, One of the difficulties of shedding fight on such actars is the paucity of primary source ~ateriafabout them- The prisoner in the American revolutionary war is an exceptioa to the dictum that the conmon man is coamon by the fact that he left no material with vhich the historian could work, To a senarkable extent, first hand sources, in the form of diaries, letters, sopgs, and rertliniscences, do exist, (3)

The prisoner of war in the American Bevofution is a particularly revealing topic of study because of certain aspects 02 the eighteenth century view of gar: and its captives, Officers were considered to have a bond of honour, even though they ~ighthave been officers of a rebellious colony the sovereign status of which was not only unrecognized buk also a ~a-jor issue of the conffict- When officers were not for some reason permitted a parole of honour, they were confined separately froa the common soldiers and seaitken, Past of the season far separation was a concern for security, It was feared that officer coatact with coamon prisoners would he1p thea organize escape attempts and strengthen their will to resist enlisting with the captive forces,

The separation policy had soae i~pqrtantkeseficial results for the historian interested in examining -the attitudes and activities of the coemner in this period of history, uncomplicated by the direct influence 02 his nbetters*g, the com@Qn prisoner was left on his oua to organize daily routine and prisoner regulations within the parameters set by the prima officials, Since, in the eighteenth century, these prison regulations were f ev and seldom enforced, the latitude open to the prisoner was quite wide, Due to the raature of the ccefinement and the lack of facilities available to the prisoner of war, self- regulation

became the @ode of the day, While this seented to concentrate oa attempting to escape, there was still plenty of opportunity to %rite, study, and manufacture handicrafts- Soae of the Bore educated seamen taught their feUov

pfisoners the f undaaentals of reading, writing, aatheaa tics,

and na~igation, With this new knowledge, some cosmon seaaien

prisoners were able to keep diaries that otherwise never

would hare existed, in extraordinary amount of material

representing a class of people who would not have left their

oersion of history for posterity is thus still availabk+

Thus, for one brief period cf his tor,^ at leas%, it was not uncommon fox the *coaaoa sanm to leave written historical

recards,

The contemporary soarces are especialfy good for

developing an understanding of the experience of the commonex ia the era of the American fevolution, The

Jonathan Haskins, Charles Iferbert, GlilLia~Bussefl, aqd

Wilfiam Widger accounts of 8iIl prison were all vritten at

the time of confinement, There are, howeves, weaknesses in

the prisoner sources, Continuity o;f the prison experie~ce is lacking where there are feu existing sources. Fortoa

prison in Portsaouth, England, for example, has only brief

and inadequate prisolaer scurce mteriaf for the pars 1780 to 1783, The thorough sources Eor the earlier years at porton show signs of ~lagiaris~,These instances were apparent1y- atte~ptsto fiZf gaps in accounts by borrowing fro& other prisoner journals uhen they were to be published, (4)

Pith other sources, the bias of the authors have resulted in intentional aisstate~ents, Jeremiah lofburn3s fist of Baericans in Bill prison, for exa~ple, lists %any prisoners as having escaped while the British government docuaonts have the& %listed as entering the Royal Navy- 15)

S a~uelCutler1 s journal sam?ti&es synthesizes opinions of other prisoners, On his first day in Hill prisoa, for exarrrple, he made a ccfndeltlnation of condftioas Ohat could not

Be based on his own experiences, [dl The journal credited to

Tiaothy Conaor by- its editor, William R, Cutter, offers no positi~eproof that it in fact belongs to Connor, Thus, it is difficult to correlate any background aaterial on Conaor with the views set forth in the journal, Soate of William

Widgeras diary is lost, &e entered Bill prison, Plyrtloukh,

England, on May 10, 3779, and was in as late as January,

1782, but only the porticp of his diary coseriqg 3 January to 5 December, 1783, remains, Ethan Allenls account of his prison experiences inust be viewed sefy cautiously because of its propagandistic intent, appearing as it did in serial form in 3379- 17) The journals of Ethan Allen and other captured officers, while certainly not representative of the cmmon Ban, are valuable for the descriptions they give of their fellow prisoners.

Another problexi with the sources is the editing that they have undergone over the years, Wiiliaa Bussellas journal has been drastically edited by Ralph Dt Paine,

There are only thirteen entries for fhe gear 3780 in his edition- f8)

Some of the prisoner accounts are reminiscences and therefore suffer froa failures of Bemory and the perceptions of hindsight, Joshua Barneyt s recolllections are scanty and Andrew Sherburae's mesoirs Here vritten far the benefit of his grandchiZdren fifty years after his i~prisonmeatand include sage ~isstate~entsof fact, (9)

The official documents of the governments concerned also offer considerabie infor~ationabout the situation in vhich the prisoners found the~selves, Both sides in the struggle set up departaents to deal with the prisoner of war issue. Com~issariesfor prisoners were appointed for the araay and naval. prisoners, their corresponding offices set up at the coloniaL level. In Britain, The Corrtmission of Sick and Hurt Seamen was given the task of ovefseeiatg the Araerican prisoners, At each prison, agents were assigned to look after the uelfare of the captives by disbarsing what fnnds and provisions were available, A11 of these activities involved complicated networks of correspondepce,

Huch of this material has snrvirrea, Taken with the prisoner accounts, and checked againsk other conteapocary sources, they offer the historian sufficient saterial to arrive at a compreheasive picture od the prisoner of war in the America@

Bevolukion, f 30) (1) Por a review of the Literature on prisoners of war in the American Bevofution, see Appendix.

(2) Edsrard C, Papenfuse and G~egoryA, Stivsrson, WGeneral s~aflvood~sBecruits: The Peacethe Career of the evolutionary War Private," WILLIAH ABD BAf Y QUBRT.EBbY 30 (January 1973) :317-1 18 n- 2,

(3) Sources on Bill prison, Plymouth, Eagland, are Joshua Barney, B BIOGRAPHICAL BEMOZR OF COBMODOBE JOSHUA BARNEY, edited by Bar]! Barney, (Boston: Gray and Bower, 1832); Jeremiah Galburn, List of the Bmricans Cogmitied to Qld ail1 Prison since the Aaericaa Ear,t* NEW ENGLAMD HISTORICAL 6 GENEALOGICAL 3EGXSTEB 35) (1863) :74-75, 136-34'1, 209-2134 Same1 Cutler, **Prison Ships, and the Old Bill Prison, Plymouth, England, 177P NW EPGLBBD Bf STORICAL E GENEALOGICAL BEGZSTER 32 (18?5):U2-$4, 18Q-388, 305-308, 395-398; Ebasles Herbert, A RELIC 04 THE REVOLUTION, {Boston: Charles H- Peirce, 1847) ; Wiflialtl Russell, "Journal," in Paine's SHIPS AND SBfLORS OF OLD SALEM; Andrew Shecburne, #Ei?lDIBS OF ANCREP SHEBBUPNE, B PENSIONEP OF THE MBVY OF THE REVOLUTION, iUtica, New Yorkz ~ilfia~s,1828; repfiat ed,, freeport N= Y1, Books for Libraries Press, l97Cl) ; William Bidger, '*eOill Prison i3iarygS ESSEB IPSSITFTE HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS 73 iOctober 3937) :33 l-3&7, 74 [January 1938) :22-48, 1Q2-358, Another source, unavailable to this author, is George Ralls, nAccount of Captivity in Revolutionary Manuscripts, tJew Hork Bistori~af Society Library, New York City- John K, Alexander, "*American Privateersn~nin the Hill Prison during 1777- 1782*: an Eval~ation,'~ESSEX INSTITUTE HISTORICAL C85LECTf OWS 302 (October 1966) :32 1, describes this as an llextre~elybrief dispositicn,*j For biographical inf or~ation on Sherburne, see Sidney G, aorse, z*The Pantee Privateersman of 1776," NEP EHGLAND QUABZBRLY 17 (Elarch 1949) :22-73, Sources on Forton Prison, Por tsaouth, England are Jonathan Carpenter, wDiary,m VEBHOBT HfSTOBICIL SQCfETP PBOCEEDfHGS ( 38722) :43-69; Timthy Comer, "A Yankee pri vateersaan in Prison in England, 1777-1779," edited by Hiflias 8, Cutter, N'EW ENGLAND HfSTORfCBL G GEMEAEOGfCAZ REGISTI38 30 (1874) :l74-l37, 342-352; 33 (1 E75) :18-20, 212-2 13, 282-288; 32 (1876):70-73, 155-168, 281-286; 33 [1827):36-41; Mathaniel Fanning, FANHINGIS WBfEATf YE: BEING THE REMOIBS OF NATHAPIEL PANBEPG, AN OPf ZFCEf OF THE REVOLU'PIONAPY EIAVY, 1378-1783, ed, by John S, Barnes (Hew York: The Be Vinne Press, 1912; George Thompson, WDiary of George Thompson of Newbury-port, kept at Portcra prison, Elgland, 3777- 1781,I* ESSSX IMY+l!IFUTE HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS 75 (July 1940) :221-242, For biographical informatian on Sathaniel ~aaningand his brothers who were also prisoners of war, see ~arnning~sHARRATIYE, ppt xviii, 217-221,

(4) For a thorough analysis 0% the plagiarism issue and how the sources can be oieued as "one legitimate soufceJ+, see John K, Alexander, "Porton Prison During the Amrican RevoLutioa: B Case Study of Britiish Prisoner of War Policy and the American Prisoner Besponse to that Poticy,3* ESSEX INSTITUTE HISTORICAL COL'tfC'fXOIS tQ3 4October 1967) 2365-365 n- 4, See &so his discussion of the proble~as in "Jonathan Haskins* Bill Prison *Diary5: Can St Be Accepted At Face ValueP HEW ENGLAND QUARSEBLY 40 (Deceaber 1967) :561-564, and r3Bvafuation, pp, 322-326,

(6) Cutler, '*Journal," p, 186,

(7) George Carey, "Songs of 3qck Tar in the Darbies," JOUBIBL OF AMEBICAN PE)LKL03aE 85 (April-Jnae 1972) :168; Alexander, mEvaXuation,ygp. 325 a, Q8; Widger, #E!iil Prison Diary,* 73 f3937):311-347; 74 (1938):22-18, 342-58; John Ditsky, @The Yankee Insolence of Ethan Allen," CABADIBI azvrm GF sxmwat; STUDIES 1 (Spring 197122, p- 36-

(8) Paine, SHIPS AND SAXZOBS Of OLD SALeB, pp, 325-32- Paine also includes a letter fro@ Bussell written ~IB1780,

19) Alexander, mErrafuation,*3 pp, 327-8, and Sherburne, BEHOIBS, p, 83,

130) The Coin~issicaof Sick and Hurt Seanrtea {CSHS) had responsibility for the care of lmerican naval prisoaers in Britain. The CSBS reported to the Lords of the Admiralty, The coraraissioners corresponrPence to the Secretary of the ~dfairaltyis located ie Estry Books, stored in the ~ublicBecord Office, London, England, under Bdatrafty 98, books 1 to 14, The aateriaf originating froa the Lords of the Adniralty is kept in the ~lationalaaritine auseu~, ~reenvich, Engf and, the volaae for 1777- 1780 is titled Bd/E/YD& and that for 1781-1783, Ad/&/UOS, Letters to the Secretary of State relating to lava1 affairs are Located in volumes 42 through 57 of the State Papers (~0Etesii.c: ~aval)ia the Public Record Of•’ice, They wiU hereafter Ce referred to as S,P, 42/57, The iaternal fetters of the Admiralty are located in the Public Record oftlce, under Hone Off ice, Correspondence and Papers, ~epartaental: ~dmiralty, aolu~e28, They vill subsequently be referred to as 8.0- 28, The House of Lords Becord Office has a "Petition of Upwards of two hundred Aaerican prisoners confined in ill Prison at Plymouth," dated 79 June 3781, The Public ~ecordOf •’ice also holds Buster books of British vessels and in soge of these are recorded the naaes of prisoners, the allowance given them, and their disposition, See, for exaaple, the Muster Book for H,H,S, HUSSBR in admiralty Huster Books, Series 1, 8030- Other log books relate details of captures, For exaapfs, see Bdmirafby, Accotlntallt ~eneral~sttepartnaent Log Books, Ad, 52 No, 2127 ~ook4, pp,. 28-29, The aost iaportaat of the contemporary . sources is undoubtedly the uork of John Houard, whose tours of penal systeas throughout Europe resulted in the first comprehensive analysis of treatment of prisoners and, by coincideace, of prisoners of war, See John Howard, THE STATE OF THE PRISOMS IN EBfLBBD AMD OALES, PXTB PBfLXH61ABY OBSBRV1T1OUSf AND AN BCCQUWT OF SOBE FOfQXfGM PRfSONS AND HOSPTTALS, 4th ed,, (London;: J, Johnson, E, ~ilxp, and T, CadeP1, 1792) - For an account of John Houard, see Uilliana E, Hart, AM APPBECIBTION CE JOElN HOHBBD, (St, John, New Brnnsuick: Lingley, I959f - See also R, RingsOan Box, BB, J0H8 PDTHEBGILL E HIS FRIENDS: CHBPTE8S IN EPGHTEEBTB CEBITUBY LIFE, {London: Macetillan G Eo, Ltd,, fglg), and Elax Gruenbut, PEZAL 2EFOaK A CGfiPABAPIVE STUDY, (8xf ord: Clarendon Press, 1988). pp., 31-35, The Boston GAPEITTE began a list of captured colonial prisoners in its June 24, 1782, isso&. The Pist was completed over the folfowing two issues and is an excellent source for comparisoa of the inf oraatio~ found in the priso~ers*diaries, See Afexander, avflaskinst *DiaryJ," p, SfiU n, 30, and Alexander, *Evalnationr,* p, 366, B letter Henry Laurens contains a list of prisoners of I; to I war at Bill, dated Harch 8, 3782, sere John Green, mAIolerican letterOtrSOUTH EBROLXNA HZSTORICAE BPGBZINE 10 tApril f P/~BFEE/B IE &lCC AC PCBDPOC , f E 1782; CBGCAlE JF E G/EEE,B f 19Q9):116-124. JereIoliah Colburn, *A List of the Americans F Committed to Old &illPriscn Since the Amxican War,If IBW E~GLANDBISTDRICM, G GENEALOGfCBL AEGISTEB 39 2744-75, 136-341, 209-213, has the saae list, Herbert coaapiled a list of Anaericans in Bill as of February '3, 3479, See Barion and Jack Kaminkou, BBRINERS OP THE AEERICAN ~~VOLUTIOH, fBal.t5faore, flaxyland: Eagna Cbarta Book Co,, 19673, pp. xv-xsi, for a discussion 05 material iq the British archives that has yet to be fouad, CHBPTEB ff

THE BRITISH NAVY AND THE CDLOHTAL SEABAN

To co~prehendfully the situation that Raerican conawn seamen prisoners of war faced and their reaction to captivity, one must examine the role of the British navy, the nature of the war, the British prison systes, and the Legal status of prisoners of war, To take a narrorer focus vould lead to aisinte~pretationsof the hasdships the seamen faced anu the context of their respoase, For baskance, exaeining prison rations without co~paringthe& to rations in the British navy vould be misleading, Siailarly, comparing the iztcide~ceof colonial prisonersJ escapes with theif enlist~entin the British navy without inyeskigating both the historical role of the British navy as the oppressor of their rights and privileges, and %he security of the

British prisons, aoufd lead to inaccurate cone1usioas- The folAowing chaptefs deal uifh the s~atureof the uar, the status of prisoners of war, aed the British prison Systeiu, before the prisoner experience in Britain is examined, %his chapter is concerned with the relationship of the British

Bav~to the co2oaial seaaen in the decades preceding the Outbreak of the war for ~aericanindependence, The single lnost important factor governing the

livelihood of seamen in the eighteenth century was the growth of sea trade, The size and role of the British navy expanded concoaitantly, Uhile serving as protector of

British traae, the navy did not protect the rtterchant seamen,

Through ifapressaent, corruption, harsh co@itions, and 10%

pap, the navy becaae anatheaa to the average Jack Tar,

Parliament recognized the importance of the navy as

the foundation of the eapire, and realized that its growth

in size and i~portancerequired more men a51 the time, To

keep the supply of trained seamen increasing with the growth

of the countrySs naval needs, in 1598 Parliament passed an

act requiring masters of English fishing vessels to train

inexperienced semen by requiring that twenty percent of

crews be coraposed of novicros, [I)

nith the beginning od the war and the need for rapid expansion of the size of the navy asd consequent shortage of searnen, new neasures were taken, The statute protecting

American sealgen fro@ Hapressmeat (6 Bane, c. 37, s- 37) had

been superceded in practice during previous wass but was

voided in 7775 by 15 George fZf, c, 34, s- 19- Early

in 1776, Parliament passed an act peroitting foreign seamen to comprise two-thirds cf the crew of English merchant vessels, Volunteers were called and the press intensified, $2)

If the nayy could have retained the men raised for service, the systegi would have proved quite adequats, but the unpopular nature of civil war, the hardship oS nalraf service in contrast to merchant or privateerinq life, and the abuses of the irrrpressaent system itself resulted in a constant flow of men out of: the navy, 13) Probably the aost

i~portantreason gas the coapetitioa for seamen by the

merchant fleet, gages reached tripf~the pay offered by the

navy, The navy board eveo paid seaaen in army victuallers

laore than double the pay ia the navy, 14) The opportunity to receive a large share of prize money above and beyond noraal

wages was a strong incesltive to serm on a privateer, Tke

liraited duration of the average voyage and lax discipline on psivateers compared favourably to that in the navy,

That there was no stated period of enlistment in the Barry aggravated the seaman, The aan vith responsibilities

at honie could not meet thea because of the uncertainty of

When he might return, Thg fear of desertion led to ~easnres that also caused it, Ships* captains denied liberty to

, their raeg for fear of runaaays, Paysent of wages was delayed for extended periods in the hope that those with pay due would be less likely tc run, Seamen would also lase

this backpay owed the@ vhen accouats were not settled before

they vere transferred to a new ship, t5) Rarsfi measuf es Here

the result of a shortage od Ben and the fear of losing those

the navy had through desertion, Trying to solive the onanning

problea by coercion resulted in c ore desertion, 46) These factors along with an inefficient adainistration caused twice as many men to be raised for service as @erein

service at the peak level of the war,

Landsmen for service ia the British navy caw from

the sage places as axmf recruits, They vere ealisted

through the carrot-and-stick of bounties and coapulsion-

Vhep included debtors, convicted fefons and ne'er-do-wells shipped off as quota iaen by corporations and Parish Councils, * 47)

Xapressraent was an aacieat, feudal prerogative of the

Crown, brought up to date and legalized in a series of acts o•’ Parfiaaent in the first decade of the eighteenth century. ghile these acts gave the aaval service the authority to take men against their will, they also granted proteckion to certain groups, For exa~lpfe, young seaBen under eighteen and apprentices were sxeoagt- The power to inapress gas delegated to several different authorities, incfnding every ship captain, In wartime, the primasy agency uas the iapress service, The press gangs were the aaio arm of this service, Though notorious, the press gang had a Bore difficult tiae collecting seamen dispersed in port than the naval kranch of the press.

A fleet of cutters waited at the south of the harbour faincoming merchant vessels- Each ship was searched for seaBen hiding f rain the press, Merchant capaains attenipted to protect their ablest men by listing some as dead or runaways so that the gang would not know the exact auaber on board, f E the press left the vessel with too feu hands to

~akeharbou~, the cutter would provide the deficiency with a part2 of "&en in lieu,** They were local fisheraea or f ongsboreaen e&pfoged just for this purpose- Berchants

would also ary to save their crews fsoa the press by snuggling tbeln ashore before reaching port, replacing them

with Longshoremen and them who held protections, (8) The

eagerness of the press boat was revealed hen John Paul Jones cruised ofl the Scottish coast, One of his first captures was a boat sent with a gang to press from the

RANGERes crew, (9)

The system of iapressment uas an important cause of dese~tion, The iapress service raised half the men who served in the navp, Another third were pressed directly from ships by the navp warships atte~ptingto reach full compliment before leaving harbour. The rest volunteered at the ships. (30)

Of those brought in by the press sesvico, tuo-thirds

received the volunteer s bouat y, Zt is enlightening that all, faced with the intimidation of the press gang, did not

make *'the best of a had situation**and t*voltunteer,13 getting . the extra monep as a bonus, %hen soaeone was confronted by

the press gang, he %as offered the chaace to aroluateer- "Pi

he accepted, he was later paid the bounty- aany seaBen

preferred to be pressed aad to refuse the kingis shilling,

since they could not be charged with desertion should they

flee and faten: be caught,# To a certain degree this refusal

to volunteer uas a tacit stateaent of intent to flee and

clouded the hopes of the saval adainistratioa to keep a

large percentage of those brought into service, (31) There were many abuses of the impressment power, It was used as punishment for accidents and poor performance at sea, The press gang also nsed its strength against labour militancy and violated the law in search of sailors, The punish~entfor running into a British ship was the loss of four men to the damaged navy vessel, B British convoy vessel would take two Ben as penalty for not keeping up or straying from the convoy, The press would harass fishermen vben they retused to act as men in lieu, a form of strike breaking, The press gang would also help out bg serving anti-riot duty, In at least one instance, the psess gang caused a riot, knowing the sailors ia the area would coae out to sektle the dispute, (12)

Rules regulating ia@ressment in the colonies were generally ignored due to the lack of acconntability, given the distance frata the authorities back in Britain. Even though the Bet for Encourage~entof the Trade to Anerica included a clause prohibiting ispresswat in the colonies (6

Anne, c, 37, p, 13) , there were probleens with the interpretation of the duration of that prohibitioa. After a

few cautious years, the Bsitish navy renewed iiapsossaent in

the colonies with vigour- There were three days of anti-impressment riots in Boston in 1747, 'fapressmen% continued to be a growing cowern and resistaaoe to it g*becaae eventually a part of the general revolt against British authority, which resulted in American independence, ** (13)

Another aspect of iapressment in the colonies was the large scale forgery of certificates of imtunity, Certain occupations were graated an nissue of protection+*to secure

them from disruption, Men Kork developed as a headquarters for the forgery of these certificates, "fapress officers

knew this, so they were always suspicious when a seamn claimed protection as an American, This was one reason why arany B~tlericans%ere pressed," [l4)

The crew of one ship that retook control froa the

prize crew aEter it had been captured was iapressed as they

brougftt the ship iato Liverpool, Another exa~p2eof tke

willingness of the navy to take everyone they could get is the examination procedure for American prisogers hefore

entering prison in Great Britain, One purpose of the lengthy exatltinatiort was to discover '*all Eagfishigen and

Xrisftaen [who] were f thea] impressed into the Kingfs fleets3*

Of course, this incf uded those born ia the colonies who did

not have sufficient proof of their birthplace, $35) The expansion of the navy dor the war outstripped the prewar efforts to ensure an adequate supply of high quality, trained seaBen, Proa 1774 to 1783, the aumber of ships in comaission jusped fro& 103 to 430, and men in sea pay froa

17,333 to 107, W6, The channel fleet of 1778-3739 was filled with fever ridden old men, young bops, and wen from the jails, Those men entering the nav2 hsalthp probably diit not stay that way long, largely because of colnditions of food and discipline- (16)

Victuaffing in the British navy was done through a purser, checked by the ship captain, and oversden by inspectors, The basic coptradictioa in the sgstea was that the contract systeis was based on profit, To examiae corruption and how it a•’fected the seananas experience in

the navy of the eighteenth century, it is probably best to

exaraine one area such as the noraal diet of the crew, 137) ghat uas sufficient, what was expected, and how it was obtained can be compared to the strncture that was supposed

to provide a healthy diet to the men who served the eiapire

in its uiost critical area, The seartian was supposed to

receive a set amunt of food each gee%, This aaouat, however, was reduced by the purser by one-eighth to cover

losses due to waste arid seepage- So~eamount beyond that eighth vent due to corruption amng pursers, &hat se~ained tended to be more than enough for the sailor because it was

ccprrlmon for hini to sell a part of it back to the purser for cash used to purchase vegetables fro@ bumboats that came

alongside the ships in harbour, The principle was one of

pesaissiveness-- *what the men ate Mas up to 'the ~e~tf~-'*Each

captain was to look after his crew but each man was to look

a•’ter hinself, (18)

The 1734 edition sf Begulatioes and Instructions

listed the amunts of food to be supplied to each sailor,

Each week the sailor was sepposed to receive seven pounds of biscuit, seven gaflcas cf beer, four pounds of beef, two

pounds of port, two pints of peas, three pints of oat~eal, six ounces of butter, and %ue2ve ounces of cheese, Exact

equivalents #ere specified for any snbstitutes- (39) Principle and practice hardly coiacided,

The purser had naay logistical probleas in handling

the food supplies for the navy, The governmmt had to

predict the coaing year's needs at the begineing of the

killing season, The Beat then had to be salt packed, As the wafaer weather arrived, this packing beca~emore

difficult, The problems for the inspectar were sirsilar- Items like butter, beer, and cheese came in contrac%orts

casks and could only be spot checked, ~ogistical.difficulties were insignificant, Bornever, in compasison to the effects of corruption, There was considerable political influence in the coatracting system,

Agents for food orders took a percentage off the top. For example, the agent ia Jamaica took tea percent off the meat orders. This usually invoived the collatoration of the ship's officers, The accounts Were kept by the captaist and the purser, They used false vouchers to shag a favourable balance, The corruption alaong pursers Bas been described as

Ha way of life," but it is inportant to note that this corruption would have been iitrpossiblo if the captains had done their jcb, i(2O)

The contractiag syskea, however, %as tho basic source of corruption, It was here that the greatest profits vere to be aeade, The curitfactors were in the position to buy off a11 tbose who were supposed to keep a reg la la tor_^! eye on the system, The inspectors, for exaaple, were civil servants ubo could not be ptomoted- TO inprove their i,ncoaa, the obyious nreans aas the coatractorls bribe,{21) corruption Has inherent in the contract systee- Those taking the contracts vere doing so for a profit- "re desire to maxirnize prof it was contradictory rnith Supplying the best food possible to the navy- If a contractor had stock marked

"raot saleable for borne c~nsurtlption,'~the Pavy was the logical outlet for it, (22) one mitigating factor in this life of poor food was the possibility of fresh food cn voyage, Ships tossed lines over to catch fish as they sailed. One vessel caught fourteen dolphins during cne month of a cruise, The ships vould also pick up fresh sapplies fro& Che focal buaboats when going by an island, (23) levertheless, the conditions that the seaman faced %ere incredibly harsh in the British navy, less so in the naerchant; and privateering fleets, hut still rigorous, While the conditions in the navy were a cause for desertion, they did not alsays result in the colonial. searaan leaving 1iEe at sea for another vocation,

That the sailor would stay in the face of these conditions was not serely because a life at sea was @hat he tnev best, An examination of the society on the colonial seaboard reveals that he had feu brightef altenatives,

Land Mas becotlting scarce and expensive- Socieky was highly stratified and becoriag aore solidigied, '*Ben nithout capital had little hope of acquiring their own far@,,,,free laborers and servants at the bottoa Bad only aarginal opportnnity to rise in social o~ econo~ic status,*(24) A study of the recrniks in the revolutionary arag concluded that they enlisted not out of duty or patriotism but because *#Harpland society ofberod thein feu other opportunities for e~prloyarenLt~~25)The bounty offered to men to join the Baryland Continental Line was JQquivaient to approximately one-quarter of the total assessable

property owned by the avesage recruit or his faxtily-n It

provided the imediate cash necessary to make ends meet or,

in the case of a dependent, reaoved the burden of the cost

of supporting him- (26) The observations of Ensiqq Thoxtas Hughes, on parole near Boston, reveaf the hardships in

colonial society, He notes deprecia tion of currmc y and immense taxes as accounting for t be **disaffecticxi aaongst

Americans" and describes mb riots over prices1 327)

Economic hardship was great among seamq oa both

sides of the Atlaatic, Wikh the war, the tobaaco trade

centred on the Clyde came ta a standstill, Haff of the

sailors were left uithout uork and turned to privateering

and battling the press. (28) Others who comprised the

prbvateersQcrew were runaway slaves, A typical

advertiseinent in the cclcsial Beuspapers uouf d seek the return of a runaway "who has been used to privateeringtf, 129)

This is not to say that aLf those in the privatees3s csev Mere unemployed and otheruise uneqloyabfe, The lure of

adventure anrr prize shares also brought out khose dissastisfied vieh their jobs, Ben Welles, in a letter

explaining shy he is jqoff a priwateering", mentions that he

nanted to get away front his 'jcontemptibfe ~ocatioq*~.(30) The reaction of a theological student, passenger on board a privateer in 1760, is probably the best example of the initiation into the seanianfs life,

H claabered up the side and found myself in the aidst of the most horrid copfusion, The deck was crowded full of men, and the boatsuain*~shrill whistle, with the swearing and halooing od the petty officers, af most stunned my ears,,,, I observed a young gentleman walking at a distance,,,he invihed Be dovn between decks to a place he called his berth, f,,,folloved him ddown a ladder into a dark and disaal regioa, where the fuaes of pitch, bilge water and other kinds of qastisess alstost suffocated ae in a ~xtieute,,,,rJe entered a satall aparement, hung round with da~pand greasy canvas, which &ad@, on every hand, a aost gloomy and frightful appearance, In the middle stood a table of pine, varnished over with nasty slime, furnished with a bottle of rn& and an old tin ~ugwith a hundred and fifty bruises and several holes, through which the liquor poured in as many strea~s,,,this dekesta.ble aparttasnt uas allotted by the captain to bs the place of ay habitation during the voyayeZ,,.

[ After dinner, preparations for sleeping were ~ade,j A row of greasy caav as bags, hangiag overhead by the beairis, were unlashed, Into one of them it was proposed that I shcufd get, ia osder to sleep, but it was with the utmost difficulty I prewnted syseff fro% falling aver on the other side, i31)

One of the feu outlets for imgroveaent in the sailorss lot was footlocker capitalisnt, A tradition in the merchant service was the cpportunity for the sailors to fill. their sea chests with the products available in port for their own private ventures, Thus each sailor who wished to ia~esthis earnings was encouraged to do so and the pfactice 0 became common, jlSo firmly was this custom established that

it %as generally accepted that the seauan who did not engage

in such importations had a right to the freight charges

which a cargo b~oulahave brought,"[32) This tradiltional

custo~was attacked by the British ia 1768 vhea the new

Board of Customs Comissioners ruled the contents of the

sea-chests as part of the cargo and therefore subject to

confiscation if not listed, Thus the seaman, already

hounded by the possibility of i~pressraent,increasingly had

to fear that his custoaary avenue for capital accuraulatioa

uouf d be con2isca ted, (33)

The British navy played an important roLe in the

expansion and consolidation of empire, It also had a treraendobzs effect on the cortrmon seanian, While protecting

commerce by its presence, the navy overturned the

protections coseriag seainen by impressing them into its

service, Desertion was tho answer to iapress~entand Bore

impressment beca~ethe solution to the problea of desertion,

This cycle coatinued its iaefficient way building resentment and self-reliance among seataen while postponing aq effective

resolution, The corruption in the navy also resulted in

Jack Tarqs seeking cut his own solutions, The hard life at

sea and especialiy in the navy %as the best of feu alternatives fcr ~ostof those uhc chose to earn a living at sea, The outlet that off%red some hope of accuaulating capital was the private venture, The opportunity to couple a steady job at sea with a chance to wmake oneas fortune" was the ray of hope that enabled rany to endure auch disco~fort, Whea this began to be taken away ia the decade before the revolution, the colonial seawan was left vitb a bitterness toward the navy and a legacy of independent action for soLutkon to his problems, The choice of privateesing and the deterinined spirit ia the face of imprisonment had their initial impetns in this legacy. FOOTNOTES

(1) Dofa Hae Clark, "The I~pressnaentof Seamen in the American Col~nies,~in ESSAYS 38 cCILo?UAt HISTQRY PRESENTED TO CHARLES &CLEAN AlDREWS BY HIS STUDENTS, (Freeport, H, Y, : Books for Libraries Press, '1366), p, 199, The law was 10 William XIf, c, 25, pl. 9, (2) Roland G, Usher, Jr, , "Boyal Navy I~pressraent During the Aaerican Bevolution,'* E~~SSISSIPPIVALLEY HISTORICAL REVIEW 37 41950-3951) :679. 665, Clark, ;*Irapressaentrf, p, 223, The act, 16 George III, c, 20, was annually renewed 3733-1782, This procerlurs 40 iacsease the available supply of British seaEen to war the levels was ancient, see "Navy Board to Admiralty, February 25, 1L89, Shelburne Papers 939, 240- 3,gfa as cited in Usher, "Boya3. Navy", p.. 675, See Usher, "Royal gavya, p, 673, on the ilnportaace of trained sealtlen to the fleet, The wording of 6 Bane was contradictory as to the duration of the exeraption of colonial seaiuen froa im&ress~eat, Subsequent Beasures did little to clarify the situation until 1775, For coverage of the cont~oyersy, see L, Jesse Le~isch,"Jack Tar vs, john Bull: The Hole o,f Beu Yorkas Seamea in Precipitating the Revolutican (PLD, dissertation, Yale Unritrersiity, '1 962) , pp, 12-51,

13) fB3CD,, p, 582; Usher's skatistics are 235,000 raised between 1775-1783, of which 116,357 were raised by the impress service, {pp, 2b77-678), Betweea 1376 aad 1780, "only 7,243 were listed as killed by the enemagEa while 113,500 died of vonnds, illness, etc, The total nuaber of desertions for the period 29 August 1795 to 14 fabruary 1783 was 79,000, About 30,000 sere aade nnserviceabfe abecause of wounds, illness, or ageH or Were paid off when the ships were win for large repair of decorxtnissioaiag- Of the 79,000 listed desertions, 47,028 were in home vaters, 14,845 in North Aaerica, 15,191 in the West fndies, and the re~ainderin the #editerrmean and East Indies, fp- 605)-

(5) IBIL Among the minor iacentives to desert, Usher westions punishi~ent, the lack of aedical care, feu shore liberties and no retiseaent possibilities fp. 687)- See also 3, Stewart, "The Press Gang of the Boyaf %avy,IT UMZTED STATES NAVAL IBSTITGTE PBDCEEDf MGS 86 /3ctobsr 1960):84, for a discussion of poor wages and the coapetition of the transport and merchant fleets as a "powerful stimulus to desertion," (6) J, Stewart, **Press Gangn, p. 84, For the harsh measures by the British in need of men in earlier wars, see Eugene L, Armbruster, THE UALLABQUT I?RISO&-SHIPS, 177t.i-1783, gPiev rork: Privately printed, 3920) , p* 13,

17) 3, Stewart, *#PressGangw, p, 88,

{a) XBID,, pp- 84-86, for a detailed description of the land press, see pp, 86-87,

(9) &. #, Barzitt, *$The Navy and the Clyde in the Aaerican War, 3777-1783,1* HBRINER*S PIIBBOFb 55 (January 1969) :39-

(10) Usher, "Royal MaryH, pp. 678, 675- For examples of a Jjhof. press," see Timotby Coanor, **A Yankee Pri~ateersmanin Prison in England 1777-1379,8* ed, by Milliar& B, Cutter, HEW ENGZAPD BIS3OBICAL G GEBEBLOGECBL 3EGISTER 30 (1874)2349, 31 1'1835) :28!L John It, Alexander, jrJonathan Carpenter aad the Ilserican Revolutioa: The Sournal of an Aaerican Naval Prisoner of Gar and Vermoat Zndian Fighter,** YEBE301T BISTOPY 36 tSprinq 9958):80; Barritt, "Navy and the Clyde", pp,. 36, 37-

(11) Usher, "Royal lavya, p, 577- Of 116,357 brought in by the i~psessservice, 72,558 acsepted the vohunteer bounty, 43,699 refused, Usher does not connect the significance of this fefnsaf to the i~pressservice being a iaajor cause of desertion- Oe the cosdtrary, he plays a auaber gaBe with those "pressed= by gangs fro8 warships, choosing to vie# them as soaehou differeqt froa "pressed men" -- aeankng only those attributable to the iiapress service, He feels that the ni~provisedcharacter of the iiitpress service, as well as the nu~bersof mea it raised, are an antidote to the coitEtnon suppositioq -that the navy was largely maneea by pressed men," fp, 576). Because he could not detail the nusber i~pfessedfron rarships froa the sources he used, he 3isited his definition of lsi~ptessed seaaenH to exclude all kut those fros the i~prsssgtent service, For details on the size and aimprovisedlQharacter of the impressment service, see p, 676,

(12) 3, Steuart, '*Press Gangw, pa 85, En the virtually ungoverned sections of seaports that the sailors frequented, a vigilante jus-tice elrisked in what E, P, Thompson has called the n~osaleconoiay of the ~rowd,N The sailors would take part 18 collective decision aakinq in the I street, See E, P, Thompson, "The tioral Economy of the i English Crowd in the Eighteenth Century," PAST G PRESENT 50 (February 1971):76136; L, Jesse Lemisch, "Jack Tar vs, John Bull: The Role of New York9s SeaBen in Precipitating the Revolutiozla {Ph-Dm dissertation, Yale University, 1962), pp, 52-128, .En j*~evolutionaryViolence and the Peievance of History,*3 review of BOSTON, 1689- 1776 by G, 3, garden and THE BOSTON #ASSACRE by Hiller B, Zobel, in JOu3NAL 03' IWTEBDISCXPLIHBBY HISTORY 2 [Sunner 1971), Pauline Haier notes that there is *considerable evidence, in fact, that those uho participated in uprisings %new the laws of their country, defended their fights under the@, and that considerations of legality played aa iaportant role in their tactics,*# (p- 332)-

113) Cla~k,mIrapEesswxit+t, p, 207, for a full discussion of the prohlens of hterpsetation 05 6 Anne, the effect of impr~sstaenton -the rasrchants involved j.n the colonial trade, and the excerpt from 6 Anne eoncesning iapressment, see pp- 207-215- For a petitioa ffan 150 merchants describing disasters in comerce resulting fro& iapress~eatin Aaerica, see p. 205, See also Neil 8, Stout, **Banning the Boyal Navy in aosth America, 3763-1775,:' AMERICAN MEPTUbfE 23 fJufp 1963) :175-185- (14) J. Stewart, *'Press &angel p. 87.-

415) Sarnuel Cutler, **Prison Ships, and the *Did Hill Prison,"PlytltoutB, Englaad, 1777," NEB BNGLBlD HXSTOBICAE E GENEALOGLCBL REGISTE'B 32 [I8763 :44 3 Howard L, Applqgate, "Aasrican Privateersiaen ia the 8ili Prison During 1777-1782," ESSZX XNSPLTU'PE HfSPOBXCWL COLLECTLONS 97 (October 1461):303, For the coraplete discussion of the examinat ion, see Chapter VL

(16) Christopher Lloyd and Jack L, S. Coulter, HEDfCXNE BMD THE NAVY 1200-1900, 4 vols, fZoadoa: Ew 2 S, Livingstone, Ltd,, 1961) , 3: 123-124, Fos ample details of the incredible state of medical health ia the British navy, see IBID,, 3: 12% 137, and %he table of sick per rtumber of seaman per year, 3:332, *2he state of the navy from a inedical point of view sas so bad between the years 1778 jwhen the war becarrte general) and 1783 that it must be accounted partly responsible for the defeat which Britain suffered,J* 43: 122)-

(17) For a vier of the health of seaBen in the Royal navy, see Lloyd and Coulter, BEDIGIME, 3258-69, for grobfe~sin hospital ships, 3~125-137, for the tolls of disease in Rodney ls fleet, 3: 743- 150,

seven, At twelve he ran away g3tobe freen, Then when he was an apprentice there was **not enough work for 2 apprenticesH where he and a~otherworked, so his boss allowed him to go to sea for a share of his pfize aoney, Shortly after his first cruise, his father died leaving his niother with eight children to feed, so he went on a second cruise Wo help outJ*, (p- 75)-

f25) Papeaf use and ~tiverson,NGeneraf ~aallwood*s Recruits,** p, 131. This study shows that ~ostof the privates in the riaryland Continental Line were s'neniy freed servants, free laborers, or the scns of poor far~aers,*hand that the arrtly "offered a uay of arrieliorating their econoniic condition or provided at least a means of attaining a rseasure of econoniic security during the term of their enlisttitent, The imeaiate attraction of enlistimqt was the SUB of money received for joining, either the inducement for serving as a substitute easfier in the gar or the bouaty paid in the case of StaalAwod% recruit^,^ (p, 127).

(27) Tholeas Bugbes, @*Jonrnalof Ensign Thonsas Hughes, prisoner of gar at Lancaster, Eay 1779 to Naveaber 7780," compiled and annotated by Borbert W, Beck, LAICASTER COUltlTY HISTORICAL SBCIETP PAPEBS 58 (1 954) :7-8,

(28) ~arritt, "Navy and the ClydeH, pp, 33-36,

(29) lieuport HERCUBY, July 15, 1780, quo-ted in Sidney G- Morse, nThe Yankee Paioatoersaan of 3735,w HEW ENGLBND QUABTEBLY 17 IHarch 3944):75-76,

430) Horse, nPankee Priva.teersaan,-" p, 74,. Ne also aentions that he was in it for maey and adventare, He served as a aarine on the #88S privateer. The fetter was dated 33 April 1778, I (31 ) Horse, "Yankee Privateiixsinaa," quoted in John Robinson and George f. Dou, THE SAILPNG SHEPS Of NEW BIGLAID, 1607-1907 (Safe@, 1922) :38-YOo

(32) Zeaisch, "Jack Tar vs, John Bull,H p, 42; Borse, t9Yankee Privateersnian," p- 75; James D, Phillips, f*Safera revolotionary privateers condemned at Jaaaica," ESSEX INSTITUTE BISTORSCAL COLLECTIONS 76 f l%O) z 47, 49; and Thoaas C, Parramre, $*The Great Escape fro@ Portca Gaol: An Incident of Lhe Pevoluti~n,~WORTH CB8OLXNR HISTOBIIBL REVIEW 45 fDeceraber 1968) :35U, See also Oliver M- Dickerson, THE BAVIGBTTON ACTS AND THE BBEBfCRN REVDLUTPON (Philadelphia, 19511, pp* 218-219, and Biclhard B. Borris, GOVEBNfiEiJT AND LABOR fN EABLP ANERICA (He# York, 1946), p, 239, See also how a sailor could lose his capital to the sharp operators in port who knew better the fluctuations of the local inflationary currency, Horse, "Yankee Pri~ateersman,~*pp.. 83-84, EHAPTEP 1x1

NAPUfE OF TEE VAi?

Hax Farrand describes the American Wevolutionary war as a guerilla action, The colonists fought and retreated, putting up an "irregular resistance," [I) Part of this strategy was to buy ti~ein order to equip, train, and discipline an aray, (2)

One of the reasons for the success of this type of warfare was the British view that the rebellion would collapse in time, Richard Howe, as both general and peace com~issionsr, sought a blocdless victory in the southera colonies to shov Congress its folly in coetinuing the struggle, The feeling was that time %as OD ltbe Britisb side and a de~onstrationof superiority would be sufficient, The

British were '*counting uFcn the coloaises beconing tired of continuiag the rebellion, But tiale %as a factor working in favor of the Antericans, rather than the British- "$3)

The was on the side of the colonists not because of the guerilla warfare tactics, but rather because of the concurrent tactics of a harassing war of disruption and attrikion, Privateer warfare robbed the British war efiort of manpower and supplies, interrupted shippiny* and captured millions of dollars worth of prizes, Insurance rates skyrocketed, Ships without escorts became difficult to insure, Ships wilth escrsfts still. had to pay triple the pre-war insurance rates and caused a further drain on the supply of Banpawer, It was the econoiaic crisis precipitated by this war of attrition that produced the "cut our lossess* cliatate of opinion in lcqd~nand forced an alti~ate reappraisal when the French fleet co-ordinated with Washington8s aray at P~rktcun-

The efforts of the mariners of Coaneckicut alone resulted in the capture of "very nearly five hundred sail of all1 classes,~(4) while **the ports of FairEiefd, Mor~alkand Staraf ord vers the scenes sf al~ostdaily excitement,, ., prisoners constantly coming in,*[5) The naval war was disruptive enough to cause General Bove to ask for 15,000 Bore troops and the implementation of an effective blockade,

He resigned #hen he did oat receive the aid, t6f Over 55 ships worth more than 1,800,000 pounds had been lost to the rebels, 1(7) Edgar @faclayestimates that tho total value of vessels captured by privateers for the entire war exceeded

$18 million, He atteiapted a conpilatioa af cruisers saifing for the continental forces and those under privateer colgmissions that reveals a steady decline in continental forces through the war and a pheno~enalrise in the numbes of privateers* 18)

Class of cruiser 1776 7777 1778 1779 3780 1781 3782

Continental 31 3U 21 20 13 8 7

Privateer 136 73 215 767 228 449 323

Colby M. Chester esti~a'testhat privateers were responsible for capturing over 24 inillion do1f ars worth of eneay property, The strategic iiaporlance of the source of this weaftb -- troop trans~srtsand supply vessels -- is duf y noted, (9) The nurriber of laen utilized in privateering has been estimated at 40,000 men,[10) The alaounts of money taken by privateers was considerabie, Pantastic suas were accumulated by the sore su-ccessf ul privateers- (6 3) The total nuabes of prisoners taken by the privateers "could not

have been short of sixteen thousaad," (12) The figures for

safe^ are indicative of the larger picture of privateer warfare, Of 758 ships sent out fro& sale^, 54 were captured, But ninety per cent of the 445 prizes taken by

Salem vessels reached cofcnial ports safely.. (33)

The British mercantile view at the outsat of the war considered the cost of the war to he recoverable in the form of the British merchant fleet securing the colonists3 share of coaaerce, The failure ko met this expectation and the prospect of increasing losses led the British mercantile class to protest against the contiauance of the war, [14)

The sailing notices for British vessels show that merchants needed to arm their vessels, No insurance uas available for ships without convoy, Heavy preaiuss of up to 70% had to be

paid. (15) f n June, 3776, iraerican cruisers captured about

500 British soldiers ahoard transports headed for the colonies, (36) The BEflZHBRANCER published a list of English

vessels taken by Aaericans in 1774 totalling 342, only Y4 of

which were recaptured, 117) The British lost 467 aerchantmen

during 1777, despite a force of 70 glen-of-war along the

American coast, 418) The unprecedented destruction of

British commerce was the subject of pleas to Parliament to bring abont peace with Aaerica, Alderman J, Hoodbridge

testified on February 6, 3778, that *the number of ships lost by capture or destroyed by h~ericanprivateers since

the beginning of the uar was seven hundred and thirty-three* whose cargoes were csaputed to be worth over ten aillion

dollars.n (19)

The war was taken to the Bsitish with American

pri rra teers cruising around the British isles, The

expeditions of John Paul Japes caused great afar&- SiPas

Dean, writing to the Baritirae Co~~itteein 3177, said that Jones* presence "ef fecitually alarreed England, &revented the great fair at Chester, occasioned insurance to rise, and even deterred the English merchants from shipping goods in

English vessefs at any rate of ins~rance,~(20) Ben jamin

~ranklinsas the role that privateers could play in European waters, From his vantage in Pafis, he wrote the Coaruittee on Foreign Affairs on Bay 16, 1777, that two frigates "might intercept and seize a great part of the Baltic and Horthern trade, One frigate would be sufficient to destroy the whole of the Greenland fisheries and take the Hudson Bay ships ret~rninq.~f21)

George Washington also realized the igportance of naval superiority and wrote, in formulating a plan with the

French arpiy, 35 July 3780, that "In all operation and under all circuastances a decisive naval superiority gust be looked upon as a fnndaaental principle and the basis on which rests all hope of final success,**f22) The importance of privateering efforts began early in the uar with the coreraissioning of vessels by Washington, The orders to the captain of the schocner Harrison, 22 October, 1775, mention that the *@design of this Enterprise [~as],~,to Intercept the supplies of &he Enemy, To eacourage the men, **one-third Part of the Cargo of every vessel,,,,taken and sent into

Portw mould be split accordiag to a table of shares, the captain receiving six and groportional through the ranks to the private's one, (23) The privateers were not only disrupters of British commerce and suppliers to the colonies, They performd many other tasks, such as carrying envoys, dispatches, and specie, During the critical years 1775 to 3777, privateers aaintaiaed the link to Europe, and revealed the nature of the struggle both to Britain and Prance, ~akingthe French alliance possible, (24) An exaaaplle of an extraordinary endeavour by a privateer was the Laking oE a Spanish letter of Barque carsylng 150 British troops frog Pensacola, The

Spanish vessel nor~ally~ouPd not have beea de taiqed, but the capitulation at Peasacofa enabled the British troops to ship to Me3 Pork vhere &hey could be e~ployedagainst the colonists, The privateer HOLKEB took then into port as prisoaers,(25) Contrary to the view that privateers were not part of the navy, held qo higher orders, and were solely after prize Boney, their history iacludes patriotic acts of crucial iinportance to the war eff or&, 126)

Oae of the special efforts that privateers aade on behalf of the Aaerican war effort was the deliberate attempt to capture prisoners of wax for exchange, John Paul Jones cruise in the BB1YG3eB had as a inail objective the kidnapping of Lord Selkirk and others for exchange, Benja~llinfrankfin made other efforts to obtain prisoners for exchange by hiring privateers to harass the coasts of Britain, (27) Another iaportant aspect of the war at sea was the role played by Russia and the League of Briaed Neutrality,

By custom, Britain or any other blockading power had been able to sustain a blockade of neutra3 prts by proclamtion rather than a show of force, The League of Armed Neutrality changed that, Yhife professing friendship ~ithEngland,

Russia was building a navy, When strong enough to defy

England she issued a proclamation on February 26, 1780, that

3aneutsal states have a right to carry on their coamerce with belligerent powers unraolestsd, and even to convey frora one port to another of a belligerent power, all goods whatsoever, except ghat could be deemed contraband in consequence of previous treaties,* Thus so port could be considered blockaded unless there was a sufficient force present to ~aintaina blockade, Through the reuiainder of

3780, Prussia, Denaark, Sweden, and Bollasd beaaae parties to the League. 128)

As the war develo~ed,the ability of the colonial forces to avoid a major defeat on land and harass the

British at sea aided the dipfcmats to bring Pfance into open alliance, Olhile the victory at Saratoga can be vieved as a turniag point, The French naval strength Mas the subsequent key to the struggle, On February 5, 1778, France signed the Treaty of alliance and Coamrce, Congress ratified it on

Hay 4, 1778, with Spain joining France by the Treaty of

Aranjuez on April 12, 1779- (29) One of the seasons that a war of aktritioa could succeed against the British was the sad state of the British navy at the outset of the struggle, In the summer of 1777, six of the ten frigates in home uaters were off for desperately aeeded repairs, Twenty of the 36 ships of the fine vere used to fill in for ships on station and with convoys. (30) When Jones arrived off the Scottish coast in

1779, there vere only three frigates off the west coast, none being on permanent station there. Even when in 3781 there was a permanent frigate stationed off the Clyde, the commerce was not secure, (33) In 3778, there were only 88 frigates listed by the Bdairalty Lord Sandwiah complained in 1379 of the "Haat of frigates at hoae last year, Upuards of 70 in A~erica, 20 crdered honte bat not sent, Upwards of 50 lost or taken," Bhile Sandwich confused frigates with ships of all sizes in his calculations, his worry reflects the consteraation felt by those responsible for defense of the homeland in si~plynca having enough for t4e countcyOs needs, (32) The spring of 1778 was a critical period of the war for the British naval foxes, They were called upon to defend the hoae coasts and coxinercial traffic, maintaia lines of supply to the troops and ships oa statioa in

America, contain the enemy in the English Channel, and contend with privateers, The British navy gas pressed to the limit, The problem with the British navy did not begin with the war for American independence, nor were they confiaed to the nusber of vessels available. Throughoat the decade before the war began, the fleet stationed on the worth

American coast suffered from a shortage of seaiaen and was consequently ineffective. The problem of dest3rti~Zikept ships from puttiag to sea, Because ispressment in Aserica was of doubtful legality, the ships had a great deal of difficulty replacing lost sen, Besorting to the press resulted in even nore profilems, (33)

It did not require brilliant insight to see the need for an unofficial navy. The British had over a hundred vessels off the coast, The Congress did not have the fmds to build up a regulaf navy to co~batthis number of ships,

On &larch 23, 1776, Congress passed the Law e;ncouraging the people lo provide the necessary nava farces, The iiitpsession that cruising in a volunteer navy was so~ehon less patriotic than serving in the land forces nust be te~peredby the fealizaticn that the induceaent to enfist in the arny %as a bonus or land bounty- The incentives to choose the privateer were as mch the freedoa of independent action and speedy promotioa as ~erelythe possibility of collecting prize aoney, f34) 9 he captains and other officers of privateers were generally the co~mandersof vessels before the war- Hany had commissions in the coatinental navy, but received per~issionto serve on a privateer due to a lack of ships in the navy, privateef8s crew consisked of two distiact groups, Those who had never been to sea, But, fro@ living in the coastal towns, had heard the lore of the sea contposed the group that was inclined tovasd volunteering for the positions available in the aarine guard that went with every vessel, Their job included doing the fighting, standiag guard, and lrtanning the prizes back to port-135) A large part of the combat that took placf between a privatees and its enemy consisted of saall arms fire fron this group of marines, This firepower was devastating to the ene~y'screw and the paralyzed vessel would be forced to surxeader for lack of bealtby men to ccntrol the rigging and mas the cannon, fn this way a privateer with inferior nuaber and size of caanon uas able tca outsail and outfight a ship of superior size and firepower, Because of the Jnature of the work and because experience at sea was not required, the type of men coiuprising this service on the privateer tended to be a cut above the coamon seamen, The conamon seamen who comprised the large majority of the crew were recruited from the ranks of longshoremen and fishermen from the coastal

towns as well as from the crews of the nt-er~hanhvessels that

converted to psivateering for the duration of the gar- 436) One advantage to aany of privateering was the lintit placed on the length of the cruise by the ouners, A typical cruise uoufd be set for two months, 437) Other incentives sere the carefully listed rewards and punishments set forth by the owners for the "orderly conductingn of the cruise, If any member of the crew was disabled ia an engagemerjqt, "he shall receive E be allowed out of the first Prize to be taken One thousand pounds,* Whoever sighted a sail that turned out to be a prize was rewarded one hundred pounds for

"his Vigilaa~e.~The first to board the. enertly vessel would receive *'three hundred pounds as a Peconpence for his Valour. " Perhaps the ~ostintpoftant inceutive for ntreutbers of the crew was that providing for a share in the prizes taken by the ship after a cfev aembez vas put on a prize and that prize retaken by the eneay, T~Eshares in the subsequeat prizes were allowed, **pro~idedbe or they obtain their Liberty before the and of the cruizen arid "use their best endeavoursm to re join the priva leer. f 38) Another advantage to service aith a privateex was the tradition of collective decision making on board, kThi1-e rttaking decisions by @a jority vote was less in evidence on Bevofutionary privateers than in earlier years, the authority of the coamander was not as rigorous as that in the navy and afm y. (39) Congress attempted to control the privateers by the posting of bonds fro& the cuners, gwrankeeing the strict adherence to the wishes of Congress, (110') The Eisst, for five thousand pounds, insures against aisconduc t and transgression of the powers granted in the corttatission. The second is for four thousand pounds and guards against the release of any prisoners, *gAll prisonersm were to be delivered +ate the Coamissary of Prisoners in sose of the United States" on penalty of forfeiture of the bond,

Posting bond did not solve the probfea entirely, One privateer captain who did not turn over any prisoners and gas called in to explain, gave the unlikely story that all of the crew of the captured vessel were Aaericans who joined the privateeris crew, {Ul f A privateer *s colamission usually would expressly state in the parpose of the cruise that any vessel whatsoever ascarrying Soldiers, arms, Aaiaunition,

Provision or any other coeisaband goods to any of the British Armies or Ships of War eraployed againsr these United

Statesm should be attacked, subdued, and taken, 4112)

(32) Maclap, i9Privateers,t* p, ix; John 0, Meserve, #*A Pr ivateers~anof the 8evolution,** GRANITE SPATE BOPT HLY 59 [Bay 1923):137-1311. The figures are iapossible to total accurately, The nu~berof prisoners uho joined the capturing vessel, those released in faraway ports and escapees were not accurately recorded,

f13) Willia~Etusseli, *Journal ,n in Ralph D, Paine, THE SHIPS AND SAILORS OF OLD SALE@, (Loadon: Heath Craaton Ltd., 1924). p- 94, Paine gives -the exaaple of Elias Ho Derb~,a rich aerchast who switched to underwriting privateers, starting his om shipyard to build faster pritrateers, [pp- 96-99),

115) M, K, Barritt, **The Navy and the Clyde in the Aiaerican War, 13%'- 1783," #BBIWZR" UElIRBOB 55 {January 1969):36 n. 3, nt9aritiiw insurance polioies,,,were void if ships did not sail with coavoy," Within ten days in September 1781 the premium of insurance on the Jaaaican and west Indian fleets on passage xose from 12-15 to ,3545 guineas per cent with convoy ll6) Eugene L- Brnbrnster, THE VILLABQUT PRf SON-SHIPS, 1776- 1783. {New York: Privately printed, 1920) , p, 6-

119) Plzlclay, nPrivatoers,m p, xiii, Sea also Winthrop L, Uarvin, THE Bf9IiRZCBN HERCHANT BBBXPE ITS HISTORY AND ROBANCE PBOE 1620 TO 3902, iLondon: Saiapson Lou, Rarston E Co, Ltd., '1902). p, 14, for a colony by colony list of the nuaber of privaters comaissioned,

(20) Quoted in Haclay, "Pri~ateers,~~p. xii. British citizens wrote hone fro@ the Caribbean with si~ilarstories, see pp, xii-xiii- See Plaroin, &ERCHWBZI HABIIE, p, 13 for entirety of the Dean quote and other letters fro& Britishers overseas.

(21) Quotea in Zaclay, HPrivateers,n p, xii, Ships were sent, making two circaits of frefaad, securisg fifteen prizes that were sold in France, The funds weat to support the dipfoiaatic effort then proceediag in khe courts of Europe, (22) Perry Behont, NAVAL SUPREHACY DUf f NG THE ABEiiICAfJ BEVOLUTION (Brussels: Irspri~tserieP, E E, De die, 1931), p, 15-

(23) Piiddlebrook, NABITIEE CONNECTICUT, 2: 11 1, The first lieutenant received 5 shares, the second lieutenant, 4, the surgeon, 4, the sfnipss @asker, 3, the steuard, 2, the mate, gunner, and boatswain, 1 1/2 each. for an agreeaent that gives the captain eight shares, the first lieutenant four, etc,, down to nboys under 16 years 1/2 share," see 2: 128,

(24) Ptarvin, iYrEECBANT MARINE, p, 15,

(25) Clark, **EIOLKER,** p. 53,

(26) Richard H, Kaha, Review of THE TOLL Df IMDEPENDEMCE: BUGAGEBENTS AND BATTLE CBSUUTIES OF TBE REVOLUTION, edited by Noward 8, Peckhala, (Chicago;: University of Chicago Press, 1974), UILLfAt4 AMD 3ABY QUBBTEBLY 32 (April 3 975)r 339, Peckham o~itsthe tabulation of sea action by privateers "because they *were not part of our navy; they were not under any higher orders; they reported to no official; and they were af tes prize mouey, not defeat of the enemy's warships* {p, 3Q3),*1 This viev leads to a distorted vie@af the uar effort as Kohn notes: "Huch of the conflict and action that proved crucial Co the outcome of the war does sot appear here,,, the statistics sho~naval action diminishing in 1780 and after, just when Baerican privateering began to skyrocket aad put so auch pressure on the British war effort," This is not to sap that ovners of privateers uexe not abova giving orders such as to iuaxiaize the chance of profit to thea, Oae owner, in directing a joint cruise of two of his ships, ordered them to avoid sailing vith others so that they would ~othave to split any prize money, Clark, l*HOLKER,n pp- 4a-41.

(27) Barritt, "Navy and the Cf yde,l p.. 38- See williaa Bell Clark, BEH FBABKLfH'S PfIVkTEERS A NAVAL EPfC OF THE APIEBICBP REV0LUTIOI, {Batcn Bcruge, Louisiana: Louisiana State University Press, l956), PASSTHw Hote that Lord North seew to have had forewarning of this aia of the Jones cruise, Leaks out of the Franklin offices in Prance are the probable cause, Barritt, "Navy and the Cllyde,'* p, 38 nl 2, and Cecil B, Currey, CODE NBBBB.3 72 BE& PRBMKLX8 PRTBXOT OR SPY? [Engfewood Cliffs, Hew Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc,, IgTY), PASSIH, CI 9- P1 ff I-' nr 01 k" w G Uf 3"u (D C-r t-' t-'

I-' Gr**M II Y3'etr-r be= P,P,OaroA cj F;(IIJ. nmwo UfrktJrr *COG cn r.~+ttim~wn r*l 0 !Y I tj r. to tn S 6 P, PI rs r* rc * b tr m (D I-' W'dn )J. r. P *: Ht P, fD # Y(D r.nr o n Pr M Ult e. (D N Y Ib @

P) 4a (37) nidtif ebrook, HARITIHE CONNECTICUT, 2: 326- 130, See Article I of the privateef agreement for the sloop HPBERNIA, p- 126,

139) Horse, **Yankee Privateersman," p* 78.

140) Examples of two such bonds are given ir~Eeserve, "Pri~ateersrnan,~pp- 335-143,

{Bl] Clark, wHOLKEB,n pp, 30-31-

(42) Isaac 3, Greenwood, CAPTAIN JOHN MAHEBY SZCOWD IN BANK IN THE UNITED STAPES NAVY 1776-1783, [Boston: C, E. Goodspeed G Co-, 1935), pp, 165-365, STATUS OF PPISOWEBS OF WAB

Principles governing the status of prisoners of war had been developed by political thinkers like Vattel and

Grotius, Their ideas on the custoras of war were reflected in policies of treatmat of prisoners, By the aid seventeen seventies, their ideas, ~cstrecent1 y ref or mulated by

Rousseau, %ere geaerally held by the European governments-

Bousseau*~arguaent on the status of prisoners of war, in summary, was that war was no longer a confLict between araies but rather a conflict between natioas, His conception Has that Mar was in no way a relation of @an to man but rather a relation of state to state, The righC to kill the soidiess o•’ the eneay state ended when they put down their aras and reaained as long as they mairataiaed their statns as prisoners, 11)

Because the philosopherss ideas were for~ulatedfor aation states, the status of tke rebelling colonies left the position of their prisoners of war unclear, The colonies tried to li~eup to the rules of internaQiona1 law as best they could, The British, honever, vacilfat& between the practices developed in international law for nation states and those for putting down doaestic disturbances, Because the aim of the war for the British was to stop a breakaway fro& home rule by the colooies, it followed that each captive would be pressured to swear allegiance to the crown and join the f3ritish forces, Intimidation to induce prisoners to enlist and the threat of trial, aad hanging for treason were coumon Beasares taken by the capturing British forces,

Because of the British practice of maintaining its prisoners under dual status, the American forces ~esortedto threats of reprisal, the traditional mthod of obtaining equal usage of prisoners sf war, While retaliation was a tactic used throughont the war, the possibilities of escalation on both sides were always present, Xiaiting its effectiveness, Dee sxa~pleof mutual escalation occurred when Britain sent thirtythree Irish-American prisoners to

England to be tried for treason, Coiigress authofized retaliation, the saae number of British captives being placed in close confine&e@t, The ~ritishin return closely confined sixty-six Americms, This broaght a siailar response from the Americans, The rounds of reprisal only ended when the B~itishparoled soae of the ~mericansvith instructions to infor~ Coagsess that the origiaal thirty-three had not been tried. (3) Besides the anbivalent status of the Amefican prisoners of gar, a rtlajox source of irritation sas the transports tion of prisoners overseas, The Baericans viewed the reiuovai of prisoners across the Atlantic as harassment to force enlistment, That transportation was a real issue for the Araericans can be seen from its incfusion in the treaty of 1785 between the U~itedStates and Prussia, This first iaternational treaty to deal explicitly with prisoners of war signed by nations not at war, forbade "the destruction of prisoners of war, by sending the& into distant and inclement countries,, ,[or] send[ing 3 the prisoners,,,into the East fndies or any other parks of Asia Africa. j4)

Close confiae@eat of prisoners was likevise a source coatplaint for the Americans, for reasons of intiaidation, security, and Banpower allocation, the British kept prisoners closely cozadined in Hew York in large buildings and on board prisoia ships, In reactioa to this an irritated Congress directed Washington to infora Houe of its expectation that the British general nnilL,,take effectual

Hteasures that the Antlerican prisoners may not suffer any distresses from the approaching hot seasort, which it is in its power to prevent, as the present possession of Long

Island and Rhode Island afford him the opportunity of extending humanity towards prisoners, xi thout a breach of duty to the power under vhich he acts,"(5) In late 1775 and early 3776, Congress attempted to make arrangements for the payment of the costs of maintaining prisoners of wag in their hands, Zn Bay, 1776,

Washington reportea to Congress that custo~had it that French and English prisoners in past wars had been aaintained by co&missary who contracked for their support, while officer prisoners on parole were per~ittedto aegotiate their own bills of exchange, (5) Congress had already resolved that British prisoners in Aaerican hands should be maintained at the expense of the crown throagh an agent appointed by Great Britain and approved blp the

American government, (7) The officers on parole, houever, caused soBe proble~sfro@ the outset, They yere at first permitted to sell their bills for their subsistence, but when their manner of living becaae extravagant--*being boarded at taverns, and the inn keepers supplying thoa in a luxurious manner, on the csedit of the Contineqta8--Congress resolved that each officer be allowed two dollars a veek for fooa and board, to be paid hefore release, (8)

Congress was repeatedly forced to deal with problems concerning the maintenance of prisoners in their hands and insuring that sufficient provisions reached theif prisoners in the hands of the British, Congress instructed the Board of gar in dune, 1776, to arrange vith the British Eof each captor to pay for prisoner provisions, agree to the quantity and value of those provisions, and balance the books at regular intervals each year, (9) In July, 1776, a committee reported to Congress that American prisoners iu British hands were given insufficient provisions, In January, 1777, Congress instructed Washington to try to arrange for prisoners held by the British to be sopplied by agents commissioned by America, since the British did not supply what Congress felt to be mini~lalprsoisioras, Again, in

April, CongEess ordered that bills of exchange, up to the amunt of pay due the priscners, be sent to the& to help them met their needs, (10)

An A~ericaninvestigation into the difficulties oE supplying arid arranging pagaent for goods for prisoners in

January, 1778, concluded that England had blocked the

Anmrican atteapts to feed and clothe prisoners that the

British were not caring for propsly, Phey had "obstructed the Amxican effort ta sell bills to obtain sterling hampered entrance into occupied territory and,.,the sale there of provisions to furnish clothing for prisoners," Other areas of harassment included price-fixing oa goods brought into British territory to he sold for funds for prisoners there, refusal of entry to agents for the purchase of clothing, and failure to gf ant alfowaaces to officer prisoners, The Americans retaliated by ref using British agents peraission So sell bills for the support of their prisoniers. $13) Tihis retaliation led to others and Congress eventually ordered the teaa~orary~aintenance of prisoness in

Amrican hands at American expense, (12)

When the Bruericaa governaent assn~edthe responsibility of granting ratioas to all prisoners in its hands, Congress resolved to give that amount that the

British vere stlpplyiag their captives, As this tentpofary expedient beca~eperiaanent in appearance, the B~erican jovera~entcoupled its demad for reiiabursement sit$ a threat to reduce rations to British prisoness to half the first naonth, one- third the second, eke, I331

The failure of the Aaericans to secure better treatment for Aaerican prisoners had fateful resnlts for those captives, f t is a sign of American hu~aaitarian concern that Beasures vere taken to aid the British prisoners in their hands .when, after the arrest of the British cowitissary, he was not replaced, But it is also a sign of elitist priorities that they abandoned the struggle to maintain American prisoners with the British despite the knowledge that they were p~orlfprovided, (14) The cost of supplying the pxisoners wounted on the Brrrerican side, the balance not being paid, In 1782 retaliation again becase the rule, In October, 1782, Congress ordesed the reductian in expense of maintaining British prisoners, 115)

The British attempts to harass American prisoaers into its service, their vie@ of the struggle as a rebellion, and their feeling of strategic snperiority left the question of prisoner maintenaoce a source of considerable concern fof the Baerican authorities, At first vigorous efforts were laade .to fill the gaps left by British adrtlinistration of prisoner welfare, Yhen this was Bet by obstruction, the

Aaesicaas resofted to retaf iation. When the retaLiation was essentialfy igaored and began to cause discontent leading to security problems, the Alneririin leaders capitulated, Even vith the subseguent tacit agree~entof captor as provider, the ILmericans provided at a level greater than the British until renewed efforts to setafiate in 1782 brought imerican-provided subsiste~celevels to those given to

A~ericanprisoners by the British, The result of these events was hardship and death for Amxican prisoaers in Hew

York,

The rhyth~of naval exchange in previous sars folfoveci a steady pattern, Exchanges ceased daring the surtlmer, There would be an exchange in the early spring and again at the end of the caapaign in the early autamn vhen the expense of maintaining prisoners far outweighed the likelihood of their being employed against their captor for that calapaign, Through the winter there uould be a steady flow of exchange, These would be exchanges of e,xpediency rather than the result of any agreeaent •’orthe duration of the war, The overriding factor governing whether or not there would be a general agreeaent for the exchaage of prisoners between corabataats was the perceptioa of the baf ance of the war by each side, Which side needed the return of its prisoners Bore or which side vould be helped by a heturn of prisoners Bore were the key guestions, Han-for-aan exchanges perbdicafly ehrouyhout a war favoured that side that took Bore prisoners or needed the return of its own Ben less.

Britain adopted a dual strategy regarding prisoners of war, Bith the colonies the British reserved the riqht -to try the prisoners for treason when and if the irar terainated favourably, With France the traditional jockeying for strategic advantage was played out in the on again off again negotiations for a general cartel to govern exchange of prisoners, Toward the colonial prisoners the captors were harsh in their treatneat bat open in their atteapts for exchange, boldirag back only the political recognition that the colonists sought, They refused a geqeral exchange vith the French until they felt they no f cnger held the strategic advantage, signing a cartel in 1780, There sere essentially two kinds of exchange possible: all-for-all and man-for-aan, fa an all-for-all exchange, there was a continuous flow of returning prisoners vith numbers only checked to see which side had to pay ransom for reeieving more, This type of agreeaent took place between opponents of approximately equal strength- A man-for-&an, rank-for-rank exchange had a scale of equivalents of higher ranks in terms of privates or coBnon seamen, The side that took aore prisoners or needed its men less had the advantage in this type of exchange, fl7)

Britain had to arrange both types of exchanges, The urgent need for more Ben coaflicted vith the superior nuabers that British ships captured, Because the Aaerican prisoners were predominant1y from the pesky privateers that caused sach coaplaints fro& British merchants, ejcchanging the@ was out of the question, The British ruled out a general cartel with the colonists also oa the basis of the tacit recognition that such an agreement vould bestow. So these prisoners becam a potential aanpoaer pool for rscr ui ting

purposes rather than a auaber to be saved for exchange, These efforts at encouraging American seamen to enlist met vith very liaited success,

As the war wore oa and British manpouer needs became more acute, and especially after Keppelss fleet failed to

destroy the French at Ushant, the British came to look upon an all-for-all cartel nith the French as a solution to their prsbleres, Negotiations began in early 1719 with the British

Bore anxious to sign than the French, f 18) Preparing the defense of the planned French invasion of Britain was becoming urgent and required new ships and sore men, A sign of the $dairalty*s desperation was the refusal ia 1779 to grant the traditional exemption of returning prisoners froia the press. (39)

The Adairalty was therefore aaxious at all costs to get British seaBen hoae, and this overriding motive was aterely reinforced by the desire to ease the financial and admingstrati~eposition which their subordinates, the coa~issionersfor Sick and Hurt Seamen and the Exchange of Srisoners of Bar, repeatedly skressed. But for the French, their grand invasion project ~adeit worthvhile for Qnce to sacrifice their urn rein2orcmenks for the sake of preventing the British f roa feceivinq the experienced seamen they so desperately needed, XB uas not until the combined French and Spanish operations had been quite given up in October 1779 that French procrastinatian and obstruction ceased abruptly and negotiations forged ahead to culminate in the signing of the cartel in aarch 1780, (20) (1) Jean Jacques ftoasseau, TBB SOCIAL CONTRACT, trans, by UiZlimoore Kendaf 1, (Chicago: Henry Regnery Co,, 1954), pp- 13-14,

f2) JOURNALS OF CONGBESS (hereafter cited as J of C), 4:22 12 January ITTtS), quoted in rJilliatn E, S, flory, PRISOWERS UP WAR, (Lashington, D.C.: kmerican Council oa Public Affairs, 1942):41,

(3) Francis Wharton, A DIGEST OF THE INSEBIBTIBNAL LAW OF THE UNITED STATES 3 vols,, (Washington, DwC.,: Government Printing Office, 1886-1887), 3:330-331; AHERICAN STATE PAPERS, FOPEIGN RELATIONS, 1:85, See also Plory, PRfSONEBS OF WAA, p* 43-

(4) Article 24, 8 U-S, Stat, 84, quoted in Plory, PBZSOBERS Of WAR, p, 46. The full title of the treaty is the Ai8ericaz.k-Prussian Treaty of Bmitq awl Comerce of ,1785- See also Eleanor C, flynn, The Geneva Gonventiaa on Treatment of Prisoners of War," GEORGE WASHINGTON LAW RETbIEbr' 2 (June 9 943) :505-506,

(6) J of C, 4~361-362 f.11 Bay 1776). quoted in Plory, PRISONERS Of @A%, p, 53,

47) J of C, 3~434(76 Decerrtber 1775) and 4: 1 16 17 February 17763 , See also Plory, Pflf SONEBS OF WBf, p- 51.

(8) J of C, 3~418(,9 December 1775)- Officers bills were, in Bfitish law, valid and cof lactible in the courts after the restoration of peace, 3 of C, 4~51-52 (12 January 1776)- Congress agreed to pay the debts already contracted,

(9) J of I=, 82494 f24 June 1'776)- See also flory, PRISONERS QF WAf, pl 52.

(10) J of C, 5:535 (10 July 7776); 8~32(3 January '1777). d:Ul (16 January l?77), and 8~289(22 April 1777)-

(11) J of C, 30t74-81 (23 January 1778), see also FPory, PRISOMERS OF WAR, pp- 52-53, 112) J of C, 32: 3 111 (7 November 1778), see also Plory, PBISOMEBS Of GAB, p, 53,

113) J of C, 16~39-40 (If January 1780)- The same threat was given again i~ 1782, J of C, 22~335417 June 1782). See also Flory, PBSSONEBS OP VAR, p- 62-

f34) J of C, 23~561(15 October 37821, see also Plory, PRfSOHEBS OF WAB, p* 54 n, 101,

[lii) Olive Anderson, UThe Establishment of British Supreaacy at Sea and the Exchange of Maval Prisoners of War, 1689- 1783,t9 BULLETXI1 OF THE INSTITUTE OF Hf STORICBL BESEARCB 38 (January 1960) ~78,

(17) Ad, 3/86, 15 December 1778, S,P, 42/54, 6 February 1779, S-P, 42/55? 23 June and 9 Septeaber 1779, Ad, 98/32/3, 18, See also Anderson, *British Supremacy,*@ p, 82,

418) finderson, '*British Supreaacyfm p- 86, Por the history of the inducements rtrade to try to keep returning prisoners in the navy, see Anderson, *British Supregtacy ," pp, 88-89,

(19) Anderson, "British Supreaacy," p.. 82, Cf, Ad, 98/12/28tb-285, 304-306, 308-332, 342-344, 364, CHAPTER V

THE BRITISH PHfSON SYSTEB

Great Britain had long relied on transportation as the ~rtainstayof its penal syste~, Approxiaatelg two thousand criminals were exported each year up to 3717 when the nuiabers increased after the passage of legislation alfouing transportation for other than just capital offences, 17) This systen .mot several needs- It was inexpensive, avoided the coaplaints of those neas prisoes, and populated the colonies, Perhaps because of this expedient, a penal systea was never fully developed, Those prisoners re~ainingin Britain were cared for by contracting out to private citizens for their keep, As a profit oriented entesprise, this led to squalor, overcrowding, aad corruption, What transportation left was a series of "minis ture institutionsn, small private jails with generally fewer than ten prisoners, A coafusion of institutions and corporations, all with problems of financing, all aiming to keep costs low, leaving the care of inaates often contracted out to private citizens in the business of keeping prisoners, Profit taking priority over care for prisoners, the inmates suffered from neglect, (2) The war vith Aaerica brought a sudden end to transportation, and England turned to the use of hulks as a

*ctamporarp expedient,'* Those who would have been transportea worked at hard labour and returned to hulks at night, Tvo hulks at Boolwich, the JUSTITZB and the CEBSOR, were turned into prisons, 'She system was expaaded to Postsltronth and Pl yaouth, serving throughout the war, By

1782 the prisons had deteriorated through overcrowding and lack of aaintenance. New legislation tried to solve the situation but only vorsened it, The hulks became places of confinewent father than aere sleeping quarters for day labouring prisoners, klaaagement was turned entirely over to contractors, f3) John Howard had visited the JUSTITTA in

1776, finding fifth, sickness, bad food, and a death rate of thirty per cent per year. (ti) At the same time, hulks, uhich had been used to a lienited extent in the Seven Years War, were put in use for prisoners of war, In that sar, the system had fallen into the bands of corrupt contsactors and agents, Some blame was due the Transport Office vhich was

**slack and corrupLn (5)

These was little resolution of the hulk situation, although in the early years of the war with the colonies the accumulatioa of prisoners forced the establish~entof permanent prisons to house them, As one writer has put it, the administration was i~ no position to cope vith prison reform:

Harassed by a naval war in Europe, and by the bloody wranqle in Braerica; beset by ref or@-agitation ia England, and chronic insurrection in Ireland; and lastly confounded by a spasm ,~fProtestantism shich had convulsed the populace into Poperyq riots, Lord Northas rickety cabinet had neither taste nor leisure for experiaents in social science,f6)

While reforra was slcw to corae to the prison system for convicts in Britain, aeasures to deal vith prisoners of war Mere taken very early in the war, An act passed in 1776 set down the legal status of prisoners of war and set aside major instalations in Portsmouth and Plpouth for their reception and detention, along with smakler depoks designed more as regional colLecticn points and a ~ajorprison in

Ireland, Forton near Portmouth and Riff at Pf yemath sere the main prisons for holdiag American prisoners of war,

Hhife these locations were supposed to be the place of confinenient for American grisoaers of war, there was occasional confusion at the local level and aagistrates locked up some imericass in focal jails, 47) The act designated the Americans taken in aras against the Rinq as traitors and pirates, but also stated that any persons suspected of ~ighTreason comaitted in the colonies os on the High Seas wefe not to be tried until after January 1,

3778, The act was reliewed each year postponing the date of trial and leaving open the option of a pardcn and exchange as prisoners of war, 18)

In an effort to avcid the corruption rainpaat in the contract system of mnaging prisons, the keepers of Fortoa and Bill prisons vere direct appointments By the AdmiraZty,

The profit incentive was dealt with by providing a paid staff, This recognitioa of the Jsexploitatiola of the prisoners* in the British prison systea was an i~proseiwmt, if not quite a "great advan~e,~Direct appointments aud salaried staff hit at the corruption in the system but did not strike at the source, That the job of caring for prisoners was still used for private profit is evident in the prisoner cogdplaints "that the keeper was uatsring the bee@, feeding his pigs on the prisoners* food" and condoning bribery. 19)

Haintaining security in the prisons was a constant headache, converted from hospitals, the prisons vere poorly designed fox security, while intprove~llentswere made isr the structures throughont the aar, keeping the prisoners coafined gas largely depesdent upon an adequate and alert guard, The mil~tiaused for guard service was anythinq but adequate and aleft, Emposed of raw recruits, the aged and invalids, the ~ilitiaunits sere so poor that they uere replaced with ~ilitasyunits used in monthly rotation from nearby staging bases, tl0) Accepting bribes to aid escapes and conniving aith the focal populace to share the rewards for recapture was widespread among the guard. The soldiers were also "half-hearted in their job, resenting the cheesepairing attitude af the authorities who grudged thea their proper supply of coals and candles," [If) The guard was usually thirty to forty Ben, but would be doubled when conditions warranted, (12) Conditions in the prisons depended iu large asasare &ore on the guards than on administrative policy, B new guard afloved Gustavus Conynghasa gseates liberty and he concluded that there was a "verrp- material Difference in the officers orders of the

Guarde, a (13)

Treatraent fluctuated with individual guards, the policies of their cc~iiiande~s,and the location of the prisons, The treatment of the prisoaers in Ireland was partly the result of aa overseas mentality lauap froa honte station and far f rum supe~visoryauthority) that vented itself on the local citizenry as well, Hargaret Bazlitt, a wonan who greg up near Kinsale, recalled Vhe unbridled licence of the army (who took liberties in Ireland that they dared not do at hme) made it dangerous to offead the haughty officers, who seemed to think wearing a sword entitled them to domiaeer over their fellox subjects-"114)

Those in charge of prisoners in Britain were not totally neglectful, Respcading to prisoner co~plaints,they atteapted to rectify abuses.that caiue to their attention and had a standing policy of investigating every death that occurred in prison, However, they usually suffered frog an inadequate budget, and the manner and coqclusions of their investigations vere Bore ia the category of whitewash than coaaendabfe practice, f 15)

The total nuiaber of prisoners held throughout the war was approxiaately 2508 for forton and Hill alone, The number at any one time varied conside~ablyfor each prison depending on escapes, deaths, .and exchanges, giZ1 first took in American prisoners of war on Bay 27, 1777, and still had seven on July 30, 3382, Howard +otaPed 1296 for the duration od the war, Forton had 1,200 by Howardas count, beginning June 73, 1737, with 133 still cornfined on Noveaber

6, 3782. There vere fewer than three hundred prisoners at

Forton or Eill through 1777, vith the nu~berscfiabing to around six hundred {in Mill) in February 1782, Porton seeaed to level off around 250 prisoners to the ead of the war. Capture of a larye crew could drastically increase the total,. (16) The health of the prisoners was a major topic concerning the authorities in charge of the naval prisoners of war, &any of the nevly arrived captives were wounded or ill and needed hospitalization, Others caught small pax or

*$gaol fever1# and needed to be segregated to avcid an epidemic, This concerii had its sources outside the government, There was the threat of Araerican retaliation on

British prisoners in their hands, Closer to home were the advocates of the aiasmatic theory of contagion, Foul conditioas produced odors that fostered the spread of disease according to this theory, Pressure was brought to bear on &he government to keep conditions ~easoraablyclean-

This group overlapped with the humanitarians aad clergy who aided those who suffered the ills of neglect, There was also pressure brought to bear fro& the political opposition and those sy~patheticta the American cause, These three pressnre groups conbiaed Bad a Eormidable influence on governatlent policy fortwlatian, and soiee effect on the practice at the prisons, (17)

Generally the health of the prisoners was remarkably good, Jonathan Carpenter drew that conclusion in aid-February, 1779: "by kind Provideace we are very healthy

[as] we ha~enot Post but 9 men Died in this place since the first Prisoners were co~iufttedwhich is almost 2 gears-

fro^ this the to the end of the war, houever, Xhe death rate for American prisoners of war ~oubled.{'l\t3) Haslar bospitaf south of Gosport, near Portsaouth, took in sick prisoners, although it ~ainlyserved as the principal naval hospital in the south of Great Bfitain, f 19) Jonathan Carpenter went dire~tlyfrom a guardship in the harbour to Haslar on 19 Bay 1778, describing it as a very fine building *#wherethere was upwards of 1700 men belonging to ye Shiping,w{20)

This change in the death rate was not due to any change io British health policies or practices, These seam to have been laudable, The Coaiaission for Sick and Burt

Seanaes. {CSHS) paid *+specialattention to matters of healthH throughout the Mar, They provides an assistant surgeon, added a pharaacist, took great care in planning a new hospital building, had a shed built for shade in the suamer, and met the "sudden infecticn of the sumner of 1382 by bringing in an extra physician, (21) Xt was CSHS policy, for exa~ple,to grant inoculatim for saall pax on requesLj22) This had little effect cn prisoner health because ninety per cent of the American prisoners had already had either sniall pox or been inoculated. On Warch 1, 1779, Jonathan Carpenter was iuoculated along with -26 more being aff that never had He went to hospital a~demerged two weeks later, "cleansed of gox,** (23) The policy tovard inoculatioa probably had its impetus in the doctors at Hill learning that the prisoners were inoculating theaselves, British medical practice called for isolation of the inocdated prisoner so the secret practice of inoculation would have been very worrisome to the ~edicalauthorities, (24)

The proclamations on health standards put forth by the CSBS had little correla tion uith the reality within the - prisons, which did not change through the war. One example is the Coralttissiona s concern for cfeanliness, Wash tubs were provides, general cleaniags were encouraged, but the prisons and hospitals simply not ~lean,~f25)Presh water was supposed to be supplied daily, but ditches and drains ware used for collection and the prisonersS water was thesefore hardly fresh, The prisoners comp.Laiaed abouk the condition of the water but to no avai2, (26)

British concern for the health of the prisoners had a twofold purpose. There was a widespread Eear that contagion in the prisons would spread to the populace, So it was in the best interests of the nation to keep the prisons healthy enough to prevent epidemics, On the other hand, it was hoped that a gmd percentage of Bntericans gould join the

British cause, healthy pris~nersbeing an iavest~entin aanpower recruitment, Volnnteers fro@the prisons were never nuaerous, Even among those who did vofuqteer were some who stated their interat was to expedite their escape, (27) Connor3s records for Foxton list only twenty-three men as entering in the year and a half that he was i~prisoned, This rate of entry is only one-fifth the escape rate, (28)

British policy conceraing what to do with Aoerican prisoners of war vent through several changes through the coarse of the war, At first, considering the rebellion of short duration and about to be put doun, pfisoners were considered rebels, pirates, and traitors who would likely hang for their acts against the Crowa, Thus prison was just a detention camp before trial and haaging. As the protracted nature of the struggle cam to be understood, and especially after Saratoga, the prisoners began to be considered as prisoners of war. Overt recognition of such status, however, was a uhile fongef in coming, Throughout the war there was steady Fressure to accept a pasdon and enfist in the British service, Pith the entry of France into the war and the consequent fear of invasion, the need for retnrn of skilled British seamen held as prisoners of war becatrte acute, Enlistment of Americans took a lover priority to exchange, American prisoner escapes in answer to pressare to enlist helped change this priority* But trterchaat pressure kept exchange of Americans fro= taking place, while an agreement for exchange with France was agreed upon, Finally, in an effort to reach a separate peace settlement with America, the exchange of prisoners became a token gesture cf goodwill,

British policy gas always out of line with practice at the prisons, but the nature of that tseataent seeBs not to have been the determining factor regarding the health of the American prisoners, British policy, as far as it went, also seess to have been enacted not out of hu~anitarian concern but rather as a reaction to outside pressures, either fro@ the prisoners or the British public, Per FA ?1 cJ cr 4x * (d V1hMSf a *MQ Wlc($dP, clf n)+ap*~ 0 0lka)lAdd ntc9CBXlujY1~ 0 d@UO ibm- rd 0) a-0) S; v @ M U # C, M ro W *Yt@ a Qal @Ma* xa a eq 4E.ca)QO r InalaIn*gg a %U a 4OcU a w *a o MffiXW'U crl s cy 0.rd.d LltnrinJF?43au aoutra* W~0rbUUJ OI ul-d*r id id cts3au a)M 4 63 0 rg 4 dUI a~wa,::u umraf cu-4 QMC *O C( d@(d @ ('JQ #.($a4 UrnC,A"4Jcl( CI U) IUUVIrd 1-4 TZ PcMQ)a a: OF.) t.4.d =L9Y)om(d *dMSO)r(l@%: mwmLI 0 W au-d *a- e*r d+J'r"lOcl U '-id *= id '44 a, a .cl *itid- C1 U a .a 84wm @*I4 ar:.rvwam GdMMco h fir u 0 4.1 OF3 ~min \Om BWm OI 5oDFiV) OU m -40 t* ElI-CI@Ea~O I aa, r @ 5 OM% ,= l"(4a)In a (1.4 3 ts 4AWsf24 0 p. -c; 0.4 a WL(h 04 *I.- *I.- ac Q-4 O)P* at @a a tf*. WU UpdAQ) d [Ir rap* a) W H a-ucl P14CpZ Q Hull 10 i.4 a UIr".H .-.a 0 u-@I". 0 zmba-0 tr; 0 mw UI *-rt 0 0 *)mw I u?M C, *..cl@UQ, bDa4r -w*)= CI bring to the attention of the authorities that a "mistake" had been made and seemed to bring better results than petitions, Turner sees the attitude of British authorities as being characterized by "tolerance and good sense, whereas her exaaples show corruption and confusion on the local level and an adrsinistration pressured int~ humanitarian proclaiaations as opposed to actions based upoa principle, There seeas to be little evidence cf concern that policies were iapleaented at the local level and coacerned local magistrates Mere revealing their confusion throughout the war, (p, 200)-

(8) Both Forton and #ill had buildings dating back to Queen Asneys reign, serving as hospitals for poisoners of war in earfer wars, Christopher Lloyd and Jack L- S, Coultes, HEDICHNE AND THE HAVY 1200-3900, 4 aols,, (Edinburgh: E, E 5. Livingstone, 1961), 3:108, forton is also regerred to as Forten, Fortune, and FauBton; see Isaac J, Greenwood, CAPTAIN JOAN HANLEY SECOND IN BAlK IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY 1776-1783 [Boskon: C, E, Goodspeed E Co,, 3975), p, 119, For detailed descriptioas of these prisons see Chapter VL. The ~ajorprison ia Ireland was Kinsale, located not far fro& Brandon, near Cork; see Ernest J, Eoyne, "The Eeverend killiaa Hazlitt: B Friend of Liberty in Ireland During the Were-rican Pevolution," HILLIAH ABD URY QUBRTZBLY 21 {April 1964) 2288-289, The regional depot-prisons were located ia Liverpool, Deal, Weyaoath, aad a prison ship at Chatham, See 98/11/218, 305; 98/13/96, 509-5 30; 96/34/24[i, 301, and Turner, l*Ataerican Prisoners, p- 201, Turner mentions other prisons located in Ediahurgh, Sllreusbury, ~ristol,and Penbroke, fp, 2013, For a discussion of the Aaerican captives1 status as bath traitors and prisoners of war, see Harion and Jack Ka~inkow, 8BRZMERS OF THE BPIEATCAN REV OLCJTIOI, (Salt irttore, tYiaryland: Hagna Charta Book Co,, 1967), p, xii,

19) Turner, flArtterican Frisaners," pp- 20 1-202- The keeper received a salary of 150 pounds annually, his clerk 50, three turnkeys 40 each, a steward 25, cook 20, and a snrgeon and labourer were paid by the day- Other furnkeys were added when the load of European prisoners crawded the prisons, (see M-Pl, B,/Adrtl/&l/YQ4* 19 April 1777). Zhe taproom for the sale of alcohol was outlaued in 3751 f24 George 11, c, 40, secs, 13-16) but the practice never was eliainated. For the history of the prison reform moveiaent and the series of laws passed to relieve the phight of prisoners in British jails, see Richard S, E. Hindo, THE BBLTISH PENAL SYSTEH, 1'773-1 950, {London: Gerald Duckworth G Co., 1951), pp. 14, 17-20, (10) John K, Alexander, '*Forton Prison During the American Bevolutioa: A Case Study of British Prisoner of war Policy and the Aaerican Prisoner Besponse to that policy,^ ESSEX INSTITUTE FIISITOBICBL GBLLECTIONS 10,3 (Qctober 1967) :381; Timothy Connor, nA Yankee Privateers~lanin Prison in England 1777-1779," Blilliaa R, Cutter, ed,, NEB ENGLAMD HISTORICAL G GE24EBLOGfCBL REGISTER, pp- 70, 168, 281, 31 :285; 98/31/96, 140, f urner, aA~ericanPris~ners,~ p, 204, The height of the wall at Forton was increased and additional lights were provided for the sentries, Kamiakow, BABI#EBS, p, xv, The Elifl prison wails were raised five feet and sixteen lights were placed around the@, Septenber 24, 1777, Saauel Cutler, "Prison Ships, a,nd the *Old Bill Prison,' Plymouth, England, 1777," MEW ENGLAMD HLSTBRICAL & GfW EALOGICU REGfSTEB 32 (I 876) :395* Cutler detailed the security arrangements as 12 la~ps,40 men on guard and 13 sentries, fp, 188)-

11 1) Turner, wAlaerican prisoner^,^ p, 204, Turner finds that the decently salaried turnkeys participated in this double dealing for bribes and rewards, L$keisise, while stating,the stingy attitude of authorities toward prison guards, does not see this carried over to treat~entof the prisoaers, Turner does not entertain the possibility that this resentmen* toward the authorities could be taken out on the prisoners, nor does she atte~~tto reconcile the "great advance" reforias with the level of corruption she details,

(12) Connor, 31~285, The approach of A~erican privateers or fear of the French fleet making an attesapt to release the prisoners icr the prisoners making a &ass escape to coincide vith the approach of either) brought out mre guards,

(13) Bobe~tW, Neezner, ed,, LETTEES BBID PBPERS 8EZATfNG TO THE CRUISES OP GUSTBVUS COHPIGHAfi -- A CAPTBfl Of THE COITIIJENTBL NAVY 1?37-17791 (Zondora, 3915 ; repcht ed, , Port Eaashington, New York: KennQkat Pr ess, IWO], pp,. 171-172, Conyngha~was conf ined at Mill in August, 1779, and he remarked upon his change of fortune on August 5, 1379,

(14) Pioyne, "Beverend tZazlittfMp, 288, see p, 286 for examples of itiilitary hasassment of Irish ~itizeas.

(15) Turner, "Aaerican Prisoaer~,~p, 202 n, 4, Turner concludes that this order to investigate xesulted in no deaths of psisoners closely confined {ia the nholdfs or l'blaclc holeM), This lack of deaths must be partially credited to prisoner policy of sharing rations with -those on half allowance in the black hole, The threat of an investigation did not seem to affect the policy of no visits of the doctor to those prisoners in close confineaent, See Connor, p, 72, for the inqniry procedure follouing the deaths of prisoners in hos~ital, The Admiralty also way have backed into their ~olicyof investigation, They sere aware of ~aglishsympathy for the Americans and the existence of a Cormittee for Araericaar Prisoners Which took up individual cases, ** Turner, *lArtlerican Yrisoner~,~p- 202, and Nlk!,2I,/Ad~/H/40U, 23 Novelnber 1780,

(15) John Boward, TRE STATE OF THE PBISOES II EIGLAMD AND WALES, WITH PRELfElfNA&f QBSEBVATIONS, AND AN BCIOUMT OF SQBE POREXGN P3TSOMS AND HOSPITALS, 4th ed., (London: J, Johnson, C, Dilly, E T, Cadell, 1792), p, 385, gives the total of 1296 A~ericansas well as the totals for European prisoners of gar- Howard also has the dates for the first arrival and 30 July 1782 figure, (p, 394)- Billia~0, Clark, "In Defense of Thomas Digges,** PENMSYZVBIIW MAGAZINE OF HISTORY E BfOGPAPfffl 77 {October '3953):399, notes 289 ou 28 December 1777; John K- Alexander, ed-, nJonathan Carpenter aad the Aaerican Revolutioa: The Journal of an Aiaerican Naval Prisoner of Var and Vermont, Indian Pigliter,'* VERkfOIT HZSTORY 35 {Spring 1968) :8Z, has Uupwards of 300" on 12 January 3739, Wom~ard fp, 185) lists 298 on February 3, 1779, while Berbertts list, in Clara Breed, nExtracts fro& the Journal of George Herbert," DAUGHTERS OF THE BflERICAM BEVOLU'ltlOl fiAGWZIBE 58 (October 1924):629, has 3b4 on 7 February 1779; Clark, 13Digqes,m p- 404, finds 390 in nil1 on 8 October 1779; and a list given to Henry Zaurens, in John Green, "Baerican prisoners in Bill prison at Plymouth, in 1782; Captain John Grsengs letter," SOUTH CAROLIIB HISTORZCBL flAGBZINE 10 iApsil 1909): 316, totals 590 on 19 February 1782. Howard notes the seven still these on 30 July 3782, {p, 194) - For Forton, Hosrard, p- 187, has the grand total aad those remaining in November 1782; Clark, 1*13igges,n p, 389 n, 45, gives 119 for 29 Deceaber 1777; Alexander, Varpe~ter,~'p, 82, has 255 on 39 February 1779; Howard finds 251 in Portcn on 2 March 1779 (p, 19.4) ; and Clark, "Diggestn p- 404, numbers 135 in prison on 8 October 3779, for a discussion of the numbers confined throughout the war, see Alexander, taFortoa,s* p, 369, although his estimates are higher than the numbers given by the first hand accounts. Howard also visited the confined prisoners at Pelnbroke [Old House) in Vales, finding 37 Americans on 5 June 1779, (17) Henriques, "Prison Di~cipfine,~p, 63, "the demand for hygeine and ventiAation arose from the growing conciousness, fostered by the Flfasma tic theory of infection, that dirt producea s~ellswhich produced disease," Puritanism was "affronted by the idleness, corruption, drunkenness and profane jollity in the prisons," For the role of John ffoward and his contemporaries, see Hinde, PElAE SYSTEH, pp, 27-39, For the influence of the Friends, see R, Hingston Pox, DR, JOHN EOTHERGILL 6 HIS PRIEBIDS: CHAPTEfS I;N EIGHTEENTW CEEJTUBP LIFE, (London: #acmillan E Co., Ltd-, 3919), p- 225, David Hartley and the Reverend Thoaas gren are covered in Chapter Vf- The erection of a hospital to house one eighth cf the prison population was called for in 1773- Alexander, "Forton," p, 379, see 98/11/88, 94, 135- 137.

(1 8) Alexander, Vafpenter,)' p* 82. Alexander computes this to be a 2-65 per cent death rate and notes that Howard counted 69 deaths fro@ a total wartime population od 1200 in Forton, (p, 82 n. 24)- This works out to five and three quarter per cent, Connor and Foot drew the same conciusion as Carpenter, (Connos, ppo 36-39, and Foot, PASSIB), Connox: had counted eleven deaths in his time at Forton and ~entionedthat none of then had been officers, This should be an important consideration, but the relative sates, officer and common seaman, can not be calculated exactly, For the iqtuo worlds of i~pfiso~mentN consideration, see Chapter VI, Alexander deals sith death rates in note 80, page 380, Alexander, MFofton,m contgaring the Aaerican death rate to that of the lower rates for French and Spanish, He clai~sthat the American death rate was higher because the Europeans were not prisoners for long periods of the- Be attributes the higher death rate for Americans in the years after 1777-3779 15-35 overall versus 2-65] to the epidemics that hit England between 1780 and 1785, Bfnile the epidemic theory may explain the higher later rate for Americans, it does not explain why Bmericans were Bore susceptible than the Preach and Spanish during those years, Also, the journals do not attsibate the deaths to epidemics, nor do they show them in bunches gas would happen when a scourge hit the region of the prisoa,) See Charles Ereighton, ET AL., A BISTORY OF EPIDEfiZCS ZN BRITAXN [2d ed,, 2 vols,; New York, 3965) , 2: 363, "The in/fuenza of 1782 was a very definite iacident of a feu weeks,tS The table of Londoa weekly mortalities shows a juap in the second week of June f rcle 385 deaths to 550, .the next tuo weeks had 473 and Y34 while early July showed a drop back to 295, The eplde~ichit Portsmouth in the aiddle of Bay, {2:364), It should be noted that the death rate Bore than doubled at a the when the subscription for Bmerican prisoners ran out (see Chapter VI), Alexandes does ~otdeaf at all with the 3-5 per cent death rate at &illgiven by Howard, (p, 185), and noted by Applegate, p, 312- Nor does he consider %he higher death rate at Kinsale, Hazlitt states that 60 out of 260 died before April, 1782, It is difficult to find accura te statistics on Kinsafe, British documents ittention that at one time it held 319 prisoners, making it coaparable in size to Porton and Mill, Hazlitt's recollections, houever, indicate that it @us&have been lauch smaller for most of the war, The sixty deaths, if accurate, laake its death rate considerably higher than forton and ill, given the likelihood that it held fewer prisoners, See Hoyne, "Beversnd Hazlittfw p, 290; 98/73/507, and John Kw Alexander, ***AmericanPrivateersmen in the Hill Prison during 1377-1782': an E~afuation,*~ESSEX IHSTZPUTB HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS 102 (October 3964) ~320-

[19) Afexaaaer, Warpenter ,*$ p. 79 n- 13, See Lloyd and Coulter, HEDICXNE: BNG THE NAVY, 3: 195, for the history of Raslar and Royal hospital at Plymouth,

f20) Alexander, Waspe~ter,~p- 79, Carp4nter9s stay in hospital lasted until 4 June 1778 wheq he was returned to the guardship. Part of the health probfem was the status of the naval surgeon, He had to act as physician, surgeon, and apothecary while haviag only craf tsillan stakus, ?Since the conditions under which such @en served were so bad, one can hardly biante tne surgeon at Forton prison, for exaaple, for resigning his position in 3783 on the grounds that his position was neither prof itable, comfo~table, nor respectable, *a (see Lloyd and Coulter, BEDICf NE BWD THE NAVY, 3:10),

(21) Iilexander, "Porton,** p- 381- See 98/31/88, 94, 335-7, 150-1 and 98/14/215-6, and Fanning, ppl 9, 16,

{22) Carpenter, pp- 43-50, 98/11/118- (23) Alexander, nCarpenter,fs p, 82, there were approximately 255 American prisoners at Portan at the ti~e, making the number inocufated slightly wore than ten per cent (2Q) Hosard L, Applegate, nAaerican Privatesrsmen in the Bill Prison During 1777-1782, ESSEX IMSTIPU2E HfSTORfCBL COLLECTIO'NS 97 #October l%l) :3ll; for other interaction between prisoners and their physicians at Hill, see Barney, p, 87; Baskins, pp, 289, 297-299, 302, 306-307, 425, 433, 435; Herbert, 57, 59, 123, 326-127, 366, 168, 171, 182, 186, 203, 225-227, 232; Wussell, 132-334, 137, 160-361, and Widger, 39-48, 235, 315, 326, 339-346, (25) Alexander, nPcrxtoa,* g. 380, Howard found the hospi taf wards "were not cJ.earnn on his visit in 1782, (p, 1871, In February, 3779, Nogard found the Hill prison hospital dirty and offensive, (p, l8Y), Only the faonth before his visit had the coal been supplied for heat, p, 312; Sherburne, p.. 90, See also Thompson, p, 239, Carpenter, pp, 51,

(26) Applegate, "American Pri~ateersnen,~p* 31 7, Widger, pp- 39-40, 47; f ussell, pp, 144, 147; Barney, p, 97,

(27) Alexander, "fo~ton,*$ p, 384; ANIDRL BEGISTEK FOB 1778 (London, 1779), p.. 78, and Charles 1, Bushne-ll, ed,, *lNarrative of John Blatchf~rd,~~in CRUElSS PO8 ANTZQUARIANS, 2 vols,, {New Yosk: Privately printed, 1066), 2~22,

128) Alexander, nForton,n p, 384, and Ccnaor, pp, 36-38, The Adeiralty figures give the nams 1isSea on pardons, vhich are not the number that finally ealisted, Some prisoners were exchanged before their pardon arrived, some changed their iaiad, some escaped, To encourage fellov prisoners to change any ideas of joining the British, prisoners organized groups for the purpose of discouraging such intentioos through discussion ox, if need be, intiaidation, Thus, the kd~iralty figures for eatry average about thirty per cent greater than the nuher that did join, See Alexander, Y?orton,** 9- 384 n, 103, and Adjfl/UOY-405, PASS1 H, CHAPTEM V3:

The first A~ericanprisoners of war to be brought to England arrived before Porton or Bill were ready to receive the@ and they were therefore kept aboard ships in Plymouth harbour. Charles Herbert aad Saauel Cutler, both of the crew of the privateer DALTOI, have left records of their treataent upon arrival in England. The crew of the DALTBP, captured 24 Dece~ber, 3776, uas carried to Ply~outh,

England. The DALTONLs sailors arrived January 13, 1377, and waited on board a prison ship until June 5, q727, %hen they were sent to Bill prison, Through the winter of 1776 they and their fellov prisoners suffered frois the cold and daap weather, There was no relief fro@the itch, sraldpox and other diseases that plagued thea in their close conf ine~ent,

B9any were sent ashore to hospital, It was with relief that they greeted the opening of ail1 prison and left their cramped guardship behind, Ti~othyConnor of the BISIHG

STATES undervent the same experience of close confinement on a guardshiy in Portsmouth harbour, He fell ill and spent two weeks recovering ashore before returning to the ship to await the opening of Forton, (1) Pressures to enlist began trom the time of capture and continued throughout imprisonment, Shortly after

Nathaniel Fanning's capture he Mas taken aboard the

BMDROPEDA, which happened to be carrying General Houe. fanning writes that the General taaskedwthem to enlist,

When the offer was declined, the f oflowing "search** robbed them of their baggage and stripped thein of their clothes.{2)

Captain conyngha~described the efforts of the British to recruit his crew, But "after many threatnings to get thena to enter the Hajor part was sent on board the prison ship with the officers,** Treatgent of prisogers on the vessel that captured the& was yeaeralip very harsh, For security reasons the prisoners had to be kept confiaea, vhich usually nieant in the hold or cable tier, The captain of the capturing vessel usually allowed the officers of the captured ship the asliberty of his Quarter deck" but the crew reaained below, In Conynghaxaas case, all were thrown into the hold at first, only Conyaghaxa being allowed to walk the deck the first night, The next day the otbet aEEicers were peraitted the liberty of the lower decks, The stifling heat and eraaped quarters, usually with %ables for a pillow," had their toll on the crew, Sam enlisted, i3)

Captain Manley dined at the captaints table the night of his capture, on his nay tc Bill prison, the vessel stopped off at Ne wf oundland where he was **severelycensuredaq 8 1 for having broken his parole at Bridgetown in the Barbadoes

'sand was directed te return to the StfRPRISE f the capturing ship] and there to be confined until his arrival in

Englaad.ls (Y) The experience of Eli Bickford was quite different, An ordinary member of the crew, he received no special treatment, On the contrary, he was treated uith "insults and severity,, .[by 1 the off icezs of the vesselm and contracted a case of smallpox as well, Likewise the crew of a Hassachusetts privateer carried into Halifax received

"bribes E threatsJ* to enter British service, It caae to the attention of the Baryland Council, in September, 1782, that a man naiaed Collins frca their state was "carried into Mew

York, fandj #as compelled, in a fraudulent Manner, into the

Service of the Enemy, 15)

The lengthy ti~espent confined oa the vessel delivering thea to prison in Englaad posed special hardships for the prisoners who refused to enlist with the British-

It is impossible to say what percentage ref used and e~dured,

The accounts that ao mention part 0% the crew joining the

British are vague and tend to be usderstawiing of the suffering that caused the decision, &any note that the crew was plundered of decent clcthes and valuables before going into the bold, Speculations on their fate were generally encouraged by the British who told them they were being takea to England to hang.. (6)

shipss crew were taken on board of their vessels, to serve

in the capacity of sailozs, without regarding their

remonstrances,*f 112) The normal place of confi~eatentfor the

captured crev was between decks, usualiy in a store room such as the cable ties, Christoher Havkias was confiaed to

the cable-tier,

Our situation in the cable tier was unca~fortable almost beyond endurance--we were so crowded that we could not either sit or Pie down. I was aaong the^, but being small, I crawled back on to the cable very near the bulk-head where a man of com~onsize could not stow hiaself--here f stretched out--the following night was one oZ extreme misery for xif fellow prisoners, especia1J.y to the unfortunate men who had been in this floating hell for two or three veebs, (13)

This misery did not prevent the prisoners fro@taunting

their captors with patriotic songs all night.

The crew of a captured Providence pfiva teersm an bellowed pro-colonial songs at the cabla tier whefe they were confined, Mhen their guards told them to be still, they sung all the louder and svore at their torBentors to afire and be damned, * f 14)

The experience on the guardships in Ply~outhor

Portsmouth harbour uas difficult for the prisoners ko endure, Having finished the Atlantic crossing, they had to

wait for the com~issionersto arrive for the examination and processing- Jonathan Carpenter came into Portsmouth harbour and was shifted fro@guard ship to gnard ship, He interpreted the coniinement and shifting arouad as an atteolpt to make him "enter cn board a Kings ship-**[15) The guard ship experience depended npon how many prisoners there were and the captain's attdtude toward them, Over one huadred of the crew of the DBLTOI were put oa the BELLE ISLE when they arrived in Plymouth harbour, The crew of the

CHARBING SALLY joined them two weeks later on Janaary 30,

1777, and all sere moved to the TORBkY on February 3, 1777-

They were so crowded oa the TOBBAY that it was i~possible for all of the^ to lie down at one tim and nany fell ill,

One week later, they were transferred to the BUPDfD, whose captain did all he could tc relieve tkeir suffering- (10)

Carpenter "rejoicedH at the opportnnity to leave the guard ship, Caleb Foot described his leaviag the guard ship for the march to Forton as *#likecoating out of Hell and going into Paradise, 117)

One could ~otenter flparadise* withoat first undosgoinq a strict examination as part of the comntit~oentprocedure, Conynghaa, for exaolgle, was not peraitted into Mill "without

I first] being taken before a Jnstice 6 losmitted by hi8 The purpose of the examination gas to deter~ine the nature of the offense committed against the Crown, Sose passengers, for example, were released, It was important for the British to discovef whether or not the captive was in Eact an American, Those 3fitish captives who failed in their atteapt to pass as cofonists were generally taken off to be pressed into the Royal Mavy, Those Americans who could not convince the civil aagistrates that they were indeed Americans aet the same fate, Sose aeserters were brought .to iriaf for treascn, (I 9) The examinatioa procedure was quite thorough, A detailed list of guestioas was put to the captive, his answers written doun, thea the questions were soae ti&@ afterward repeated and the answers compared,

The judgment was then read to the examinee and he was either released or sentenced to confineaent in prism to await trial fox treason.

There was some confusion ie the ainds of the prisoners aboat the examination, Some thought thy had been tried and convicted, but what they received was a warrant listing the charge of treason and any others the conmissioners felt they Bad ctsntmitted, (20) A calculated aspect of the interrogation was to inti~idatethe prisoner in effort to have him repent, Panning, however, relaembered the exarainatiou as reassuring, 121) Joha Kifby though* he was being tried after his two math stay oa the guard ship

PRf BCESS BEEZIA, He was facarried up to Bazel Hospital for trial and condemnation [a @ock trial to be suraf ,"he Has condemned for piracy and high treason, then '*marched up to

Fortunets Jail,, ,and locked up,,, in the Cold Sueatinq wallsw so~aetime in mid-February, 1778, (22) The examined priscners were collecked and marched off to prison accoiupanied by guards, What they found whea they arrived at the prison was quite different fro^ their cramped gnard ship, John Clagpoolf described the setting of nil1 prison:

This Prison is situated about half a aife fron the tonn of Plymouth on the side of a Hill so that %e can see a good distance to sea[, the prison yard is about 70 or 80 yards square which serves us to walk in and @any a Solitary hour do we saunter away in it, 123)

Andrew Sberburne gives a full description of Mill, noting that formerly there were wind mills on the bill, giving it the name *'Mill HilLn There Here three buildings, one dating back to Queen Arnnefs reign-

The largest building uas a hundred feet long and aboni twenty feet wide; situated at the north end of the yard, It was Buo stories high, built with stone and lime, having no windows on the north, front. There was a space of about twenty feet bstween this building and the co~iiiissary~soffice, which stood to the west, but had nc vindovs in the east end, A wall on the north as high as the eaves of the prison, extended fro@the prison to the office; a siisilar wall on the south, joined the two buildiags. fa this wail was a gate leading into the aain yard, South of the sutal3. yard in front of the comissary*~ office was the cook roon, "in the ground ffoor,,,[of 3 the north end of cqe of the other buildings, which stood in a line, making the vest side of the yard, A space betveen these prisons ansvered as a pard for both, On south of our common yard Has a stone wall, fourteen feet high, uith broken glass bottles set in lime mortar on the top, to prevent climbing over, There was a simifaf valf on the east; altogether inclosing soaething like half an acre, 424) Cutler's description of ill mentions that the Awericans were co~~raittedto the largest of four prisons, "132 feet by

23-a Claypoole esti~atedthe yard to Ce seventy to eighty yards square, (25)

Cutler arrived June 3, 1777, At this time all of the space in the prison was not being utilized, all of the prisoners fitting into the larger of the buiadings, There was as yet no separation, all being glace8 together "sithout any distinction, officers people and negroes all in the sane room," "Pou~prisons* weans four co&part&entaI.ized areas ia the two buildings, Naskins was the first to enter &ill prison, Bay 27, 1777, describing it a **shocking place" and a week later, athis wretched purgatory,** 426)

The history of Porton prison began with the erection of a naval hospital by a pmivate contractor named Nathaniel Jackson, Bs the government built its oua hospitals, the site Mas converted and expanded (about 1740) into a place for prisoners of war, (27)

By the time Fanning was in Fortoa {Julyr 1778), the prisoners were separated by rank, The officers occupied the building to the north of the one for the comnoa prisoqers-

This made iaprisoment somewhat more co~fartabfefor the officers than the common seamen, Their building had @ore space per person, a fireplace and night tub, Fanning considered it a "convenient place for prisoners of war, as there is a spacious Lot adjoining the prisons containing ahout three quarters of an acre of leael ground, in the centre of vhich stands a large shed or buildiag, open on all sides to admit the free circulation of air; under which were seats for our aecomodation when the weather was hot and sultry," Segregation was .not a policy based ors the convenience and ~oefoftof the officers, rathes an atteittpt to isolate them from influencing their crews,f28) who uouhd be incapable of holding out against British pressures to enlist, The buildings at F~ztonwere spacious. The CSBS considered the& sufficient to contain 2158 men "with sufficient airing ground for that aunber," f 29) ghile towas were a half geile or &ore away, Porton was not isolated from neighboring buildings, One source mentions houses within forty feet of his prison house, (30)

Organization inside f orton and BiZ1 was ninimal- The prison aathorities posted a list of regulations ia the yard, f 31) The na jority of these regulations dealt with punishments for abuses by the prisoners, Faifiag to keep good order, failing tc resgond to a auster call, danaging the prison, attempting to escape, fighting with other p~isoners,failing to take a turn at cleaning the prison, and destroying clothing or bedding were all offenses punishable by close confinement or sftort rations-(32)

Close conf inentent nteant keeping the prisoner locked up twenty-four hours a day in a special room that the officials called the hold, but vhich prisoners called the

"black hole," It was not below gsound, but a small Stockade in a reaote part of the prison grounds. !lore than one prisoner at a tiae would be confined in the black hole, so it was not necessarily an isolation @ell, And securiky was no more strict there than elsewhere as nunerous escapes @ere atte~ptedfro@ its confines, Life was not pleasaat in such close coafineaent: khere was no bedding, it was hot and stuffy in the summer, cold in the winter and very crowded after mass escapes brought in secaptured prisoness, 833)

Short rations general1y meant half alfowaace, varying in guali&f depending upon the amuqt that the prisoners were receiving as full allouance, The prison accounts vary as to the affiount of half rations, listing everythieg front "bsead and vatera to half the full food ration given in the victualling table, Cutler mentions that there was a separate priscn for those on half aflouance, perhaps the hospital rooas, for the 22 oa half aflorsance were moved on Septeiaber 6, 1777, to make room for 16 with the itch- f34) There were occasional instances of corporal punishment, One prisoner received twelve lashes for stealing a set of l'silvex knee-buckles, t* I35) Iinpressment into the Royal N vy was irregularly used as a punishment,

Escapees were so~etimesreturned, other tbes not, It was common knowledge among the prisoners that the gang was to be feared, When Edward Manning was capCured by the press gang,

Connor wrote, "I do not expect to see hira again, as they are in great want of men,n Banaiag, Luckier than sonte, was returned to prison, 136) Ccnnol: refers to Edraasd Eanniny as

"Br, 8anaing,** This is his typical deference toward officers, 1n other cases escaped prisoners returned by the press gang appear to be officers as adl, Given the treatment of officer prisoners on the capturing vessels, their rank may be the crucial factor ia their return to prison fro& tbe hands of the press, t37)

The daily routine af the prisoners was usualLy left to the@, Oa days with decent weather, they were given the liberty of the rard, The time limits for this differ with the sari~usaccounts, but from approxiaately half an hour after sunrise to half an hour before sunset the prisoners had the use of the pard, This privilege would be taken away after a particularly large escape took place or a tunael was discovered, (38) There was normally a daily market by the front gate of the ~riscnfrom nine to two, This aasket supplied the captives vith most of their necessities, Thom~songives the rules of the ~arket:

The prisoners will be Indulged between the hours of Nine and Two O'clock in the day time, tc purchase at an open @a rket at the Gate, Such Articles of fruik, or other, Befresh~entas they may Chuse, or any Articles of Cloathing they Bay be able to purchase . vith redy Money, or they aay Enform thr Keeper and Ageat of Such Arti: of Cloatfting as they Bay Stand in need of, and have Boney to pay for, and he will take Pleasures fcr their beinq Supplid with them, 439)

To earn the money to speod at the market, prisoners busied themselves in various activities, They made boxes, plai ted straw for baskets, vbittled bone into dice and other handicrafts, aade ladles, model ships and other abjects that they thought the people at ~arketwould purchase. Cutler sold his shoe buckles for seven shillings and six pence and his ladles for one shilling each, They also pulled the stuffing fro^ their blankets to sell to the villagers who iliade mittens, In short, thy were very enterprisi~gin their efforts to earn aoney to make their life in prison more bearable- (YO)

Handicrafts, however, were far fros the only thing on their: daily routine, Writing fetters and diaries was a comiuon, although surreptitious, activity, Some prisoners conducted classes in mathematics, navigation, and French, as well as reading and writing, besides reading and writing,

In the creative vein, the sailors sang and played music, coraposed new songs and poetry, All of this went on beside the chores of cooking, cleaning and washing, Polloving the news and speculating on the course of the war and possibilities of exchange Mere allso tiate killers, (43) aad the subject of many of the diary entries, There seemed ta be little trouble smuggfimj in newspapers and letters, Some letters were inspected by the prison ofeicials, but outside contacts acted as internediaries in ref ay ing informtion uncensored on a xegulaf basis, The prisoners sere even able to hear from Tormer inmates ubo successfulfy escaped and

#rote then from f ranee, 442)

The flow of inforeation did not stee the raetpant speculation and rapid ffor of rnrtlors, The newspapers were notorions for runniag false inforittation throughout the war, When an exchange seemed ialainent, the best source of in•’ormatica seemed to be the prisoners in the other prison, There gas soiue interchange of letters betwen prisoners in ail1 and Portcn, Carpater mentions receiving word fro@Piill aBout the arrival of a cartel, He then saw the same news iu the local newspaper, but he was stila sot sure if it %ere true, (43) The ~autionwith which Carpenter and other prisoners met the news of the arrivaf of the cartel is understandable in the light of the news about exchange over the previous year, Fro@ early July, 1778, there were rumcrs of a possible exchange through France, On

Decentber 30, 1778, Carpenter writes, YI"ey tell us we shall soon be exchanged but I sopose they Lie as they used to do, " (44) Although the aisinf orma tion of the prison officials and recruiting officers did fittfe for the morale of the prisoners, not all the inforaation they received was cause for dejection, Herbert heard of Burgoyne" capture and Hovet s request for reinforcements, utril~Widger asentions receiving the news of &.ofnaitallist defeat, Soma story in the local Faper vds so ludicroas that EIexbert aad his fellow captives were aanused rather than depressed, 445)

Pood was a preoccupying concern af the pzisoners,

The amount to be distrib~tedto them gas at first based on rations for rebels in 3745, This aas modified to the diet supplied during the last war with the French, The daily ration included zr quast of beer, a pound of bread, three-quarters of a pound of beef [except Saturday when six ounces of cheese were sebstituted) fonr ounces of butter, and one-balf pint of peas e-rrery other day- CuCler complained that the beef, "uhen boil&, weighs 6 ozSflf46)

This ration gave less bread to the B~ericansthan the French, Spanish, and DutCbr causing comgLaints throughout the war, The prisoners at Bill wrote a petition in June,

1781, that produced a debate in Parliament- The bread allowance, however, remained the same, (47)

The fist of regulaticns ordered the prisoners to be served in messes- These general1p held six steinbers, The regulations sought to punish the aess thaQ tried to cover an escape and receive an extra share of foo4 by putting it on half allowance fox forty days from the time of discovery, The regulations also sought to prevent "groundless claaors** by permitting two prisoners, ciasen by hfne prisoners, **to attend everrg day at the accept and veiging, arjd to Continu in the Cook foo~during the Dressinq and issuing of the provisions to See that they are good in quality, and they provided according to the Scheate of diet,"{48) Phis masure not only failed to stertl co~plaintsbnt it also did not assure the prisoners of their full aflowaqce of food. Fanning*~charges concerning the food are so over dramatic that they are hard to believe, but all of the prisoner diaries list coatplaints about the food, Conaor descrabed the prisonersa reactions to the nbad beef** when they were served it a second consecutive day, They tisew it in the cookas window, They then received ncheese instead of stinking neat," /49) Howard found the bread short-weighted on his visit in 1782. Without comparative ueights, the prisoners could not check for such shorting in their rations, When a prisoner coaplained of the beef and bread being light in weight, he was taken to the black hole- (50)

The problem of corrupt agents and contractors affected the pzisonerss diet gore than the regulations for prisoner checking and complaint could regulate, Bccordiny to a letter to the Bdmirafky, signed by HHufi%anitasM,corrupk agents were influential in the contsact system for feeding prisoners of war, Xt is not unreasonable to assane that the corruption followed the pattern set in the victnaLling service for the Royal Navy, As the Bnnnal Bejistef for 1778 pointed out, the job of agent or contsactor atkracted Ben of lowly character and were seea -as chances for f inaacial gain, (51)

The proble~of clothing also caused problems for the prisoner of war, The B~itisBwere supposed to supply the& with clothing, It was recognised that, ia Bang cases, Ihe prisoners had been stripped of their good clothing by semen on the capturing vessel, But the gap batueen policy set forth by the Admiralty and practice at the prison was never wider: than oa the supply of clot'lnistg, Admiralty called Eor iaonthly inspection and suppfg of needed clothing, but the prisoner accounts show fen inspections and only one case of clothing being supplied, Thr auyhout the war, the comaon seamen suffered fro@being poorfy clothed, asd poorly bedded, (52)

The bedding should have been haamocks, fnraished vith a "paillasse azld bolster, stuffed vith straw, changed frortl time to ti@@,and a co~erlid,~The distances between ha~nockswere regulated to prevent crowding, and a two foot space set as the proper distance between Bamtocts, In fair weather, the priscners were required to go into the yard so that the roogls could Be aired and cleared, 121 fact, the bedding gas soaewbat dif farent, Hazli tt*s descriptioq of the bedding at Kinsale mentions *a nasty piece of tow-cloth, about three feet and a half long, stuffed with a handful of strau, and alraost alive with erai in.^ Hovard9s check of the mattresses found the strav turned ta dust-153)

The condition of the prisoners depended in large measure on how well they could suppast theaselves and receive outside aid, The British supplied iniaigtal food and clothing but administered the prisons so loosely that the prisoners general1y were able to Banage for theaseives,

They set out a charity bcx for contributioqs from those who came to look at them, The fnnds from this box were divided evenly each week, fndividnal prisoners had persoaal acquaintances visit them. These visitors were able to slip some mney to their friend in prison. lail with money enclosed would also reach its intended destination, especially when routed through a friendly intermediary in

Plyaoutb os Portsmouth, An occasional visitor fro& the colonies or soaeone with relatives there would contribute aid to those prisoners frola that colony or tostB- In these says, a steady but sirialf stream of contributioas fou~dits way to the prisoners, 154) The charity boq at #ill was put out June 13, 1777, and the first distribution of funds ten days later gave one peany to each, Even the oEficer of the guard gave a shillisg to Cutler anti four of his friends, 155)

At Kinsale prison, the prisoaers had at least two friends who visited them regularly, The Bo-rrerend Willialra

Hazlitt aade aany trips tc the prison *3to see and assist the poor prisoners,#* A friend of the minister, Beuken Harvey, was a Quaker merchant in Cork who also helped mrePie~ethe distresses of the A lrerican prisoners of war in f reland,ts (56)

At Forton the Reverend Thomas Wren visited the prisoners regularly, Along sith a Mr, Duckett, firen *'brought the aen the latest news, obtained clothing for the needy, aod helped escapees get to France," The Reverend 3obest Heath did likelaise for Americans canfined in Hill prison, (57) Later in the war, David Hartleg, the Bhig ga~phletee~and me~berof Parliament, visited Fortcn to tell the prisoners of the progress in negotiations Tor an exchange- (58) Another visitor and source of aid to the prisoners uas Henry

Laurens, He had been captured on his way to Europe, gas confined ia the Tower of London from October, 1780, to

Proverttber, 3781, uhen he uas exchanged, His own i~prisonlrtenf. certainly made him syapathetic to the plight of his fellow

Americans, as evidenced by his letter to Congress:

After my enlarge~entI further urged that business [the exhange of A~ricanprisoners) to its c~mpletion, visited those prisoners at a considerable expense to myself, administered to some of them relief frog sy oun impoverished pocket, and obtained such greater for them from other persons, [59)

The activities of Eli Bickford, in prison for four and a ha1f years, iflustrate the desperate ingenuity that made the American prisoners a difficult group to adainister.

Using park of a door hinge as a scraper, he tunneled out of the prison and up into **an adjoiaing He concealed the dirt in the hamsocks as he dug, He gas foiled, bowever, in succeeding in his escape but ~adea deaE with the occupant of the house to split the reward for returning him to prison, At the ti~ethe reward was a healthy five pounds, Bickford and others ased this route ta advaatage when they needed Istoney, [6O) The reward had bean raised because of the frequency of American esaapes and the inability of the guard to keep the prison secure, A strong force of local farmers ca@eout with their dogs to hunt dam the escaping prisoness at the sound of dru~heatsfson~ the prison, They turned out to be subject to collusion and deals with %he guards and prisoners and the reward was reduced, (6 1j

At the sane the that the priscners #ere devising gays of their own to make life in prison bearable and effect ways to aake their escages successful, those ia England syiapathelic to their plight opened subs~riptionbooks throughout the couetry, B subscription sjas started around

Christms,.1777, raising orer 3,855 pounds for the prisonerst relief, (62) On December 25, 1773, Connor made the following observation in his journal:

Since the defeat of Burgoyne, things gear another face,,, They begin to use us better, There are subscription books opned in Ban? parts of Bagland for our relie•’ as poor: prisoners, 463)

The Reverend Thomas Rren and Hr, Duckett administered the subscri~tionmney for the Forton prisoners, Carpenter kept detailed notes on the aaount he received, His share totalfed three pounds, tno shillings and three pence for the period froa February 39, 1'378, to

June 25, 1779, This averaged about one shilliag and two pence per week, Pro= aid-1779, the average Mas six pence per week- (64) Connor eutered the amount he xeceived each week,

Wren's first visit brought clothes that Wren had collected from doaors and a distribution of subscription inoney--f i ve shillings for each officer, two for each coranton seaman, On

April 7, 1378, Connof notes that the officers recqived eight shillings, while he and the other seaBen got two, Xn mid-June, men refused the weekly allouance to those who had no coats. By September, the officers* allowance was reduced to three shillings and, on October 27, 1778, the allowance dwindled to two shillings and six pence for officers and fifteen pence for coarmon seamen, Coanor mentions subscription rnoney only twice sore, one shilliqy each on

Noveaber 3, and Dece@ber 31, 1778,165)

B contact of Ben jamin Franklin in England reported to him in September, 1779, that the subscription had run very \ Later Connor remarked that "officers of tie Ben of war ace Low, There were several Eactors ntitigatinq against a successful renewal of the subscription, The capture and execution of Captain Andre as a spy in the colonies brought a reaction against any activity that hinted of treason- A

Captain Thoaas Hutchins %asarrested on the charge of treasonable correspondence with Benjamin Franklin, throwing the community of American sympathizers into a state of fear and caution, The French daiance and resultant fears of invasion also had an effect on the sfrapathetic feelings ia the country, Exchanges had also taken place, making their condition of confinement a supposedly tcsparary hardship, (66) By the end of 1779 the situation concerning outside funds to aid the prisoners was causisy concern, Ia a letter to ~enjaainFfankfin, Captain Conynghaa expressed his fears:

I aust acquaint your excellency that the poor unfortunate prisoners ia Plymntb are in a ~ost distressed situation, The donation, when I left that, had been at 6 d per week, f am afraid could they not be exchanged soon, will be obliged to enter in their service, They cannot live on .the GovernaenL allauance, t67)

A coinparison of the conditions of those prisoners who did not receive the benefits of the subscripticn to those at

Forton and Bill reveals its i~portance, Hoidard cofnmented on the sad state of those confined at Pembsoke %hen he visited in June, 1779, In an effort to explain the "bad conditions" he found, he noted that "these 1faon were j overlooked ia subscripti~n~wFanning sumarized the importance of the subscriptioa by stating that his situation Mas comfortable with the allovance, but sitbout it things Prefe "very rtliserable, jr (68)

The reduction of the subscription allowance coincided with a recsuitiag drive by the Royal Navy, Only ten days after Connor noted the reduction of the weekly sua to one shilling the Navy got thirty prisoners to enlist, One month here this day a plenty, to get as aang Ben as possible to enter with them, Seventeen volunteered, On another occasion Connor was given the oppcrtunitjr "to go to India for five years," Three frienchmen and one American accepted the offer, (69) Although c$lers to ealist in the Royal Navy were most commou, a prisoner deciding to join the British could request a personal reference, In the case of a prisoner wanting to join the Fourth Regiaeat of Pout, the vish was granted, Basther Has released fron forton in order to join the whaling fleet, 47Q)

The numbers who enlisted were feu, Bureancratic delays lessened the total., In order for the prisoner contentplating joining the British to enlisL, ho had to vait for a pardoa, fn the time it took for tbe pardon to arrive, the other prisoners Hiay have coavinced hia to stay with them in prison ozr join thelrt in an escape attentpt,{71) The

Admiralty recognized this problem and atteapted to collect those uho indicated an inclination to join by Eoregoiaq the delays, (72) Even this imasure did not ma& the other problem of the prisoner enlisting in order to enhance his chances of escape, (73) American government officials in France were another i~portantsource of funds for Aaerican prisoners of war in

England, First Arthur Lee and later Ben jamia Franklin took a sympathetic interest in the plight of the prisoners across the channel, In December, 1777, Arthur Lee €ontacked and authorized a friend of the Lee family living iq London,

Tho~asDigges, to spend fifty pounds to help the prisoners in Forton, A yeas later Franklin sent 55 pounds of tobacco to the Blaericaas in Forton, Throughout the course of the war, however, the efforts of those in France were disorganized and insufficient, {74)

Ben jmia f ranklin first contacted David Hartley in

October, 3777, in an effort to have hi@ diskribute money,

Hartley, an American sympathizer and me~berof the opposition in Parliament, not only had too many other commitments but also did qot think it wise for hi@ to be the link between Ffanklin and the B~erican prisonexs concerning aoney, Soon afterwarus the subscription campaign peraitted Franklin to drop the search for a contact person in England, Franklin concentrated his efforts upon obtaining aa exchange of prisoners and paying the bills of credit run up by grea and others who aided escapees in reaching France- American governaent funding through Prankfin remained in this dormant exchange prisoners, (75) Despite warnings that the subscsiption gas running Low and that prisoners may be forced to enlist with the BrPtish, Franklin did not authorize an allowance to be distributed at the prisons until June 25, 1780, The payment of six pence per Ban; per week began July 38 at Forton and sow time later at

Bill, (76)

Although Fcanklin indicarted that he wanted that aaount tripled for the winter months, be balked at the estimated cost of 150 pcunds per nonth, Widger refers to receiving six pence or ow shilliatg, aever Bore, (77) This aaount was at or below the level from the subscription that Conynghm warned was sc low that the prisoaers were in a state of despair, Sorae coafusion existed between the correpondents Za London and Passy in the approaching fall

1780, England received word of the Hanging of hjor John

Andre in early October, Ia November John Truabull was arrested as a spy, his papers confiscated, These papers imp1icated Thomas Digges in possibly treasonable activities-

Digges wrote Franklin of these for a period of tim,

Franklin at this tiae Bad a bad case of gout and was not keeping abfeast of his correspondence, When he finally gat back to writing Diqges, his poor London contact had resorted to charging his Living expenses to F rankfin" account, claiming aid to escaping pisoners, The difficulty in

unravelling this confusion may have prevented Frankfin from

paying closer attention tc the needs of the A~erican prisoners, 17 8)

A more likely cause for the low aflawance ts those in prison uas Franklin's priority toward aiding officers and those escapees who came ta see him personally i~ Prance,

Franklin had Digges supply Captain Cola yaghara with clothes and forty pouads for expenses, Again, with Captain Manley,

25 out of a total 100 guineas available to Franklinls contact vent to one officex- When Conyxghala escaped he collected another 28 guineas from Digges, Dr, Jaaes

Brehon, surgeon on the BOBNET, received 20 pounds fro@ Digges, While Franklin did not have direct control over the amounts handed out by his contacts in England, neither did he give thea specific guidelines, Franklin also was a soft touch for those who visit-ed hi@ in Passy, tine and again

giving aid to those that sought it when he clai~edhe could not afford the extravagance, The aid to the capkains resulted in prfoareers fetarniag to actioa, The very Ben needed to work those ships, however, faced the problem of not having enough soney to sake a successful escape,[79) Aside from funds fro@and contact with sy~pathizers who visited the prisons, the next aost iaportant determinant of prisoner mrale was the contact with the prison officiafs and guards, These men were soaetines capable of kind gestures and friend fy com~uaication, They supplied the latest inforaatioa about possible qxchanges, did favours in return for bribes, and generally were so lax in the performance of their duties that the prisoners benefited, [80) Som guards were even too f rieodly. Herbert aentions two that ran off with five prisoners in an unsuccessf uf atteBpt to change their means of live1ihood, (83) &bile there were possibilities of f riendiy contact between guards and the prisoners, the nuiaber of incidents of friction and hostility fax oukpiieiqh tbe~, Barass~eatand insults fron the guard as well as thievery existed at both Porton and Hill, (82)

The guards did nct gravoke a12 the Sncidents, fanning tells of harassing the guards by uanciag absve their guard rooa and rushing back into their hamocks before the awakened and angry guard cou3d climb the staiss to catch the@ at it, Connor listed the incident of a drunken lieutenant strikiag the doctor and cook, (83) There #as an occasional fight between a prisoner and a guard, but the hardest conduct for the prisoner to sualPov was the acceptance of a bribe and failure to fulfill oa his end of the deal, Hany potentially successf vl escapes were foiled by double-dealing guards, A typical incident inwolviaq the guard went as folPous, A dispute arose vith the baker, A scuffle fofloved, the guard being called into the yard to restore order, The prisoners were ordered icto the building and missed the evening nteal, On occasion the guards would be ordered to load and prime, Once a prisoner was stabbed with a bayonet in an argument with a guard, Anokher incident resnlted in a pfisoneras death, fa Harch, 3779, a guard was barassing the prj.soners hanging their shirts to dry on the fence by burning holes in theif Pauqdq vith a red-hot poker, Bbeo the Bmericans went to save their shirts, the guard fi~ed,killing one and wounding several others, his is the only recorded incideut of prisoner-guard friction resulting ia a priso~erasdeath, It

was not, however, the only shooting incident, 184)

The guard was changed about swerp taonth, This was often enough to prevent either aniaosi ties or f riendsfiips froa developing to the point of extreiae difficuftp for the authorities, Relations between the guards and captives was not the only vorsy for the keeper of the prisons- He had more than enough trouble just trying to aake the ~ilitiado their job properly- James Anton, a guard for the Royal Highlanders, coznsidared his job "a light, and in some respects even an amusing dutyan Describing how the sentries could not be seen from the guard-house, they worried little about detecting escaping prisoners, but

laid their firelocks against the sentry-boxes and aniused themselves by Flaying at putking-stone, pitch-and- toss, and such like amusements, without fear of detection; for a cordial aaity of feeling existed throughout the corps, so that as soon as the officer, sergeaat, cr corporal of the guard aade his appearance, it was notified in an instant to the aost remote corners, uithout his being aware of the co&munication, and our gambliag a~use&entsinstantly ceased, (85)

The disposition of the keeper of the prison had &ore effect oa the morale of the prisoners because of his powerful position. At Porton John Wewsham, both keeper and agent, had a terrible persoziaiity, He bad a low opinion of his wards and they described his personality and, actions in bitter ter~s, Be forced the B~ericansto give over their woney to hi& and interfere4 xi& atteepts by the prisoners to register compf aints with the cortlaissioaers, 486)

at ail1 the keeper was aamed Cowdray, Prisoners described hi& as a dishonest, vengeful drunkard and charged hi@ in a letter of cu~plaintto his superiors of robbing the prisoners of their laoney, stealing from the charity box,

watering the beer ana serving prisoper rations to his hogs. Cutleras word for hini was t4tyrant,l* The prisoners sent a petition to a coamissioner Bell "setting forth the very ill usage recad from the Keeper and turnkeys-*$(87)

Despite the poor image the keepers had with the prisoners and vice versa, the agent did occasionally do helpful things for the prisoaers, Heushaa did forward some of the prisoners"o&plaints, When be aliowed Bea-jami&

Franklinas letter to be read to the prisoners asseabled in the yasd, he received a reprintaad front the Ad~iralty* The prisoners did not kaou whether the treatment they received was personal abuse by the agent or policy fsom the

Bdairalky, They could see the petty corruption and blaaed everything on the local officials, 4s on the occasion 02

Franklinfs letter, though, the local official was less strict than ~dmirailtypolicy desired, (88)

Leaving prison is by far the most often recorded subject in the prison diaries, While the prisoners hoped of exchange and their moods fluctuated with the flow of rumors, their actions centered cn escape, The diaries wntioned attempted escapes by every conceivabfe seaas, Even before arriving at the prison, prisoners sraa fro& the capturiag vessel, attempted to take it over, or escaped Eroa a work party detailed f roa tbe guard ship, One even made off between sessions at his exaainatioa, [89) Once in prison the escapes varied from vaulting the wall, going through a hole in the wall, and once even breaking thraugh the gate. Wo place was exetupt from an escape attempt, The store room, the kitchen, the hospital and the black hole all. were tried,

There were even atte~pts fro^ the oukhouse. While most escapes uefe Pone efforts or in pairs, several majoz tunneling schemes resulted in several mass escapes- (90)

#any unsuccessful attempts resulted in a stay in the black Bole, The besf; way to insure a decent chance of success was to bribe a guard, It %as helpful to have sore maey reiiiaining to bsibe tease farners and villagers uho patrolled the area in search of a regard for returning

Ennaways, Bore aoney was needed for passage across the channel, One accbunt of a successful escape ~entionsthe iaportance of the money received from **the good subscribers to the ~merican"prisoners of war, The wney was necessary to "bribe poor and iuercenary people to secrete thela f the escapeesf, and forward theis escape-r Bs Panning put it, those who *had aot money enough to bear their expenses as far as London** were taken and brought back to the black hole, 191) Soae aid could be found if the escapees feached the

Reverend Wren or other friends in England. Three escaping prisoners fro& Kinsale uere hidden anong friends oE Williaa

Hazlitt, fichard Coffin, a native of t!assachusetts living in Englaad, assisted Elisha Henmanas escape by advancing him money and procuring black clothes so that he voufd pass for a minister, Successful escapees wrote back to their friends still i~prisoneduith the aaBes of those to contact and esti~atesof the cost- Thompson even gave mileage figures betueea towns on his escape route and cautioned soseahat needlessly, Hdo not be too hasty in Letting any one Kaow that Pou are fro@ Eortune prisonsf* Cutler and a friend ~ade their break frolg the "sick apartrae~ts,~found their way to a friendas house in Plymouth, and paid their uay across the channel, Bn itemized expense account fo~their journey came to 77 pounds total for both, Bills For aiding Csrnynghaia axid some other officers esca fe totaled over 52 poueds- 492)

The totaf nuaber of escapes ffon fortan betweea June,

1777, and Bpril, 3782, listed in the records of the Cuemissioners for Sick and Hurt Seamen, was 536, Row reany of these were recaptured or the saae ~risoneron se~eral different atteapts caB not be deterained, Connoras record totals 112 successful escapes in the time he speak at

Forton, Front a totaf of 415, this uas fttore than a quarter of the in~ates, Given tbat some were wounded or too sick to attempt an escape* the percentage goes evert higher- (93) When the few exchanges that did take place were halted by the unavailability of Brnericaa-captured British prisoners in Prance, the wccd reached those prisoners in Forton, Numerous escapes resulted, The reasoa Por the escapes seeas obviously to be the pessi~istic{but accurate) assessment by the prisoners that they would not be exchanged in the reasonably aear fut-nre, It is this evaluation of their situation that led American prisoners to try to liberate theiitsefves so often and with such success, not si~plythe Sure of the five pound seuard or the coapulsion of an extraordinary pa triotisa, (94)

The five pound reward for fetarning American prisoners oi war was the result of an Ad~iraltydecree in

July, 1777, Pre~iouslythe aaount Bad been ten shiLliags,

The reward created an unpaid aray of auxiliaries that did more to curb successful escapes than atte8ipts to increase the guard, but the csrruption that ensued caused Bore problems, The three-way sharing sf the reward between prisoners, guards, and civilians becaae common enongh to coRe to the attention of the ~fficeof the Adairalty itself-

Baid coaplaints and demands to move the prisoners to another location, the Adnairalty reduced the reward back to ten shillings after April 29, 3782, (95) Good morale among the prisoners of war in England was difficult to maintain, Exchange was long in coming, Their status as prisoners of war was uracfear,, They faced the possibility of being hung as traitors aad pirates, The

American governReut was Ear avay, retaliation for their aistreat~entdifficult to effect, Very much on their oun, they were under continual gressure to join the Royal Wavy to escape their condition, On the othef band, they Bad &any supporters in England uho cam to their aid with a substantial subscriptioa and played the role of watchdog for the prisoners4 welfare. Iaside the prism, however, the Ben were lefl to their own resourses, Undet khese difficult circu~stances,the men pulled together re~arkably,

The prisoners maintained good aorale over all despite their realistic appraisal of their iaprisonment, On entering Fortona, Carpeater found 375 Aaeficans: '*Some of

the^ had beea there a year and %ere in good heart but expected a long i~prisonmestEC,'~(S)S)

One of the ways that the prisonem raised their spirits was through singing, They sang about love, drinking and the sea, They created a spirit 05 humor and revelry, Their songs were escapist and patriotic, not nournf ul laments, Only two songs r-ecorded by Connar from those sung in Forton had even the slightest reference to any kina of prison experience, I4The escape night be to dreaias of romance; it miqht be an escape back to the sea or silrrpfy to the thought that the war might soon be over,"{97) Over half of the songs were about ronance, Nine of these '"portray sailors as leading figures and recount their teary leave takings or joyful returns,j8 Others had theaes of sexual conquest and cuckoldry, SoIIte songs built up the sailoras character as being bolder than the landsman or used to rugged experiences, (98) The other ~ainpurpase of the songs was patriotic, Soaqs were used as a counter-demonstfatisn to the salute to the Kiugrs birthday, One scay revealed the mercantilist base to their patriotistti: lidthe wars will be over soon which was for to be / Bad ve will have free trading in Worth 8~erica-"* (99) Natrtralf y the prisoners created sow verse to celekrate their release, (100)

Songs were not the only form of morale-boosting eatertainaent created by the prisoners. They celebrated birthdays, But the rrta jor celebrationt cane on the fourth of

July, Herbertts journal at Mill prison, 1776, reads:

July 3, 1778: As it is two years tolrrortou since the Declaration of Independence in Baerica, we are resolved, although we are pxisoner, to bear it in remeabrance; and for that end, several of us have employed ourselves today in makiag cockades, They were drawn sn a piece of paper, cut in the form of a half Boon, with the thirteen stripes, a Union and thirteen stars, pointed out and upon the top is printed in large capital fetters, 'Independence* and at the bottom, 'Liberty or Death* or sow appeal to Hea ven,

July 4, 1778: This morning when we were let out, we hoisted the American flag upon our hats, except abont five or six, who did not choose to wear the@- The agent, seeing us all vith those papers on our haks, asked for one Lo laoh at, which was sent him, and it happesed to be one which had qIndepsndencea vritten upon the top, and at the botto~'Liberty or Death,*

He not knowing the maning of it, and thinking we were going to force the guard, directly ordered a double sentry at the gate, Wothing hapgened until one ofclock; we then drew up in the thioteea Divisions, and each Division gave three cheers, till it eaBe to the last, when we all cheered together, all of which was coaducted with the greatest regularity, We kept our colors hoisted till sunset, and then took there down, (101)

Po execute a demonskration such as Herbert described required sose orgaaization among the Bserican prisoners,

They had that organization already established for their own self-poficing, To regulate aspects of their daily lives such as sating in faesses, defending their property, and controling disagree~entsand fights, "it was found necessary to have sortie Bode of governaent aeaong the prisone~s-~~1102)

The prisoners "adventured to form thsaselrres into a republic, framed a const itukion and enacted vholesotrte laws, with suitable penal ties, It Articles of government were drawn up and read to the newcomers, Punishments were set far various aisdeeds, Bad a trial systea was formlated. If a person was accused +*of any transgression, he had a legal trial and was punished according to the crime, There had been one or more instances of tying up to the lamp post, and putting a dozen lashes on the bare ba~k,~f103)

Security was a prime consideratiog for lags in this prisoner governaent, Keeping tunnels secret, ~a3riaga fake muster to cover for those who escaped, and keeping secret the outside sonrces of information from possible informers was as essential task, This involved pressuring thosa who aigbt inform, especially those who indicated a dasise to receive a pardon aad join the British, Connor relates the incident of a guard discovering a hole dug for a &ass escape, The pfisoners in turn discovered an inforntef had revealed the locationof the tun~el, The prison officials had to isolate hi~in the hospital tc keep the others froa carrying out their punishaexit, That prisoner then took up application for enlistrtlent, (304) One alleged iaf orlner mapt-ed

Xogers had his trial and was found guilty, His sentence gas one hundred stripes, They dragged him out aad ad~inistered the beating- {I 05)

Bn example of the organizatiaa of daily routine gerforaed by the prisonersf attempt at self-segulation was the organizing oE the distribution of food, The &en in each mess chose one among them ko divide the loaf of areas into shares of as equal size as possibI.e, Another uoufd be blindfolded and asked to call a name of a imssmate #he& the cutter poinked to each piece, A similarly elaborate scheme for avoiding disputes over the beef ratio^ existed- (l0b)

The prisoner organization sseaed to worK very sell. The food distribution system elintinated a major point of irritation, The penalties kept thiererg and figitfag to a minirauin, Connor ci'tes only one case of fighting among the prisoners, SBesburne hags at the beginning of his account that there was no fear of having one3s clothing stofen hecause of the nrepublic,f9 3107)

Ovefall it could even be afgued that there were adantages to the prison experience for the comaon seaman,

The scboling that soae used to fill their hours brought useful skills for the future, fanning conlraented that "many of these have since advanced to the rank of masters of vessells, otherwise, had they never see Porten ~rison,they never would have been laofe than sailorsi*, (108) Such an observation should not obscure the difficulty of the prison experience, Some men were confined for a very long tiae,

Bany healthy young seama emerged broken and unfit for further fife at sea, Even officers uho fared better than the GontlPion seamen characterized their ~xperienceas lSvery disagreeablew and described their release as *'our deliverance from a horrible prison, where we fared very hard, '* (1 09)

The experience did not turn thea fro@a life at sea or frora further sersice to their country, John Paul Joaes signed on many of these men for the BONHO@RE RICBARD,

Lieutenant Cutting Lunt wrote ho~e,inforainq his father of his freedoa and future plans: "1 have shipped ~yselffor another cruise, and hope I shall have better success, I am going in a ship called the Poor Bichard, comanded by 4oh~

Panl Jones, esquire, tut our expedition is secret, but 1 hope to be at hose sext Christ~as,if ~y life is spared, (1 10) 47) "The Old Hill Prison, Plpouth, EnglaadtW HAGAZXNE OF HISTORY 20 jjanuary I9123 3 19, In the colonies the British confined priscners in warehouses, large public buildings, churches, and 09 prison-ships, A11 of these facilities proved inadequate in size for the nu~bersof prisoners forced into confinement in the@, There were no provisioas rade for the conf ineme~atcf naval prisoners other than hulks, coaverted supply ships taken out of commission- An act of Parlia~ent,17 Geosge Xfl c. 9, passad in aarch, 1777, classified Wmericans taken in arms oa the high seas as pirates and traitors, This act gas renewed each year until Elarch, 1782, when they were considesed prisoners of war in 22 George TI1 c, 10- See John K- Alexander, ed,, itJonathan Carpenter and the American Revolution: the Journal of an Baerican Mavaf Prisoner of War and Verinont Iadiaa Fighter," VERBONT HISTOMY 36 lSpfing 3968):80 n, 15, The literature on the horrors of confine~eatin these bulks is extensive. See for exaaple 28th CongEess, House Report: Woe 176; 54th Congress, 28 session, House Seport No, 2938; Gaorge Taylor, BBRTYflS TO THE REVOLUTTOl IN THE BBfZTISH PRISON-SHIPS I;% THE HAZZRBOUT BAY f 1855) ; Andsew Sherburne, MEMOIPS OF ANDHEW SHERBURNE A PZMSTOHEB OE THB NAVY OF THE BEVOLUTIOld, BY RIPlSELF, (Utica, Wew York Williaas, 1828; reprint ed, , Preepori; Es'ew fosk: Baoks for Libraries Press, 1970, pp, 107-335, kiargaret EI- Galdwell, *A Sit of Bistory Eroa Frenchaaan Bay ,"NAUTECBL BZSEABCR JOUBNAL 2 {Dece~ber 1949) :351-352; Charles H, Jenrich, TPfie Old Jersey Prison Ship, UWITED STATES BAVBL INSTITUTE PfOCEEDINGS 89 (February 3963):370, discusses those on prison ships who wrote diaries: Captain Drisg, Bobert Shef field, Lieutenant Dunsco~b, Alexander Coffin, Tho@as kadros, and Silas Talbot-

42) fanning, p- 2,

(3) Robert Wilden Beeser, ed,, LETTERS AND BBPEBS RELATING TO THE CRUISES OF GUSBVUS COWYWGHBM -- A CAPTAIN OF THE CONTI8EWTAE &AVY 1777-3779, (Port Rashington, New Pork: Kennikat Press reprink, 1970). p, 160; H, 3, Clark, NMarrati ve of Gustavus Conyngha~, U,S, N,, Vhile in Cotitinand of the *Surprisea and *Revenge,* 3777-1779," PENWSYZV1NIA PTAGAZf HE OF HISTORY G BfOGRAPHY 22 (1898) ~487;Sainuol Cutler, "Prison Ships, and the 'Qld Bill Pris~n,~Plyaouth, England, 1777," NEW ENGLAMD HISTORICAL C GENEALOGICAL REGISTER 32 (1876) 343; Charles Francis Jenkins, Wohn Claypoole3s Mentoranduiii-Book, PENNSYZVANXA BAGAZINE OF HISTORY E BIOGBAPHY 36 (1892):183, A description of Conyngham9s capture and arrival in England can ba found ia the London REYEfiBRANCER for 1779, p, 341, For. the controversy over Conyngha~qsstatus as a captain, see Greenvood, CBPTBI M BANLEK, pp, 158-161, tle was considered a pirate because he could produce no corontission, fp- 160)- Connor aentions one creu oJ 100 prisateersnen from which 25 en1isted, (31: I%&),

(4) Isaac J, Greennood, CBPTAZLS JOHM BANLEY SECO%ff IN HANK IPJ THE UMI'IIED STATES HAVY 3 176-1783, (Boston: C, E, Goodspeed E Co,, 1915). I;, 116, and Gordop Grank, THE LfPE AH13 ADYEITUBES 02 JOHM WICOL BABfNER, flew York: Earrar E Binehart, fnc., 1936), p- 53, The experience of the officers captured differed considerably fro^ that of their creu, On the capturing vessel, the officer prisoaers, or at least the captain, dined at the captain3s table and had the freedoa of at feast part of the ship, If there were exceptions to this, they occurred due to a clash of persoaalities or as a result of an atteapt to escape, Boardman, a ~erchantcaptaia captain captured in &arch, 1776, was we11 treated by the lieutenant and shipss ntaster, but not by the captaiii, who eventually wturned hi~out of the regular tales%,, to mess with a gunner," For attempting to escape, Boardrean was "thrown in irons for some days**, This confineaent ia ircns was considered a puoishment rather than an effort to contain Board~an, He escaped soon after beiug released Fro& the ircns by swimiqy ashore, That he was not plundered Q•’ his valuables and 'therefore had the mney to wake his way hcme is described in his preparations for swimming ashore, He "stripped, except for his trousefs and a kerchief with money in it tied around his neck- ** Connor aentions a special meal for the officers of his privateer served up by the captain on arrival in Portsmouth, fp, 343)- Lieuteaant BatLbewman also tried to escape vith close confine~lentas a result, see Thomas C. Parrarttore, **The Great Escape fron Fortoa Gaol: An Incident of the Revoluti~n, WORTH CAWOLINP HISTORIC&& REKXEW 45 (Deceniber 7968) :352..

(5) Charles I, Bushnell, *A @emoi;;rof Eli Bickford, A Patriot of the HAGAZINE OF HISfOfY WXTH lOTES AND QUERIES, Extra No, 166 (1931) :128; John 3, Beserve, **A Privateersman of the Revoluti~n,~GRANITE STBTE l4ONTHLY 59 (Bay 1927) :140; J- Ball Pl easants, ed,, JOURNALS AWD CORRESPOWDEMCE OP THE STBTE COUWCIL CF 8BRYLAHD 1783-1784, (Baltimore, aaryland: Bargland Historical Society, 3931), p, 262, Seth Clark gives a deposition concerning his capture and enforced service on ~ariousBritish ships, See Clark, pp- 96-98, (6) Fanning, pp, 2, 3, 8; Jenkins, wCLaypoo.Le,** p, 183, List any othecs that describe plunder of valuables and enlistment of part of the crew,

47) Connor, p, 377; Fanning, pp. 4-6,

(8) Israel falph Potter, "Life and Adventures of Israel Balph. Potter, " {Providence, Bhode Island: Privately printed by 3, Howard, 3824; reprint ed,, Hew York: filliate Bbbatt, 1931), in I"BX RAGAZEBE OF HISTORY HITH BOTES AND QUERIES, Extra No. 16 (182U):631,

fl?) Heerp 'f, Tuckersan, THE %IT3 OF SIZES TBLBOT A COMfl0D0BE fW THB EtAVY OF 'E-HE UNITED STAT%S, (lew fork: 3, C, Biker, I$!X), p, 95, The Deposition of Elipbalet Downer describes cf ose confines ant in the stifliag heat of August on board tBe ship that brosght hira to England and then on different guard ships, OnLp severe illness enabled him to leave the ship for Haslar hospital, in which Be recovered, See Dcuner, pp, 95-96,

113) Bushnell, WAWKINS, pp, 24, 33, 62-63,

Il4) George, Carey, **Songsof Jack Tar in the Darbies," JOUBNAL 03 AflEHICBH EOLRLOBE 85 (April-June 1972) :388; and Bushnell, BAWKIWS, pp, 63-64,

(151 Carpenter, pp, 44-45, quotea in John K* Alexander, Vorton Prison ~nringthe Afaerica~ Pevolution: A Case Study of British Priscner of gar Policy and the Baerican Prisoner Ftesponse to that ESSEX INSTITUTE HISTOBLCBL COLLEC9IONS 303 (October 1967) ~368, Jenkins, fiClaypoole,m p, 185, also ~entionsthe *inducemex&s to enteru while serving ti~eoa a guard ship- \

(16) "The Old &ill Prison, Plyagnth, England," HBGBZIHE OF BISTOBY 20 [Jaanary 1809) :1% English huieanitasians were also a factor, B letter appearing in the London GAZETTE in the fall of 3776 pleaded for the Hayos to remedy the situation of the Aaerican seaBen confined below decks in their own captured privateer, sea Richard 8- Bteerman, **Treatment of A ~eficanprisoners during the He~olutiou,~*NEN JERSEY BXSTOBICAL SOCf ETY PBOeEEDf NGS 73 [October 1960):273 n. 47, (17) Carpenter, pw ti6, Foot, p, 130- In his analysis of the priscner experience, Alexander, mforton,n pp, 366-368, lumps the capturing ships with the guard ships and fails to distinguish that Foot was reacting to a tuo week stay on a guard ship, confine~enton which he volunteered, giving up his parole, ia the hope of a quick exchange, We also atte~ptsto coatpute the rate of entry into British service by csaparing the number of men carried on a privateer with those who entered Porton, The nu~bers of crew carried are very inaccurate, usually being the number o-f hands the vessel shonld carry father than the number actually on board, This type of comparisoa also does not account for escapes betveen the time of capture and arrival at Forton, See Cutler, pp, 185, 187, It is accurate, hogever, to coaclude that British efforts to recruit vere probably Bcre successful on the capturing vessels and guard ships than in Poston and Bill prisons, But factors other than severity of treakment vere the probable cause of this rezative success,

f18) Eseeser, CBUISES, p, 170. For an example of the coortrsitraent form, see Greenwood, CBRTSlf EI BPMLEY, pp- 113-1 18.

119) Barion and Jack Ra~inkou, BBRINEBS OF THE AHERICBN REVQLUTION, [Baltifuore, Haryfand: Bagna Charta Book Co,, '1967) , p- xii; Parraeore, Wreak 3~cape,~p- 352, Pasramore, p- 353, notes the release of the aepholr ol the owner of the ship; Jonathan Efkins, mBe&iniscencesof Jonathan Elkins; fro& a aaauscript in the possession of the Vermont historical society," VEBHOMT BPSTORICBE SOCIETY PROCEEDIlGS (1919-1920) :203; Sherburae, pp, 77-78, gives a detailed lisL oP the questions asked hi&, Three justices exa~inedCutler and eight other Amxicans at the Fountain tavern, "A•’ ter $our hours exanination together, and separateiy, we were aelivered to two constables and seven soldiers, to be com~ittedto Hill Prisoa for high treason," (p- 185) *

(20) Carpenter, p, 46, Connor, p, 343, and Tfto&pson, p, 222, &ention the warrant, Alexander, Warpenter," pp, 79-80; see Eunice Hw Turner, atAmerican Prisoners of War in Great Britain 1777-778 3," &AflNEB3 SIREQB 45 (July 1959):200, for confusion ia the @&ad of the agent at Portsaouth over the manner of com~issionto psison,

(21) fanning, however, found the co&ttiissi,oaers pleasant- They did not abuse or threaten him, In fact, he recalls that they "assured us we should be kindly used as prisoners of gar," fp- 9)- Fanning wrote his recollections around 1805 and can be excused for thinking they used the term '"prisoners of wartJ, But, if his experience was typical, then it gas probably so only for offiaers, Alexander, "P~rton,~warns about Panning's "bolder ~optments,~~but should also have been careful about implying that Fanniag3s experiences ~ighthave been typical for all prisoners of war, (pa 367 n, 9)-

(22) John Kilby, "lasrative of John Kilby," edited by D. T, Stokes, MBBYLAHD HESTORXCAL 8ACBZINE 67 (Spring 1972) :27, The trial took place in the Boyal Naval Hospital at Hasfar, located in Gos~ori,across the harbour from Portsmouth. Barney's description of Hill prison concerns the walls only, They aere high, double valfs with twenty feet Cetaeen there, lp, 148)- Earion S, Coan, *#A Rev01 utionarf Prison Diary -- The Journal of DE, Jonathan Haskins," NEW ENGLAND QUBBTEBLY 17 t5une 7944) :295, Jonathan Haskins iwntions that the examination took place at the Fountain tavern, and that, of his group, one captain escaped between the first exanination and being called back, A Dutch~an@as sent back to the guard ship. A later group '*gave little or no answers to the interrogation asked but still was comttd. upon suspicion of high treason as others," [p. 2961, Haskins also mentioas men being discharged as being ship's masters, fp- 2951,

(25) Cutler, p, 186; Jenkins, %fayp~ole,~p- 187,

(26) Coan, "Diary of Jonathan Haskins,", p- 286,

(27) Chsistopher Lloyd and Jack L, S, Coulter, HEDICINE BED THE RAVY 1280-1900, 4 vols, (London: E, C S,

Livingstone, Ltd,, 1963) ,\ 3: 190-192, 195, for the history of hospitals at Portsmouth aed Ply~outh, For inf ornation abouk buildings presently occupying the site, see Kamiakou, BARINEBS, p, 215,

(28) Nathaniel Fanning, FAWMING*S fUBRBATfVE: BEING THE BEPIOXBS OF MATHAMIEL PANNING, AN OFFICER OF THE REVOLUTIONARY NAVY, 1378-1783, edited by John S, Barnes, (New Pork: De Vinne Press, 1912), p, 9, Connoz: gives the date for the officers moving ko Istheir new apartmentt' as danuary 20, 1778, pa 340). Neeser, CRUfSES, p, 371; Alexander, tlForton,lq p, 378, Forton prison was pulled down in 1812, It was the same building that was fortune Hospital vhich fluas hired fro@ the owner by the Sick and Hurt Comoaissioners previous to .the corapletian of the Bas1ar Hospital in 1762, See Hardy, C, F, (ed.), BENENDEM LETTEBS, p, 145,

(29) Alexander, **Fu~ton,*~p, 369 n, 21, and 98/11/87,

(30) Parsamore, **Great Escape,q* p, 354,

(31) George Tholapson, rrDiary of George Th,ompson of mew bury-port, kept at Bortcn Prison, Englaad, 1777- 1781 ,* ESSEX IlSTZTUTE HPSTORfCBf COLLECT1 ONS 76 (July 1340) :238- 240; Jenkins, nClaypoole,fl p, 10 1, Tho~psanlists tuelve, including a table of victuaffing- See also Parsamore, "Great Escape," p* 353,

(32) Thompson, **Diary," pp, 238-240- See also 98/11/362 and Alexander, aaPorton,H p, 370. As these pttnishments faifed as effective deterenhs, the Admiralty instituted extra rtleasures, Starting in January 1779, attempted escapes were further punished By putting the prisoner's name at %he bottom of the exchange eligibility list, See Thompson, "Diary,* p, 225, and letter of January 6, 1779, in Bd/B/404, f n February, 1779, local prison authorities were given the right to put unruly prisoners in irons, but there is no record of that being done to ordiaary prisoners at Porton or Will, See letter of February 15, 1779, in Bd/K/404.

(33) Connor, pp, 345, 347, List others descriptions of the Black hole. Cutler, p. 307, Cutler ~eqtionsthat the black hole uas I*nct large enough for those already therem plus the seven capaured escapees that uer.e brougkt in that day- There were at rnost only a fes in the hold on that day accosdiag to his accouat, Cutler states that two tried to escape fro& the black hcle but were caught and returned, p, 308, Another who had escaped and %as returned the next day spent 54 days on half allowance as punishment. Connor notes that two dug their way out of Porton*s black hole in July, 1737, p, 344, Will had a nor black hole built, Cutler mentions that masoqs began work on September 3 and finished September 26, "1777, p. 395, hccordieg to Coqaor Porton's black hole held 25 prisoners on Deceaber 2, 1777, p* 347,

(34) Connor (p, 3443 gives six ounces of beef, one-half pound of bread, and one pint of small beef as **black bole** rations, See alsc Panning, p, 13; Foot, p, 100, and Cutler, pt 395. Connor mentions one exaaple of using half alfouance as pressure to give inforraation, All. $4 aQh& Oh @*himWO.;f id0 1 ~1 +~mca*cra, a,mwm! t, ousatuc c.tn u*,~m a4 Or-a sm w.a ~JUM W ~JF ~PUGCIQ b wa 0.0 .4*,:12*,, 04 a*, P we a1 *.d C w UCt F *3.F)FJas::(daQl (n~eco~ar~rl~ca~)~o u *.MOO~U *.a p prmf- M@W *@ &Url;l*rl*d &Of uaow a umcaam.*,c,afic- cdtBkf-4 9)*rQ5.*-dQ)(d@t)d0 UO)Q~~aWfi +)uatsa, ara~w-~tis*m ulaxaea~w*rp,,f:~)~=wm~) cucl 44 In la 0 $3 1Q.r(4 M L1.I.r 2 3saL?Lld23Qa *I +RF( u 3 LI war Y r~QuOerd4.lw aUpllUInl@Z?~mS+R& O, m0ta s.r(gl V) o cram wur a, os PPd c,#E9u,.rfT3 OUb(I@MH &WF#U a, ~.cr;rc)w F *.,+@-GI a, a*Ja at^ vtw QMQ,Q)* r earn o o Q gr a, * m w (U a) &4\oa+, cc O) &*?rd'u Qlli @~W*tfdCJQ&P@ U u mrl a, a ca u Q c, a a 0,:';j.::3dg:C1 5 (d @,,cO+'~l TfC! 5E A a UO.fl En u irQ)a,*dOWQ61*.'~ r*lfdR1CIm0a,u (U a aarrr~ca-ioa u, ~4 Q rd w @ mo M &rl *aw*, .ridiu id* a) a,ro tr4JS.d aw -4 Oa,mm**t.dElU 4wwa3(dc, r o CI cl a*t IR.~ .IWI mal.dtnc, avu W*ra@cWap @&QL4W id &+J 8)idM rd r E u, ~.~cdmrn'pf~a,~rictwuoa,a -~UQ~FQ)MRFLCL)*I-= aa ~~idr:; maauaa 634 *drd~ ~4m1u@c, m a ao AawV$f:ms Cti,Qa, m.4 a -auw ugr omc m 3 asurnurns ~)a,fiaa, u, a.r(@ 40~134)~1ora,~3~ a.u o a, OA marl a0 aa; ~waw B ~a u urn mcr MCIQ~UQ.~,CUa, ocu.au,u, I +,w W@ .rlwd) MUQ,OW@nt @ 4 ar a, t+ a~ asxaa; M u, u s u a a, or u, a a~CU~::tdoOOa(dCHaa,~d01acc:~@d ~-IaooAawua*JidsOMUuCn3ReSr)c,CI s% D. MWO] rt '* 1OY n lYrCG1** rr0rr0tJradlb0c A kt,* GWS ern ntncra, o wnctltrte~u~ PI zwaa con k~ w ~3r)r~unwr.ra wo (f: P,* a4 Ig tl yl3 MCD* wn Zk c.tOORd& a Vtcrj*t+rj(l)nt+*J 'Elm- H(D IOWDOh, Wb%Z&P,WaPifimY* Wac*# Wrj tn co tn m n* tn(OPa:r,% W-ruZI* u. OW* W&r)i.'.t# am OgOr.rd fD two\ re* L;CI@O ad*** n \cr nM HJ a@ osj10GtYatcnt+ so artn R, a- r; n om P, 63w a* DDPb* *J Edc~\&@Uf 10 0 * rjo, b*wr*0tul a,@ \l"l%GE rt)rJua GO fDrrrP d 0 ow0 WW.W ** tl n=s *&rD a b n '"UN (D a'* P.tspr 4 10 0 Clto &, mn tnm&9mmotnom '~a~rnn&r no** CJ@h,P rrcm* mm OPI Wb"O(D w PI* 'YQ rrrn,GWu3J= WfD to@ tn UI 4u7 n hS * '1. C tl; cl. 3' 0 L [D M (43) Alexander, Warpenter ,* pp- 83-84, Carpenter or another prisoner at Fortoxi received fetters from &illon aap 8, and June 14, 1779; the newspaper story appeared June 21, 1779,

(44) Alexander, jTCarpenterfH p, 81, The possibility of exchange coincided with the British fear of iavasion, war with Prance, dnd their entrelae need for seamen to man their fleet, Beus of ~dmirafKe~~el,*s fleet is interspersed between Carpenter9s comments on exchange,

145) Herbert, pp- 86-87, 1 141; Widger, p- 145, Borsar d L, Applegate, "B~iterican Privateerslaen in the Mill Prison During 7777- 1782,** ESSEX INSTXTUTE BISTOBICAL COLLECTIONS 97 $October 396 1) :318, saggests that the inforination fro& the British officials, being "pure lie or propaganda ," resulted in constalat do jection, In ""~rslerican Privateersaen in the Bill P~isonduring 1777-1782': an Evaluation, lq ESSEX INSTITUTE HfSTOPICBL CQLLECTTOIS 202 {October 1966) ~332,Alexander attempts to covnter that by noting that the prisoners wefe not always dejected and pointing out the good news that they received to elate thea, The proble~seems to Lie ia the source of the information that the prisoners received, The official British sources do appear to be uniformly bleat Eroa the A~ericanprisoner point of vieu, while the cheerful sources are dissenting newspapers or other unofficial sources, Herbert's exataple shows that the prisoners were capable of rising above the inforaation they received and making a juugaent about it, That the prisoners vere not always dejected is not a credit to British prison policy c~ practice, but rather to the prisonecs themsef ves,

(US) N, k8,j'Adm/tl/40tr, letter dated 30 April 1773; Turner, *A&erican ~risoaecsof War," pa 202; Cutler, p, 185; Itamintaw, MBRIIEBS, p- xiii. The Raminkovs otnit the buttes and mention that greens or peas vere served five ti~esper week, TboBpson aade a copy of the table of victnaffing posted in the yard which lists four ounces of butter once per week and two pints of peas distributed evenly over the week, (pl ZUO), Connlos received cabbage every other day, (p, 343)- Howard, p1 1911, notes greens instead of peas on Saturday,

(47) Kaainkow, HIIRZNERS, p, xiii. JOUBNALS OP THE HOUSE CB CUBMONS, 38:531-532 {June 20, 378l), 38:55f-552 {June 29, 1781); George Taylor, MAPTYBS TO THE BEVOLUTXON IN THE BBfTISH PRISON-SHXPS IN THE WBLLABOOT BAY, flew York: W, B- Arthur & Co,, 1855) , p, 18; ANNUAL PBGISTEB PO2 4781 (London, 1782), p, 152- Howard states that bread for Americans was increased to one and one-half pounds oy November 5, 1782, (p, 187)- Jenkins, *Claypo~le,~*qives the date of the increase as 29 April, [p,. 139)-

I491 farauiag, pp- 11, 17-18, Fanning wrote that the prisoners were half starved, found ground glass in the bread, begged for bones at the gate, and picked up bones in the yard, Connor (p, 352) cites three other cases of bad beef, fpp, 70, 213, and 343)- Herbert Linked the poor quality and lack of food to Low morale and saw the end of subscription Boney as driving prisoners into the British service, (pp 65, 207) ,

(50) Bosard, p, 187; Cutler, p, 307,

(51) N.H-M,/Adj'Pl/404 fetter dated 29 ZLprif 1777; •’or corruption in the victualling service, see Daniel Baugh, ~ritisfiEJaval Administration in the Age of Walpole (Princeton, 1965). pp- 403-405, 424-425, 4Q7-451 and John 2, Keevil, ET BE., HEDICIME BUD THE NAVY: 3200-3900, 4 vols,, (Edinburgh, 3957- 1963) . 3:83-85, aad ths discussion in Alexander, "Forton," p, 375; AMHUBL REGZSTER Fa& 1778 [London, 1779). pp, 78-73, Perhaps the whole problera of corruption #as too auch for the those uHo sought to regulate it. Even Hor~ardcould only suggest as a rerttedy for the short-weighted bread that a jfcoacernad gentlemanM oversee the coatrackors and nobliger' them tto be "%ore car& ul,1* (p, 194)-

(52) 98/11/370, 371, and 98/13/507; Esnnor mentions two inspections, Bay and June, 1778, (pp, 20, 352), see also Thorapsan, pp- 224, 239; at Fanning's exaatinatioa, he was told by the justice that he would be supplied with replacement clothing for %hat #as taken, (p* 8) - Alexander, laForton,*a ia his coverage of the clcthing situation, csncludes that the British "did provide cfotbes, although not as regularly as the official. accounts i~pfy,"(p, 3773, He includes forton in this concPusiaa but &he only citation of clothing distributed is for Mill in Decelaber, 1777, {See Herbert, pp, 70, 90, 94)- Alexander then states that Iqthe prisoners8 clothing situation deteriorated quickly" after garch 25, 3782, when the A~ericansofficiaffy becane prisoners of war by British law and American assistance was lacking, It is more proper to consider the clcthing situation as difficult thr~ughoutthe war, fiuotuatiny vith the prisonerss ability to buy at market tha itertls they felt they needed, This varied more with their i~lco~gethan with the policies of either gov~rnment, For the clothing situation at Kinsale, see Boyne, "feverend HazZit-t, pp. 290, 292, 293, Turner, "Aaierican Prisoners of Warfn ntentions that the British authorities at first stopped the distribution of shoes and stockings provided by funds contributed by English symgtthizers but then gave permission, (p, 202)- In the eighteenth century, officers were responsible for aeeting their om clothing needs, Common prisoners were to have been provided for by the state of origin, but because Britain had not defined the& as prisoners of sar, responsibility fay with them, JOUfNALS DP COMGBZSS 3:400 (December 2, 1775) and 372753 (August 21, 1780) ; BEPOBTS PBO& THE COBBITTEES OF THE HOUSE OP COtIlONS 10:776 (1780); JOUBNgL OF THE HOUSE OF COMI!IOHS, 38: 531-532 (June 20, 1783), and 38:551-552 {June 2.9, 1783)-

153) WilXiain 91- S, Flofy, PRISONERS OF @BB, (Vashingtoa, D,C.: American Council on Public Affairs, 1942), p, 57 a, 723; aoyne, **Reverend Haalittfn p, 292; Horaard, p. 387, Fanning cnanpPaisled of lice in the bedding, fp. 16)- Carpenter only sentions "a general washing E clensing [ off ye Prison" cnce on Ela p 10, 1779, [see Afexandsr, "Carpenter,**p, 83)-

(54) Cuitler, pp, 187, 305, 306, 383, Two quarters of veal were sent ia By a "charitable person8# on June 8, 1777, Ten days later four packs of cards were given **by a geutie~an,'~On July 7, 1377, a Bostonian gave seven guineas "to some particular persons,** Cutler received tuo pence from a visitor fro& Boston, 3uly 17, 3777, 04 September 9 aad 30, 1737, Cutler received nail containing tuo pounds an& two and a half guineas respectively, Captain Tho~pson, a successful escapee, twice vrcte from Prance with wney for the prisoners enclosed. Captain Conynghaa had a relative in Xrefand who sent **sorae litltle supply," {Nesser, CRTJISZS, p, 190)- Connor, pp- 3Q5, 343, I551 Cutler, p, 187, One prisoner even addressed a petition for help to the Dwke of Richmond asking for assistance to get back home, The seaaan did not know the Duke, but: a relative lived oa one of the Dukeqs Taneily estates in the colonies, Turner, nAmerican Pris-oners of War," p, 205, While Turner sees this as an exaltlple of the servile, alsost pathetic deference oP the commoner svegt up in the currents of revoluticnary war, it can be ~iewedas an outlandish atteiapt to procure aid wherever it ~ightbe had, The petitionex possibly knew that the Duke had, as Turner points out, "interested himelf in other cases," such as that of Captain Cunniaghaa, and nay have been a potential sympathizer, Petitions were even sent to the King of France, (Jeaki~s,uClaypoole,.n p. 187)-

(56) Boyne, '*Reverend Hazfitt," pp- 289, 293 n, 19, "On February 12, 1783, [Harvey] wrote to General George Oashington concerning his activities in beha12 of the Amxican prisoners, and in a letter of August 10, 3783, Washington trans~ittedto Harvey a resolution of Congress thanking Harvey for the services he had rendered to Altierican prisoners in Iref and," Far &he resoilye of Congress, dated July 18, 1783, see George Giashington, nLotters from George Washington to 3, Harvey, Cork, Conveying the Thanks of t&e Congress of the United States of America in 3783," COaK HXSTORICBL C; A4CHEDLDGfCAL SDCIETY JQUBIBL 2 41896) :8%

(57) Alexander, "Carpenter," p, 83 n, 29; Panning, pp. 48-19; Tholgpson, pp, 232-233; %illiaa Bell Clark, "In Defense of TBoaas Digqes, PE~WSYZVBBfA BBGAZZME OF HLSTOaY E BXOGBAPHY 77 $October 1953) 2 405, Eonnor aentions that wren was not allowed in one yisit, (p, 3521,

458) Alexander, "Carpenter, p, 82, Qa April 5, 1782, he told those in Fc-rton of the cartel to France from ail1 and that the next would be from Forton, For background on Hartley and details of his poiitical philasophp, see George H, Cuttridge, "David Hartley, 1Vf.P- Bln Advocate of Conciliation 177Q-1783, " UNLVEBSfTY OF CALIPOBlXi PUBLICATLOlS IN HISTOBY 44 (1926) 2268-27 1, During the war he put forward eight sotioas for reconciliation with the colonies and was a leader of the faction sppathetic with the Antergcan cause, $ppI 277-279) ,

(59) Laurens im Congress, Hay 30, 1782, gusted in Jenkins, s8Claypoofe,** p, 189 a- 1, En the Tower of Loadon, Lanrens ~adecontact with a wo&an who delivered his letters for bin, he then correspo~dedIsas freely as 1 could have done if X had been at full liberty," @seeCZaqk, nDefense of Digge~,'~p, 419)-

{SO) Busfinell, "f4e~ci.r:of Eli Bickford,** pp, 128-129,

(61) Connor, pp* 39, 347; Fanning, p, 10; f&2) Connox, p, 347; Haskins, p, 303, gives the totals as 2,560 at London, 260 at Bristol; GEBTZIWdM*s HAGAZfHE FOR 1778 (London, 17791, p, 43, The day before Christmas, the subscription was started off uith a public meeting in London at which 800 pounds was subscribed, This coincided vith the efkorts of the Earf of ABiagdsq in bringing before the House of Lords the "rigorous treatfnent and poor conditionsu faced by the Aaerican prisoners of war, Jared sparks, ET BL, **Report on Exchange of Prisoners during the American Revoluti~n,~~Massachusetts Biskorical Society PROCEEDINGS 5 (Drtcmber 1861) r343, for more on Lord Abingdone s role in the subscription, see Gnttridge, David Hartley, Ha P., p- 276, Another account gives the figures of 100 in attendance and 1,500 pounds pledged, Within figteen days the total reached 3,700 pounds and a cornsittee to administer the fund was appointed, See Clark, **Defense of Digges,j3 p, 390 nn, 49 and 50, for quotations Ero~the Public td~ertiser, Dz- 2, 'Pothergill and other Quakers are clairtled to have ccntributed heavily to this subscription, Fothergill serving ua the comaittee for dispersiag the funds, R, Hiagstcn Pox, DR. JOHN FDTHEBGXLL C flfS FBIEN13S: CBAPTEBS IN 18TW CENTURY LIFE, (London: Hacaillan E to, ttd,, 3919) , p, 225, Conaor accounted this hunanitg to the Baericansr fair treatment of the Convention Army; the articles of that conventian were published in full in Town and t'ou~~tryBagaziae, Dece~her, 1777, The description of the subscription in the London BEHEHBRAMCEB (801, 6) naentions that, when the book in londoa gas closed, "those in the country Mere closed likewise," The friends of the ainistry opened a counter-subsription and used the money thus raised for "bounties $or seatma for the navy, and recruits for the aray,*@ (p, 103)- Wifliana Gordon cfaiatis that the subscription was f hcieat f y sponsared at first by sow opposition peers- Between 24 December 1777 and 17 February 3778 L Y,643 13s- was raised Ear the relief of the YO0 or so Baerican priscners largelg on the strength of a good many misrepresentations about the Sack of heating, clothing and so on, and frora these fvnds B~ericansreceived money, coals or lavish extra f oodl," [See THE HESTORP OF THE RISE, PBOGBESSI BOD ESTABZISHtIEBT OF THE INDEPENDENCE OF THE UNITED Sf ATES OF ABBRTCB, 4 vols,, [London: 1788), 1: 100,

f64) Carpenter, p, 49; Panning, p, 19; Thortipsoa, p. 222 ; Applegate, **Americas Bri~ateersmen,~p, 313; Alexander, J3Forton," p, 379, and Alexander, Warpester ,*$ p. 81,. w~.crra*..lu~v,~a,eu a, ~C~MAG~,ctr.ds~) 4 mulri 4 aUa u +d 3hd2asw~am=,:: o, S*U= 4~40r~1-4 A QI a, 0 r M QV).r) LI-43 U ri ?U5:vTgc,4brAdPdwMmwaa @A* 0.14 G fig Q! & W (*7 rBCi SN 0 "4 -G?r rda e.aEta,ro*.ra,Ma 0s)wad tub JC rs9 e, A @M.cad~Qr I4ma o-fiua U@*,-U.rl4Fi-.c( r*)aP1C,QI+JV):Ct~~0obb..4(de aalurr,~~+,oasoe3 ~?ram.c(~.rm~~aa,r~a* F"f@@'-O)Q 0 OVl~C1,saH07Q)aQ Ic,rnP.rC)Q =r v$4 cut@ .c1w-u*.,4 ew -ad U(B4J WQ)OQ)rl huua auulaaqd -m*cl I o WFWAMar~ Go.'C*m$.t a * a anacpr" Q@ a **,&U& m=*v Urn .d@Umd)a.M paus+, low rd cb?rdtnmO*r .cf- *cl-"& U S=PJ~a~n=4 QI~-~.E:Y*~QIO ~QCICI CY fa +.'a *cb*,d'3 *4a)4d)~E(V1mOum.c-(@-V14& a tno ruaa,moa,wu;r~~a~o~rte~-r*.rr~ a *~(~&Q,~KMoM~w(dd*,rd~e~.d~ a,omaQI OM5 (d mmOr,&P:&LIa QOoa* +a rn.dF*.NU vlrl&*,Ttclxt*.dU 01 QU@at LlilCd*) @ +.,F..rir?rcO WU.d.4 &IxlF*l aw M.1 Pr &4r:W*4& a~~7n--woat u~*ra~r~~ma,u::~,a,*-a,sla (69) H,af,Bw/Ad~/f4/408, letter of June 22, 1780, See Turner, '*American Prisoners of p, 205, for other examples of release from prison to service other than the navy* .?lost French prisoners of uas were confined in separate prisons from the Amricans, soae serving on American privateers were ccnf ined vith the Aaericans and vice versa, The principle places of confinement for the French @ereWinchester, Kinsale, and Will, Forton was used as a stop off for those on their uay to ffinchester, (see Alexander, p, 85). Sow captured seamen were given no choice at aff, Cases of American prisoners being transported to Africa and the East Indies existed more in their fears and tall stories, but soae Here real, see Winthrop Z, Mafuin, THE BtlERHC88 #ERCRAIT EBBINE ITS BISTOBY AND BOHABCE FBCH 1520 TO 1902, {Loqdon: Saiupson, Low, Harston G Co- LtL, 1902), p, 17. Eliphaht DorPner suears in a deposition that Anericaa seamen were carried off to Africa and the East f ndies, [see Domer, p-96)-

(70) Connor, pp- 281-282, 284, Mot all who ~olunteereddid in fact eater, The period of low subscription payments coincided with a tiae of heavy recruiting and feu prospects of exchange, so it is impossible to isolate the effect that suBscrip&ion Bad on the morale of the prisoners of war, It does seers to be an intportant factor, one which has nct been recognized in previous treatments of the subject of Amxican prisoners of war in England, (7 I) Turner, wbtrtl;rican Prisoners of War ,"p, 205- Turner fails to realize that the names listed on the pardoas did not corres~oadwith the nunber who actually enlisted, [see Kattti~lkou, HANXEIEBS, p, xvi), Also his statsment that pardons "ease in a steady streaam is unsupported by his oun evidence, not to xiention those who did not take advantage of the pardoe. For an example of the spunky attitude that conde~aedthe pardons, see the dialogue between the agent and prisoner in Alexander, "Carpenterfl*pp, 83-84, See Kaminkow, BBRINEBS, p. xvi, for the dates on the ~ain pardons,

(72) Turner, 1T8mer^ican Prisoners of Ear," p- 20S-

(71s) Clark, "Defense of Digges,It p, 389 n, 45; Alexander, wPorton,w p, 379, (75) Alexander, nForton,M p- 379; Clark, "Defense of Digges,lt PBSSIPI, , and Clark, f RANKLINi S PRIYATEEBS, PASSIa, for ~ranklin'sattempts to collect prisoners Ear exchange by hiring Irish smugglers and Frenckaen to American privateer commissions,

I76) Clark, "Defense of Bigges," pp- 414, 438,

177) TBID,, p, 424, The estintate cane froa Digges in a letter dated January 9, 3781, Vidger, pp* 326, 344-

(78) Clark, tsDefense of Diggesti* pp, 422-425- The exact aaount of the swindle is difficult to determine, however, Clark raakes a good atteglpt at pinpointing it around 200 pounds- This is far below the araount that Franklin clains, but he never kept decent books at probably had little clue as to true amants. Perhaps the significant part of this incident is that the aoney esbezzled was not that which went to the prisoners, Wren or Dackett would hand out aonef and then bill Pranklia, Except for the depletion in the total amount: of nonep available and the ontrage of it all, this giasco was not the cause oE the sraall amount of aid going to the prisoners, The aaount of money aoaiZable to Prankfin was considerable, see Clark, PHANKLIB" PRIVATEERS, Although later hiskorians were to accuse Digges of being a spy, Franklin gas unwilling even to sue for the lost amount, &lark, "Defense of Bigqes," p, 436)-

479) Clark, "Defense of Digges, ** pp. 398, 400, 406, 411, i8lexandef% coverage of American govesnaens aid to prisoners is cursory at best, He accepts Bpplogate (whoa he usually questions critica2J.y and accurately) and Bolton, although they give difkerent aaounts for the weekly allowance, Isee Alexander, nXvaluation,t* pp, 328-329) , He accepts Franklin*~charges (to the specific aglouxzt) against Digges without citing Clark9s Wefense of Digges," But worst of all, he assuses that because Praqklin rsgueseed Hartley to distsibute mcaey in October, 1377, it was done, (Alexander, "Forton, If p, 379) . denkins, 'tClaypaale,*s p- 186, gives six pence as the amouat of goverment aid,

(80) Connor, pp, 222, 351-352; Fanning, p, 11; Busself, pp.. 345-145; Thompson, p, 223; Widger, pp- 38-39; Paine, p- 131 ; Alexander, NEvaPuation,@ pp, 333-334; Alexander, t*Portozia9*p, 372, Cutler {p, 395) gives one example of a diligent sentry overhearing a plot to escape, (81) Herbert, p, 115, They were oaugbt and punished, April, 1778,

(82) Connor, pp. 18, 20, 71; Poot, p- 110, Thoapson, pp- 224, 225; Haskins, p, 297; Applegate, **~merican Privateersmen," p, 305, cancludes %hat hatred of the guards appeased to raise American @orale; Alexander, ~iEvaluation,~ pp. 331, 333; Alexander, "Forton,** p- 372,

[83) Panning, p- 16; Connor, p, 18. (84) The details of tie incident are fro@Fanning, p, 12. Rn investigation ruled it to be manslaughter, Carpenter wrote on Harch 25, 1779, that *$Barthole~evWhite a prisoner in the yard was Shot through the boddy by a Corporal of ye Guard which coarsists of: 60 of the Westminster Hi1iti.a-he died in 24 houss after The Corporal was tryed by a Jury and Cleared Proved [but very Ealsly) !)o be an accident9*, {Alexander, *Carpenter," p, 82)- Baeser, CBUISES, pp, 173-173, Ccnpnghara heard of the shooting incident at Forton and wrote, *I have been told that Corporal Spelean being on Duty at fortuas prison under the command of Capt, Parsons od the Hiddle Sex Militia, that an American prisoacer the name of White said CoqaraA shot hi^ with a ball through the Baddy,** The death of this prisoner gas also recorded by Poot, p, 110, and Thoap~op, p, 227, Alexander, *3Forton," gives the naae as John Whrigfrtf sic], conclndes that the hatred of this guard did not extend to others, and that the general feeling of prisoners for guards was mixed, (pya 392-3731, The Reverend HazPitt refers to an incident at Kinsale in uhich a Bullet uas fired into the A~ericansection of the prison, but gives ao details other than that there was *#no enquiry ever aade,** (Hoyne, "Reverend nazlitt,@*p. 29,3), On Bay 7, 1739, Carpenter mentions a disturbance caused by the senthel firing and wounding two prisoners, (Alexamder, "Carpenter ,"p- 83) Zt is not clear whether these were escaping prisoaers or that the sentinel fired &ore khan once,

(85) Anton, A EILITBRY EXPE, p, 31; Alexander, **Carpenter," p, 83, The Sursey ailitra relieved the LincoLnshire ailitia after oily three days, according to Carpenter, bat the normal shift was a month,

(86) Alexander, *Carpenter,* p- €33 la, 22; Carpenter, p, 52; Tholapson, p. 226; Ccnnor, p, 345; Panning, p, 9; Carpenter, pp. 49, 51-52; Eoot, p, 97, (87) KaaFnkou, BABIBEBS, p, xiii; Cutler, pp, 186, 395, 3oha Bov was the ageat at Kinsale, {see Hoyne, "Reverend Ha~litt,~p, 291)- Alhether he uas also the keeper who turned away John Claypoole and the other Aiaerican prisoners, accepting only the French, is oot known, {See Jenkins, **Claypoofe," p, 384)- T~rner,*~AaericanPrisoners of War," concludes that the relation~hi~betseen the prisoners and their kee~erswas gsreasonably goodu because an escaped prisoner mote back to the keeper giving instructions as to the disposition of the money he left behind, Turner fails to consider that this could have been moaep the keeper forced the prisoaer to leave uith bin as a means of inhibiting his ability to finance his escape- That the prisoner thought the keeper would parcel out his Btoaey as per instructions Eroa Brance does indicate somethinq,

(88) 98/l l/l32; Alexander, for to^,^ p- 374,

t89) Cutler, pp, 385, 187; Panning, pp, 3-5; Foot, pp, 905107; Elatthewman, p, 181;

(90) Carpenter, pp, 47, 50; Coanor, pip, 19, 73, 166, 280, 281, 32:284, 287-288, 343, 344, 345, 348; Banning, ppo 13- 14; PIatthersman, pp, 183-182; Thompson, pp, 224-226; Clark, "Defense of Digges," p, 405; ParraBore, "Great Escape,@ pp 3119, 355; Greenwood, CASTBXN BBEJLEY, p- 160; Neeser, CRUISES, pa 390, Luke Battheurnan, ni9arra.trve of Lieutenant Luke i!4attheuinan," RAGAZIHE OP HESTOBP WITH WOfES AgI: QUEBIES 2 (Piarch fS78):781; Kaoainkow, t!iAErXHERS, g- xv,

(91) "Escape of I%mcricanPrisoners from the British Prison near Gosport in 9778,# PENMSYLVBNIA BBGWZIBE OF HISTORY & BIOGBBVHY 13 (2889) :Y8$; Foot, pp.. 97-98, 300-301; Nathaniel Harrington, "Letter,**UEB BNGLBIP fUS1OPZtAL C GENEALUGICBL REG1STEB 59 {July 1897) 2 322; Thomas Srrtith, taLetter,* ESSEX XNSTfTUTB HISTOBfCAL COLtECTIOWS #I {April, l9O5), p, 223; Thompsaa, pp 224, 225. Ba~ning, pa 13,

(92) Thomgsotn, pp- 241-242; Cutler, p, 395- Royne, '*Reverend Hazlitt," p, 28% Clark, "Defeqse of Digge~,'~pp, 405-1106; Turner, wA~ericaaPrisoners of p, 204, See Thoiaas Smith, mBevoluticnary Letter from 3, S~ith,Porton Prison, 1780 ,#* ESSEX TNST3TUPE HISTOf f CAL COLLEC2IOMS 4 [April. 1905):227, for the Sntficate network of friends, letters, and contacts necessary to supply Samuel Porter ni th "15 guineas E clothes" uhich Hwill Enable hiia to make his Escape, ** 393) Copnor, pp, 36-39, Panning gives the figures 138 out of 357 for the twelve months he was imprisoned, but does not indicate whether: these were successful or how he obtained them, BazZitt skates that 93 out of 336 escaped fro& Kinsale but does not give details, (fioyae, **Reverend Ha~litt,$~p, 293) , Anderson estiaates that over one-third of the American prisoners escaped, crediting this to the ease vith which it could be done rather than special endeavours on the part of Baericans, While it is true that Forton and Bill were not particularly secure institutions, that the guard was insufficient, incoapetent, and corrupt, that they had no orders tc fire on escaping prisoners, and that the punishments for atteiepting to escape were not effective, these factors do not sufficiently explaia why the high escape rate %or Aaericans was not equalled by others, Prisoners from other countsies had the same buiL&ings and guards, The orders not to shoot at escaping prisoners were not obeyed, Losing one3s place on the exchange list was ao deterrent at all vhea there were no exchanges taking place, Half rations in the black hole were supplerneneed by prisoners sharing their rations vith those in the black hole, Bt the end of hes article, Anderson adds khat the American SeaPnea were %ore energetic and ingeniousa than others but does nct attempt to ask why this would be so, The ansuer to that unasked question would have to iaclude the distinctive nature of &he American Revolution, the status of American prisoaers as pirates and traitors rather than legitimate prisoners af war, the friends and supporters that the American cause had in Bngfaad as well as the prisonersS ability to blend in vith the populace, That they received less food and clothing and that aost of the officers were not allowed parole had to have an eefect as well, Olive Buderson, #American Escapes froen British Naval Prisons during the War of Independen~e,~HABfNEBaS HIWROR & fHay 1955) :240, For orders not to fire on escapi~g prisoners, see Werbect, p- 142, and Easfrias, p, 425, as sell as 98/11/205, 218-219, 227, For incidents of guaeds firing on escaping prisoaers of war, see Jenkias, 'iClaypo~fe,**pp, 779, 388, For Baericans blending in with the Engfisb, see Neeser, CPUXSES, p, xlix, Kaainkou, RARIMEBS, p, xiv, For the aid American escapees received f ron English friends, see Clark, "Defense of Digges," pl 405, Turner, "American Prisone~sof War," p, 204, Hope, "Reverend Hazlitttn p- 289, Staith, "Zette~,~p, 227, On the difficulties of exchange, see Kaminkow, t4BRINERS, p. xv, Clark, **Defense of ftigges," p, 403, Alexander, "Carpenter ,$' pa 81, Bfexander, "P~rton,~p, 385, That escapes %erenot just f~ra share of the reward and a night on the town, see the references in the prisoner journals to escapees being taken thirty, forty, and fifty aziles from the prison, and ia one case "on the coast aftef eight weeks," iCutler, pp, 306-307, and Connor, pp, 71, 165)- In the diary of a British sailor who spent the war on conuol duty and capturing American privateers, John Wicof rmarks that "it was oothiag ancomaton for us to take the sane men prisoners once or twice in the same season,*# {Grant, LIFE OF 308tJ tJfCO1, p, 100)- For the exceptional instances oE paroles being given, see Turner, "American Prisoners of War," p. 2 03,

(94) Clark, aDefense of Digges," p. 411, For the argument that patriotism was the motivation of the cdonial seamenas activities, see Eentisch, k, Jesse, asJack Tar in the Streets: Berchant Seamen in the Politics of Bevc&3tionary &~erica,~WILLIAM AND MARY QUARTERLY 25 $July, 1958): pp, 371-407, and XBTD,, nListening to the 3 Inarticulatea: VilPiag 8idgerss Drea~an& the Loyalties of Bmerican Bevobutionary Seamen in British Prisons," JOURNAL OF SOCIAL HISTORY 3 (Fall, 1969), pp, 1-29, , (95) Ad/fl/404 letter of 3nly 10, 1777; Connor, p, 347; Panning, p, 10; Battheurnan, p, 182; 98/11/34?; Justice of the Peace to Ad, dated October 15, 1779, in Bd/M/4O4, and Ad/8/4OE;. Kantinkow, HABIMERS, p, xw, gives the new reward as fifteen shiXlings,

f96) Alexander, "Carpenter ,* p, 80,

{973 Carey, "Songs of Jack Tar,*$ p, 180- Coanos collected 58 songs, sriting the@ dova as new prisoners arrived with them or as they were adapted to p~isonlife, (p- 168) ,

(98) IflfD,, pp* 175, 176, 179, *#The first song in the collection, for exa~ple,recalls the woes of an unfortunate rake who, having contracted a healthy dose of venereal disease •’so@ a l~calprostitute, swears heel& serve the entire village in the same manner and begins by servicing his cha~ber@aid,~*p 170),

199) IBTD,, pp. 158-169, 172, for: a short patriotic song, see nGagets Lamatation," {p, 173)- Ia Jenkins, MCfaypoole,F*Cfaypoofe gives the verses of a patriotic song, [pp, 181-182)- Hot aAl soags had pro-Anaarican tftelrtes, however, There were sorne soags with Tory verse, fp- 170)- For other references tc gzisoner singing, see Carpenter, pp- 53-52, 55; foot, pp. 97, 99-100; Haskins, pp, 383-385; Alexander, *'Carpenter, g, 86, and Alexander, "Porton,* pp, 387-388, (10 1) Breed, ltExtracts,lf, p.. 626, Cutler (p;. 305) also refers to a celeb~aticnin 1777-

(302) Sherburne, p. 83-

(104) Connof, p* 288; Carpenter, p- 83, mentions that one tunnel took two months to dig, For faking the Buster, see p, 347, and Cutler, p, 306, For covering sources of inforraation and escape, see Sherbucne, pp.. 86, 88,

1105) Thoapso~, p, 225; 9811 l/442-444; Alexander, "Forton,'$ pp, 383-384, Alexaaderas sees the prisoner government solely as a response to the need for security,

(106) Sherburne, p, 83, For a description of the "blind aesst* systea used for the issuance of asat at Mill prison, see p, 8L

(107) Ccmor, p, 165; Sherburne, p, 80-

{I 08) Fanning, p, 15; Elkins, **Xerrtiniscence~,~p, 208; Kauinkou, &BRIMERS, pp, xui-xvii,

f 3 09) George E, Serchant, "Hevolutioaary Prisoners of Har in Gloucester,ja ESSEX INSTITUTE HISTOSPCAZ COLLECTIONS 45 {Gctober 1909) :350-352; Louis F, Biddlebrook, RTSTORY Of HA3ITIBE CCWHECTICUT DUBING TRE BEER1CAN REVQLUTXON, 2 vols, , (Salem, PSassachusetts: Essex Institute, 3925). 2~325; Connor spent tuo years, three montlgi, and seven days in prison before his exchange, (p. 285)-

{130) Joshua Coffia, A SKETCH OF THE HISTORK OP BEWBUBY, MERBUBYPOBT A1D VEST NEVBUPY fBOM 3635 TO 7845, (Boston: S, G, Drake, 18451, p, 408; Connor, p- 285, See also Alexander, *Xarpenter," p, 85, for r;;.arpe;.nkerss exchange, July 2, 3779, Oa July 22, he boarded the General BIPPLIN privateer. The prisoner of waf in the Anerlcan Revolution is a revealing topic of study for understanding the comaon &an in

the revolutiouary era, Previous attempts to study the

prisoner of war have not viewed him in his historical context, The role of the British navy, the nature of the

war, the status of prisoners of war, and the undeveloped

state of the British penal sptm geze all iiaportast factors which shaped the situaticn facing artlericas captives in the revof utioxary uar,

The role of the British navy as protector of the enpire forced it to be the oppressor of seama, This

contradiction was driven into Jack Tar3s perception of the world, The actions taken to liberate himself f roa forced

service in the navy taught hint the lessoqs of self-reliance

and escape, The British navy was the ruajor threat to the

pursuit of a livelihood that was one of the feu available to the person without wealth, The liaited oppoztuni ties

available in colonial society fosced all kinds of men to the

unco~fortablejob at sea, Indians, runaway slaves, and

those without skills or capital had little choice, The sea

was not so such a lure as the best available option, An incentive to this work was the opportunity of accumulating capital through private ventures, fn the decade before the war for ~mericanindependence, the ~ritishnavy began to curb this ronte as well as threaten the seaaten with i~pressment,

The guerilla nature of the war lent itself to the self-reliant tactics developed by the coLoaial seainen- The privateering venture beca~ea tremadously popular and successful aspect of the struggle, Because of the unorganized nature of privateering, the hazards of capture were great and many seaaen faund the~aselvesfaced sith an uneasy i~prisonment, An important part of captive life was the unclear status of the colonial prisonecs- As rebels they stood outside the precedents of international law, The manpower needs of the British and the strategies of war delayed prospects of exchange, Faced with this grim situation and under pressuse to enlist vith th~British, the choice of prison or escape by the vast aajority is impressive,

That escape was possible was in large measure the result of the makeshift nature of the British prison systen,

Having relied on transportation up to the uar, the British were forced to use converted hospitals antd othef buildings not built with security in ~iad- Ease of escape did not guarantee successful escapes, however, as the cost of reaching Prance %as prohibitive tc aLl but a few- That prison life was not more costly in hunan lives was because of generous aid from British syriipathetic to the prisoners* plight aad prisoner self-reliance rather than ealightened policy by the British authorities or aid fro& the Brnerican government,

The history of the coantcn seaman on the privateer and in prison in Britain is one of concern for self, Every day matters took strong precedence, Class solidarity did uot emerge from the experience because of the diversity of types forced into a life at sea, their individnalistic orientation, accumulative aspirations, and history of self-reliance. Patriotic solidarity eaergsd ia the occasionaf deaonstration, The governaent forsea in prison was primarily concerned 32th punishments for informing, theft, fighting, etc, The ideological resof utian did not occur in this arena, %hat solidarity that did exist was imposed, Cohaon seaaen %areseparated Eroa their officers-

This separation resulted in vastly different prison experiences, The captive experience was one of two different worlds: officer and seaman, On the capturing vessel the officers were usually given liberty of the aeck, dinea at the Captaia8s table, and general1y tmated with gentlemanly respect, The crew was closely confined between decks, harassed, and pressured tc join the British service, the common seamen were shuttled fro& one overcrowded guard ship to another while they awaited processing before being taken to prison ashore, 34hile the offi~rzrsdid not fare well, some were given pasole and the liberty od the port* The prisons were divided into ccmpartmsnts seg~egatingofficers from coamon seamen, The cfficers had &ore roo@ and other physical cosforts such as a fireplace and glazed uindovs,

They were permitted to arfange credit accounts through the keeper and thus their financial connections enabled thea to five Bore colrtfortably, The conmon seamen prisoners felt the absence of these funds,

The treatment in prison differed betseen officers and prisoners of comaon background, The officers gained access of the towns by day parole, The seaaen encountered periodic harassaent fro18 the guards and prison officials, The dispersal of charitable funds raised for the "poor Bmerican prisonersM vent double shares to the officers, The chances for successful escape hinged upon the amount of money available to the escapee, The cost of a successful escape being quite expensive, the officers were in a better

position to succeed, A judgment concerning the likelihood of financial support and eschange was an important factor in the motivation for escapees, Prison conditions, the ease of escape, and patriot is^ sere secondary factors-

Consideration ef the harshness of the prison experience in Britain in the Aaerican RevofutioIJ ~usttaka into account the two uorlds of experience--officer and comBon seaman, The difference between official Bsitish policy arid the practice at the focal level is also inportant, the significant factor governi~gthe condition of the prisoners was the subscriptioa funds raised by hu~anitariansand friends of the 8~e~icancause-

Concentration solely on the situation of &he prisoners and crediting the low death rate to enlightened f3riiZsh policy is aisguided, Likewise, an eaphasis on the complaints of the prisoners without an analysis of the changes in their condition through the course of the war leads to inaccurate conclusions, The tseatmene cf prisoners of war: must be vieued ia a larger coptext including the need fox manpawer

by the expanding British navy, the conflicting econontic forces between Britain and the colonies, and the typical job conditions of the seaman in the eighteenth century- Only in comprehending these perspectives does an accurate picture of the coramon man beyin to emerge. APPENDIX f

The secondary sources that do exist covesing to some extent the situation of prisoners of Mar in the Anaericala Revolution fall into three categories: early, recent

British, and recent Aaerican, The early sources are unifornaig weak in scholarship, Ralph D, Painefs SHIPS AND

SBLEOBS OP OLE) SALE3 {(New York: Outing Conapany, 1909) consists of edited prison diaries oith little atteapt to check an obvious pro-American bias in his editorial comraenks, Danske itandriilge*~AflERfCAN PRZSOHERS Of THE

BEVOLUTION {Eharf ottesvilla, Va, : The ~ichieCcltlpny, 1912) is a collection of shortened prilltar y nta terial most1y prison diaries. Gardner ta, PiUents A NAVAL HISTOBY Of THE AEIEBfCAEI REVOLUTION, 2 vols,, (Bostcn: Houghton PSiZElin Co, , 1913) uses prisoner accounts for sources, but tends to emphasize the material that supp~rtsan anti-British view at the expense of other sources that would qualify that position,

Prancis Abellfs PBTSOIE#S Of WAR IN BfXTAIH 3756 TO 3815; A

RECORD OF THEIR LIVES, THE18 BOHANCE, A&iZ THEIR SUFFERINGS

[London: H, P3ilfofd, Oxford University Press, lgl4), is very sketchy and seltlotra analytical- Hecent British attempts to deal vith the prisoner of war issue have focused on Bsitish policy toward prisoners under their control and have relied heavily upon off iciaf sources, ruainl y the Aanaisalty papers in the Public Records Office ia London, Olive Andersonds

"The Treataent of Prisoners of Mar in Britain During the

American War of Independence,* BULLETIN CF THE IHSTITUTE Of NISTOBICBL BESEABCH 27 (May 1955) :63-83, concludes that /' of ficial British policy and trea tmnt of their prisoners in

Britain was ealightened and generally quite humam, She only docu~ents,hovever, the official statements of policy and fcaps to the concfusion that these ware enacted and enforced, She fails to analyze the role of Aaarican aid to the prisoners, efforts on their osn behalf, and the notable subscription and other huaanitarian activities of the English people, especially members o$ the opposition,

Eunice H, Turner's HA~lerica~Prisoners of Bar ie Great

Britain 1737- 1783," MBBf&BR*S HIRBO3 45 (July 3958) r2OQ-2U6, is brief and inaccurate,

The recent Afflerican articles on prisoners of war in the Alaeriean Bevolution began with an atteitlpt to show how harsh conditions were in the British prisans, @award L-

Applegate, **B~ericanPriwabeers&ea in the Bill Prison During

1777- 3 78i?,'* ESSZX ZNSTITCTE HISTORICBE CCZILECTIOPIS 973303-320)- Published in October, 196'1, this article should have dealt with Andersonls contentions but did not,

Worse, however, gas Applegatreas lack of scholarly judgenaeat in failing to detect the ccnsiderable plagiarism in the sources he relied on so heavif y, Applegate's effort has

been taken to task quite thoroughly by John K, Alexander in his "*Aiaerican Privateersmen in the #ill Prison During

l777-1'?82* : An Eva1uation," ESSEX IMSTITUTE HIST08fCAL

COLLECTIOMS 302 (October 3966) :318-340, Alexander, while ittaking a good effort to point out AppfegateSs flaws, commits several errors of his cwn, coming to concf.usions that he does little to substantiate, Alexander has, hogever, done the best work in a set of articles on Amxican prisoners,

"Jonathan Haskinsa Bill Prison WDiaryS: Can it be accepted at face value?" BE53 EMGZBMD Q'UARTEBLP 40 (December

1967):561-564 and rtdoaathaa Carpentar and the Arserican

Bevolutioa: The Journal of an American Naval Prisoner of gar and Yeriaont Indian PighterVnVEBBOIT HISTORY 36 {Sprinq

1968): 74-90 ace merely an inyestigatinn into a case of

plagiarisa and the account of a young @an% exploits daring the American Bevolution based on his journal, Neither attempts to expand beyond the limits of Cbe specific issue

in its title, The reverse is the case uith his latest article concerniag prisoners of war, "Porton Prison Daring the Amxican &evolution: A Case Study of British Prisoner of War Policy and the Baerican Prisoner Response ko that

PolicyZs*ESSEX INSTITUTE HXSTOHPf AL CDLLECTfOBS 103 (October

1967) ~365-389, In this study, Alexander arrives at some

conclusions which he has nct. adeyuately substantiated, He otherwise accepts a middle position between those whose sources led them to pro-Bfitish conlusioas and the others

whose use of American prisoner material resulted in

ant i-British judgaents, This coisproaising path is not

always justified, It stands as the best attempt to date to co&e to teras wit& the prisoner of war issue in the American

Bevolution,

811 fail, however, ia achieving a co~prshensive understanding of the issue partially because of the limits

of their focus, The prisoaers of war, whether in Great

Britain or in the colonies, cannot be studied in isofation

and certainly cannot be accurately described and analyzed

vith a one-sided approach to the source &aterialavailable,

Howard Z, Applegate, in his Ph-D, thesis, COISTITUTXONS LIKE

IRON: THE LXPE OF THE APIEBICAH REVOLUTIDNABY #A& SOLDIERS IN

T BE tl IDDLE DEPAHTMENTI 1775-1783, (Syracuse Uni~ersity,

1966) , asserts that historians '*assumed that only f the

elite ] contribute infoznatrion, n He cites Bolton *s PiIIVATX

SOEDIEB UHUEB ki8SHINGTOM as the only one to differ, Ne then

notes that such 13subjects as prisoners of war, aifitias, officers, music, auxiliary agencies,, .have not been included in this study," But he considers Bhat "Each of these additional areas deserves primary treatment in its oun right," [p* 2). A, OFPZCIAL ARCH1 VES

Great Britain, at ional Maritime Ruseurn, Admiralty Papers, Vof umes 406 and 405,

Great Britain, Public Heccrd Off ice, Admiral. ty 98, Boo3cs 1 I- 14-

Great Britain, Public Record Office, Boae Office, Correspondence and Papers, Adnaifaf lt y Department, Volume 28,

Great Britain, Public Record Office, State Papers, Domestic, Naval, Voluntes 42-57,

United States, Aaerican Skate Papers, Foreign Belations, Volulae 1, United States, Journals of Congress, Volumes 3-23,

B- OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS

Pieasants, 3, Hail, ed, JCUBl4BLS AND CObBES30dDLNC& uf PHa STATE COUNCIL OF HABYLAND 1781- 1784, Baltimore, Raryland: Baryland Historical Society, 1431,

Wharton, f rancis, ed, A DIGEST OF THE INTEBMBPIOHAL ZAH Of THE UNITED STATES, TAKEN fiiOH DOCUaEBTS ISSUED BY PRESIDENTS AND SECRETABZES OP STATE, AND PRDB DECISIONS OF FEDERAL COURTS AND OPINIONS OF ATTORNEYS-GENEBA L, 3 vols. Washing toq, I), C, : Governlpat Printing Office, 1886- 3887,

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Affen, Ethan, A NABBliTlVE 02 COLO#EL ETHAN ALLENIS CAPTIVITYI PRO& THE TZHE OF BfS BEING TAKEN BY THE BRITISH, HEAP HONTIGEAL, ON THE 25TH DAY OF SEPTERBER, IN THE YEA3 1775, TO THE TIdE OF HIS EXCHABGE, ON THE SIXTH DAY OF HAL, 1778, Walpole, Hew Hampshire: Thcrnas E Thomas, 1807, ---,---:"A Beinoir of Eli ~i~kford,A patria of the EieYolution.19 EAGBZINB OF H~s~~O~SYVITH NOTES AEBD ODEgIES, Extra go, 166 j1931) :127-331, Carpenter, Jonathan, "Diary," VEBMONT HISTOBfCAL SOCIETY PROCEED1W GS (187 2) :43-69,

Chadgick, French Ensor, ed, THE GBAVES PAPERS BSD OTBEH DOCUmEHZ'S RELBTfMG TO THE NAVAL OPERAITZCAiS OF THE YOBKTOAN CABPAIGN JULY TO OCTOBER, 1781- New York: Naval Historical Society, 1916 ; reprint: ed. , New Pock: Arno Press, 1.968, Colfaurn, Jeremiah. "A List of the Americans Committed to Old Mill Prison Since the American Was- l3 EIEH ENGLAND HISTORICAL E GENEALOGICAL REGfSTEB 19 ( 1863) :74-75, 136-341, 209-213,

Colomb, Pierre, "Remoirs of a Bevolutionary Soldier," CDLLECTOf 63 (October-Dece~bes 1950) :3 98-20 3, 223- 225, 243-249, tonnor, Timothy, lsA Yankee Privateersraan in Prison in England 1777- 1779,= Edited by WilAiaia R, Cutter, i4EB ENGLAlD HISTDBIEAL i% GENEALaGICAL BEGISTEB 30 (1874):174-177, 342-352; 33 (18'75):18-20, 232-213, 282-288; 32 (4876) 270-73, 165-168, 281-286; 33 31 877) :36-41,

Cutler, SaaueL "Prison Ships, and the *Old Hill Prison,* PI ymouth, England, 1777." PIE'OP ENGLAMT) HISTOflfCAL E GENEALOGICAL REGISTER 32 Il876):U2-4qf 484-1 88, 305-308, 395-3538,

Efkins, Joraathan, **Re@iniscearcesof Jonathan Elkias; frora a manuscript in the possession of the Vermorat historical society, VEBHONT HISTOBfCAL SOCIETY PBOCEEDINGS 41 93+l92O) :385-21 1,

------a Vonathan Elkins, Plyoaouth Prisoner, I$ &AGAZIBE OF HISTORY 19 (October 1914) :370- 175,

3*Escape of B~ericanPrisoaers from the British Prison near Gosport in 1778." PEMNSYEVBlIA MGAZfME Crf HISTOBY E BIOGflAPHY 33 ('9589):484,

Panning, Na thanisl, FANNf NG3S WARBATIVE: BEIM G THE BEgOf iZS OF BATHAHIEL FBN8IWG, AN OFFICER OF THE BEVOLUTIOHARY NAVY, 1778- 1783. Edited by Jobs S, Barnes, Neu York: Devinne Press, 3912, c.4 n %a' w I"', td m n a 5XJ- H s: 0 vl e' wm M n, u $3 M rr. * @ rn rr. * (D -t w dm V1, ul W Lo z Wre: i trd Ace &!a G M 03 U tz m W& M@Ja b-' b-' sa ,a CLHt-' LC bl b a rdte~ * P: t-' ~clrtixl~ Cd PM * nszc I?' 0 I-5 mela a3 w ty W J W &I c15'2; GJM wrrarz 0 w wsr: w w *rr4a lyLn &= ow * tr, I* * 0 aaP3 r-J I-'. 73 trd tr r*t ' FCL C, 22 I-'. ca m w El Paki ~3 w F "o BUN lu c !2z W gu w* =r: r t" n, 4 I YS2 w '2.1 rt * fi W tc

Shaw, John bbert, THE LIFE AND TRAVELS Of JOHN fOf3m~ SHAM, Lexingtcn, Kentucky: ~anielBradford, 1807,

Sherburne, Andrew, BEBOIBS OF ANDKEG SHEBBURNE A PENSIONE~ OF THE MABY OF THE BEVOLUTIOBI. BY HIESELF, Utica, Wew York: Williaius, 1828; reprint ed,, Freeport, Heu York: Books for Libraries Press, 1970-

Smith, Tkoaas, nBevof utionarf Letter fron P, Swith, Porton Prison, 1 780ma9ESSEX Il4STITUTE HISTORICAL COLLECT IOWS 41 (April 1905) 2 227,

Stevens, James, "The Revofutionary Journal of James Stevens of Bndover, f3assachusetts.~ ESSBX INSTITUTE HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS 48 (January 1912) 24l-?l,

Stiles, Henry FL LETTEES EBOH THE PRISOHS BMD PffSOEf-SHIPS OF THE REVOLUTION, New York: Privately printed, 1865,

------"Life and Death on the Prison Ships,*3 in HISTORY Of KINGS COUNTY, 2 vols, New Pork, 1884,

Thompson, George, *'Diary of George Tharepson of Newbury-port, kept at Forton Prison, England, 1777- 1783," ESSEX INSTITUTE RISTORXCAL COLLECTEONS 76 fJuly 3940) :223-242,

,-7--vrcishfngton, George, 33iettersfro@ George Washiegkon ku iiEi, Barvey, Cork, Conveying the Thanks oE the Congress of the United Stakes of America in 1783,11 CORK HISTOBICBL 6; ARCBEQLOGICBL SOCIETY JOURMBL 2 11896) ~89-90-

Vidger, IQilfiam, *Bill Prison Diary,s ESSEX TISISIITUTX NZSTOWICAI, COLLECTIONS 73 [October 7937) :3 13-347; 74 (January 1938) :22-48, 142-158,

Alexander, john K. wsAmerican Priva teersmen in the Bill Prison during 3733-17822 aan Eva1uation,** ESSEX IWSTXTUTE EISTBWIEBL COLLECTIEES 102 [October 1966) ~338-340, ------a wForkon Prison During the American Revolutioa: A Case Study of British Prisoner of %ar Policy and the American Prisoner Response to that ESSEX INSTITUTE HISTORICAL COLLECPXONS 103 (October 1967) 2 365-389,

------"Jonathan Haskias-ill Prison a Diary" Can ft Be Accepted At Pace Value?" NEW ENGLAND QUABTEELY 40 {December 1967) :561-5511,

-a,-, J ed, %3onathaa Carpenter and the Agierican Revolution: the Journal of an American Naval Prisoner of Was and Vermont Indian fighter,H VEB3OlT HISTORY 36 (Spring 1968) 2 74-90,

Aaerman, Richard H- nTreatmen2 of Aaericaa prisoners during the Bevolution- NEB JEPSEP flf STOEICBL SBCIETP PROCEEDINGS 38 (Dckober 3 969) 2257-275-

Anderson, Olive, "The Treatneat of Prisopers of gar in Britain During the Afuerican War of Independence," BULLETIN Of THE INSTITUTE OF HISTORICAL RESEARCH 27 {Bay 3955) :53-83, ------faAmerican Escapes fro@ British Bavai Prisons during the War of f ndependenice, MbRINER4S HIBBOB 4 1 iaay 1955) 2238-240,

------. "The Establish~entof British Suprenacy at Sea and the Exchange cf Naval Prisoners of War, 1589-1783,a BULLETIN OF THE INSTITUTE OF HLSTORICAL RESEARCH 38 IJanuary 1960) :75-89,

Applegate, Howard LI "American Priv ateersiaea in the Hill Prison Ouring 7777- l782," ESSEX INSIITUIE HISTORICAL COLLECTIDHS 97 {October 1961) :303-320,

Basritt, ivf, K, "The Navy and the Clyde in the Braerican Flar, 3'377-3383, 3q HAELRIHER*S BZRBOR 55 (January 1969) :33-42,

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Benjamin, Bary A,, ed. **Sir Guy Caffetan and Governor Williaa Livingstcn: an episode between tuo honorabf e gentfemen,'* COZLECTBR 69 (Nove~ber1956) :97-99, Blunrn, Stuart- "The Historical Study 02 Vertical Wobility- HISTDRfCBL HETHODS NEWSLETTEE 1 [October 1968) :1-13,

Boston GAZETTE, 24 June 1782, 1 July 1782, 8 Jufy 1782,

Breed, Clara, "Extracts lfro~lthe donf nal of Geofge Herbert," DAUGHTEBS Of THE BfiERIEAN BEVOLUTEOH HBGAZINE 58 (Qictoher 1929) :624-629.

Brumbaugh, Catherine E, 3, "Report on the Prison Ship *Jersey,*, February 2, 3781,*j DAUGHTERS OP THE APIEBICBN BZBOEDTZQB ff AGAZLBE 44 (April '19 14) :237-239,

Calduell, flargaret N, Bit of Hisgory froin Frenchman Bay.+* NBOTICAZ BESEARCH 3OUBlAL 2 (Dece~ber1949):151-15Y,

Carey, George, "Songs of Jack Tar in the Darbiesen JOURNAL QF AHEBXCAM POZKLOBE 85 ( April-Jane 1972) t 167-180-

Cary, John, "'24 Contrary Rind at Sea and Contrary Tiiaes at zoae $---* iae Sea Logs of Francis B~ardmau,~ESSXX INSTITUTE HISTQRICAf, COLLECTIONS IO 1 {January 3965) ~3-26,

Chester, Colbp &. "The volunteer navy in the Be~oluiion,~* BAGAZINE OF HPSTOBY 13 {August 1914) :53-69,

Clark, Dora Ha@- "The I~lpressaentof Seatnen in the Ame~ican Colonies* In ESSAYS IN COLONIAL H;ES'fe)Bfl PBESENTED TO CHARLES HCEfA% ABDREWS BY HIS STUDEMTS, freeport, N, Y,: Books for Libraries Press, 1956,

Clark, William B, "That &ischievous HOLKEB: the story cf a privateer," PENNSY&VANIA t38GAZINE Of HISTORY E BIOGRAPHY 79 {Jaauary 1955) :27-62, Coan, marion 5, "A Xevofukioaary Prison Diary -- The Journal of Dr- Jonathan fiaski~s,~HE& EHGLAND WAWTEI~LY 17 (June 1944) :29G-309, and (Septc~ber184&):424-442, Colquitt, Dolores ~oisfeuillet, ##Jean Pierre Arnaud, prison aartyr,** DAUGH?ERS OF THE BHEfICBN BEVOLUTIOW HAGAZINE 61 fFebrnary 3923) :109- 115-

Cometti, Elizabeth, ('1 mprless~tlent During the A~erican Bevolutio1.1,~~ia THE KAZTER CLINTCN JACKSON ESSAYS IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES, pp, 97-110. Edited by Vera Largent, Chapel ~ilf,Worth Carolina: University of North Carolina Press, 1942,

Connor, fl, D, 8- "Josiah Tucker; or, Casandra picks the pocket of Harsan WORLD WFPAEaS 103 f3940):79-90,

Countryman, Edward, "The Pfoblem of the Early American Crord devieu Article-j* JOUBHAL OF BHERICAN STUDZES 7 (bpsil 1973) :77-90,

Currey, Cecil 3, "Ben Franklin in France: B Plaker of American Diplo~acy-~in BBKXBS Of BMEBIEAN DIPtOHACY F9CE BEYJBflIN FRANKLIN TQ ALPBED THAYBR BBBAN, Edited by Prank J, Berli axid Theodcbre A, Rilson, New York: Charles Sczibner's Sons, 1974, Davies, galface E, nPrivateering around Long island during the revofntion, EiEid POan HISTOBl { 1939) 2283-294,

Ditsky, John, "The Yankee Iasolertce of Ethan Allen,1i CAHADIAPI BEVIE% OF BMEAZCAM STUDIES 1 (Spring 1870) :32-38,

Dowdell, Vincent 5, $*TheBirth of the Alnerican Navy," NAVAL XHSTf TUFE: PROCEEDINGS 81 /November 1955) 21253-1253,

Flynn, Eleanor C- V?hs Geneva Convention on Treat~entof Prisoners of War," GEORGE WASHINGTON LAW REVIE@ 2 (June 1943) :505-529- ford, Worthingtoa C, "Eritish and Baerican Prisoners of War, 1778," PENNSYEVANfA MBGAZPNE OE HISTOBY E BIOGRAPHY 17 (1893) :159-374, 316-3211, Halsey, ilichard T- H, WEnglish Sympathy with aoston During -the Aiuerican Revolution, OLD-TTBE NEW EMGLAND 45 [April-June 1956) ~89-95,

Hargreaves, Heginafd, "Good-Natured Billy,s* AdBY QUAgTBRLY AND DEBEHCE JOURNAL 93 (January 1367) t l77-19O-

Hayes, John Et, s*Mashingtoxa.and the Sea,= &ILITWRY BEVfEW 51 [July 1971):60-65,

Herafiques, U, R- Q, **The Bise and Decline of the Separate Systeitt of Prison Dis~ipline,~~PAST E PBESENI 54 (February 3972) : 6 3-93,

Hutson, Jams H, "An Isvestigation of the Inarticulate: Philadelphia's White Oaks," VfLLLBS Bl4D BABY QUBRTBRLY 28 {January 1971) :3-25,

Jackman, Eugene T, "Efforts Hade 3efore 1825 kc Bleeiiorate the Lot of the B~ericanSeasan: #ith Eaphasis on His Boral Regnerati~n,~~AHf 3ICAH BEPTUNE 28 (April 1964) :108-1 18,

Senrich, Charles fi, =The Old Jersey Prison Ship-" UNTTED SPATES MiVhL X#STTZUTE PRQCEBDf NGS 89 IFebruar y 1963) :168-17 1,

Johnston, futh P, wA~ericanprivateers in French Ports 3776- 17782 PENWSYZVANIA BAGBZXIE OF HISTOBY E Bf OGflAPHP 53 (Cctober 3929) :352-374-

Jordan, Belen- '*Colonel Elias Boudinot ia Neu York City, February, 1778-*9PEINSYLVAHIB HAGAZINE UP HISTORY E i3IOGBBPHY 24 (1900):4!53-466, Kirby, John B, '*Early Aaerican Politics -- The Search for 1 deology: An Historiographical Analysis and Critique of the Concept oi 3,Deferencaa,w JOUBMAL OF POLITICS 32 {November 3 970) 2 808-838,

Klinyaman, David, "Food Sarpluses and Deficits in the B~ericanColonies, 1768-1772,89 3QURNAL OF ECONOHIC BESTBBH 31 (September 1931) :553-5643,

------'#The Developraeat of the Coastwise Trade of Virginia in the Later tofoniaf. Period,** VZBGfNIA HAGBZINE OF HISTOBY & BIOG18APHY 77 tdanuarf '1969) :26-45,

Koch, Donald Yarner. *Incoae Distribntioa and Political Structure in Seven teenth-Centur y Salea, Massachusetts, " ESSEX INSTITUTE Bf STORf CAL COLLECTPONS 105 [January 1969) :50-68-

Koha, Richard H, Bevieu of THE TOLL Of IaDEPENDEHCE: EEJGAGBBEMTS AID BATTLE CASUALTXES OP TBE BEVOLUTION, Edited by flouard 8, Peckha@, {Chicago: University of Chicago Press, l974), WILLIAkI AND HAXY QUAQTEBLY 32 iApril 7975): 339,

Kulikoff, Allaa, **TheProgress of Inequality in fevolutionary Bost~n.~MILLIAH ABD URY QUABTEBLY 28 {July 1973) :375-412,

Kuritz, Hymn- nEducation and the Boor in Eighteenth Ceatnry A~erica,~'EClfCATfONAL FORUB 35 {Barcfa 1973) :367-374,

Land, Aubrey C, mEconomic Base and Social Structure: The Northern Chesapeake in the Eighteenth Century -n JOURNAL QF ECQHOEIIC HISTORY 25 {December 1965) ~539-654,

------*#TheTobacco Staple and the Planter's Problems: Technology, Labor, and Crops, #* AGBLCtfLTtfRAL HTSTORB 43 {January 1959) :69-81,

Lee, 3, Pitzgerald, *Prisonefs of Mar," AABY QflABTEGILY 3 (192 2- 1822) :348-356,

Lemisch, L, Jesse, nListeniug to the 9 Inarticulate*: Williare aidger" Dreaa and the Loyalties of American Revof utionary Seamen in Briltish Prisons, JOUSIWAL OF SOCXAL AfSTO&f 3 (Pall 7969) :1-29, ------"Jack Tar in the Streets: Herchant Seamen in the Politics of Revoluaionasy Waerica-** WILLTAR AND ~ARY QUAPTERLY 25 (July 1968) :37 1-407-

Lemon, James T, and Gary 0, Nash, "The Distribution of Wealeh in Eighteenth-Century America: A Century of Change in Chester County, Pennsylvania, 1693-1802, JOUBNBZ OF SOCIAL HXSTOBf 2 (Pall 1968) :1-24,

Lobdell, Jared G, **Some Evidence of Price Inflation ort Long

' Island, 1770-1782, from the Papers of aichard Jackson, Junior," JOURNAL OF LONG ISLAND HISTORY 8 (April 3968) :39-43,

Lockridge, Kenneth, **Land, Popnlation and the Evolution sf New England Society 1630-1790,m PAST E PRESENT 39 (April 1958) 362-8&

Lovejoy, David 5, l'Rights Imply Equality: The Case Against Admiralty Jurisdiction in A~erica, 376U-1776, UILLIAH BED BBRY QLJARTEBLY 36 #October 1959) :459-484,

Lutnick, Soforlton, **TheAmerican Victory at Saratoga: A View froa the British Press," HEW YOfK HISTOBY 4U (April 3963) :103- 127,

McCaw, Walter Drew, "Captain John Har~isof the Virginia aavy, a prisonez of Mar in England, i7'17-1779,@; VIXGINIB HBGAZSNE Of HISTORY 22 (April 1914) :160-132,

PIcCusker, John J, MSourcesof Investment Capital in the Colonial Philadelphia Shipping Industry,** JOUBNWL OF ECONOBIC HISTOBY 32 [March 1972) :1146-1 57,

Baier, Pauliae, "Popular Uprisings and Civil ~uthorityin Eighteenth-Century Aaerica. Wf EUBH AND MABY QUABfERLY 27 /January 197-0) :3-35,

------. l*Revolutioaary Violence and the Belavancs of Rist~ry.~~Beviers of BOSTON, 1689-1376 by G, 3, Warden aad TBE BOSTOB BaSSACBE by Hiller B, Zobel- JQUHHAL OF INTERDISCIPM WARY HESTOR P 2 &SuiitBeL 197'1) :119-135,

------a "The Charlest08 Hob and the Evolutioa of Popular Politics in 'Reoclutionary South Carolina, 1765-1784," PERSPECTIVES IN WBERICBN BXSTGBY 4 (1970) :173- 196, Mason, Bernard, "Entrepreneurial Activity in Neu ~6rk During the American Bev~lution,~BUSINESS HISTOBY REVIEW 40 [Sumlser 1966) :190-212, aaurer, Eaurer, "3ilitary Justice uader General Washington, EXLIT &BY BFPAXRS 28 (January 1954) :8- 1b. Maxwell, Hamilton, lfBritish ~risonersof war in American revolution, HBGAZf lE OF HISTORY 23 (September 19 16) :155- 156,

Meeks, Harold A, "An fscchronic Hap of Verlrtont Settlentent," BEBBONT BISTGBY 38 {Spring 3970) :95- 102.

Flercfiant, George E. **fievolutionary Prisoners of War in Gloucester- # ESSEX f P5TfTUTE HISTORICAL COLLECTXONS 45 (October 19091 :350-352,

Herrens, Harry Boy, *"The physical Err~ironirientof Early Baericalg3 GEOGRAPWfCAL fEVfE% 59 (October 1954) :530-556-

fliddlebroot, Louis F, "Thc~asKithas of Cape Ann: An Episode of the Blaerican Rerofuti~n,~~ESSEX XNSTLIE'flTE HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS 63 {October 193 3 j t286-298,

Elohl, Bayiuond 8. *'Poverty i.n Early Amrica, A Beappraisal: The Case of Eighteenth Century Hew Pork City,$* MEW YORK HISTORY 50 jdanuary 1869) :5-27,

Horris, Richard k3, *Artlerican Labor History Prior to the Civil Ma Sources and Opportanities for Research," LBBOW EfISTORY 3 {Fall 3960) :3C?8-318,

Borse, Sidney G, "The Yankee Privateersntan of 1776,'3 NEid ENGLAND QUBRTEfZY 17 (&arch 1944) z?'l-88,

Boyne, Eraest J. *The Beverend William Hazlitt: A Friend of Liberty in Ireland During the Aaerican Be~olukion~ WILLIAB BUD HABY QBABTE3LY 23 (April 1964) :288-297- North, Douglas C, "Sources of ~roductivityChanlge ia Ocean Shipping, 1600-1850,*# JOURNAL UP PD'LXTICBL ECOlO3y 76 ( September-Octcber 1968) :953-970,

------and Robert Paul Thatlras, "An Economic Theory of the Growth of the Western World," ECDETOEIX HISTORY PEVIEW 23 (April 7970) :1-17-

OgDwyer, George F, "Captain Jchn RcDoI~W?~~and his British prisoners, ** ABEBICBN IBISA 3fSTORfCAL SOCIETY JOUBW&L 17 (39 18) 2228-230,

Papenf use, EdrsarEL C, and Gregory A, Stiversog, **General Snallvsoda s Recruits: The peacetime Career of the Zierrolutionary Bar private, iKILLZBE ABiD BABY QUABTERLY 30 fdanuary 1973) :317-332-

Pares, Bichard. #*The Planaing sf ehe Mavy in the Mest fndies, 1702-3763, " B~YALHISTO~XCAL SOCIETY TRANSACTIONS, 4 th sex,, 20 33937) 53 1-60.

Parramre, Tholaas C, **The Great Escape froa Borton Gaol: An Incident of the Bevolution, * WBTM CAROLZMB HISTORICAL REVIE% U5 {Deceiaber 1968) t349-356-

Phillips, James Duncan, "Salela rewalutionary privateers conde~tnedat Jarrtaica, EsSEX INSTITUTE HISTOBICBL COLLECTIDES 76 (January 39403~46-55-

Platt, Virginia Bever, nTar, Staves, an& He Eayfand Bum: the Trade of Aaroq Lopez of Newport, Rhode Island, vith Colonial Horth Carol iaal NORTH CAZ2OLIN8 BESTOBICAL REVXEIJ Q8 (Pinter 197 1) ;1-22-

Sparks, Jared, ET AL, "Re~crton Exchange cf Prisoners during the Awerican evolution,^ Hassachusetts Historical Society PROCEEDINGS 5 {Deceaber 1863) ~325-347,

Sterling, David L,, ed, wBmerican Prisoners of War in Hew York: A Report by Elias BoudinoLW WILLfAEl ABD EAUY QUABTERLY 13 (July 1956) :376-393,

Stewart, J, **ThePress Gang of the Royal Navy," BNITED STATES NAVAL INSTITUTE PBOCEEDXHGS 86 /October 1 960) 38 1-87,

Skout, Neil EL "Goals and Enforceme~tof British, Colonial Policy, 1763-1775,m A&IE-RZCAN NEPTUNE 27 (July 1967) :23 1-22Q,

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