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Authors: Bruce Chadwick
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of half a dozen other bodies, his arms extended beyond his head, as if in the act of prayer.” 5
Greenman found himself in such a tawdry prison because neither side planned for a long war. Neither the Americans or British constructed prisons and prisoners of war were marched into whatever large structures either side could find. The British put several thousand captured soldiers in New York City prisons that were formerly sugar warehouses. Prisoners taken in the Philadelphia battles found themselves in the Walnut Street jail in that city. Many American sailors were taken back to England and tossed into Dartmoor, Old Mill, and Forten prisons and even incarcerated in the Tower of London. Those captured in the Caribbean, usually from privateer vessels, were put into small jails or homes converted into jails on nearby islands. British and Hessian prisoners were held in jails and warehouses. Some Hessians were put to work as laborers in ironworks.
The worst jails were the dreaded prison ships of the British navy, anchored in Wallabout Bay, off Brooklyn. The British needed large spaces to house three thousand American soldiers captured in the New York battles in 1776 and decided to refit several transport ships for confinement. The men were dumped into hopelessly overcrowded and badly managed ships, such as the
Jersey, Hunter,
and
Stromboli
. They slept side by side on wood planks in the badly ventilated holds of the ships with terrible food, infrequent exercise, and severe punishments for small infractions of the captain’s haphazard rules. The
Jersey,
a real hellhole, was renovated as a prison after it was determined to be unfit for service in the early 1770s. The men considered it the worst prison. Thousands died on the prison ships and their bodies were buried on beaches of Wallabout Bay. In 1808, American authorities decided to dig up the skeletons of prisoners buried there and found eleven thousand, some of whom were British and Hessian dead. Several thousand more were buried elsewhere and never found. No comprehensive records were kept on either side, but it is likely that more than ten thousand Americans perished as prisoners of war. 6
One solution to prison overcrowding for the British, particularly early in the war, was parole. Officers who were captured were held in private homes at night and allowed to walk about the city during the day; some even struck up friendships with residents and conducted romances with local women. These prisoners were usually kept between six months and a year and then sent home.
Prison exchanges were another means of obtaining freedom. The British would free several dozen prisoners following a similar release by the Americans. This was often done by rank, one general for another or three lieutenants for three lieutenants. Enlisted men exchanged were grouped together.
Captivity was depressing for soldiers, but it also had profound effects on their families back home. Men held prisoner could not help with their family farm or business. Their imprisonment placed enormous stress on their wives and family. Few were as upset, and held up as well, as Abigail Johnson, whose husband, Colonel Thomas Johnson, was held captive in Canada. She was eight months pregnant when he was captured; her sister was staying with her for the birth that her husband would miss. She was steadfast, though, and in her letters never worried about her health, only his. “It gives me great satisfaction to hear that you are well,” she wrote, “for I was very anxious for you.” 7
Many were harmed more by what they perceived as abandonment by wives, friends, and neighbors than by their terrible living conditions. Caleb Foot was taken prisoner in the winter of 1780 and incarcerated in the dreary confines of Forten Prison, in Portsmouth, England. In letters to his wife, he complained about the terrible food, cold, and lack of clothing, but he saved his real anguish for her and the others back home, telling her that
Greenman found himself in such a tawdry prison because neither side planned for a long war. Neither the Americans or British constructed prisons and prisoners of war were marched into whatever large structures either side could find. The British put several thousand captured soldiers in New York City prisons that were formerly sugar warehouses. Prisoners taken in the Philadelphia battles found themselves in the Walnut Street jail in that city. Many American sailors were taken back to England and tossed into Dartmoor, Old Mill, and Forten prisons and even incarcerated in the Tower of London. Those captured in the Caribbean, usually from privateer vessels, were put into small jails or homes converted into jails on nearby islands. British and Hessian prisoners were held in jails and warehouses. Some Hessians were put to work as laborers in ironworks.
The worst jails were the dreaded prison ships of the British navy, anchored in Wallabout Bay, off Brooklyn. The British needed large spaces to house three thousand American soldiers captured in the New York battles in 1776 and decided to refit several transport ships for confinement. The men were dumped into hopelessly overcrowded and badly managed ships, such as the
Jersey, Hunter,
and
Stromboli
. They slept side by side on wood planks in the badly ventilated holds of the ships with terrible food, infrequent exercise, and severe punishments for small infractions of the captain’s haphazard rules. The
Jersey,
a real hellhole, was renovated as a prison after it was determined to be unfit for service in the early 1770s. The men considered it the worst prison. Thousands died on the prison ships and their bodies were buried on beaches of Wallabout Bay. In 1808, American authorities decided to dig up the skeletons of prisoners buried there and found eleven thousand, some of whom were British and Hessian dead. Several thousand more were buried elsewhere and never found. No comprehensive records were kept on either side, but it is likely that more than ten thousand Americans perished as prisoners of war. 6
One solution to prison overcrowding for the British, particularly early in the war, was parole. Officers who were captured were held in private homes at night and allowed to walk about the city during the day; some even struck up friendships with residents and conducted romances with local women. These prisoners were usually kept between six months and a year and then sent home.
Prison exchanges were another means of obtaining freedom. The British would free several dozen prisoners following a similar release by the Americans. This was often done by rank, one general for another or three lieutenants for three lieutenants. Enlisted men exchanged were grouped together.
Captivity was depressing for soldiers, but it also had profound effects on their families back home. Men held prisoner could not help with their family farm or business. Their imprisonment placed enormous stress on their wives and family. Few were as upset, and held up as well, as Abigail Johnson, whose husband, Colonel Thomas Johnson, was held captive in Canada. She was eight months pregnant when he was captured; her sister was staying with her for the birth that her husband would miss. She was steadfast, though, and in her letters never worried about her health, only his. “It gives me great satisfaction to hear that you are well,” she wrote, “for I was very anxious for you.” 7
Many were harmed more by what they perceived as abandonment by wives, friends, and neighbors than by their terrible living conditions. Caleb Foot was taken prisoner in the winter of 1780 and incarcerated in the dreary confines of Forten Prison, in Portsmouth, England. In letters to his wife, he complained about the terrible food, cold, and lack of clothing, but he saved his real anguish for her and the others back home, telling her that
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