Horror Stories

The British captured New York City in the last few months of 1776. The suffering of American prisoners in the occupied city quickly became notorious.

On November 30, 1776, the Pennsylvania Council of Safety wrote to the Committee of Lancaster, "It is highly expedient that the prisoners in your barracks be forwarded as fast as possible...for an exchange. The account received by Congress and intimated to this Board, of the situation of our men, prisoners at New-York, demands the utmost exertion to get them out of the hands of our enemy."