RENDEZVOUS AT CAPE FEAR.--SICKNESS.--HALIFAX JAIL.--LETTER TO GENERAL
MASSEY.--VOYAGE TO NEW YORK.--ON PAROLE.
The third day of May we cast anchor in the harbor of Cape Fear,
in North Carolina, as did Sir Peter Parker's ship, of fifty guns,
a little back of the bar; for there was not depth of water for
him to come into the harbor. These two men-of-war, and fourteen
sail of transports and others, came after, so that most of the
fleet rendezvoused at Cape Fear for three weeks. The soldiers on
board the transports were sickly, in consequence of so long a
passage; add to this the small-pox carried off many of them. They
landed on the main, and formed a camp; but the riflemen annoyed
them, and caused them to move to an island in the harbor; but
such cursing of riflemen I never heard.
A detachment of regulars was sent up Brunswick River; as they
landed they were fired on by those marksmen, and they came back
next day damning the rebels for their unmanly way of fighting,
and swearing they would give no quarter, for they took sight
at them, and were behind timber, skulking about. One of the
detachments said they lost one man; but a negro man who was with
them, and heard what was said, soon after told me that he helped
to bury thirty-one of them; this did me some good to find my
countrymen giving them battle; for I never heard such swaggering
as among General Clinton's little army, who commanded at that
time; and I am apt to think there were four thousand men, though
not two-thirds of them fit for duty. I heard numbers of them
say that the trees in America should hang well with fruit that
campaign, for they would give no quarter. This was in the mouths
of most who I heard speak on the subject, officer as well as
soldier. I wished at that time my countrymen knew, as well as I
did, what a murdering and cruel enemy they had to deal with; but
experience has since taught this country what they are to expect
at the hands of Britons when in their power.
The prisoners who had been sent on board different men-of-war
at the cove of Cork were collected together, and the whole of
them put on board the _Mercury_ frigate, Captain James Montague,
except one of the Canadians, who died on the passage from
Ireland, and Peter Noble, who made his escape from the _Sphynx_
man-of-war in this harbor, and, by extraordinary swimming, got
safe home to New England and gave intelligence of the usage of
his brother prisoners. The _Mercury_ set sail from this port for
Halifax about the 20th of May, and Sir Peter Parker was about
to sail with the land forces, under the command of General
Clinton, for the reduction of Charleston, the capital of South
Carolina, and when I heard of his defeat in Halifax, it gave me
inexpressible satisfaction.
I now found myself under a worse captain than Symonds; for
Montague was loaded with prejudices against everybody and
everything that was not stamped with royalty; and being by nature
underwitted, his wrath was heavier than the others, or at least
his mind was in no instance liable to be diverted by good sense,
humor or bravery, of which Symonds was by turns susceptible. A
Captain Francis Proctor was added to our number of prisoners when
we were first put on board this ship. This gentleman had formerly
belonged to the English service. The captain, and in fine, all
the gentlemen of the ship were very much incensed against him,
and put him in irons without the least provocation, and he was
continued in this miserable situation about three months. In this
passage the prisoners were infected with the scurvy, some more
and some less, but most of them severely. The ship's crew was to
a great degree troubled with it, and I concluded it was catching.
Several of the crew died with it on their passage. I was weak and
feeble in consequence of so long and cruel a captivity, yet had
but little of the scurvy.
The purser was again expressly forbid by the captain to let me
have anything out of his store; upon which I went upon deck, and
in the handsomest manner requested the favor of purchasing a few
necessaries of the purser, which was denied me; he further told
me, that I should be hanged as soon as I arrived at Halifax. I
tried to reason the matter with him, but found him proof against
reason; I also held up his honor to view, and his behavior to
me and the prisoners in general, as being derogatory to it,
but found his honor impenetrable. I then endeavored to touch
his humanity, but found he had none; for his prepossession of
bigotry to his own party had confirmed him in an opinion that no
humanity was due to unroyalists, but seemed to think that heaven
and earth were made merely to gratify the king and his creatures;
he uttered considerable unintelligible and grovelling ideas, a
little tinctured with monarchy but stood well to his text of
hanging me. He afterward forbade his surgeon to administer any
help to the sick prisoners. I was every night shut down in the
cable tier with the rest of the prisoners, and we all lived
miserably while under his power. But I received some generosity
from several of the midshipmen who in degree alleviated my
misery; one of their names was Putrass; the names of the others
I do not recollect; but they were obliged to be private in the
bestowment of their favor, which was sometimes good wine bitters
and at others a generous drink of grog.
Some time in the first week of June, we came to anchor at the
Hook of New York, where we remained but three days; in which
time Governor Tryon, Mr. Kemp, the old attorney-general of
New York, and several other perfidious and overgrown tories
and land-jobbers, came on board. Tryon viewed me with a stern
countenance, as I was walking on the leeward side of the deck
with the midshipmen; and he and his companions were walking with
the captain and lieutenant on the windward side of the same,
but never spoke to me, though it is altogether probable that
he thought of the old quarrel between him, the old government
of New York, and the Green Mountain Boys. Then they went with
the captain into the cabin, and the same afternoon returned on
board a vessel, where at that time they took sanctuary from the
resentment of their injured country. What passed between the
officers of the ship and these visitors I know not; but this
I know, that my treatment from the officers was more severe
afterward.
We arrived at Halifax not far from the middle of June, where the
ship's crew, which was infested with the scurvy, were taken on
shore and shallow trenches dug, into which they were put, and
partly covered with earth. Indeed, every proper measure was taken
for their relief. The prisoners were not permitted any sort of
medicine, but were put on board a sloop which lay in the harbor,
near the town of Halifax, surrounded by several men-of-war and
their tenders, and a guard constantly set over them, night and
day. The sloop we had wholly to ourselves, except the guard
who occupied the forecastle; here we were cruelly pinched with
hunger; it seemed to me that we had not more than one-third of
the common allowance. We were all seized with violent hunger and
faintness; we divided our scanty allowance as exact as possible.
I shared the same fate with the rest, and though they offered me
more than an even share, I refused to accept it, as it was a time
of substantial distress, which in my opinion I ought to partake
equally with the rest, and set an example of virtue and fortitude
to our little commonwealth.
I sent letter after letter to Captain Montague, who still had
the care of us, and also to his lieutenant, whose name I cannot
call to mind, but could obtain no answer, much less a redress of
grievances; and to add to the calamity, nearly a dozen of the
prisoners were dangerously ill of the scurvy. I wrote private
letters to the doctors, to procure, if possible, some remedy for
the sick, but in vain. The chief physician came by in a boat,
so close that the oars touched the sloop that we were in, and
I uttered my complaint in the genteelest manner to him, but he
never so much as turned his head, or made me any answer, though
I continued speaking till he got out of hearing. Our cause then
became deplorable. Still I kept writing to the captain, till
he ordered the guards, as they told me, not to bring any more
letters from me to him. In the mean time an event happened worth
relating. One of the men, almost dead with the scurvy, lay by
the side of the sloop, and a canoe of Indians coming by, he
purchased two quarts of strawberries, and ate them at once, and
it almost cured him. The money he gave for them was all the money
he had in the world. After that we tried every way to procure
more of that fruit, reasoning from analogy that they might have
the same effect on others infested with the same disease, but
could obtain none.
Meanwhile the doctor's mate of the _Mercury_ came privately on
board the prison sloop and presented me with a large vial of
smart drops, which proved to be good for the scurvy, though
vegetables and some other ingredients were requisite for a cure:
but the drops gave at least a check to the disease. This was
a well-timed exertion of humanity, but the doctor's name has
slipped my mind, and in my opinion, it was the means of saving
the lives of several men.
The guard which was set over us was by this time touched with
feelings of compassion; and I finally trusted one of them with
a letter of complaint to Governor Arbuthnot, of Halifax, which
he found means to communicate, and which had the desired effect;
for the governor sent an officer and surgeon on board the prison
sloop to know the truth of the complaint. The officer's name
was Russell; he held the rank of lieutenant, and treated me in
a friendly and polite manner, and was really angry at the cruel
and unmanly usage the prisoners met with; and with the surgeon
made a true report of matters to Governor Arbuthnot, who, either
by his order or influence, took us next day from the prison
sloop to Halifax jail, where I first became acquainted with the
now Hon. James Lovel, one of the members of Congress for the
State of Massachusetts. The sick were taken to the hospital,
and the Canadians, who were effective, were employed in the
king's works; and when their countrymen were recovered from the
scurvy and joined them, they all deserted the king's employ, and
were not heard of at Halifax as long as the remainder of the
prisoners continued there, which was till near the middle of
October. We were on board the prison sloop about six weeks, and
were landed at Halifax near the middle of August. Several of our
English-American prisoners, who were cured of the scurvy at the
hospital, made their escape from thence, and after a long time
reached their old habitations.
I had now but thirteen with me of those who were taken in Canada,
and remained in jail with me at Halifax, who, in addition
to those that were imprisoned before, made our number about
thirty-four, who were all locked up in one common large room,
without regard to rank, education, or any other accomplishment,
where we continued from the setting to the rising sun; and as
sundry of them were infected with the jail and other distempers,
the furniture of this spacious room consisted principally of
excrement tubs. We petitioned for a removal of the sick into
the hospitals, but were denied. We remonstrated against the
ungenerous usage of being confined with the privates, as being
contrary to the laws and customs of nations, and particularly
ungrateful in them in consequence of the gentleman-like usage
which the British imprisoned officers met with in America; and
thus we wearied ourselves, petitioning and remonstrating, but to
no purpose at all; for General Massey, who commanded at Halifax,
was as inflexible as the devil himself, a fine preparative this
for Mr. Lovel, member of the Continental Congress.
Lieutenant Russell, whom I have mentioned before, came to visit
me in prison, and assured me that he had done his utmost to
procure my parole for enlargement; at which a British captain,
who was then town-major, expressed compassion for the gentlemen
confined in the filthy place, and assured me that he had used his
influence to procure their enlargement; his name was near like
Ramsey. Among the prisoners there were four in number who had a
legal claim to a parole, a Mr. Howland, master of a continental
armed vessel, a Mr. Taylor, his mate, and myself.
As to the article of provision, we were well served, much
better than in any part of my captivity; and since it was Mr.
Lovel's misfortune and mine to be prisoners, and in so wretched
circumstances, I was happy that we were together as a mutual
support to each other and to the unfortunate prisoners with
us. Our first attention was the preservation of ourselves
and injured little republic; the rest of our time we devoted
interchangeably to politics and philosophy, as patience was a
needful exercise in so evil a situation, but contentment mean and
impracticable.
I had not been in this jail many days, before a worthy and
charitable woman, by the name of Mrs. Blacden, supplied me with
a good dinner of fresh meats every day, with garden fruit, and
sometimes with a bottle of wine; notwithstanding which I had
not been more than three weeks in this place before I lost my
appetite to the most delicious food by the jail distemper, as
also did sundry of the prisoners, particularly Sergeant Moore,
a man of courage and fidelity. I have several times seen him
hold the boatswain of the _Solebay_ frigate, when he attempted
to strike him, and laughed him out of conceit of using him as a
slave.
A doctor visited the sick, and did the best, as I suppose, he
could for them, to no apparent purpose. I grew weaker and weaker,
as did the rest. Several of them could not help themselves. At
last I reasoned in my own mind that raw onion would be good. I
made use of it, and found immediate relief by it, as did the sick
in general, particularly Sergeant Moore, whom it recovered almost
from the shades; though I had met with a little revival, still
I found the malignant hand of Britain had greatly reduced my
constitution with stroke upon stroke. Esquire Lovel and myself
used every argument and entreaty that could be well conceived
of in order to obtain gentleman-like usage, to no purpose. I
then wrote General Massey as severe a letter as I possibly could
with my friend Lovel's assistance. The contents of it was to
give the British, as a nation, and him as an individual, their
true character. This roused the rascal, for he could not bear to
see his and the nation's deformity in that transparent letter,
which I sent him; he therefore put himself in a great rage about
it, and showed the letter to a number of British officers,
particularly to Captain Smith of the _Lark_ frigate, who instead
of joining with him in disapprobation commended the spirit of it;
upon which General Massey said to him, do you take the part of a
rebel against me? Captain Smith answered that he rather spoke his
sentiments and there was a dissension in opinion between them.
Some officers took the part of the general and others of the
captain. This I was informed of by a gentleman who had it from
Captain Smith.
In a few days after this, the prisoners were ordered to go on
board of a man-of-war, which was bound for New York; but two of
them were not able to go on board, and were left at Halifax;
one died; and the other recovered. This was about the 12th of
October, and soon after we had got on board, the captain sent
for me in particular to come on the quarter deck. I went, not
knowing that it was Captain Smith or his ship at that time, and
expected to meet the same rigorous usage I had commonly met with
and prepared my mind accordingly; but when I came on deck, the
captain met me with his hand, welcomed me to his ship, invited
me to dine with him that day, and assured me that I should be
treated as a gentleman, and that he had given orders that I
should be treated with respect by the ship's crew. This was so
unexpected and sudden a transition that it drew tears from my
eyes which all the ill usage I had before met with was not able
to produce, nor could I at first hardly speak, but soon recovered
myself and expressed my gratitude for so unexpected a favor;
and let him know that I felt anxiety of mind in reflecting that
his situation and mine was such that it was not probable that
it would ever be in my power to return the favor. Captain Smith
replied that he had no reward in view, but only treated me as a
gentleman ought to be treated; he said this is a mutable world,
and one gentleman never knows but it may be in his power to
help another. Soon after I found this to be the same Captain
Smith who took my part against General Massey; but he never
mentioned anything of it to me, and I thought it impolite in me
to interrogate him as to any disputes which might have arisen
between him and the general on my account, as I was a prisoner,
and that it was at his option to make free with me on that
subject if he pleased; and if he did not, I might take it for
granted that it would be unpleasing for me to query about it,
though I had a strong propensity to converse with him on that
subject.
I dined with the captain agreeable to his invitation, and
oftentimes with the lieutenant, in the gun-room, but in general
ate and drank with my friend Lovel and the other gentlemen who
were prisoners with me, where I also slept.
We had a little berth inclosed with canvas, between decks, where
we enjoyed ourselves very well, in hopes of an exchange; besides,
our friends at Halifax had a little notice of our departure
and supplied us with spirituous liquor, and many articles
of provisions for the cost. Captain Burk, having been taken
prisoner, was added to our company (he had commanded an American
armed vessel) and was generously treated by the captain and all
the officers of the ship, as well as myself. We now had in all
near thirty prisoners on board, and as we were sailing along the
coast, if I recollect right, off Rhode Island, Captain Burk, with
an under-officer of the ship, whose name I do not recollect,
came to our little berth, proposed to kill Captain Smith and the
principal officers of the frigate and take it; adding that there
were thirty-five thousand pounds sterling in the same. Captain
Burk likewise averred that a strong party out of the ship's crew
was in the conspiracy, and urged me, and the gentleman that was
with me, to use our influence with the private prisoners to
execute the design, and take the ship with the cash into one of
our own ports.
Upon which I replied that we had been too well used on board to
murder the officers; that I could by no means reconcile it to
my conscience, and that, in fact, it should not be done; and
while I was yet speaking my friend Lovel confirmed what I had
said, and farther pointed out the ungratefulness of such an
act; that it did not fall short of murder, and in fine all the
gentlemen in the berth opposed Captain Burk and his colleague.
But they strenuously urged that the conspiracy would be found
out, and that it would cost them their lives, provided they did
not execute their design. I then interposed spiritedly and put
an end to further argument on the subject, and told them that
they might depend upon it upon my honor that I would faithfully
guard Captain Smith's life. If they should attempt the assault
I would assist him, for they desired me to remain neuter, and
that the same honor that guarded Captain Smith's life would also
guard theirs; and it was agreed by those present not to reveal
the conspiracy, to the intent that no man should be put to death,
in consequence of what had been projected; and Captain Burk, and
his colleague went to stifle the matter among their associates.
I could not help calling to mind what Captain Smith said to me,
when I first came on board: "This is a mutable world, and one
gentleman never knows but that it may be in his power to help
another." Captain Smith and his officers still behaved with their
usual courtesy, and I never heard any more of the conspiracy.
We arrived before New York, and cast anchor the latter part
of October, where we remained several days, and where Captain
Smith informed me that he had recommended me to Admiral Howe
and General Sir William Howe, as a gentleman of honor and
veracity, and desired that I might be treated as such. Captain
Burk was then ordered on board a prison ship in the harbor. I
took my leave of Captain Smith and, with the other prisoners,
was sent on board a transport ship which lay in the harbor,
commanded by Captain Craige, who took me into the cabin with
him and his lieutenant. I fared as they did, and was in every
respect well treated, in consequence of directions from Captain
Smith. In a few weeks after this I had the happiness to part
with my friend Lovel, for his sake, whom the enemy affected to
treat as a private; he was a gentleman of merit, and liberally
educated, but had no commission; they maligned him on account
of his unshaken attachment to the cause of his country. He was
exchanged for a Governor Philip Skene of the British. I was
continued in this ship till the latter part of November, where
I contracted an acquaintance with a captain of the British; his
name has slipped my memory. He was what we may call a genteel,
hearty fellow. I remember an expression of his over a bottle of
wine, to this import: "That there is a greatness of soul for
personal friendship to subsist between you and me, as we are upon
opposite sides, and may at another day be obliged to face each
other in the field." I am confident that he was as faithful as
any officer in the British army. At another sitting he offered to
bet a dozen of wine that Fort Washington would be in the hands
of the British in three days. I stood the bet, and would, had
I known that that would have been the case; and the third day
afterward we heard a heavy cannonade, and that day the fort was
taken sure enough. Some months after, when I was on parole, he
called upon me with his usual humor, and mentioned the bet. I
acknowledged that I had lost it, but he said he did not mean to
take it, then, as I was a prisoner; that he would another day
call upon me, when their army came to Bennington. I replied that
he was quite too generous, as I had fairly lost it; besides, the
Green Mountain Boys would not suffer them to come to Bennington.
This was all in good humor. I should have been glad to have seen
him after the defeat at Bennington, but did not. It was customary
for a guard to attend the prisoners, which was often changed.
One was composed of tories from Connecticut, in the vicinity of
Fairfield and Green Farms. The sergeant's name was Hoit. They
were very full of their invectives against the country, swaggered
of their loyalty to their king, and exclaimed bitterly against
the "cowardly Yankees," as they were pleased to term them, but
finally contented themselves with saying that when the country
was overcome they should be well rewarded for their loyalty
out of the estates of the whigs, which would be confiscated.
This I found to be the general language of the tories, after I
arrived from England on the American coast. I heard sundry of
them relate, that the British generals had engaged them an ample
reward for their losses, disappointments and expenditures, out of
the forfeited rebels' estates. This language early taught me what
to do with tories' estates, as far as my influence can go. For it
is really a game of hazard between whig and tory. The whigs must
inevitably have lost all, in consequence of the abilities of the
tories, and their good friends the British; and it is no more
than right the tories should run the same risk, in consequence of
the abilities of the whigs. But of this more will be observed in
the sequel of this narrative.
Some of the last days of November the prisoners were landed at
New York, and I was admitted to parole with the other officers,
viz.: Proctor, Howland, and Taylor. The privates were put into
filthy churches in New York, with the distressed prisoners that
were taken at Fort Washington; and the second night, Sergeant
Roger Moore, who was bold and enterprising, found means to make
his escape with every one of the remaining prisoners that were
taken with him, except three, who were soon after exchanged. So
that out of thirty-one prisoners, who went with me the round
exhibited in these sheets, two only died with the enemy, and
three only were exchanged; one of whom died after he came within
our lines; all the rest, at different times, made their escape
from the enemy.
I now found myself on parole, and restricted to the limits of the
city of New York, where I soon projected means to live in some
measure agreeably to my rank, though I was destitute of cash. My
constitution was almost worn out by such a long and barbarous
captivity. The enemy gave out that I was crazy, and wholly
unmanned, but my vitals held sound, nor was I delirious any more
than I had been from youth up; but my extreme circumstances, at
certain times, rendered it politic to act in some measure the
madman; and in consequence of a regular diet and exercise, my
blood recruited, and my nerves in a great measure recovered their
former tone, strength and usefulness, in the course of six months.