What To Do With Prisoners?–February 7, 1776

Detail from “The Battle of Bennington” by Grandma Moses, 1953, depicting British prisoners being taken. Originally commissioned by the Daughters of the American Revolution but rejected because of some inaccuracies. Now at the Bennington Museum. When I mentioned in today’s episode that American prisoners were left to disease or neglect, I wasn’t telling you the half of it. The British used captured, damaged or obsolete ships as their prisons. Conditions were so bad that more Americans died as a result of disease than died on the battlefield. Over 10,000 men died that way, and their bodies were either dumped overboard or buried in shallow graves along the shoreline. At that time, supplies for combatants were expected to be supplied by their own side, or through the largesse of private resources. But when the prison is a ship off-shore, getting those supplies through was nearly impossible. British prisoners, on the other hand, were generally treated much better. This isn’t to say that there weren’t instances of them being abused, but it wasn’t the norm. The post What To Do With Prisoners?–February 7, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting.