On December 1, 1777, James Lovell, a Massachusetts delegate to the Continental Congress, informed fellow-New Englander John Adams, "Genl. Howe will not exchange prisoners till those murthered at New York are paid for with fresh and good Soldiers."
Robert J. Taylor, editor of that volume of the John Adams Papers, was puzzled by the reference to murdered prisoners. "The allusion here remains obscure," Taylor wrote.
The prisoners "murthered" in British-occupied New York City were prisoners of British commander military Sir William Howe in the winter of 1776-77.
Howe's forces captured 4,114 Continental soldiers in the last half of 1776. About 1,000 died in Howe's prisons and prison ships in New York. Another 2,000 or so of the prisoners died in the first months of 1777, after Howe released them. Please check the post, "2000 Corpses."
In the words of Continental Private William Darlington, his fellow-prisoners "began to die like rotten sheep" from "cold, hunger, and dirt."
The massive prisoner die-off at the end of 1776, and the prisoner exchange dispute that followed between Howe and George Washington, remains obscure to many researchers. For more information, please consult my article for Journal of the American Revolution, "1776--The Horror Show."
Robert J. Taylor, editor of that volume of the John Adams Papers, was puzzled by the reference to murdered prisoners. "The allusion here remains obscure," Taylor wrote.
The prisoners "murthered" in British-occupied New York City were prisoners of British commander military Sir William Howe in the winter of 1776-77.
Howe's forces captured 4,114 Continental soldiers in the last half of 1776. About 1,000 died in Howe's prisons and prison ships in New York. Another 2,000 or so of the prisoners died in the first months of 1777, after Howe released them. Please check the post, "2000 Corpses."
In the words of Continental Private William Darlington, his fellow-prisoners "began to die like rotten sheep" from "cold, hunger, and dirt."
The massive prisoner die-off at the end of 1776, and the prisoner exchange dispute that followed between Howe and George Washington, remains obscure to many researchers. For more information, please consult my article for Journal of the American Revolution, "1776--The Horror Show."
