On December 9, 1776, Timothy Parker, first lieutenant of the schooner Spy in the Connecticut state navy, wrote to Gov. Trumbull from a British prisoner ship off New York City. Respectfully pleading the governor to negotiate an exchange with the British, Parker described the dismal conditions on the prison ship Hope.
Parker wrote, “That our present situation is most wretched, your Honour need not doubt, which I likewise hope you will soon be assured of from men of undoubted veracity. There are more than two hundred and fifty prisoners of us on board this ship, (some of which are sick, and without the least assistance from physician, drug, or medicine,)….”
Parker concluded, “In short, sir, we have no prospect before our eyes but a kind of lingering inevitable death, unless we obtain a timely and seasonable release.”
Parker wrote, “That our present situation is most wretched, your Honour need not doubt, which I likewise hope you will soon be assured of from men of undoubted veracity. There are more than two hundred and fifty prisoners of us on board this ship, (some of which are sick, and without the least assistance from physician, drug, or medicine,)….”
Parker concluded, “In short, sir, we have no prospect before our eyes but a kind of lingering inevitable death, unless we obtain a timely and seasonable release.”
No comments:
Post a Comment