The pattern was clear by 1778. Henry Laurens remarked the British Navy exercised "every species of cruelty" against American maritime prisoners "to compel them to enter into their service." After "thousands have died languishing miserable deaths," British naval officers "exchange the emaciated survivors" for "healthy, well fed fellows." Only desperation to alleviate the suffering of American captives has compelled American revolutionaries to acquiesce to such inequitable exchanges.
Historian Philip Ranlet reminds readers that British forces, naval and army, were desperate for recruits.
Ranlet traces this coercive method of prisoner recruitment to Lord George Germain's approval of the enlistment of the crew of the captured American ship The Washington, Sion Martindale, captain. The crew enlisted while confined to a ship as smallpox spread among them. Ranlet speculates that perhaps Martindale negotiated hospital care for the sick in exchange for the enlistment of his crew by the British.
Henry Larens to Rawlins Lowndes, August 18, 1778, in Letters of Delegates to Congress, Volume 10, page 479. Philip Ranlet, "The Fate of the Washington, 1775-1776: A Precedent for Future British Conduct," The American Neptune, Volume 54 (1994): pages 194-198. See also, Philip Ranlet, "In the Hands of the British: The Treatment of American POWs During the War of Independence," The Historian, Volume 62, issue 4 (June 2000): 731-758.
Henry Laurens was a South Carolina delegate to the Continental Congress, serving as President of Congress, November 1, 1777 to December 9, 1778. Rawlins Lowndes was the president (governor) of South Carolina, March 6, 1778-January 9, 1779. Lowndes was born on the Caribbean island of St Kitts.
Historian Philip Ranlet reminds readers that British forces, naval and army, were desperate for recruits.
Ranlet traces this coercive method of prisoner recruitment to Lord George Germain's approval of the enlistment of the crew of the captured American ship The Washington, Sion Martindale, captain. The crew enlisted while confined to a ship as smallpox spread among them. Ranlet speculates that perhaps Martindale negotiated hospital care for the sick in exchange for the enlistment of his crew by the British.
Henry Larens to Rawlins Lowndes, August 18, 1778, in Letters of Delegates to Congress, Volume 10, page 479. Philip Ranlet, "The Fate of the Washington, 1775-1776: A Precedent for Future British Conduct," The American Neptune, Volume 54 (1994): pages 194-198. See also, Philip Ranlet, "In the Hands of the British: The Treatment of American POWs During the War of Independence," The Historian, Volume 62, issue 4 (June 2000): 731-758.
Henry Laurens was a South Carolina delegate to the Continental Congress, serving as President of Congress, November 1, 1777 to December 9, 1778. Rawlins Lowndes was the president (governor) of South Carolina, March 6, 1778-January 9, 1779. Lowndes was born on the Caribbean island of St Kitts.
