Philip
Jones, an Irishman in the Continental Army, testified that the British colonel
who took him prisoner asked “what we did to the Irishmen that made them rebel,
I answered I knew no reason excepting they lived better here than at home, upon
which he struck me with his sword….” Affidavit of Philip Jones, sworn before
Major General Israel Putnam, 6 March 1777, in The Pennsylvania Evening Post (Philadelphia), 3 May 1777.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
I actually have an Irish ancestry who fought for the British. He was captured many times and escaped many times.
You've done great research to have such great details. That was a pretty daring effort by your ancestor. British soldiers who escaped American captivity sometimes covered hundreds of miles to reach British forces in New York City. The British held that city most of the war, making it a destination for many escaped prisoners. English historian Matthew H. Spring considered this a possible indication of "uncomplicated patriotism" among British forces.
Funnily enough, the example he mentioned by name was an Irishman--Roger Lamb, who escaped after his capture at Saratoga (1777) and Yorktown (1781). String concedes poor treatment was one factor, and contempt for an "unnatural" rebellion was another, but String quotes Lamb as saying he thought accepting American offers to desert the British would amount to "dereliction of duty."
Matthew H. String, 'With Zeal and Bayonets Only: The British Army on Campaign in North America, 1775-1783," pages 125-126 (Lamb quoted on page 126.)
Post a Comment