EVER since I arrived to a state o [...] manhood, and acquainted myself with the general history of mank [...]d. I have felt a sincere pas­sion fo [...] liberty. The history of na­tions [...]med to perpetual slavery, in [...] sequence of holding up to tyrant their natural-born liberties, I read with a sort of philosophical ho [...]ey so that the first systematical and b [...]oody attempt at Lexington, to enslave America, thoroughly electrified my mind, and fully de­termined me to take part with my country: And while I was wishing for as opportunity to signalize my­self in its behalf, directions were privately sent to me from the then colony (now state) of Connecticut, to [...] the Green Mountain Boys; (and if possible) with them to sur­prize and take the fortress Ticon­deroga. This enterprize I chear­fully undertook; and, after first guarding all the several passes that led thither, to cut off all intelli­gence between the garrison and the country, made a forced march from Bennington, and arrived at the lake opposite to Ticonderoga, on the evening of the ninth day of May, 1775, with two hundred and thirty w [...]liant Green Mountain Boys; [...] it was with the utmost difficul­ty that I procured boats to cross the lake: However, I landed eighty three men near the garrison, and [...]ent the boats back for the rear [...]uard commanded by col. Seth Warner; but the day began to dawn, and I found myself under a necessity to attack the fort, before [...] rear could cross the lake; and, [...] it was viewed hazardous, I ha­ [...]gued the officers and soldiers in the manner following: ‘Friends and fellow-soldiers, you have, for a number of years past been a scourge and terror to arbitrary power. Your valour has been famed abroad, and acknowledg­ed, as appears by the advice and orders to me (from the Ge­neral Assembly of Connecticut) to surprize and take the garrison now before us. I now propose to advance before you, and in person conduct you through the wicket-gate; for we must this morning either quit our preten­sions to valour, or possess our­selves of this fortress in a few minutes; and, in as much as it is a desperate attempt, (which none but the bravest of men dare undertake) I do not urge it on any contrary to his will. You that will undertake volun­tarily, poise your firelocks.’

The men being (at this time) drawn up in three ranks, each poised his firelock. I ordered them to face to the right; and, at the head of the center-file, marched them immediately to the wicket-gate aforesaid, where I found a centry posted, who instantly snap­ped his fusee at me: I run imme­diately toward him, and he re­treated through the covered way into the parade within the garri­son, gave a halloo, and ran under a bomb-proof. My party who fol­lowed me into the fort, I formed on the parade, in such manner as to face the two barracks which faced each other. The garrison being asleep, (except the centries) we gave three huzzas which great­ly surprized them. One of the [Page 4] c [...]ntries made a pass at one of my officers with a charged bayonet, and slightly wounded him: My first thought was to kill him with my sword; but, in an instant, al­tered the design and fury of the blow to a slight cut on the side of the head; upon which he dropped his gun, and asked quarter, which I readily granted him, and de­manded of him the place where the commanding officer kept; he shew­ed me a pair of stairs in the front of a barrack, on the west part of the garrison, which led up to a second story in said barrack, to which I immediately repaired, and ordered the commander (captain Delaplace) to come forth instantly, or I would sacrifice the whole gar­rison; at which the captain came immediately to the door with his breeches in his hand, when I or­dered him to deliver to me the fort instantly, who asked me by what authority I demanded it: I an­swered him, ‘In the name of the great Jehovah, and the Conti­nental Congress.’ (The autho­rity of the Congress being very little known at that time) he be­gan to speak again; but I inter­rupted him, and with my drawn sword over his head, again de­manded an immediate surrender of the garrison; to which he then complied, and ordered his men to be forthwith paraded without arms, as he had given up the garrison: In the mean time some of my offi­cers had given orders, and in con­sequence thereof, sundry of the barrack doors were beat down, and about one third of the garri­son imprisoned, which consisted of the said commander, a lieutenant Feltham, a conductor of artil [...]ery, a gunner, two sergeants, and forty four rank and file; about one hun­dred pieces of cannon, [...] 13 inch mortar, and a number [...] sw [...]vels. This surprize was carried into ex­ecution in the gray of the morning of the 10th day of [...], 1775. The sun seemed to rise that morn­ing with a superior lu [...]re; and Ticonderoga and its dependencies smiled on its conquerors, who tossed about the flowing bowl, and wished succe [...] to Congress and the liberty and freedom of America. Happy it was for me, ( [...] that time) that the then [...] pages of the Book of Fate, which after­wards unfolded a miserable scene of two years and eight months imprisonment, was hid from my view: But to return to my narra­tion; col. Warner, with the rear guard, crossed the lake, and joined me early in the morning, whom I sent off, without loss of time, with about one hundred men, to take possession of Crown Point, which was garrisoned with a sergeant and twelve men; which he took possession of the same day, as also upwards of one hundred pieces of cannon. But one thing now re­mained to be done, to make our­selves complete masters of lake Champlain: This was to possess ourselves of a sloop of war, which was then laying at St. John's; to effect which, it was agreed in a council of war, to arm and m [...]n out a certain schooner, which lay at south Bay, and that captain (now general) Arnold should com­mand her, and that I should com­mand the batteaux. The necessary preparations being made, we [...] sail from Ticonderoga, in quest of the sloop, which was much larger and carried more guns and heavie metal than the schooner. General Arnold, with the schooner sailing faster than the batteaux, arrived [...] [Page 5] St. John's; and by surprize, pos­sessed himself of the sloop, before I could arrive with the batteaux: He also made prisoners of a ser­geant and twelve men, who were garrisoned at that place. It is worthy remark, that as soon as general Arnold had secured the prisoners on board, and had made preparation for sailing, the wind, which but a few hours before was fresh in the south, and well served to carry us to St. John's, n [...]w shifted, and came fresh from the north; and in about one hour's time, general Arnold sailed with the prize and schooner for Ticon­deroga: When I met him with my party, within a few miles of St. John's, he saluted me with a discharge of cannon, which I re­turned with a volley of small arms: This being repeated three times, I went, on board the sloop with my party, where several loyal Con­gress healths were drank. We were now masters of lake Cham­plain, and the garrisons depending thereon. This success I viewed of consequence in the scale of Ame­rican politics; for if a settlement between the then colonies and Great Britain, had soon taken place, it would have been easy to have restored these acquisitions; but viewing the then future conse­quences of a cruel war, (as it has really proved to be) and the com­mand of that lake, garrisons, ar­tillery, &c. must be viewed to be of signal importance to the Ame­rican cause, and it is marvellous to me, that we ever lost the command of it. Nothing but the taking a Burgoyne, with a whole British army, could (in my opinion) atone for it; and notwithstanding such an extraordinary victory, we must be obliged to regain the command of that lake again, be the [...] what it will: By doing this, Ca­nada will easily be brought into union and confederacy with the United States of America. Such an event would put it out of the power of the western tribes of In­dians to carry on a war with us, and be a solid and durable bar a­gainst any further in human barba­rities committed on our frontier inhabitants, by cruel and blood-thirsty savages; for it is impossible for them to carry on a war, except they are supported by the trade and commerce of some civilized na­tion; which to them would be im­practicable, did Canada compose a part of the American empire.

Early in the fall of the year, the little army, under the command of the generals Schuyler and Mont­gomery, were ordered to advance into Canada. I was at Ticonde­roga, when this order arrived; and the general, with most of the field officers, requested me to attend them in the expedition; and tho' at that time, I had no commission from Congress, yet they engaged me, that I should be considered as an officer the same as tho' I had a commission; and should, as occa­sion might require, command cer­tain detachments of the army.—This I considered as an honourable offer, and did not hesitate to com­ply with it, and advanced with the army to the isle Auix Noix; from whence I was ordered (by the ge­neral) to go in company with ma­jor Brown, and certain interpre­ters, through the woods into Ca­nada, with letters to the Canadi­ans, and to let them know, that the design of the army was only against the English garrisons, and not the country, their liberties, or religion: And having, through [Page 6] much danger, negotiated this bu­siness, I returned to the isle Auix Noix the fore part of September, when general Schuyler returned to Albany; and in consequence the command devolved upon general Montgomery, whom I assisted in laying a line of circumvallation round the fortress St. John's: Af­ter which I was ordered by the ge­neral, to make a second tour into Canada, upon nearly the same de­sign as before; and withal to ob­serve the disposition, designs and movements of the inhabitants of the country: This reconnoitre I undertook with reluctance, chusing rather to assist at the siege of St. John's, which was then closely in­vested; but my esteem for the ge­neral's person, and opinion of him as a politician and brave officer, induced me to proceed.

I passed through all the parishes on the river Sorrel, to a parish at the mouth of the same, which is called by the same name, preach­ing politics; and went from thence across the Sorrel to the river St. Lawrence, and up the river through the parishes to Longale, and so far met with good success as an itine­rant. In this round, my guard was Canadians, (my interpreter and some few attendants excepted.) On the morning of the 24th day of September, I set out with my guard of about eighty men, from Longale, to go to Lapraier; from whence I determined to go to ge­neral Montgomery's camp; but had not advanced two miles before I met with major Brown, (who has since been advanced to the rank of a colonel) who desired me to halt, saying that he had something of importance to communicate to me and my confidents; upon which I halted the party, and went into an house, and took a private room with him and several of my associ­ates, where col. Brown proposed, that "Provided I would return to Longale, and procure some ca­noes, so as to cross the river St. Lawrence a little north of Mon­treal, he would cross it a little to the south of the town, with near two hundred men, as he had boats sufficient; and that we would make ourselves masters of Montreal."—This plan was readily approved by [...] and those in council; and in consequence of which I returned to Longale, collected a few ca­noes, and added about thirty En­glish Americans to my party, and crossed the river in the night of the 24th, agreeable to the before pro­posed plan. My whole party, at this time, consisted of about one hundred and ten men, near eighty of whom were Canadians. We were the most of the night crossing the river, as we had so few canoes that they had to pass and re-pass three times, to carry my party a­cross. Soon after day-break, I set a guard between me and the town, with special orders to let no person whatever pass or re-pass them, and another guard on the other end of the road, with like directions; in the mean time, I reconnoitred the best ground to make a defence, ex­pecting colonel Brown's party was landed on the other side of the town, he having (the day before) agreed to give three huzzas with his men early in the morning, which signal [...] was to return, that we might each know that both par­ties were landed; but the s [...]n, by this time, being near two hours high, and the sign failing, I began to conclude myself to be in a pre­munire, and would have crossed the river [...]eck again, but I knew [Page 7] the enemy would have discovered such an attempt; and as there could not more than one third part of my troops cross at one time, the other two third, would of course fall into their hands. This I could not reconcile to my own feelings as a man, much less as an officer: I therefore concluded to maintain the ground, (if possible) and all to fare alike. In consequence of this resolution, I dispatched two mes­sengers, one to Lapraire, (to col. Brown) and the other to Lasump­tion, (a French settlement) to Mr. Walker, who was in our interest, requesting their speedy assistance; giving them at the same time, to understand my critical situation: In the mean time, sundry persons came to my guards, pretending to be friends, but were by them taken prisoners, and brought to me.—These I ordered to confinement, 'till their friendship could be fur­ther confirmed; for I was jealous they were spies, as they proved to be afterwards: One of the princi­pal of them making his escape, exposed the weakness of my party, which was the final cause of my misfortune; for I have been since informed that Mr. Walker, agree­able to my desire, exerted himself, and had raised a considerable num­ber of men for my assistance, which brought him into difficulty after­wards; but upon hearing of my misfortune, disbanded them again.

The town of Montreal was in a great tumult. Gen. Carlton and the royal party made every prepa­ration to go on board their vessels of force, (as I was afterwards in­formed) but the spy escaping from my guard to the town, occasioned an alteration in their policy, and emboldened gen. Carlton to send the force, which he had there col­lected, out against me. I had pre­viously chosen my ground, but when I saw the number of the ene­my, as they sallied out of the town, I perceived it would be a day of trouble, if not of rebuke; but I had no chance to flee, as Montreal was situated on an island, and the river St. Lawrence cut off my com­munication to gen. Montgomery's camp. I encouraged my soldiery to bravely defend themselves, that we should soon have help, and that we should be able to keep the ground, if no more. This, and much more I affirmed with the greatest seeming assurance, and which in reality I thought to be in some degree probable.

The enemy consisted of not more than forty regular troops, together with a mixed multitude, chiefly Canadians, with a number of En­glish who lived in the town, and some Indians; in all to the num­ber of near five hundred.

The reader will notice that most of my party were Canadians; in­deed it was a motley parcel of sol­diery which composed both parties. However, the enemy began the at­tack from wood-piles, ditches, buildings, and such like places, at a considerable distance, and I re­turned the fire from a situation more than equally advantageous. The attack began between two and three of the clock in the after­noon, just before which I ordered a volunteer, by the name of Rich­ard Young, with a detachment of nine men as a flank guard, which, under the cover of the bank of the river, could not only annoy the e­nemy, but at the same time, serve as a flank guard to the left of the main body.

The fire continued for some time on both sides; and I was [Page 8] confident that such a remote me­thod of attack, could not carry the ground, (provided it should be continued 'till night:) But near half the body of the enemy began to flank round to my right; upon which I ordered a volunteer, by the name of John Dugan, who had lived many years in Canada, and understood the French language, to detach about fifty of the Cana­dians, and post himself at an ad­vantageous ditch, which was on my right, to prevent my being surrounded: He advanced with the detachment, but instead of occu­pying the post, made his escape, as did likewise Mr. Young upon the left, with their detachments. I soon perceived that the enemy was in possession of the ground, which Dugan should have occupied. At this time I had but about forty five men with me; some of whom were wounded: The enemy kept closing round me, nor was i [...] in my power to prevent it; by which means, my situation which was advantageous in the first part of the attack, ceased to be so in the last; and being almost entirely surrounded with such vast unequal numbers, I ordered a retreat, but found that those of the enemy, who were of the country, and their Indians, could run as fast as my men, tho' the regulars could not: Thus I retreated near a mile, and some of the enemy, with the savages, kept flanking me, and o­thers crowded hard in the rear: In fine I expected in a very short time, to try the world of spirits; for I was apprehensive that no quarter would be given to me, and therefore had determined to [...]ell my life as dear as I could: One of the enemy's officers boldly pressing in the rear, discharged his [...]usee at me; the ball whistled near me, as did many others that day. I re­turned the salute, and missed him, as running had put us both out of breath; for I conclude we were not frighted: I then saluted him with my tongue in a harsh manner, and told him that inasmuch as his numbers were so far superior to mine, I would surrender, provided I could be treated with honour, and be assured of good quarter for myself and the men who were with me; and he answered I should; another officer coming up directly after, confirmed the treaty; upon which I agreed to surrender with my party, which then consisted of thirty one effective men, and seven wounded. I ordered them to ground their arms, which they did.

The officer I capitulated with, then directed me and my party to advance towards him, which was done; I handed him my sword, and in half a minute after a savage, part of whose head was shaved, being almost naked and painted, with feathers intermixed with the hair of the other side of his head, came running to me with an in­credible swiftness; he seemed to advance with more than mortal speed; (as he approached near me, his hellish visage was beyond all description; snakes eyes appear innocent in comparison of his; his features extorted; malice, death, murder, and the wrath of devils and damned spirts are the emblems of his countenance) and in less than twelve feet of me, pre­sented his firelock; at the instant of his present, I twitched the offi­cer to whom I gave my sword, be­tween me and the savage; but he flew round with great fury, trying to single me out to shoot me with­out killing the officer; but by this [Page 9] time I was near as nimble as he, keeping the officer in such a posi­tion that his danger was my de­fence; but in less than half a mi­nute, I was attacked by just such another imp of hell: Then I made the officer fly around with incredi­ble velocity, for a few seconds of time, when I perceived a Cana­dian (who had lost one eye, as ap­peared afterwards) taking my part against the savages; and in an in­stant an Irishman came to my as­sistance with a fixed bayonet, and drove away the fiends, swearing by Jasus he would kill them. This tragic scene composed my mind. The escaping from so awful a death, made even imprisonment happy; the more so as my con­querors on the field treated me with great civility and politeness.

The regular officers said that they were very happy to see col. Allen: I answered them, that I should ra­ther chose to have seen them at gen. Montgomery's camp. The gentlemen rep [...]ted, that they gave full credit to what I said, and as I walked to the town, which was (as I should guess) more than two miles, a Bri­tish officer walked at my right hand, and one of the French noblesse at my left; the latter of which in the ac­tion, had his eyebrow carried away by a glancing shot, but was never­theless very m [...]ry and facetious, and no abuse was offered me 'till I came to the barrack-yard at Montreal, where I met general Prescott, who asked me my name, which I told him: He then asked me, whether I was that col. Allen, who took Ti­conderoga. I told him I was the very man: Then he shook his cane over my head, calling many hard names, among which he frequently used the word rebel, and put himself in a great rage. I told him he would do well not to ca [...]e me, for I was not accustomed to it, and shook my fist at him, telling him that that was the beetle of mortality for him, if he presumed to strike; upon which capt. M'Cloud of the British, pulled him by the skirt, and whispered to him (as he afterwards told me) to this import; that it was inconsistent with his honour to strike a prisoner. He then ordered a sergeant's command with fixed bayonets to come forward, and kill thirteen Canadians, which were included in the treaty aforesaid.

It [...] me to the heart to see the Canadians in so hard a case, in con­sequence of their having been true to me; they were wringing their hands, saying their prayers, (as I concluded) and expected immediate death. I therefore stepped between the execu­tioners and the Canadians, opened my cloaths, and told gen. Prescott to thrust his bayonets into my breast, for I was the [...] cause of the Cana­dians taking up arms.

The guard in the mean time, roll­ing their eye-balls from the general to me, as though impatiently waiting his dread commands to sheath their bayonets in my heart; I could how­ever plainly discern, that he was in a suspence and quandary about the matter: This gave me additional hopes of succeeding; for my design was not to die, but to save the Ca­nadians by a finesse. The general stood a minute, when he made me the following reply: "I will not exe­cute you now; but you shall grace a halter at Tyburn, God damn ye."

I remember I disdained his men­tioning such a place: I was not­withstanding a little inwardly plea­sed with the expression, as it signifi­cantly conveyed to me the idea of postponing the present appearance of death; beside his sentence was by no [Page 10] means final, as to "gracing a hal­ter," although I had anxiety about it after I landed in England, as the reader will find in the course of this history. Gen. Prescott then ordered one of his officers to take me on board the Gaspee schooner of war, and confine me, hands and feet, in irons, which was done the same afternoon I was taken.

The action continued an hour and three quarters by the watch, and I know not to this day how many of my men were killed, though I am certain there were but few; if I remember right, seven were wound­ed; one of them, William Stewart by name, was wounded by a savage with a tom [...]hawk, after he was taken prisoner and disarmed, but was rescued by some of the generous enemy; and so far recovered his wounds, that he afterwards went with the other prisoners to England.

Of the enemy were killed a major Carden, who had been wounded in eleven different battles, & an eminent merchant Patterson of Montreal, and some others, but I never knew their whose loss, as their accounts were different. I am apprehensive that it is rare, that so much ammunition was expended, and so little execution done by it; though such of my party as stood the ground, behaved with great fortitude, much exceeding that of the enemy, but were not the best of marksmen, and I am apprehen­sive, were all killed or taken; the wounded were put into the hospital at Montreal, and those that were not, were put on board of different vessels in the river, and shackled to­gether by pairs, viz. two men fas­tened together by one hand cuff, being closely fixed to one wrist of each of them, and treated with the greatest severity, nay as criminals.

I come now to the d [...]seri [...]tion of the irons, which were put on me: The hand-cuff was of a common size and form, but my leg irons (I should imagine) would weigh thirty pounds; the bar was eight feet long, and very substantial; the shackles which encompassed my ancles, were very tight. I was told by the officer who put them on, that it was the king's plate, and I heard other of their of­ficers say, that it would weigh forty weight. The irons were so clo [...] upon my ancles, that I could not lie down in any other manner than on my back. I was put into the lowest and most wretched part of the vessel, where I got the favour of a chest to set on; the same answered for my bed at night, and having procured some little blocks of the guard (who day and night, with fixed bayonets, watched over me) to lay under each end of the large bar of my [...]eg [...]irous, to preserve my ancles from galling, while I set on the chest, or lay back on the same, though most of the time, night and day, I set on it; but at length having a desire to lie down on my side, which the closeness of the irons forbid, desired the captain to loosen them for that purpose, but was denied the favour: The captain's name was Royal, who did not seem to be an ill natured man; but often­times said, that his express orders were to treat me with such severity, which was disagreeable to his own feelings; nor did he ever insult me, though many others, who came on board, did. One of the officers, by the name of Bradley, was very ge­nerous to me; he would often send me victuals from his own table; nor did a day fail, but that he sent me a good drink of grag.

The reader is now invited back to the time I was put into irons. I requested the privilege to write to gen, Prescott, which was granted. [Page 11] I reminded him of the kind and ge­nerous manner of my treatment to the prisoners I took at Ticonderoga; the unjustice and ungentleman-like usage, which I had met with from him, and demanded gentleman like usage, but received no answer from him. I soon after wrote to gen. Carlion, which met the same success. In the mean while many of those who were permitted to see me, were very in­sulting.

I was confined in the manner I have related, on board the Gaspee schooner, about six weeks; during which time I was obliged to throw out plenty of extravagant language which answered certain purposes, (at that time) better than to grace a history.

To give an instance upon being insulted, in a fit of anger I twisted off a nail with my teeth, which I took to be a ten-penny nail; it went through the mortise of the bar of my hand-cuff, and at the same time I swaggered over those who abused me; particularly a doctor Dace, who told me that I was ou [...]lawed by New York, and deserved death for several years past; was at last fully ripened for the halter, and in a fair way to obtain it: When I challenged him, he excused himself in conse­quence, as he said, of my being a criminal; but I flung such a flood of language at him, that it shocked him and the spectators, for my anger was very great. I heard one say, damn him, can he eat iron? After that a small pad­lock was fixed to the hand-cuff, instead of the nail; and as they were mean-spirited in their treat­ment to me, so it appeared to me, that they were equally timorous and cowardly.

[...] was after sent with the pri­soners taken with me to an armed vessel in the river, which lay off against Quebec, under the com­mand of capt. M'Cloud of the British, who treated me in a very generous and obliging manner, and according to my rank; in a­bout twenty four hours I bid him farewel with regret; but my good fortune still continued: The name of the captain of the vessel I was put on board, was Little John; who, with his officers, behaved in a polite, generous, and friendly manner. I lived with them in the cabbin, and fared on the best; my irons being taken off, contrary to the order he had received from the commanding officer; but capt. Little John swore, that a brave man should not be used as a rascal, on board his ship.

Thus I found myself in posses­sion of happiness once more, and the evils I had lately suffered, gave me an uncommon relish for it.

Capt. Little John used to go to Quebec almost every day, in order to pay his respects to certain gen­tlemen and ladies; being there on a certain day, he happened to meet with some disagreeable treatment (as he imagined) from a lieutenant of a man of war, and one word brought on another, 'till the lieu­tenant challenged him to a duel on the plains of Abraham. Capt. Little John was a gentleman, who entertained a high sense of honour, and could do no less than accept the challenge.

At nine o'clock the next morn­ing they were to fight. The cap­tain returned in the evening, and acquainted his lieutenant and me with the affair: His lieutenant was a high-blooded Scotchman as well as himself, who replied to his captain, that he should not want [Page 12] for a second. With this I inter­rupted him, and gave the captain to understand, that since an op­portunity had presented, I would be glad to testify my gratitude to him, by acting the part of a faith­ful second, on which he gave me his hand, and said that he wanted no better man. Says he, I am a king's officer, and you a prisoner under my care; you must there­fore go with me to the place ap­pointed, in disguise, and added further: ‘You must engage to me, upon the honour of a gen­tleman, that whether I die or live, or whatever happens, (pro­vided you live) that you will return to my lie [...]tenant on board this ship’ All this I solemnly engaged him. The combatants were to discharge each a pocket-pistol, and then to fall on with their iron-hilted muckle-whangers; and one of that sort was all tied for me; but some British officers, who interposed early in the morn­ing, settled the controversy with­out fighting.

Now having enjoyed eight or nine days happiness, from the po­lite and generous treatment of capt. Little John and his officers, I was obliged to bid them farewel, parting with them in as friendly a manner, as we had lived together, which, to the best of my memory, was the eleventh of November: When a detachment of gen. Ar­nold's little army appeared on point Levy, opposite Quebec, (who had performed an extraordinary march through a wilderness coun­try, with design to have surprized the capital of Canada) I was then taken an board a vessel called the Adamant, together with the pri­soners taken with me, and put un­der the power of an English mer­chant from London, whose name was Brook Watson; a man of ma­licious and cruel disposition, and who was probably excited in the exercise of his malevolence, by a jan [...]o of tories, who sailed with him to England; among whom were col. Gu [...] Johnsop, col. Closs, and their attendants and associates, to the number of about thirty.

All the ship's crew (col▪ Closs, in his personal behaviour, except­ed) behaved towards the prisoners with that spirit of bitterness, which is the peculiar characteristic of tories, when they have the friends of America in their power, measuring their loyalty to the En­glish king by the barbarity, fraud, and deceit which they exercise to­wards the whigs.

A small place in the vessel, en­closed with white-oak plank, was assigned for the prisoners, and for me among the rest I should ima­gine that it was not more than twenty feet one way, and twenty two the other: Into this place we were all, to the number of thirty four, thrust and hand cuffed, (two prisoners more being added to our number) and were provided with two excrement rubs; in this cir­cumference we were obliged to eat and perform the office of evacua­tion, during the voyage to Eng­land; and were insulted by every black guard sailor and tory on board, in the cruellest manner; but what is the most surprizing is, that not one of us died in the pas­sage. When I was first ordered to go into the filthy enclosure, thro' a small sort of door, I positively refused, and endeavoured to rea­son the before named Brook Wat­son out of a conduct so derogatory to every sentiment of honour and humanity, but all to no purpose, [Page 13] my men being forced into the den already; and the rascal who had the charge of the prisoners, com­manded me to go immediately in among the rest: He further added that the place was good enough for a rebel; that it was imperti­nent for a capital off [...]der to talk of honour or humanity; that any thing sho [...]t of a halter, was too good for me; and that, that would be my portion soon after I landed in England; for which purpose only I was sent thither About the same time a lieutenant among the tories, insulted me in a griev­ous manner, [...]ying, that I ought to have been executed for my re­bellion against New York, and spit in my face; upon which (tho' I was hand-cuffed) I sprang at him with both hands, and knocked him partly down, but he scrambled a­long into the cabbin, and I after him; there he got under the pro­tection of some men with fixed bayonets, who were ordered to make ready to drive me into the place afore mentioned. I challen­ged him to fight, notwithstanding the impediments that were on my hands, and had the exalted plea­sure to see the rascal tremble for fear; his name I have forgot, but Watson ordered his guard to get me into the place with the other prisoners, dead or alive; and I had almost as leave die as do it, standing it out till they environed me round with bayonets; and brutish, prejudiced, abandoned wretches they were, from whom I could expect nothing but death or wounds: However I told them, that they were good honest fellows; that I could not blame them; that I was only in a dispute with a ca­licoe merchant, who knew not how to behave towards a gentle­man of the military establishment. This was spoke rather to appease them for my own preservation, as well as to treat Watson with con­tempt; but still I found that they were determined to force me into the wretched circumstances, which their prejudiced, and depraved minds had prepared for me: There­fore rather than die, I submitted to their indignities, being drove with bayonets into the filthy dun­geon, with the other prisoners, where we were denied fresh water, except a small allowance which was very inadequate to our wan [...]; and in consequence of the ste [...]ch of the place, each of us was soon followed with a diarr [...]oea and fe­ver, which occasioned an intoler­able thirst. When we asked for water, we were most commonly (instead of obtaining is) insulted and derided; and to add to all the horrors of the place, it was so dark that we could not see each other, and were overspread with body-lice. We had (notwith­standing these severities) full al­lowance of salt provisions, and a gill of rum per day; the latter of which was of the utmost service to us, and (probably) was the means of saving several of our lives. A­bout forty days we existed in this manner, when the land's end [...]f England was discovered from the mast head; soon after which the prisoners were taken from their gloomy abode, being permitted to see the light of the sun, and breath fresh air, which to us was very re­freshing. The day following we landed at Falmouth.

A few days before I was taken prisoner, I shifted my cloaths, by which I happened to be taken in a Canadian dress, viz. a short fawn skin jacket, double breasted, an [Page 14] under vest and breeches of sagathy, worsted stockings, a decent pair of shoes, two plain shirts, and a red worsted cap: This was all the cloathing I had, in which I made my appearance in England.

When the prisoners were land­ed, multitudes of the citizens of Falmouth (excited by curiosity) crowded together to see us, which was equally gratifying to us. I saw numbers of people on the tops of houses, and the rising adjacent grounds were covered with them of both sexes: The throng was so great, that the king's officers were obliged to draw their swords, and force a passage to Pendennis castle which was near a mile from the town, where we were closely con­fined, in consequence of orders from gen. Carlton, who then com­manded in Canada.

The rascally Brook Watson then set out for London in great haste, expecting the reward of his zeal; but the ministry received him (as I have been since inform­ed) rather coolly; for the minority in parliament took advantage, ar­guing that the opposition of Ame­rica to Great Britain, was not a rebellion: If it is, (say they) why do you not execute col. Allen, ac­cording to law? but the majority argued, that I ought to be exe­cuted, and that the opposition was really a rebellion, but that policy obliged them not to do it, inas­much as the Congress had then most prisoners in their power; so that my being sent to England, for the purpose of being executed, and necessity restraining them, was rather a soil on their laws and au­thority, and they consequently disapproved of my being sent thi­ther: But I never had heard the least hint of those debates, (in parliament) or of the working of their policy, 'till some time after I left England.

Consequently the reader will readily conceive I was anxious a­bout my preservation, (knowing that I was in the power of a haughty and cruel nation, consi­dered as such.) Therefore the first proposition which I determined in my own mind was, that humanity and moral suasion would not be consulted in the determining of my fate: And those that dai [...]y came in great numbers, out of curiosity to see me, both gentle and simple, united in this, that I would be hanged. A gentleman from A­merica, by the name of Temple, (and who was friendly to me) just whispered me in the ear, and told me, that bets were laid in Lon­don, that I would be executed; he likewise privately gave me a guinea, but durst say but little to me.

However, agreeable to my first negative proposition, that moral virtue would not influence my de­stiny, I had recourse to stratagem, which I was in hopes would move in the circle of their policy. I re­quested of the commander of the castle the privilege of writing to Congress, who, after consulting with an officer that lived in town, of a superior rank, permitted me to write I wrote, in the fore part of the letter, a short narra­tive of my ill treatment; but with­al let them know, that tho' I was treated as a criminal in England, and continued in irons, together with those taken with me, yet it was in consequence of the orders which the commander of the castle received from general Carlton; and therefore desired Congress to desist from matters of retaliation, [Page 15] 'till they should know the result of the government at England, re­specting their treatment towards me, and the prisoners with me, and govern themselves according­ly, with a particular request, that if retaliation should be found ne­cessary, that it might be exercised not according to the smallness of my character in America, but in proportion to the importance of the cause for which I suffered.—This is, according to my present recollection, the substance of the letter subscribed To the illustrious Continental Congress. This letter was wrote with a view that it should be sent to the ministry at London, rather than to Congress, with a design to intimidate the haughty English government, and screen my neck from the halter.

The next day the officer (from whom I obtained licence to write) came to see me, and frowned on me on account of the impudence of the letter, (as he phrased it) and further added, "Do you think that we are fools in England, and would send your letter to Congress, with instructions to re­taliate on our own people I have sent your letter to lord North."—This gave me inward satisfaction, (though I carefully concealed it with a pretended resentment) for I found I had come Yankee over him, and that the letter had gone to the identical person I designed it for. Nor do I know (to this day) but that it had the desired effect, though I have not heard any thing of the letter since

My personal treatment by lieut. Hamilton, who commanded the castle, was very generous. He sent me every day a fine breakfast and dinner from his own table, and a bottle of good wine. Ano­ther aged gentleman, whose name I cannot recollect, sent me a good supper: But there was no distinc­tion in public support between me and the privates; we all lodged on a sort of Dutch bunks, in one common apartment, and were al­lowed straw. The privates were well supplied with fresh provision, and (with me) took effectual mea­sures to rid ourselves of lice.

I could not but feel inwardly extreme anxious for my fate.—This I however concealed from the prisoners, as well as from the e­nemy, who were perpetually sha­king the halter at me. I never­theless treated them with scorn and contempt; and having sent my letter to the ministry, could conceive of nothing more in my power but to keep up my spirits, behave in a daring soldier-like manner, that I might exhibit a good sample of American forti­tude. Such a conduct (I judged) would have a more probable ten­dency to my preservation than concession and timidity. This, therefore, was my deportment, and I had lastly determined, (in my own mind) that if a cruel death m [...]st inevitably be my portion, I would face it undaunted, and tho' I greatly rejoice that I have re­turned to my country and friends, and to see the power and pride of Great Britain humbled; yet I am confident I could (then) die with­out the least appearance of dismay.

I now clearly recollect that my mind was so resolved, that I would not have trembled or shewn the least fear, as I was sensible it could not alter my fate, nor do more than reproach my memory, make my last act despicable to my enemies, and eclipse the other ac­tions of my life. For I reasoned [Page 16] thus, that nothing was more com­mon than for men to die, with their friends round them, weeping and lamenting over them, but not able to help them, which was in reality not different in the conse­quence of it from such a death as I was apprehensive of: And as death was the natural consequence of animal life, to which the laws of nature subject mankind, to be timorous and uneasy as to the e­vent or manner of it, was incon­sistent with the character of a phi­losopher or soldier. The cause I was engaged in, I ever viewed worthy hazarding my life for, nor was I (at the most critical moments of trouble) sorry that I engaged in it; and as to the world of spi­rits, though I knew nothing of the mode or manner of it, expected nevertheless, when I should arrive at such a world, that I should be as well treated as other gentlemen of my merit.

Among the great numbers of people, who came to the castle to see the prisoners, some gentlemen told me, that they had come fifty miles on purpose to see me, and desired to ask me a number of que­stions, and to make free with me in conversation. I gave for an­swer, that I chose freedom in every sense of the word: Then one of them asked me, what my occupa­tion in life had been? I answered him, that in my younger days I had studied divinity, but was a conjurer by profession. He repli­ed, that I conjured wrong at the time that I was taken; and I was obliged to own, that I mistook a figure at that time, but that I had conjured them out of Ticonderoga. This was a place of great notori­ety in England, so that the joke seemed to go in my favour.

It was a common thing for me to be taken out of close confine­ment, into a spacious green in the castle, or rather parade, where numbers of gentlemen and ladies were ready to see and hear me. I often entertained such audiences, with harangues on the impractica­bility of Great Britain's conquer­ing the (then) colonies of Ameri­ca. At one of these times I asked a gentleman for a bowl of punch, and he ordered his servant to bring it, which he did, and offered it me, but I refused to take it from the hand of his servant; he then gave it to me with his own hand, refusing to drink with me in con­sequence of my being a state cri­minal: However I took the punch and drank it all down at one draught, and handed the gentle­man the bowl: This made the spectators as well as myself merry. I expatiated on American freedom: This gained the resentment of a young beardless gentleman of the company, who gave himself very great airs, and replied, that he ‘knew the Americans very well, and was certain that they could not bear the smell of powder.’ I replied, that I accepted it as a challenge, and was ready to con­vince him on the spot, that an A­merican could bear the smell of powder; at which he answered, that he should not put himself on a par with me. I then demanded of him to treat the character of the Americans with due respect: He answered that I was an Irishman; but I assured him, that I was a full blooded Yankee, and in fine, bantered him so much, that he left me in possession of the ground, and the laugh went against him. Two clergymen came to see me, and inasmuch as they behaved [Page 17] with civility, I returned them the same: We discoursed on several parts of moral philosophy and christianity; and they seemed to be surprized, that I should be ac­quainted with such topics, or that I should understand a syllogism or regular mode of argumentation. I am apprehensive my Canadian dress contributed not a little to the surprize, and excitement of curi­osity: To see a gentleman in En­gland, regularly dressed and well behaved, would be no sight at all; but such a rebel, as they were pleased to call me, it is probable was never before seen in England.

The prisoners were landed at Falmouth a few days before Christ­mas, and ordered on board of the Solebay f [...]igate, captain Symonds, the eighth day of January, 1776, when our hand-irons were taken off. This remove was in conse­quence (as I have been since in­formed) of a writ of habeas cor­pus, which had been procured by some gentlemen in England, in order to obtain me my liberty.

The Solebay with sundry other men of war, and about [...]orty transports, rendezvoused at the cove of Cork in Ireland, to take in provision and water.

When we were first brought on board, captain Symonds ordered all the prisoners, and most of the hands on board, to go on the deck, and caused to be read in their hearing, a certain code of laws, or rules for the regulation and ordering of their behaviour: and then in a sovereign manner, ordered the prisoners, me in par­ticular, off the deck, and never to come on it again; for said he, this is a place for gentlemen to walk. So I went off, an officer following me, who told me, that he would shew me the place allot­ted for me, and took me down to the cable tire, saying to me, this is your place.

Prior to this I had taken cold, by which I was in an ill state of health, and did not say much to the officer; but stayed there that night, consulted my policy, and found I was in an evil case; that a captain of a man of war was more arbitrary than [...] king, as he could view his territory with a look of his eye, and a movement of his finger commanded obedi­ence. I felt myself more despond­ing than I had done at any time before; for I concluded it to be a governmental scheme, to do that clandestinely, which policy forbid to be done under sanction of pub­lic justice and law.

However, two days after I sha­ved and cleansed myself as well as I could, and went on deck: The captain spoke to me in a great rage, and said, "Did I not order you not to come on deck?" I an­swered him, that at the same time he said, "That it was the place for gentlemen to walk:" That I was colonel Allen, but had not been properly introduced to him. He replied, "G—d damn you, Sir, be careful not to walk the same side of the deck that I do." This gave me encouragement, and ever after that, I walked in the manner he had directed, except when he (at certain times after­wards) ordered me off in a pas­sion, and then would directly af­terwards go on again, telling him to command his slaves, that I was a gentleman, and had a right to walk the deck; yet when he ex­pressly ordered me off, I obeyed, not out of obedience to him, but to set an example to his ship's [Page 18] crew, who ought to obey him—

To walk to the windward side of the deck, is according to custom the prerogative of the captain of the man of war, though he oftentimes, nay commonly walks with his lieute­nants, when no strangers are by: When a captain from some other man of war, comes on board, the captains walk to the windward side, and the other gentlemen to the lee­ward.

It was but a few nights I lodged in the cable-tire, before I gained an acquaintance with the master of arms; his name was Gillegan, an Irishman, who was a generous and well-disposed man, and in a friendly manner, made me a prof­fer of living with him in a little birth, which was allotted him be­tween decks, and enclosed with canvas; his preferment on board was about equal to that of a ser­geant in a regiment. I was com­paratively happy in the acceptance of his clemency, and lived with him in friendship, 'till the frigate anchored in the harbour of cape Fear, North Carolina, in America.

Nothing of material consequence happened 'till the fleet rendez­vouse [...] at the cove of Cork, (ex­cept [...] violent storm which brought old hardy sailors to their prayers) It was soon rumoured in Cork that I was on board the Solebay, with a number of prisoners from Ame­rica; upon which Messrs. Clark and Hays, merchants in company, and a number of other benevolent­ly disposed gentlemen, contributed largely to the relief and support of the prisoners, who were thirty-four in number, and in very needy circumstances. A suit of cloaths from head to foot, including an over coat, or surtout, and two shirts, were bestowed on each of them. My suit I received in su­perfine broadcloth, sufficient for two jackets, and two pair of breeches overplus of a suit through­out, eight fine Holland shirts and stocks ready made, with a number of pairs of silk and worsted hose, two pair of shoes, two beaver hats, one of which was sent me richly laced with gold, by Mr. James Bo [...]well. The Irish gentlemen furthermore made a large gratuity of wines of the best sort, old spi­rits, Geneva, loaf and brown su­gar, coffee, tea and chocolates with a large round of pickled beef, and a number of fat turkies, with many other articles (for my sea-stores) too tedious to mention here. To the privates they bestowed to each man two pounds of tea, and six pounds of brown sugar. These articles were received on board, (at a time when the captain and first lieutenant were gone on shore) by permission of the second lieute­nant, a handsome young gentle­man, who was then under twenty years of age; his name was Doug­lass, the son of admiral Douglass, (as I was informed)

As this munificence was so un­expected and plentiful, I may add needful, it impressed on my mind the highest sense of gratitude to­wards my benefactors; for I was not only supplied with the neces­saries and conveniences of life, but with the grandeurs and super­fluities of it. Mr. Hays, one of the donators before mentioned, came on board, and behaved in the most obliging manner, telling me, that he hoped my troubles were past, for that the gentlemen of Cork determined to make my sea-stores equal to the captain of the Solebay's; he made a proffer of live stock, and wherewith to [Page 19] support them; but I knew this would be denied: And to crown all, did send to me by another person fifty guineas, but I could not reconcile the receiving the whole to my own feelings, as it might have the appearance of ava­rice; and therefore received but seven guinea only; and am confi­dent not only from the exercise of the present well-timed generosity, but from a large acquaintance with gentlemen of this nation, that as a people they excel in li­berality and bravery.

Two days after the receipt of the aforesaid donations, captain Symonds came on board, full of envy towards the prisoners, and swore by all that is good, that the damned American rebels should not be feasted at this rate, by the damn­ed rebels of Ireland; he therefore took away all my liquors before­mentioned, (except some of the wine which was secreted, and a two gallon jug of old spirits which was reserved for me, per favour of lieutenant Douglass) The taking my liquors was abominable in his sight; he therefore spoke in my behalf, 'till the captain was angry with him: And in consequence, proceeded & took away all the tea and sugar, which had been given to the other prisoners, and confiscated it to the use of the ship's crew. Our cloathing was not taken a­way, but the privates were forced to do duty on board. Soon after this there came a boat to the side of the ship, and captain Symonds asked a gentleman that was in it, (in my hearing) what his business was? who answered that he was sent to deliver some sea-stores to colonel Allen, which (if I remem­ber right) he said were sent from Dublin; but the captain damned him very heartily, ordered him a­way from the ship, and would not suffer him to deliver the stores. I was furthermore informed, that the gentlemen in Cork requested of captain Symonds, that I might be allowed to come into the city, and that they would be responsible I should return to the frigate at a given time, which was denied them.

We sailed from England the 8th day of January, and from the cove or cork the 12th day of February. Just before we sailed, the prisoners with me were divided, and put on board three different ships of war. This gave me some uneasiness, for they were to a man zealous in the cause of liberty, and behaved with a becoming fortitude in the vari­ous scenes of their captivity; but those who were distributed on board other ships of war, were much better used than those that tarried with me, as appeared after­wards.

When the fleet consisting of a­bout forty five sail, including five men of war, sailed from the cove with a fresh breeze, the appearance was beautiful, (abstracted from the unjust and bloody designs they had in view) We had not sailed many days, before a mighty storm arose, which lasted near twenty-four hours without intermission: The wind blew with relentless fu­ry, and no man could remain on deck, except he was lashed fast, for the waves rolled over the deck by turns, with a forceable rapidi­ty, and every soul on board was anxious for the preservation of the ship, (alias) their lives. In this storm the Thunder-bomb man of war sprang a leak, and was after­wards floated to some part of the coast of England, and the crew saved. We were then said to be [Page 20] in the bay of Biscay. After the storm abated, I could plainly di­scern that the prisoners were better used for some considerable time.

Nothing of consequence hap­pened after this, 'till we had sailed to the island of Madeira, except a certain favour which I received of captain Symonds, in consequence of an application I made to him, for the privilege of his tailor to make me a suit of cloaths of the cloth bestowed on me in Ireland, which he generously granted. I could then walk the deck with a seeming better grace: When we had reached Madeira, and an­chored, sundry gentlemen with the captain went on shore, who I conclude gave the rumour that I was in the frigate; upon which I soon after found Irish generosity was again excited; for a gentle­man of this nation sent his clerk on board, to know of me if I would accept a sea-store from him, (particularly of wine.) This mat­ter I made known to the generous lieutenant Douglass, who readily granted me the favour, provided the articles could be brought on board, during the time of his command; adding that it would be a pleasure to him to serve me, notwithstanding the opposition he met with before: So I directed the gentleman's clerk to inform him, that I was greatly in need of so signal a charity, and desired the young gentleman to make the ut­most dispatch, which he did; but in the mean time, capt. Symonds and his officers came on board, and immediately made ready for sailing; the wind at the same time being fair, set sail when the young gentleman was in fair sight with the aforesaid store.

The reader will doubtless recol­lect the seven guineas I received at the cove of Cork: These enabled me to purchase of the purser what I wanted, had not the captain strictly forbid it, though I made sundry applications to him for that purpose; but his answer to me, when I was sick, was, that it was no matter how soon I was dead, and that he was no ways anxious to preserve the lives of rebels, but wished them all dead; and indeed this was the language of most of the ship's crew. I expostulated not only with the captain, but with other gentlemen on board, on the unreasonableness of such usuage; inf [...]rr [...]g that inasmuch as the government in England did not proceed against me as a capital offender, they should not; for that they were by no means impowered by any authority, either civil or military, to do so; for the English government had acquitted me by sending me back a prisoner of war to America, and tha [...] they should treat me as such. I further drawed an inference of impolicy on them, provided they should, by hard u­sage, destroy my life; inasmuch as I might, if living, redeem one of their officers; but the captain replied, that he needed no di [...]cti­ons of mine how to treat a rebel; that the British would conquer the American rebels, hang the Con­gress, and such as promoted the rebellion, (me in particular) and retake their own prisoners; so that my life was of no consequence in the scale of their policy. I gave him for answer, that if they stayed 'till they conquered America, be­fore they hanged me, I should die of old age, and desired that 'till such an event took place, be would at least allow me to purchase of the purser, for my own money, such [Page 21] articles as I greatly needed; but he would not permit it, and when I reminded him of the generous and civil usage that their prisoners in captivity in America met with, he said that it was not owing to their goodness, but to their timi­dity; for said he, they expect to be conquered, and therefore dare not misuse our prisoners, and in fact this was the language of the British officers 'till general Bur­goyne was taken, (happy event) and not only of the officers, but of the whole British army. I ap­peal to all my brother-prisoners, that have been with the British in the southern department, for a confirmation of what I have ad­vanced on this subject. The sur­geon of the Solebay, whose name is North, was a very humane and obliging man, and took the best care of the prisoners who were sick.

The third day of May we cast anchor in the harbour of cape Fear in North Carolina, as did Sir Peter Parker's ship of fifty guns a little back of the bar, for there was not depth of water for him to come into the harbour: These two men of war and fourteen sail of transports and others, came after, so that most of the fleet rendez­voused at cape Fear, for three weeks. The soldiers on board the transports were sickly, in conse­quence of so long a passage; add to this, the small pox carried off many of them: They landed on the main, and formed a camp; but the riflemen annoyed them, and caused them to move to an island in the harbour; but such cursing of riflemen I never heard.

A detachment of regulars was sent up Brunswick river; as they landed, were fired on by those marksmen, and they came back next day, damning the rebels for their unmanly way of fighting, and swearing that they would give no quarter, for they took sight at them, and were behind timber, skulking about. One of the de­tachment said they lost one man; but a negro man who was with them, and heard what was said, soon after told me that he helped to bury thirty one of them: This did me some good to find my countrymen giving them battle; for I never heard such swaggering as among general Clinton's little army, (who commanded at that time) and I am a [...]t to [...]hink there were four thousand men, though not two thirds of them [...] for duty. I heard numbers of them say, that the trees in America should hang well with fruit that campaign, for they would give no quarter: This was in the mouths o [...] most whom I heard speak on the subject, offi­cer as well as soldier. I wished at that time my countrymen knew as well as I did, what a murdering and cruel enemy they had to [...] with; but experience has since taught this country, what they are to expect at the hands of Britons when in their power.

The prisoners who had been sent on board different men of war at the cove of Cork, were collected together, and the wh [...]le of them put on board the Mercury frigate, captain James Montague, except one of the Canadians, who died on the passage from Ireland, and Peter Noble, who made his escape from the Sphynx man of wa [...] in this harbour, and by extraordinary swimming, got fare home to New England, & gave intelligence of the usage of his brother-prisoners. The Mercury set sail from this port for Halifax, about the 20th [Page 22] of May, and [...] Peter Parker was about to sail with the land forces, under the command of gen. Clin­ton, for the reduction of Charles-town, the capital of South Caro­lina, and when I heard of his de­feat in Halifax, it gave me inex­pressible satisfaction.

I now found myself under a worse captain than Symonds; for Montague was loaded with preju­dices against every body, and eve­ry thing that was not stamped with royalty; and being by nature un­derwitted, his wrath was heavier than the others, or at least his mind was in no instance liable to be diverted by good sense, humour or bravery▪ of which Symonds was by turns susceptible. A captain Francis Proctor was added to our number of prisoners when we were first put on board this ship: This gentleman had formerly belonged to the English service. The cap­tain, and in fine all the gentle­men of the ship, were very much incensed against him, and put him in irons without the least provoca­tion, and he was continued in this miserable situation about three months. In this passage the pri­soners were infected with the scur­vy, some more and some less, but most of them severely. The ship's crew was to a great degree troubled with it, and I concluded that it was catching: Several of the crew died of it on their pas­sage. I was weak and feeble in consequence of so long and cruel a captivity, yet had but little of the scurvy.

The purser was again expressly forbid by the captain to let me have any thing out of his store; upon which I went on deck, and in the handsomest manner request­ed the favour of purchasing a few necessaries of the purser, which was denied me; he further told me, that I should be hanged as soon as I arrived at Halifax. I tried to reason the matter with him, but found him proof against reason; I also held up his honour to view, and his behaviour to me and the prisoners in general, as being derogatory to it, but found his honour impenetrable. I then endeavoured to touch his humani­ty, but found he had none; for his prepossession of bigotry to his own party, had confirmed him in an opinion, that no humanity was due to unroyalists, but seemed to think that heaven and earth were made merely to gratify the king and his creatures; he uttered con­siderable unintelligible and gro­velling ideas, a little tinctured with monarchy, but stood well to his text of hanging me. He after­wards forbid his surgeon to admi­nister any help to the sick prison­ers. I was every night shut down in the cable-tire, with the rest of the prisoners, and we all lived mi­serable while under his power: But I received some generosity from several of the midshipmen, who in degree alleviated my mise­ry; one of their names was Pu­trass, the names of the others I do not recollect; but they were obli­ged to be private in the bestow­ment of their favour, which was sometimes good wine bitters, and at others a generous drink of grog.

Sometime in the first week of June, we came to anchor at the Hook off New-York, where we remained but three days; in which time governor Tryon, Mr. Kemp, the old attorney general of New-York, and several other perfidious and over-grown tories and land-jobbers, came on board. Tryon [Page 23] viewed me with a stern counte­nance, as I was walking on the leeward side of the deck with the midshipmen; and he and his companions were walking with the captain and lieutenant on the windward side of the same, but never spoke to me, though it is altogether probable that he thought of the old quarrel between him, the old government of New York, and the Green Mountain Boys: Then they went with the captain into the cabbin, and the same af­ternoon returned on board a vessel which lay near the Hook, where at that time they took sanctuary from the resentment of their in­jured country. What passed be­tween the officers of the ship and these visitors I know not; but this I know, that my treatment from the principal officers was more severe afterwards.

We arrived at Halifax not far from the middle of June, where the ship's crew which was infested with the scurvy, were taken on shore, and shallow trenches dug, into which they were put, and partly covered with earth. Indeed every proper measure was taken for their relief: The prisoners were not permitted any sort of me­dicine, but were put on board a sloop which lay in the harbour, near the town of Halifax, sur­rounded with several men of war and their tenders, and a guard constantly set over them, night and day. The sloop we had whol­ly to ourselves, except the guard who occupied the forecastle; here we were cruelly pinched with hunger; it seemed to me that we had not more than one third of the common allowance: We were all seized with violent hunger and faintness; we divided our scanty allowance as exact as possible. I shared the same fate with the rest, and though they offered me more than an even share, I refused to accept it, as it was a time of sub­stantial distress, which in my opi­nion I ought to partake equally with the rest, and set an example of virtue and fortitude to our little common-wealth.

I sent letter after letter to capt. Montague, (who still had the care of us) and also to his lieutenant, whose name I cannot call to mind, but could obtain no answer, much less a redress of grievances; and to add to the calamity, near a dozen of the prisoners were dangerously ill of the scurvy. I wrote private letters to the doctors, to procure, if possible, some remedy for the sick, but all in vain. The chief physician came by in a boat so close that the oars touched the sloop we were in, and I uttered my complaint in the genteelest manner to him, but he never so much as turned his head, or made me any answer, though I continu­ed speaking 'till he got out of hearing. Our case then became very deplorable. Still I kept wri­ting to the captain, 'till he order­ed the guards, as they told me, not to bring any more letters from me to him.

In the mean time an event hap­pened worth relating: One of the men almost dead of the scurvy, lay by the side of the sloop, and a ca­noe of Indians coming by, he pur­chased two quarts of strawberries, and eat them at once, and it al­most cured him. The money he gave for them, was all he had in the world. After that we tried every way to procure more of that fruit, reasoning from analogy that they might have the same effect on [Page 24] others infested with the same di­sease, but could obtain none.

Mean while the doctor's mate of the Mercury came privately on board the prison-sloop, and pre­sented me with a large vial of smart drops, which proved to be good for the scurvy, though vege­tables and some other ingredients were requisite for a cure; but the d [...]ps gave at least a check to the d [...]sease: This was a well-timed exertion of humanity, (but the doctor's name has slipped my mind) and in my opinion was the means of saving the lives of seve­ral men

The guard which was set [...]ver u [...], was by this time touched with the feelings of compassion; and I finally trusted one of them with a letter of complaint to governor Arbuthnot of Halifax, which [...]e [...]ou [...]d means to communicate, and which had the desired effect; for the governor sent an officer and surgeon on board the prison-ship, to know the truth of the complaint. The officer's name was Russel, who held the rank of lieutenant, and treated me in a friendly and polite manner, and was really an­gry at the cruel and unmanly u­sage the prisoners met with; and with the surgeon made a true re­port of matters to governor Ar­buthnot, who either by his order or influence, took us next day from the prison-ship to Halifax gaol, where I first became ac­quainted with the now honourable James Lovel, Esquire, one of the members of Congress for the state of Massachuset's Bay. The sick were taken to the hospital, and the Canadians who were effective, were employed in the King's works; and when their country-men were recovered from the scur­vy, and joined them, they all de­serted the king's employ, and were not heard of at Halifax, as long as the remainder of the prisoners con­tinued there, which was 'till near the middle of October. We were on board the prison-sloop about six weeks, and were landed at Hali­fax near the middle of August.—Several of our English American Prisoners, who were cured of the scurvy at the hospital, made their escape from thence, and after a long time reached their old habi­tations.

I had now but thirteen with me of those that were taken in Canada, and remained in gaol (with me) in Halifax, who in addition to those that were imprisoned before, made our number about thirty four, who were all locked up in one common large room, without regard to rank, education, or any other accomplish­ment, where we continued from the se [...]ting to the rising sun; and as sundry of them were infected with the gaol and other distempers, the furniture of this spacious room con­sisted most principally of ex [...]r [...]ment­t [...]bs. We petitioned for a removal of the sick into the hospitals, but were denied. We remonstrated a­gainst the ungenerous usage of being confined with the privates, as being contrary to the laws and customs of nations, and particularly ungrateful in them, in consequence of the gen­tleman like usage which the British imprisoned officers met with in A­merica; and thus we wearied our­selves, petitioning and remonstrating but to no purpose at all; for general Massey who commanded at Halifax, was as inflexible as the devil him­self, (a fine preparative this for Mr. Lovel, member of the Conti­nental Congress.)

Lieutenant Russel (whom I have [Page 25] mentioned before) came to visit me in prison, and assured me that he had done his utmost to procure my parole for enlargement; at which a British captain, who was the town-major, expressed compassion for the gentle­men confined in the filthy place, and assured me that he had used his in­fluence to procure their enlargement; his name was near like Ramsey.—Among the prisoners there were five in number, who ha [...] a legal claim to a parole, viz. James Lovel, Esq. capt Francis Proctor, a Mr. Hou­land, master of a continental armed vessel, a Mr. Taylor, his mate, and myself.

As to the article of provision, we were well served much better than in any part of my captivity; and since it was Mr. Lovel's misfortune and mine to be prisoners, and in so wretched circumstances, I was hap­py that we were together, as a mutual support and comfort to each o­ther, [...] to the unfortunate prison­ers with us. Our first attention was the preservation of ourselves and injured little republic; the rest of our time we a [...]voted interchange­ably to politics and philosophy, as patience was a needful exercise in so evil a situation, but contentment mean and impracticable.

I had not been in this gaol many days, before a worthy and charita­ble woman, Mrs Blacden by name, supplied me with a good dinner of fresh meats every day, with garden fruit, and sometimes with a bottle of wine: notwithstanding which I had not been more than three weeks in this place, before I lost all appetite to the most delicious food by the gaol [...], as sundry of the prisoners, particularly a sergeant Moore, a [...] of courage and fidelity: I have several times seen him held the boat­swain of the Solebay frigate, when he attempted to strike him, and laugh­ed him out of conceit of using him [...] a slave.

A doctor visited the sick, and did the best (as I supposed) he could for them, to no apparent purpose. I grew weaker and weaker, as did the rest. Several of them could not help themselves. At last I reasoned in my own mind, that raw onion would be good: I made use of it, and found immediate relief by it, as did the sick in general, particularly sergeant Moore, who it recovered almost from the shades; though I had met with a little revival, still I found the malignant hand of Bri­tain had greatly reduced my constitu­tion with stroke upon stroke. Esquire Lovel and myself used every argu­ment and entreaty that could be well conceived of, in order to obtain gen­tleman like usage, to no purpose. I then wrote general Massey as severe a letter as I possibly could, with my friend Lovel's assistance: The con­tents of it was to give the British, as a nation, and him as an in [...]divi­dual, their true character. This roused the rascal, for he could not bear to see his and the nation's de­formity in that transparent letter, which I sent him; he therefore put himself in a great rage about it, and shewed the letter to a number of British officers, particularly to capt. Smith of the Lark frigate, who in­stead of joining with him in disap­probation, commended the spirit of it; upon which general Massey said to him, do you take the part of a re­bel against me? Captain Smith an­swered, that he rather spoke his sen­timents, and there was a dissention in an opinion between them. Some officers took the part of the general, and others of the captain: This I was informed of by a gentleman who had it from captain Smith.

[Page 26] In a few days after this the pri­soners were ordered to go on board of a man of war, which was bound for New York; but two of them were not able to go on board, and were left at Halifax; one died, and the other recovered. This was about the 12th of October, and soon after we had got on board, the captain sent for me in particular to come on the quarter deck: I went, not know­ing that it was captain Smith, or his ship at that time, and expected to meet the same vigorous usage I had commonly met with, and prepared my mind accordingly; but when I came on deck, the captain met me with his hand, welcomed me to his ship, invited me to dine with him that day, and assured me that I should be treated as a gentleman, and that he had given orders, that I should be treated with respect by the ship's crew. This was so unexpected and sudden a transition, that it drew tears from my eyes, (which all the ill usage I had before met with, was not able to produce) nor could I at first hardly speak, but soon recovered myself, and expressed my gratitude for so unexpected a favour; and let him know, that I felt anxiety of mind in reflecting that his situation and min [...] was such, that it was not probable that it would ever be in my power to return the favour. Capt. Smith replied, that he had no re­ward in view, but only treated me as a gentleman ought to be treated; he said this is a mutable world, and one gentleman never knows but that it may be in his power to help ano­ther. Soon after I found this to be the same capt. Smith, who (I was told) took my part against general Mossey; but he never mentioned any thing of it to me, and I thought it impolite in me to interrogate him, as to any disputes which might have a­risen between him and the general, on my account, as I was a prisoner, and that it was at his option to make free with me on that subject, if he pleased; and if he did not, I might take it for granted that it would be unpleasing for me to query about it, though I had a strong propensity to converse with him [...]n that subject.

I a [...]ed with the captain agreeable to his invitation, and oftentimes with the lieutenants in the gun room, but in general eat and drank with my friend Lovel, and the other gen­tlemen, who were prisoners with me, where I also slept.

We had a little birth enclosed with canvas, between decks, where we enjoyed ourselves very well, in hopes of an exchange; besides our friends at Halifax had a little notice of our departure, and supplied us with spi­rituous liquor, and many articles of provision for the coast Captain Burk having been taken prisoner, was added to our company (he had commanded an American armed ves­sel) and was generously treated by the captain, and all the officers of the ship, as well as myself. We now had in all near thirty prisoners on board, and [...]s we were sailing along the coast, (if I recollect right) off Rhode Island, captain Burk with an under officer of the ship, (whose name I do not recollect) came to our little birth, proposed to kill captain Smith and the principal officers of the fri­gate, and take it; [...] that there was thirty five thousand pounds ster­ling in the same. Capt. Burk like­wise averred, that a strong party out of the ship's crew, was in the conspiracy, and urged me and the gentleman that was with me, [...] our influence with the private pri­soners, to execute the design, and take the ship with the cash into one of our own ports.

[Page 27] Upon which I replied, that we had been too well used on board to murder the officers; that I could by no means reconcile it to my conscience, and that in fact it should not be done; and while I was yet speaking, my friend Lovel confirmed what I had said further pointed out the un­gratefulness of such an act; that it [...] not full short of murder, and in fine all the gentlemen in the birth, opposed capt Burk and his colleague: But they strenuously urged that the conspiracy would be found out, and that it would cost them their lives, provided they did not execute their design. I then interposed [...], and put an end to further arguments on the subject, and told them that they might depend upon it upon my honour, that I would faithfully guard captain Smith's life: If they attempted the assault. I would assist him. (for they desired me to remain n [...]uter) and that the same honour, that guarded captain Smith's life, would also guard theirs, and it was agreed by those present not to reveal the conspiracy, to the intent that no man should be put to death, in consequence of what had been pro­jected; and captain Burk and his colleague went to stifle the matter a­mong their associates. I could not help calling to mind what captain Smith said to me, when I first came on board: ‘This is a mutable world, and one gentleman ne­ver knows but that it may be in his power to help another.’— Captain Smith and his officers still behaved with their usual courtesy, and I never heard any more of the conspiracy.

We arrived before New York, and east anchor the latter part of October, where we remained se­veral days, and where capt. Smith informed me, that he had recom­mended me to admiral Howe and general Sir William Howe, as a gentleman of honour and veracity, and desired that I might be treated as such. Captain Burk was then ordered on board a prison-ship in the harbour. I took my leave of capt. Smith, and with the other prisoners was sent on board a tran­sport-ship, which lay in the har­bour, commanded by capt. Craig, who took me into the cabbin with him and his lieutenant: I fared as they did, and was in every respect well treated in consequence of di­rections from captain Smith.

In a few weeks after this I had the happiness to part with my friend Lovel, (for his [...]ake, who the enemy affected to treat as a private; he was a gentleman of merit, and liberally educated, but had no commission; they maligned him on account of his unshaken attachment to the cause of his country) He was exchanged for a governor Philip Skene of the British. I was continued on board this ship. 'till the latter part of November, where I contracted an acquaintance with a captain of the British, (his name has slipped my memory.) He was what we may call a genteel, hearty fellow. I remember an expression of his over a bottle of wine, to this import: ‘That there is greatness of soul for personal friendship to subsist between you and me, as we are upon opposite sides, and may at another day be obliged to face each other in the field.’ (I am confident that he was as faithful as any officer in the British army.) At another sitting he offered to be [...] a dozen of wine, that fort Wash­ington would be in the hands of the British in three days. I stood the [...], (and would had I known [Page 28] that that would have been the case) and the third day afterwards we heard a prodigious heavy cannon­ade, and that day the fort was taken sure enough. Some months after, (when I was on parole) he called upon me with his usual hu­mour, and mentioned the bet. I acknowledged I had lost it, but he said he did not mean to take it then, as I was a prisoner; that he would another day call on me, when their army came to Benning­ton. I replied that he was quite too generous, as I had fairly lost it; besides the Green Mountain Boys would not suffer them to come to Bennington. This was all in good humour. I should have been glad to have seen him after the defeat at Bennington, but did not.

It was customary for a guard to attend the prisoners, which was often changed. One was com­posed of tories from Connecticut, in the vicinity of Fairfield and Green Farms. The sergeant's name was Hoit. They were very full of their invectives against the country, swaggered of their loyal­ty to their king, and exclaimed bitterly against the "cowardly Yankies," (as they were pleased to call them) but finally contented themselves with saying, that when the country was overcome, they should be well rewarded for their loyalty, out of the estates of the whigs, which would be confis­cated. This I found to be the general language of tories, after I arrived from England on the A­merican coast. I heard sundry of them relate, that the British gene­rals had engaged them an ample reward for all their losses, disap­pointments and expenditures, out of the forfeited rebels estates.

This language early taught me what to do with tories estates, as far as my influence can go. For it is really a game of hazard be­tween whig and tory: The whigs must inevitably have lost all, in consequence of the abilities of the tories, and their good friends the British; and it is no more than right the tories should run the same risque, in consequence of the abi­lities of the whigs: But of this more will be observed in the se­quel of this narrative.

Some of the last days of Novem­ber, the prisoners were landed at New York, and I was admitted to parole with the other officers, viz. Proctor, Howland, and Taylor. The privates were put into the fil­thy churches in New York, with the distressed prisoners that were taken at fort Washington; and the second night sergeant Roger Moore (who was bold and enter­prizing) found means to make his escape with every of the remaining prisoners that were taken with me, except three who were soon after exchanged: So that out of thirty-one prisoners, who went with me the round exhibited in these sheets, two only died with the enemy, and three only exchanged; one of whom died after he came within our lines; all the rest at different times, made their escape from the enemy.

I now found myself on parole, and restricted to the limits of the city of New-York, where I soon projected means to live in some measure agreeable to my rank, though I was destitute of cash—My constitution was almost worn out by such [...] and barbarous captivity. The enemy gave out that I was crazy, and wholly un­manned, but my vitals held found, [Page 29] (nor was I delirious any more than I have been from my youth up; but my extreme circumstances at certain times, rendered it political to act in some measure the mad­man) and in consequence of a re­gular diet and exercise, my blood recruited, and my nerves in great measure recovered their former tone, strength and usefulness, in the course of six months.

I nextly invite the reader to a retrospective sight and considera­tion of the doleful scene of inhu­manity exercised by general Sir William Howe, and the army under his command, toward [...] the prisoners taken on Long Island, on the twenty seventh day of Au­gust, 1776; sundry of whom were in an inhuman and barbarous man­ner, murdered after they had sur­rendered their arms; particularly a gen. Odel, (or Woodhul) of the militia, who was hacked to pieces with cutlasses (when alive) by the light horsemen, and a captain Fellows, of the continental army, who was thrust through with a bayonet, of which wound he died instantly.

Sundry others were hanged up by the neck 'till they were dead; five on the limb of a white oak tree, and without any reason as­signed, (except that they were fighting in defence of the only blessing worth preserving:) And indeed those who had the misfor­tune to fall into their hands at fort Washington, in the month of No­vember foll [...]wing, met with but very little better usage, except that they were reserved from im­mediate death to famish and die with hunger: in fine the word rebel applied to any vanquished persons, without regard to [...], who were in the continental ser­vice, on the 27th of August afore­said, was thought (by the enemy) sufficient to sanctify whatever cru­elties they were pleased to infl [...]ct, death itself not excepted; but to pass over particulars which would swell my narrative far beyond my design.

The private soldiers who were brought to New-York, were crow­ded into churches, and environed with slavish Hessian guards, a peo­ple of a strange language, who were sent to America for no other design but cruelty and desolation: and at others, by merciless Britons, whose mode of communicating i­deas being intelligible in this country, served only to tantalize and insult the helpless and perish­ing; but above all the hellish de­light and triumph of the tories o­ver them, as they were dying by hundreds: This was too much for me to bear as a spectator; for I saw the tories exulting over the dead bodies of their murdered countrymen. I have gone into the churches, and seen sundry of the prisoners in the agonies of death, in consequence of very hun­ger, and others speechless and near death, bi [...]g pieces of chips; o­thers pleading for God's sake, for something to eat, and at the same shivering with the cold. Hollow groans saluted my ears, and de­spair seemed to be imprinted on every of their countenances. The filth in these churches (in conse­quence of the fluxe) was almost beyond description. The floors were covered with excrement. I have carefully sought to direct my steps so as to avoid it, but could not. They would beg for God's sake for one copper, or morsel of bread. I have seen in one of these churches seven dead at the same [Page 30] time, lying among the excrements of their bodies.

It was a common practice with the enemy, to convey the dead from these filthy places, in carts, to be slightly buried, and I have seen whole gangs of tories making derision, and exulting over the dead, saying there goes another load of damned rebels. I have observed the British soldiers to be full of their blackguard [...], and vaunting on these occasions, but they appeared to me less malignant than tories.

The provision dealt out to the prisoners was by no means suffi­cient for the support of life: It was deficient in quantity, and much more so in quality. The prison­ers often presented me with a sam­ple of their bread, which I certify was damaged to that degree, that it was loathsome and unfit to be eaten, and I am bold to aver it, (as my opinion) that it had been condemned, and was of the very worst sort. I have seen and been fed upon damaged bread, (in the course of my captivity) and ob­served the quality of such bread as has been condemned by the ene­my, among which was very little so effectually spoiled as what was dealt out to these prisoners—Their allowance of meat (as they told me) was quite trifling, and of the basest sort. I never saw any of it, but was informed ( [...]ad as it was) it was swallowed almost as quick as they got hold of it. I saw some of them sucking bones after they were speechless; others who could yet speak, and had the use of their reason, urged me in the strongest and most pathetic man­ner, to use my interest in their be­half, for you plainly see (say they) that we are devoted to death and destruction; and after I had exa­mined more particularly into their truly deplorable condition, and had become more fully apprised of the essential facts, I was persuaded that it was a premeditated and systematical plan of the British council, to destroy the youths of our land, with a view thereby to deter the country, and make it submit to their despotism; but that I could not do them any material service, and that by any public attempt for that purpose, I might endanger myself by frequenting places the most nauseous and co [...] ­tagi us that could be conceived of. I refrained going into the churches, but frequently converted with such of the prisoners as were admitted to come out into the yard, and found that the systematical usage still continued. The guard would often drive me away with their fixed bayonets. A Hessian (one day) followed me five or six rods, but by making use of my legs, got rid of the lubber. Sometimes I could obtain a little conversation, notwithstanding their severities.

I was in one of the church yards, and it was rumoured among those in the church, and sundry of the prisoners came with their usual complaints to me, and among the rest a large bo [...]d tall young man, (as [...] told me from Pennsylvania) who was reduced to a mere skele­ton; said he was glad to see me, before he died, which he had ex­pected to have done last night, but was a little revived; he further­more informed me, that he and his brother had been urged to en­list into the British, but had both resolved to die first; that his bro­ther had died last night, in conse­quence of that resolution, and that he expected shortly to follow him; [Page 31] but I made the other prisoners stand a little off, and told him with a low voice to list; he then asked, whether it was right in the sight of God? I assured him that it was, and that duty to himself obliged him to deceive the British by en­listing, and deserting the first op­portunity; upon which he answer­ed with transport, that he would list. I charged him not to men­tion my name as his adviser, lest it should get air, and I should be closely confined, in consequence of it.

The integrity of these suffering prisoners is hardly credible. Many hundreds, I am confident, submit­ted to death, rather than enlist into the British service, which (I am informed) they most generally were pressed to do I was asto­nished at the resolution of the two brothers particularly; it seems that they could not be stimul [...]ted to such exertions of heroism from ambition, as they were but ob­scure soldiers; strong indeed must the internal principle of virtue be, which supported them to brave death, and one of them went thro' the operation, as did many hun­dred others. I readily grant tha [...] instances, of public virtue are no excitement to the sordid and vici­ous, nor on the other hand, will all the barbarity of Britain and Heshland awaken them to a sense of their duty to the public; but these things will have their proper effect on the generous and brave.

The officers on parole were most of them zealous, if possible, to af­ford the miserable soldiery relief, and often consulted with one ano­ther on the subject, but to no ef­fect, being destitute of the means of subsistance, which they needed; nor could the officers project any measures, which they thought would alter their fate, or so much as be a means of getting them out of those filthy places to the privi­lege of fresh air. Some projected that all the officers should go in procession to general Howe, and plead the cause of the perishing soldiers; but this proposal was ne­gatived for the following reasons, viz because that general Howe must needs be well acquainted and have a thorough knowledge of the state and condition of the prison­ers in every of their wretched a­partments, and that much more particular and exact than any offi­cer on parole could be supposed to have, as the general had a return of the circumstances of the prison­ers, by his own officers every morning, of the number which were alive, as also the number which died every twenty four hours, and consequently the bill of mortality, as collecte [...] from the daily returns, lay before him with all the material situations and cir­cumstances of the prisoners; and provided the officers should go in procession to general Howe, ac­cording to the projection, it would give him the greatest affront, and that he would either retort upon them; that it was no part of their parole to instruct him in his con­duct to prisoners; that they were mutinying against his authority, and by affronting him, had for­feited their parole; or that more probably, instead of saying one word to them, would order them all into as wretched a confinement as the soldiers whom they sought to relieve; for at that time, they British, from the general to the private centinel, were in full con­fidence, nor did they so much as hesitate but that they should con­quer [Page 32] the country. Thus the con­sultation of the officers was con­founded and broken to pieces, in consequence of the dread, which at that time lay on their minds, of offending general Howe; for they conceived so murderous a tyrant would not be too good to destroy even the officers, on the least pre­tence of an affront, as they were equally in his power with the soldiers; and as general Howe perfectly understood the condition of the private soldiers, it was ar­gued that it was exactly such as he and his council had devised, and as he meant to destroy them, it would be to no purpose for them to try to dissuade him from it, as they were helpless and liable to the same fate, on giving the least af­front; indeed anxious apprehen­sions disturbed them in their then circumstances.

Mean time mortality raged to such an intolerable degree among the prisoners, that the very school boys in the streets knew the men­tal design of it in some measure; at least they knew that they were starved to death. Some poor wo­men contributed to their necessity, 'till their children were almost starved, and all persons of com­mon understanding knew that they were devoted to the cruellest and worst of deaths. It was also pro­posed by some to make a written representation of the condition of the soldiery, and the officers to sign it; and that it should be couched in such terms, as though they were apprehensive that the general was imposed upon by his officers, in their daily returns to him of the state and condition of the prison­ers; and that therefore the officers moved with compassion, were con­strained to communicate to him the fact [...] relative to them, nothing doubting but that they would meet with a speedy redress; but this proposal was most generally nega­tived also, and for much the same reason offered in the other case; for it was conjectured that general Howe's indignation would he mo­ved against such officers as should attempt to whip him over his offi­cers backs; that he would discern that himself was really struck at, and not the officers who made the daily returns; and therefore self­preservation deterred the officers from either petitioning or remon­strating to general Howe, either verbally or in writing; as also the consideration that no valuable pur­pose to the distressed would be ob­tained.

I made several rough drafts on the subject, one of which I exhi­bited to the colonels Magaw, Miles and Atlee, and they said that they would consider the matter; soon after I called on them, and some of the gentlemen informed me, that they had wrote to the general on the subject, and I concluded, that the gentlemen thought it best that they should write without me, as there was such spirited aversion subsisting between the British and me.

In the mean time a col. Hus­secker, of the continental army, (as he then reported) was taken prisoner, and brought to New-York, who gave out that the coun­try was most universally submitting to the English king's authority, and that there would be little or no more opposition to Great Bri­tain: This at first gave the offi­cers a little shock, but in a few days they recovered themselves; for this colonel Hussecker being a German, was feasting with general [Page 33] De Heister, his countryman, and from his conduct they were appre­hensive, that he was a knave; at least he was esteemed so by most of the officers; it was nevertheless a day of trouble. The enemy blas­phemed. Our little army was re­treating in New Jersey, and our young men murdered by hundreds in New York: The army of Bri­tain and Heshland prevailed for a little season, as though it was or­dered by Heaven to shew to the latest posterity, what the British would have done, if they could, and what the general calamity must have been, in consequence of their conquering the country, and to excite every honest man to stand forth in the defence of liberty, and to establish the independency of the United States of America for ever: But this scene of adverse fortune did not discourage a Wash­ington: The illustrious American hero remained immovable. In li­berty's cause he took up his sword: This reflection was his support and consolation in the day of his hu­miliation, when he retreated be­fore the enemy, through New Jer­sey into Pennsylvania. Their tri­umph only roused his indignation, and the important cause of his country, which lay near his heart, moved him to cross the Delaware again, and take ample satisfaction on his pursuers. No sooner had he circumvallated his haughty foes and appeared in terrible array, but the host of Heshland fell. This taught America the intrinsic worth of perseverance, and the generous sons of freedom flew to the stand­ard of their common safeguard and defence; from which time the arm of American liberty hath prevailed.

This surprize and capture of the Hessians enraged the enemy, who were still vastly more numerous than the continental troops: They therefore collected, and marched from Princeton, to attack general Washington, who was then at Trenton, having previously left a detachment from their main body at Princeton, for the support of that place. This was a trying time, for our worthy general (tho' in possession of a late most astonish­ing victory) was by no means able to withstand the collective force of the enemy; but his sagacity soon suggested a stratagem to effect that which by force to him was at that time impracticable: He therefore amused the enemy with a number of fires, and in the night made a forced march, undiscovered by them, and next morning fell in with their rear guard at Princeton, and killed and took most of them prisoners. The main body too late perceiving their rear was at­tacked, hurried back with all speed, but to their mortification found they were out generalled, and baffled by general Washing­ton, who was retired with his lit­tle army towards Morristown, and was out of their power. These repeated successes, one on the back of the other, chagrined the enemy prodigiously, and had an amazing operation in the scale of American politics, and undoubt­edly was one of the corner-stones, on which the fair structure of inde­pendency has been fabricated; for the country at no one time has e­ver been so much dispirited as just before the morning of this glorious success, which [...] part dispelled the gloomy clouds of oppression and slavery, which lay pending o­ver America, big with the ruin of this and future generations, and enlightened and spirited her sons [Page 34] to redouble their blows on a mer­ciless and haughty, and (I may add) perfidious enemy.

Furthermore this success had a mighty effect on general Howe and his council, and roused them to a sense of their own weakness, and convinced them that they were neither omniscient or omnipotent. Their obduracy had death-design­ing malevolence in some measure, abated or was suspended. The prisoners who were condemned to the most wretched and cruellest of deaths, and who survived to this period, (though most of them died before) were immediately ordered to be sent within general Wash­ington's lines for an exchange, and in consequence of it, were taken out of their filthy and poi­sonous places of confinement, and sent out of New York to their friends in haste; several of them fell dead in the streets of New-York, as they attempted to walk to the vessels in the harbour, for their intended embarkation.—What numbers lived to reach the lines I cannot ascertain, but from concurrent representations which I have since received from numbers of people who lived in and adja­cent to such parts of the country, where they were received from the enemy, I apprehend that most of them died in consequence of the vile usage of the enemy. Some who were eye-witnesses of that scene of mortality, (more especi­ally in that part which continued after the exchange took place) are of opinion, that it was partly in consequence of a slow poison; but this I refer to the doctors that at­tended them, who are certainly the best judges.

Upon the best calculation I have been able to make from personal knowledge, and the many evi­dences I have collected in support of the facts, I learn that of the prisoners taken on Long Island, fort Washington, and some few others, at different times and places, about two thousand pe­rished with hunger, cold and sick­ness, (occasioned by the filth of their prisons) at New York, and a number more on their passage to the continental lines; most of the residue who reached their friends, having received their death wound, could not be restored by the assist­ance of physicians and friends; but like their brother-prisoners, [...]ell a sacrifice to the relentless and scientific barbarity of Britain. I took as much pains as my circum­stances would admit of, to inform myself not only of matters of fact, but likewise of the very design and aims of general Howe and his council: The latter of which I predicated on the former, and submit it to the candid public.

And lastly the aforesaid success of the American arms, had a hap­py effect on the continental offi­cers, who were on parole at New York: A number of us assembled, (but not in a public manner) and with full bowls and glasses, drank general Washington's health, and were not unmindful of Congress and our worthy friends on the continent, and almost forgot that we were prisoners.

A few days after his recreation, a British officer of rank and im­portance in their army, (whose name I shall not mention in this narrative, for certain reasons, tho' I have mentioned it to some of my close friends and confidents) sent for me to his lodgings, and told me, 'That faithfulness (though in a wrong cause) had neverthe­less [Page 35] recommended me to general Sir William Howe, who was minded to make me a colonel of a regiment of new levies, (alias to­ries) in the British service, and proposed that I should go with him, and some other officers, to England, who would embark for that purpose in a few days, and there be introduced to lord G. Ger­main, and probably to the king; and that previously I should be cloathed equal to such an intro­duction, and instead of paper rags, be paid in hard guineas; after this should embark with general Burgoyne, and assist in the reduc­tion of the country, which infalli­bly would be conquered, and when that should be done, I should have a large tract of land, whether on the New Hampshire Grants, or in Connecticut; it would make no odds, as the country would be for­feited to the crown." I then re­plied, "That if by faithfulness I had recommended myself to gen. Howe, I should be loth, by un­faithfulness, to lose the general's good opinion; besides, that I viewed the offer of land to be si­milar to that which the devil of­fered Jesus Christ, "To give him all the kingdoms of the world, if he would fall down and worship him;" when at the same time that the damned soul had not one foot of land upon earth." This closed the conversation, and the gentle­man turned from me with an air of dislike, saying, that I was a bigot; upon which I retired to my lodgings.

Near the last of November I was admitted to parole in New York, with many other American officers, and on the 22d day of January, 1777, was with them directed by the British commissary of prisoners to be quartered on the westerly part of Long Island, and our pa­role continued. During my im­prisonment there, no occurrences worth observation happened. I obtained the means of living as well as I desired, which in great measure repaired my constitution, which had been greatly injured by the severities of an inhuman capti­vity. I now began to feel myself composed, expecting either an ex­change or continuance in good and honourable treatment; but alas! my visionary expectations soon vanished. The news of the conquest of Ticonderoga by gen. Burgoyne, and the advance of his army into the country, made the haughty Britons again to feel their importance, and with that their insatiable thirst for cruelty.

The private prisoners at New-York, and some of the officers on parole, felt the severity of it.—Burgoyne was their toast and demigod: To him they paid adoration: In him the tories placed their confidence, "and forgot the Lord their God," and served Howe, Burgoyne, and Knyphausen, ^* ‘and became vile in their own imaginations, and their foolish hearts were darkened, profess­ing’ to be great politicians, and relying on foreign and merci­less invaders, and with them seek­ing the ruin, bloodshed and de­struction of their country, "be­came fools," expecting with them to share a dividend in the confis­cated estates of their neighbours and countrymen, who sought for the whole country, and the reli­gion and liberties thereof:— ‘Therefore God gave them over to strong delusions, to believe a [Page 36] lie, that they all might be damned.’

The twenty-fifth day of August I was apprehended, and under pretext of artful, mean and piti­ful pretences, (that I had infringed on my parole) taken from a ta­vern, where there were more than a dozen officers present, and in the very place where those officers and myself were directed to be quar­tered, put under a strong guard, and taken to New York, where I expected to make my defence be­fore the commanding officer; but contrary to my expectations, and without the least solid pretence of justice or a trial, was again en­circled with a strong guard with fixed bayonets, and conducted to the provost-gaol in a lonely apart­ment, next above the dungeon, and was denied all manner of sub­sistence either by purchase or al­lowance. The second day I offered a guinea for a meal of victuals, but was denied it, and the third day I offered eight Spanish milled dollars for a like favour, but was again denied, and all that I could get out of the sergeant's mouth, was, that by God he would obey his orders. I now perceived my­self to be again in substantial trou­ble. In this condition I formed an oblique acquaintance with a captain Edward Travis, of Vir­ginia, (who was in the dungeon below me) through a little hole which was cut with a pen-knife, through the floor of my apartment which communicated with the dungeon; it was a small crevice, through which I could discern but a very small part of his face at once, when he plied it to the hole; but from the discovery of him in the situation which we were both then in, I could not have known him, (which I found to be true by an after acquaintance.) I could nevertheless hold a conversation with him, and soon perceived him to be a gentleman of high spirits, who had a high sense of honour, and felt as big as though he had been in a palace, and had treasures of wrath in store against the Bri­tish. In fine I was charmed with the spirit of the man; he had been near or quite four months in that dungeon, with murderers, thieves, and every species of criminals, and all for the sole crime of un­shaken fidelity to his country; but his spirits were above dejection, and his mind unconquerable. I engaged to do him every service in my power, and in a few weeks afterwards, with the united peti­tions of the officers in the provost, procured his dismission from the dark mansion of fiends to the a­partments of his petitioners.

And it came to pass on the third day, at the going down of the sun, that I was presented with a piece of boiled pork, and some biscuit, which the sergeant gave me to understand, was my allow­ance, and I [...]ed sweetly on the same; but I indulged my appetite by degrees, and in a few days more, was taken from that apart­ment, and conducted to the next loft or story, where there were a­bove twenty continental and some militia officers, who had been taken and imprisoned there, be­sides some private gentlemen who had been dragged from their own homes to that filthy place, by to­ries. Several of every of the de­nominations mentioned died there, some before, and others after I was put there.

The history of the proceedings relative to the provost only, was I [Page 37] particular, would swell a volume larger than this whole narrative: Shall therefore only notice such of the occurrences which are most extraordinary.

Capt. Vandyke bore with un­common fortitude near twenty months confinement in this place, and in the mean time was very serviceable to others who were confined with him. The allega­tion against him, as the cause of his confinement, was very extra­ordinary: He was accused of set­ting fire to the city of New York, (at the time the west part of it was consumed) when it was a known fact, that he had been in the provost a week before the fire broke out; and in like manner, frivolous were the ostensible accu­sations against most of those who were there confined; the case of two militia officers excepted, who were taken in their attempting to escape from their parole; and probably there may be some other instances which might justify such a confinement.

Mr. William Miller, a commit­tee-man, from West Chester coun­ty, and state of New York, was taken from his bed in the dead of night, by his tory neighbours, and was starved for three days and nights in a department of the same gaol; add to this the denial of fire, and that in a cold season of the year, in which time he walked day and night, to defend himself against the frost, and when he complained of such a reprehensible conduct, the word rebel or com­mittee-man was deemed by the enemy a sufficient atonement for any inhumanity that they could invent or in [...]lict. He was a man of good natural understanding, a close and sincere friend to the li­berties of America, and endured fourteen months cruel imprison­ment with that magnanimity of soul, which reflects honour on himself and country.

Major Levi Wells and captain Ozias Bissel were apprehended and taken under guard from their pa­role on Long Island, to the pro­vost, on as fallacious pretences as the former, and were there conti­nued 'till their exchange took place, which was near five months. Their fidelity and zealous attach­ment to their country's cause, which was more than commonly conspicuous, was undoubtedly the real cause of their confinement.

Major Brinton Payne, captain Flahaven, and captain Randolph, who had at different times distin­guished themselves by their bra­very, especially at the several ac­tions in which they were taken, was all the provocation they gave, for which they suffered about a years confinement each in the same filthy gaol.

A few weeks after my confine­ment, on the like fallacious and wicked pretences, was brought to the same place, from his parole on Long Island, major Otho Hol­land Williams, (now a full colonel in the continental army.) In his character are united the gentle­man, officer, soldier and friend; he walked through the prison with an air of great disdain; said he,

"Is this the treatment which gen­tlemen of the continental army are to expect from the rascally British, when in their power? Heavens forbid it!" He was continued there about five months, and then exchanged for a British major.

John Fell, Esq (now a mem­ber of Congress for the state of New Jersey) was taken from his [Page 38] own house by a gang of infamous tories, and by order of a British general, was sent to the provost, where he was continued near one year. The stench of the gaol, which was very loathsome and un­healthy, occasioned a hoarseness of the lungs, which proved fatal to many who were there confined, and reduced this gentleman near to the point of death; he was in­deed given over by his friends who were about him, and himself con­cluded that he must die. I could not endure the thought that so worthy a friend to America should have his life stole from him in such a mean, base, and scandalous a manner, and that his family and friends should be bereaved of so great and desirable a blessing, as his further care, usefulness and examples, might prove to them. I therefore wrote a letter to gen. Robertson, (who commanded in town) and being touched with the most sensible feelings of humanity which dictated my pen to paint dying distress in such lively colours that it wrought conviction even on the obduracy of a British general, and produced his order to remove the now honourable John Fell, Esq out of gaol, to private lodg­ings in town; in consequence of which he slowly recovered his health. There is so extraordinary a circumstance which intervened, concerning this letter, that it is worth noticing.

Previous to the sending it, I exhibited the same to the gentle­man on whose behalf it was wrote, for his approbation, and he forbid me to send it in the most positive and explicit terms; his reason was, ‘That the enemy knew by every morning's report, the condition of all the prisoners, mine in particular, as I have been gradually coming to my end for a considerable time, and they very well knew it, and likewise determined it should be accomplished, as they had ser­ved many others; that to ask a favour, would give the merci­less enemy occasion to triumph over me in my last moments, and therefore I will ask no fa­vours from them, but resign myself to my supposed fate.’ But the letter I sent without his knowledge, and I confess I had but little expectations from it, yet could not be easy 'till I had sent it. It may be worth a remark, that this gentleman was an Eng­lishman born, and from the be­ginning of the revolution, has in­variably asserted, and maintained the cause of liberty.

The British have made so ex­tensive an improvement of the provost during the present revolu­tion 'till of late, that a very short definition will be sufficient for the dullest apprehensions. It may be with propriety called the British inquisition, and calculated to sup­port their oppressive measures and designs, by suppressing the spirit of liberty; as also a place to con­fine the criminals, and most infa­mous wretches of their own army, where many gentlemen of the A­merican army, and citizens there­of, were promise [...]ously confined, with every species of criminals; but they divided into different a­partments, and kept at as great a remove as circumstances permit­ted, but it was nevertheless at the option of a villainous sergeant who had the charge of the provost, to take any gentlemen from their room, and put them into the dun­geon, which was often the case: [Page 39] At two different times I was taken down stairs for that purpose, by a file of soldiers with fixed bayonets, and the sergeant brandishing his sword at the same time, and hav­ing been brought to the door of the dungeon, I there flattered the vanity of the sergeant, whose name was Keef, by which means I pro­cured the surprizng favour to re­turn to my companions; but some of the high mettled young gentle­men could not bear his insolence, and determined to keep at a dis­tance, and neither please or dis­please the villain, but none could keep clear of his abuse; however, mild measures were the best; he did not hesitate to call us damned Rebels, and use us with the coarsest language. The captains Flahaven, Randolph and Mercer, were the objects of his most sta­gran [...] and repeated abuses, who were many times taken to the dungeon, and there continued at his pleasure. Captain Flahaven took cold in the dungeon, and was in a declining state of health, but an exchange delivered him, and in all probability saved his life.

It was very mortifying to bear with the insolence of such a vici­ous and ill-bred imperious rascal. Remonstrances against him were preferred to the commander of the town, but no relief could be ob­tained, for his superiors were un­doubtedly well pleased with his a­busive conduct to the gentlemen, under the severities of his power, and remonstrating against his in­fernal conduct, only served to confirm him in authority, and for this reason I never made any re­monstrances on the subject, but only stroaked him, for I knew that I he was but a cat's paw in the hands of the British officers, and that if he should use us well, he would immediately be put out of that trust, and a worse man ap­pointed to succeed him; but there was no need of making any new appointment, for Cunningham, their provost marshal, and Keef, his deputy, were as great rascals as their army could boast of, ex­cept one Joshua Loring, an infa­mous tory, who was their commis­sary, of prisoners, nor can any of these be supposed to be equally criminal with general Sir William Howe and his associates, who pre­scribed and directed the murders and cruelties, which were by them perpetrated.

This Loring is a monster!—There is not his like in human shape. He exhibits a smiling countenance, and on a superficial acquaintance, seems to wear a phiz of humanity, but has been instru­mentally capable of the most con­summate acts of wickedness, (which were firstly projected by an aban­doned British council, cloathed with the authority of a Howe) murdering premeditately (in cool blood) near or quite two thousand helpless prisoners, and that in the most clandestine, mean and shame­ful manner, (at New York.) He is the most mean-spirited, coward­ly, deceitful, and destructive ani­mal in God's creation below, and legions of infernal devils, with all their tremendous horrors, are im­patiently ready to receive Howe and him, with all their detestable accomplices, into the most exqui­site agonies of the hottest region of hell-fire.

The sixth day of July, 1777, general St. Clair, and the army under his command, evacuated Ticonderoga, and retreated with [Page 40] the main body through Hubberdton into Castleton, which was but six miles distance, when his rear­guard commanded by colonel Seth Warner, was attacked at Hub­berdton by a body of the enemy of about two thousand commanded by gen. Fraser. Warner's command consisted of his own and two other regiments, viz. Francis's, and Hale's, and some scattering and enfeebled soldiers. His whole number, according to information, was near or quite one thousand; part of which were Green Moun­tain Boys; about seven hundred out of the whole he brought into action. The enemy advanced boldly, and the two bodies formed within about sixty yards of each other. Col. Warner having form­ed his own regiment, and that of col. Francis's, did not wait for the enemy, but gave them a heavy fire from his whole line, and they re­turned it with great bravery. It was by this time dangerous for those of both parties, who were not prepared for the world to come; but col. Hale being apprised of the danger, never brought his regi­ment to the charge, but left War­ner and Francis to stand the blow­ing of it, and fled, but luckily fell in with an inconsiderable num­ber of the enemy, and to his eter­nal shame, surrendered himself a prisoner.

The conflict was very bloody.—Colonel Francis fell in the same, but colonel Warner, and the officers un­der his command as also the soldiery, behaved with great resolution. The enemy broke, and gave way on the right and left, but formed again, and renewed the attack; in the mean time the British grenadiers, in the center of the enemy's line, maintained the ground, and finally carried it with the point of the bayonet, and Warner retreated with great reluct­ance. Our loss was about thirty men killed, and that of the enemy a­mounted to three hundred men killed, including a major Grand. The ene­my's loss I learnt from the confession of their own officers, when a pri­soner with them. I heard them like­wise complain, that the Green Mountain Boys took sight.

The next movement of the enemy, of any material consequence, was their investing Bennington, (with a design to demolish it, and subject its Mountaineers, to whom they had a great aversion) with fifteen hundred chosen men, including tories, with the highest expectation of success, and having chosen an eminence of strong ground, fortified it with slight breast works, and two pieces of cannon; but the government of the young state of Vermont, being previously jealous of such an attempt of the enemy, and in due time had procured a number of brave militia from the government of the state of New Hampshire, who together with the militia of the north part of Berkshire county, and state of Massachuset's, and the Green Moun­tain Boys, constituted a body of des­peradoes, under the command of the intrepid general Stark, who in num­ber were about equal to the enemy.

Colonel Herrick, who commanded the Green Mountain Rangers, and who was second in command, being thoroughly acquainted with the ground where the enemy had fortifi­ed, proposed to attack them in their works upon all parts, at the same time. This plan being adopted by the general and his council of war, the little militia brigade of undisci­plined heroes, with their long brown firelocks, (the best security of a free people) without either cannon or bayonets, was, on the 16 th day of [Page 41] August, led on to the attack by their bold commanders, in the face of the enemy's dreadful fire, (and to the a­stonishment of the world, and bur­lesque of discipline) carried every part of their lines in less than one quarter of an hour after the attack became general, took their cannon, killed and captivated more than two thirds of their number, which im­mortalized general Stark, and made Bennington famous to posterity.

Among the enemy's slain was found col. Baum, their command­er, a col. Pfester, who headed an infamous gang of tories, and a large part of his command; and among the prisoners was major Meibome, their second in com­mand, a number of British and Hessian officers, surgeons, &c. and more than one hundred of the a­fore mentioned Pfester's command. The prisoners being collected to­gether, were [...]ent to the meeting-house in the town, by a strong guard, and general Stark not ima­gining any present danger, the militia scattered from him to rest and refresh themselves; in this si­tuation he was on a sudden attack­ed by a reinforcement of eleven hundred of the enemy, command­ed by a governor Skene, with two field pieces: They advanced in regular order, and kept up an in­cessant fire, especially from their field pieces, and the remaining militia retreating slowly before them, disputed the ground inch by inch. The enemy were heard to halloo to them, saying stop Yan­kees.

In the mean time col. Warner, with about one hundred and thirty men of his regiment, (who were not in the first action) arrived and attacked the enemy with great fu­ry, (being determined to have ample revenge on account of the quarrel at Hubberdton) which brought them to a stand, and soon after gen. Stark and col. Herrick brought on more of the scattered militia, and the action became general; in a few minutes the e­nemy were forced from their can­non, gave way on all parts and fled, and the shouts of victory were a second time proclaimed in favour of the militia. The ene­my's loss in killed and prisoners, in these two actions, amounted to more than twelve hundred men, and our loss did not exceed fifty men.

This was a bitter stroke to the enemy, but their pride would not permit them to hesitate but that they could vanquish the country, and as a specimen of their arrogan­cy, I shall insert gen. Burgoyne's

General Burgoyne was still the toast, and the severities towards the prisoners were in great mea­sure increased or diminished, in proportion to the expectation of conquest. His very oftentatious proclamation was in the hand and mouth of most of the soldiery, es­pecially the tories, and from it, their faith was raised to assurance.

I wish my countrymen in gene­ral could but have an idea of the assuming tyranny, and haughty, malevolent, and insolent behavi­our of the enemy at that time; and from thence discern the into­lerable calamities which this coun­try have extricated themselves from by their public spiritedness and bravery.

The downfall of general Bur­goyne, and surrender of his army, dashed the aspiring hopes and ex­pectations of the enemy, and brought low the imperious spirit of an opulent, puissant and haugh­ty nation, and made the tories bite the ground with anguish, ex­alted the valour of the free-born sons of America, and raised their fame and that of their brave com­manders to the clouds, and im­mortalized general Gates with laurels of eternal duration.

No sooner had the knowledge of this interesting and mighty e­vent reached his Most Christian Majesty, who in Europe shines with a superior lustre in goodness, policy and arms, but the illustri­ous potentate, auspiciously influ­enced by Heaven to promote the reciprocal interest and happiness of the ancient kingdom of France, and the new and rising states of America, passed great and decisive decree, that the United States of America, should be free and independent.

Vaunt no more Old England! consider you are but an island! and that your power has been con­tinued humanity. Order your bro­ken and vanquished battalions to retire from America, the scene of your cruelties. Go home and re­pent in dust and sackcloth for your aggravated crimes. The cries of bereaved parents, widows, and or­phans, reach the Heavens, and you are abominated by every friend to America. Take your friends the tories with you, and be gone, and drink deep of the cup of hu­miliation. Make peace with the princes of the house of Bourbon, for you are in no condition to wage war with them [...] Your veteran soldiers are fallen in America, and your glory is departed. Be quiet [Page 44] and pay your debts, especially for the hire of the Hessians. There is no other way for you to get into credit again but by reformation and plain honesty, which you have despised; for your power is by no means sufficient to support your vanity. I have had opportunity to see a great deal of it, and felt its severe effects, and learned les­sons of wisdom and policy, when I wore your heavy irons, and bore your bitter rev [...]lings and reproach­es. I have something of a smat­tering of philosophy, and under­stand human nature in all its sta­ges tolerably well; am thoroughly acquainted with your national crimes and assure you that they not only cry aloud for Heaven's vengeance, but excite mankind to rise up against you. Virtue, wis­dom and policy, are in a national sense always connected with pow­er, or in other words, power is their offspring, and such power as is not directed by virtue, wisdom, and policy, never fails finally to destroy itself as yours has done.—It is so in the nature of things, and unfit that it should be other­wise; for if it was not so, vanity, injustice, and oporession, might reign triumphant for ever. I know you have individuals, who still retain their virtue, and con­sequently their honour and huma­nity. Those I really pity, as they must more or less suffer in the calamity, in which the nation is plunged headlong; but as a na­tion I hate and despise you.

My affections are frenc [...]i [...]ied—I glory in Louis the sixteenth, the generous and powerful ally of these [...] am fond of a connection with so enterp [...]zng, learned, po­lite courteous, and commercial a [...] and am sure that I express the sentiments and feelings of all the friends to the present revolu­tion. I begin to learn the French tongue, and recommend it to my countrymen before Hebrew, Greek or Latin, (provided but one of them only are to be attended to) for the trade and commerce of these states in future must inevita­bly shift its channel from England to France, Spain, and Portugal; and therefore the statesman, politician and merchant, need be ac­quainted with their several lan­guages, particularly the French, which is much in vogue in most parts of Europe. Nothing could have served so effectually to illu­minate, polish, and enrich these states as the present revolution, as well as preserve their liberty—Mankind are naturally too nation­al, even to the degree of bigotry; and commercial intercourse with foreign nations has a great and necessary tendency, to improve mankind, and erase the supersti­tion of the mind by acquainting them that human, nature, policy and interest, are the same in all nations, and at the same time they are bartering commodities for the conveniences and happiness of each nation, they may reciprocal­ly exchange such part of their cu­stoms and [...]anners as may be be­neficial, and learn to extend cha­rity and good-will to the whole world of mankind.

I was confined in the provest-gaol at New York the twenty sixth day of August, and continued there to the third day of May, 1778, when I was taken out un­der guard, and conducted to a sloop in the harbour at New York, in which I was guarded to Staten-Island, to general Campbell's quarters, where I was admi [...]ed to [Page 45] eat and drink with the g [...]reral, and several other of the British field officers, and treated for two days in a polite manner. As I was drinking wine with them one evening, I made an observation on my transition from the provest-criminals to the company of gen­tlemen, adding that I was the same man still, and should give the British credit by him, (speak­ing to the general) for two days good usage.

The next day colonel Archibald Campbell (who was exchanged for me.) came to this place, (con­ducted by Mr. Boudinot, the then American commissary of prison­ers) and saluted me in a hand­some manner, saying that he never was more glad to see any gentle­man in his life, and I gave him to understand that I was equally glad to see him, and was apprehensive [...] it was from the same motive. The gentlemen present laughed at the fancy, and conjectured that sweet liberty was the foundation of our gladness; so we took a glass of wine together, and then I was accompanied by general Camp­bell, colonel Campbell Mr. Bou­dinot, and a number of British officers, to the b [...]a [...], which was ready to sail to Elizabethtown point. Mean while I entertained them with a rehearsal of the cru­elties exercised towards our pri­soners; and assured them that I should use my influence, that their prisoners should be treated in fu­ture in the same manner, as they should in future treat ours; that I thought it was right in such ex­treme cases, that their example should be applied to their own prisoners; then exchanged the decent ceremonies of compliment, and parted: I sailed to the point aforesaid, and in a transport of joy, landed on liberty ground, and as I advanced into the country, re­ceived the acclamations of grate­ful people.

I soon fell into company with col▪ Shelden, (of the light horse) who in a polite and obliging man­ner, accompanied me to head­quarters. Valley Forge, where I was courteously received by gen. Washington, with peculiar marks of his approbation and esteem, and was introduced to most of the ge­nerals and many of the principal officers of the army, who treated me with respect, and after having offered general Washington my further service, in behalf of my country, as soon as my health (which was very much imparted) would admit, and obtained his li­cence to return home, I took my leave of his excellency, and set out from Valley Forge wi [...] gen. Gates and his suite for Fish Kill, where we arrived the latter end of May. In this tour the general was pleased to treat me with the familiarity of a companion, and generosity of a lord, and to him I made known some striking cir­cumstances which occurred in the course of my captivity.

I then bid farewel to my noble general and the gentlemen of his re [...]inue, and set out for Benning­ton the capital of the Green Mountain Boys, where I arrived the evening of the last day [...] to their great surprize; so I was to them as [...] from the dead, and now both thei [...] joy and [...] was complete. Three cannon were fired that evening, and next morning colonel Herrick gave or­ders, and fourteen more were dis­charged, welcoming me to Ben­nington, my usual place of abode; [Page 46] thirteen for the United States, and one for young Vermont.

After this ceremony was ended we moved the flowing bowl, and rural felicity, sweetened with friendship, glowed in each coun­tenance, and with loyal healths to the rising States of America, con­cluded that evening, and with the same loyal spirit, I now conclude my narrative.