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 .H2 V6 
 Copy 1 
 
 1 
 
 AN APPEAL 
 
 TO THE 
 
 CONGRESS t°Jb UNITED STATES, 
 
 FROM THE 
 
 ^ocitt^ of Ofb (gvooM^niks, 
 
 FOR THE 
 
 ERECTION OF A MONUMENT OVER THE 
 REMAINS OF 11,500 PRISONERS 
 
 WHO DIED ON BOARD THE 
 
 BRITISH PRISON-SHIPS 
 
 DURING 
 
 THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 
 
 m 
 
AN APPEAL 
 
 CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES 
 
 FROM THE 
 
 'Ockf^ of ©ft) Brookfgnitcs, 
 
 FOR THE 
 
 EEECTION OF A MONUMENT OVER THE REMAINS 
 OF 11,500 PRISONERS 
 
 WHO DIED ON BOARD THE 
 
 BRITISH PRISON SHIPS 
 
 DURING 
 
 THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 
 
 BROOKLYN : 
 
 Press of Geo. Tremlett, 306 Fulton Street. 
 1890. 
 

 
Society of Old Brooklynites. 
 
 ©fTicers tor 1800. 
 
 Hon. JOHN W. HUNTER, President. 
 EDWARD D. WHITE, First Vice-President. 
 ALBERT H. OSBORN, Second Vice-President. 
 SAMUEL A. HAYNES, Recording Secretary. 
 JAMES L. WATSON, M.D., Corresponding Secretary. 
 DANIEL T. LEVERICH, Financial Secretary. 
 JUDAH B. VOORHEES, Treasurer. 
 
 H)(rectors. 
 
 Hon. JOHN W. HUNTER, PrmUent, ex-officio. 
 
 EDWARD D. WHITE, ALBERT H. OSBORN, 
 
 WILLIAM H. HAZARD. JOHN W. WIGGINS, 
 
 CHARLES C. LEIGH. SETH R. ROBBINS, 
 
 JOEL SMITH, NICHOLAS B. RHODES, 
 
 EDWIN H. BURNETT, DANIEL T. LEVERICH, 
 
 \VILLIAM E. SPRAGUE, W^ILLIAM H. WARING, 
 
 SAMUEL A. HAYNES, STEPHEN KIDDER, 
 
 JUDAH B. VOORHEES, S. WARREN SNEDEN, 
 
 WILLIAM M. THOMAS, JAMES L. WATSON, M. D. 
 
 GEORGE W. STILLWELL, JOSEPH. W. CAMPBELL. 
 
StauMno Committees for IS90. 
 
 Executive Committee. 
 
 EDWARD D. WHITE 88 Van Dyke Street. 
 
 ALBERT H. OSBORN, 26 Court Street. 
 
 JUDAH B. VOORHEES Surrogate's Office, Court House. 
 
 CHARLES C. LEIGH, 4 Willow Street. 
 
 S. WARREN SNEDEN, 131 Prospect Place. 
 
 Finance Committee. 
 
 EDWIN H. BURNETT, 58 Poplar Street. 
 
 GEORGE W. STILLW^ELL, 211 Thirteenth street. 
 
 STEPHEF KIDDER, 138 Atlantic Street. 
 
 Committee on Members/iip. 
 
 JOHN W. WIGGINS, 377 Gold Street. 
 
 WILLIAM E. SPRAGUE, 156 Adelphi Street. 
 
 STEPHEN KIDDER, 138 Atlantic Street. 
 
 Connnittee on History, Arts and Sciences. 
 
 ALBERT H. OSBORN, 26 Court Street. 
 
 JAMES L. WATSON, M. D., 9 Elm Place. 
 
 STEPHEN KIDDER, 138 Atlantic Street. 
 
 CHARLES C. LEIGH, 4 Willow Street. 
 
 WILLIAM M. THOMAS, 219 Schermerhorn Street. 
 
To THE Senate and House of Eepkesentatives of the 
 United States now assembled in the First Session of 
 the Fifty-First Congress. 
 
 Your petitioners, an incorporated society of the City of Brooklyn, 
 under the title of the " Society of Old Brooklynites," respect- 
 fully inform you that they presented the following petition to 
 the Fiftieth Congress : 
 
 That the remains of more than 12,000 martyrs to the cause of 
 liberty lie entombed in this city, who died during our Revolutionary 
 war on board the prison ships of the British at the Wallabout, and 
 which were buried on our shores during that memorable struggle, 
 many of which were, by the action of the waves, washed out of 
 their shallow graves — their bones scattered along the beach, exjiosed 
 to the Summer's sun and AVinter's storms, until the year 1808, 
 when the Tammany Society or Columbian Order, of the City of 
 New York, had them collected and buried with imposing cere- 
 monies, in which the governors of several States, mayors of cities, 
 and civil, military and ecclesiastical dignitaries from all parts of the 
 country took pait . 
 
 The place of burial was on Jackson street, in this city, and the 
 tomb, a temporary wooden structure, in which they were placed, 
 became so dilapidated by reason of changes made in the surround- 
 ings and from natural decay, that the sacred remains were again 
 exposed to the gaze of the multitude, until the Park Commissioners 
 of this city, with the sanction of the city government, prepared with 
 great care and expense a permanent and imperishable tomb for 
 their reception on the historic ground of Fort Greene, a charming 
 ■elevation in Washington Park, in this city, overlooking the scene 
 of their sufferings and death — to which the sacred remains were 
 carefully removed and deposited. 
 
 Those devoted j)atriots, from every one of the original thirteen 
 States, were prisoners of war, taken by the British army and navy, 
 and numbered more than were killed in all the battles, both by sea 
 and land, in that long and desperate struggle for freedom. 
 
 When it is remembered that constant and unremitting efforts 
 were made by the British officers to induce these prisoners to 
 purchase their freedom and save their lives by enlisting in the 
 service of the enemy ; that many, probably the majority of them, 
 had families who were suffering by reason of their absence ; that to 
 
6 
 
 remain in these horrible i)risons was almost certain death, and that 
 under all these circumstances they remained faithful to the cause in 
 which they had enlisted, and preferred death to dishonor ; we 
 must concede that they earned the title of " Martyrs of the 
 Prisost Ships," and deserve such recognition from the Government, 
 (to aid in the establishment of which, they sacrificed their lives,) as 
 will show to the world that republics are not ungrateful, but that 
 we cherish their memories, honor their devotion to their country, 
 and will erect such an enduring monument to commemorate 
 their virtues as will stimulate future generations to emulate their 
 patriotism. 
 
 AYe therefore most respectfully ask that your honorable body 
 will make an a2)propriation of not less than one hundred thousand 
 dollars toward the erection of a suitable monument, to be erected 
 at or near the spot where their sacred remains now lie, the site 
 for which will be donated for that purpose by the City of 
 Brooklyn. 
 
 This Society will most cheerfully give all the aid in their power 
 toward the accomplishment of the object of this Petition. 
 Very respectfully, 
 
 JOHN W. HUNTER, 
 
 President. 
 SAML. A. HAYNES, 
 
 Secretary. 
 Brooklyn, January 5th, 1888. 
 
 Nearly thirty thousand citizens of New York, Brooklyn and 
 New Jersey, signed the above petition. 
 
 Please note the following : 
 
 Your petitioners, citizens of tlie United States, do most respect- 
 fully and earnestly pray your honorable body to hear and grant the 
 petition of the Society of Old Brooklynites, and to cause the 
 erection of the long-delayed Monument to the Martyrs of the 
 Prison Shii)s. 
 
 DESCENDANTS OF TDIOTIIY DOEGAN, 
 
 Patriot Martyr of the Prison Ship " Old Jersey." 
 Rebecca D. Maxnie, George A. Mastnie, 
 
 Andrew D. Hobday, Louise Maxnie, 
 
 Charles Hobday, Josephine Hart, 
 
 Great Grandchildren. ROSALINE BuRT, 
 
 Gi-eat Great Grandchildren. 
 
CONCURKENT EeSOLUTIONS RELATIVE TO ERECTING A MONUMENT 
 
 TO THE Martyrs of the British Ships at the Wallabout 
 
 DURING THE KeVOLUTIONARY WaR. 
 
 State of New York, | 
 
 In Senate, Albany, Feb. 28, 1888. J 
 
 Whereas, the Society of Old Brooklynites of the City of Brook- 
 lyn has presented a petition to the Congress of the United States 
 for the erection of a monnment to commemorate the virtnes and 
 patriotism of more than twelve thousand soldiers and sailors, who 
 perished on board the prison ships at the Wallabout during the 
 Revolutionary war ; and 
 
 Whereas, these unhapi^y victims were citizens of the United 
 States, prisoners of war, captured while in the service of this country 
 during its long and desperate struggle for freedom, when the Govern- 
 ment was too feeble to afford them protection or relieve their suffer- 
 ings ; therefore. 
 
 Resolved, if the xissembly concur, that the Senators and Repre- 
 sentatives in Congress from this State be, and they hereby are 
 earnestly requested to use all honorable means in their power to 
 secure the passage of the bill (H. R. 18,877), having for its object 
 the erection of a monument to the memory of the martyrs of the 
 prison ships. 
 
 Resolved, if the Assembly concur, that a duly certified copy of 
 the foregoing preamble and resolution be forwarded to each Senator 
 and Representative in Congress from this State. 
 By order, 
 
 JOHN S. KENYON, 
 
 Clerk. 
 
 In Assembly, Feb. 28, 1888. 
 
 Concurred in without amendment. 
 
 By order of the Assembly, 
 
 C. H. CHICKERING, 
 
 Clerh. 
 
8 
 
 The following was adojjted nnanimoiisly by tlie Common Council 
 of the City of New York : 
 
 ]VJiereas, the Society of Old Brooklynites, of the City of 
 Brooklyn, has presented a petition to the Congi-ess of the United 
 States for the erection of a monument on Fort Greene, in said city, 
 to commemorate the virtues of those martyrs of the cause of liberty 
 who died on board the prison ships at the Wallabont during the 
 war of the Kevolution ; and 
 
 Whereas, it is the ojiinion of this Common Council that it is the 
 duty of Congress to fitly commemorate the manly virtues and stern 
 patriotism of more than twelve thousand citizens of the United 
 States who, when prisoners of Avar, refused to purchase their lives 
 by enlisting in the service of the enemy, and preferred death to 
 dishonor ; therefore, 
 
 Resolved, that this Common Council heartily endorse the patri- 
 otic efforts of the Society of Old Brooklynites, and earnestly request 
 the members of Congress from this city to favor, by all honorable 
 means in their iiow-er, the passage of the bill now pending for the 
 erection of the proposed monument in honor of the martyrs of the 
 prison ships. 
 
 Eesolved^ that a certified coi)y of the foregoing preamble and 
 resolutions under the seal of the City be forwarded to every member 
 of Congress from this citv. 
 
 KiisrGS County Board of Slteryisors, ) 
 Brooklyn, Jan. 24, 1888. \ 
 
 Adojited the following : 
 
 Whereas, the Society of Old Brooklynites of the City of Brooklyn 
 have petitioned the Congress of the United States for an appropria- 
 tion to fitly commemorate by a monument the martyrs of the i)rison 
 ships of the Revolutionary Avar ; and 
 
 Whereas, this Board heartily approves of the motives and 
 patriotic zeal of the said Society in the noble effort to inspire devo- 
 tion to country, perpetuating the virtues of those aa'Iio sacrificed 
 their Ha'cs for republican principles, thus stimulating future genera- 
 tions to emulate their patriotism ; therefore be it 
 
Resolved, that we most cordially extend to the Society of Old 
 Brooklynites our earnest support and encouragement, and express 
 the hope that their efforts will be rewarded by the people through 
 their representative in Congress. 
 
 At a very large meeting of soldiers and citizens, held on Sunday, 
 May 27, 1888, at the Tomb of the Martyrs, on Fort Greene, in 
 honor of the heroes who joerished on board the prison ships, after 
 singing by the children of the public schools and religious services, 
 and an eloquent address by one of the generals of the late war, the 
 following were unanimously adopted : 
 
 Whereas, the Society of Old Brooklynites has petitioned Con- 
 gress for an appropriation of one hundred thousand dollars for 
 the erection of a monument to the memory of those we are here 
 assembled to honor ; therefore. 
 
 Resolved, that Congress is hereby earnestly requested to pass 
 the bill presented by the Hon. Felix Campbell for that object, 
 believing that no more worthy object can claim the attention of 
 Congress, than thus to honor the memory of that gallant army which, 
 when persistently importuned to choose between the prison ships 
 and enlistment in the army of the king, exclaimed, '^ Give us the 
 pi'ison shi^js atid death, or Washington and liberty !" 
 
 Resolved, that such a monument is necessary to preserve the 
 spirit of patriotism that imbued the founders of this Eepublic from 
 the accumulating influence of wealth and luxury, and to teach 
 future generations that the Eeioublic is not ungrateful, but that we 
 honor their virtues and will commemorate their glorious deeds in 
 imperishable granite. 
 
 Resolved, that this preamble and resolutions be signed by the 
 officers of the meeting and transmitted to each member of 
 Congress. 
 
 JOHN W. HUNTEK, 
 
 Chairman. 
 
 THOMAS EULAN, 
 
 Commander. 
 
 WILLIAM A. POWEES, 
 
 G. A. R., Kings Co. 
 
10 
 
 The Society has in its possession a slab of marble entrusted to 
 it by our worthy fellow-citizen, Arthur W. Benson, Esq., which 
 formed the corner-stone of the former tomb, on which is the follow- 
 ing inscription : 
 
 "JJn tljc name of tl)c spirits of tlic bcportcb free I" 
 
 " Sacred to the memory of that portion of the American seamen, 
 soldiers and citizens, who perished in the cause of liberty and their country, 
 on board the prison ships of the British (during the Revolutionary war) at 
 the Wallabout. 
 
 " This is the corner-stone of the vault which contains their relics. 
 Erected by the Tammany Society or Columbian Order of the City of New 
 York. The ground for which was bestowed by John Jackson, of Nassau 
 Island. 
 
 " Season of blossoms : year of discovery the ol6th ; of the institution 
 the 19th ; and of American Independence the 32nd ; April 6, 1808. 
 
 JACOB VANDERVOORT, 1 
 JOHN JACKSON, 
 BURDETT STRYKER, 
 ISSACHAR COZZENS, 
 ROBERT TOWNSEND, 
 BENJAMIN WATSON,! and 
 SAMUEL COWDREY. 
 WILLIAM AND DAVID CAMPBELL, 
 
 The members of tlie Society hope to live to see this stone, in 
 accordance with the wishes of Mr. Benson, the contributor, occupy 
 a suitable place in such a monument as will be a credit to our 
 Government and a proof that Republics are not always ungrateful, 
 and that we appreciate the virtues. of the sturdy patriots whose 
 death it will conimomorate. 
 
 I- Wallabout Committee. 
 
 The Society of Old Bruoklynites presented to the Fifetieth Con- 
 gress a 2)amphlet containing the names of eight thousand of the 
 prisoners who were confined on board of the British prison ship 
 Jersey during a part of the Kevolutionary war. 
 
 After diligent research among the records of the British "War 
 Department, access to which was kindly permitted by Her Majesty's 
 Government, this is all that can be found ; and these are from the 
 records of this one ship oi^ly. No record of the names of any of the 
 prisoners of the prison ships Scorpion, John, Strombolo, Fahnonth, 
 Hunter, Prince of Wales, and Transport can be found : though 
 their log-books make very fre(]uent mention of prisoners having 
 
11 
 
 been received on board. The list here presented is therefore but 
 
 a small portion of those of our fellow citizens who were confined 
 
 on board those floating Golgothas. Nor is it possible to designate 
 
 which of the men here named died on board, but authentic 
 
 history, within the memory of the parents of many now living, 
 
 proves that the number that died and were buried on our shores,. 
 
 and over whose remains we now desire to erect a monument worthy 
 
 of these patriots, numbered more than twelve thousand. 
 
 From these floating dungeons, the hearts of whose keepers must 
 
 have delighted in the luxury of woe, che bodies of our countrymen 
 
 after death were taken on shore, and one of our Revolutionary poets 
 
 thus describes the manner in which their remains were disposed of r 
 
 " Each day at least six carcasses we bore, 
 
 And scratched their graves along the sandy shore ; 
 By feeble hands the shallow graves were made, 
 No stone memorial o'er the corpses laid ; 
 In barren sands and far from home they lie, 
 No friend to shed a tear when passing by : 
 O'er the mean tombs insulting Britons tread, 
 Spurn at the sand and curse the rebel dead." 
 
 This Society, numbering between two and three hundred mem- 
 bers, who must have resided in the city at least fifty years before 
 being eligible to membership, have at great expense procured these 
 names, and they have also caused plans and specifications of a pro- 
 posed monument to the memory of these departed patriots to be 
 prepared and forwarded to Congress, and procured the signatures of 
 about thirty thousand citizens to the accompanying petition asking 
 the Congrrss of the United States to erect the same over their 
 remains. 
 
 The efforts of the Society in this direction have met the univer- 
 sal approbation of the people and of the press of the country. The 
 Board of Supervisors of Kings County, the Board of Aldermen of 
 the City of New York and the Legislature of the State of New 
 York, have all passed resolutions, copies of which are printed here- 
 with, commending the project and requesting Congress to grant the 
 petition of the Society. 
 
 The bones of these martyrs lie interred in a permanent tomb in 
 this city, but without a mark of any kind to inform the stranger as 
 to the nature and object of the structure, and it is the earnest 
 desire of this Society to remedy this defect, and to endeavor to do 
 tardy justice to the memory of those to whose firmness and j^atriot- 
 ism we owe our liberties and the blessings of the good government 
 we enjoy. 
 
ACTIOX TAKEX BY THE FIFTIETH C0XGRES8. 
 
 50th Congress, [ HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 1 Report 
 
 1st Session. j / No. 1335. 
 
 The Hon. Felix Campbell offered a bill asking for an appropria- 
 tion of one hundred thousand dollars to erect a 
 
 MOXU.MEXT TO THE MEMORY OF THE YlCTIJIS OF PrISON-SHIPS 
 
 AT Fort Greene, Brooklyn. 
 
 March 27, 1889.— Committee to the Committee of the Whole House on 
 the state of the Union and ordered to be printed. 
 
 Mr. Maish, from the Committee on Military Affairs, submitted 
 tiie following 
 
 EEPORT : 
 [To accompany bill H. R. 1687.] 
 
 The Coynmittee on Military Affairs, to loliom was referred the bill 
 {H. R. 1687) for the erection and completio7i of a momimeiit to 
 the memory of the victims of the jJriifon-ships at Fort Greene, 
 BrooTclyn, N. Y., do respectfully report: 
 
 After the battle of Brooklyn, Long Island, August 17, 1776, 
 ■when the American Army under General Washington was defeated 
 tind compelled to retire to the northern part of Manhattan Island, 
 the British prison-shijjs anchored in the Wallabont Bay were 
 crowded with American naval prisoners who underwent exi)eriences 
 of a horrible nature, probably nnequaled in the history of modern 
 warfare. 
 
 Of these ships there were the Whitby, Prince of Wales, Goodhope^ 
 and the Old Jersey, or " Hell," as it was called by those who were 
 confined in her — often more than a thousand at a time — in conse- 
 quence of the sufferings they endured. 
 
 They all lay in the channel between what is now the Cob Dock 
 and the inner shore of the bay, the Old Jersey being at the west 
 side, nearly opposite what is now the west entrance to the Kew 
 York Navy Yard. The prisoners were crowded together in these 
 dismantled ships or hulks, poorly fed and badly treated, and they 
 died by thousands. It is estimated that between 11,000 and 12,000 
 prisoners perished on these vessels, it being claimed that the mor- 
 tality on the Old Jersey alone amounted to five a day. 
 
13 
 
 The prison-ships were originally the transport vessels in which 
 cattle and other supplies for the British army had been brought to 
 America in 1776. and which had been anchored in Gravesend Bay 
 and occupied by the prisoners taken in the battle of Brooklyn. TJ23011 
 the occupation of the city by the British these soldiers were trans- 
 ferred to the prisons on shore and the transports were devoted more 
 especially to the marine prisoners, whose numbers were rapidly 
 increasing, owing to the frequent capture of American privateers 
 by the King's cruisers. 
 
 The first prison-ship anchored in the \Yallabout was the trans- 
 port Whitby. She was moored near Remsen's mil), which was on 
 the west shore of the bay, near Martyn's Point, or Martyr's Hook, 
 as it was subsequently called, about the 30th of October, 177G, and 
 crowded with prisoners. Here the prisoners had bad j)rovisions, 
 worse water, and even these rations were small, No medical man 
 attended the sick, disease had full sway, and pestilence reigned 
 supreme. Hundreds died from pestilence or starvation, and the 
 sand beach between the ravine in the hills — where Little street, 
 Brooklyn, now is — and the shore became filled with graves in the 
 course of two months. 
 
 In May, 1777, two large ships were anchored in the Wallabout, 
 when the prisoners were transferred frtm the Whitby to them. 
 These ships subsequently took fire, and some of the jirisoners were 
 burned in them before they could be removed to other vessels. In 
 1779 the Prince of Wales and the Good Rope were used as jirison 
 ships. The latter was burned in 1780, and then the StrojiihoU, 
 Scorpion and Hunter, all nominally hospital ships, took their place 
 in the Wallabout. There were nearly a dozen others, but of all the 
 Old Jersey won pre-eminence in the sad history of the prison ships. 
 She was originally a sixty-gun ship and had a long and honorable 
 career, but, being unfit for further active service, in 1776, was con- 
 verted into a prison ship. She was dismantled, her port holes were 
 closed and securely fastened, and their places supplied by two tiers 
 of small holes, each about 20 inches in diameter, with two iron bars 
 crossed at right angles. Caged in the body of this hulk, with little 
 light and almost no fresh air, packed together like animals, poorly 
 fed on what was sometimes spoiled and wormy food, and given 
 water that was stagnant, the jarisoners died off like flies. It was no 
 wonder that they gave their horrible hole of suffering, pestilence, 
 and death the nickname of " Old Hell.'" 
 
 The horrors of these ships are a matter of history. The foul air,. 
 
14: 
 
 confinement, darkness, hunger, thirst, the slow poison of the mala- 
 rious locality, the torments of vermin, the suffocating heat in sum- 
 mer, the excessive cold in winter, the horrible brutality of the 
 officers and the guards, who would frequently fire among or 
 bayonet the prisoners for some trivial or pretended offense, the 
 almost total absence of hope, are things too sickening to dwell 
 uj^on. 
 
 At the expiration of the war the Old Jersey was abandoned 
 where she lay. The dread of contagion prevented any one ventur- 
 ing on board, but it was not long until the worms, which had been 
 at work upon her timbers, made way for the water to rush in, and 
 she went down into the waters of the \Yallabout, carrying with her 
 the only record of the names of thousands of sufferers which had 
 been inscribed upon her inner planks. 
 
 The dead from these ships had been taken on shore and buried 
 in trenches dug in the sand, and for years after the war their bones 
 were found all around the bend of the bay, but more especially on 
 the west side. AVe are informed by parties connected Avitli the navy 
 yard that even now in making excavations they find the bones of 
 human beings, supposed to have been victims of the prison ships. 
 
 For several years after the war Avas over the bones of those who 
 suffered martyrdom in these ships for the cause of liberty were to be 
 seen, scarce covered, on the banks of the Wallabout, or strewn upon 
 its shores and bleaching in the winter's storm and summer's sun. 
 Several patriotic individuals endeavored to have the attention of 
 Oongress directed to the subject, but no formal movement was made 
 to give the bones proper interment ^^ntil 1792, when the citizens of 
 Brooklyn, at a regular town meeting, resolved that the bones which 
 had been disinterred and collected by John Jackson should be 
 removed and buried in the graveyard of the Reformed Church and 
 a monument put over them. 
 
 John Jackson was a native of Queens County, L. I., who removed 
 to Brooklyn soon after the Revolution. About 1T!)1 he purchased 
 what was known as the Remsen Estate, situated on the AVallabout, 
 which comprised about 30 acres of land, 35 of pond, together witli 
 the old Remsen mill and dwelling. This farm was partly on wluit 
 was known as Martyr's or Marty n's Hook, where Little street runs 
 down to the water, and extended as far west as Gold street, and east 
 into the Navy Yard. 
 
 It was in making improvements on the farm and in cutting 
 aAvay the high banks which then formed the shore of the bay that 
 
15 
 
 Mr. Jackson found large quantities of the bones. In 1801 he sold 40 
 acres of this farm to the United States for a navy yard, it being the 
 west portion of the yard, north of the present York street entrance 
 When the committee of the town meeting above mentioned apjDlied, 
 in 1793, for the privilege of removing the bones, Mr. Jackson 
 refused, as he had other plans in view. He was an influential 
 member and a sachem of the Tammany Society, or Columbian 
 Order. He offered this Society an eligible piece of ground on his 
 property in the Wallabout, at a point which is now at the east end 
 of Front street, by the Navy Yard wall, for the purpose of erecting 
 a suitable sepulchre, which the Society accepted. 
 
 In 1803 a memorial to Congress was prepared and sent to 
 Washington, but nothing was done by this body. In the meantime 
 Benjamin Aycrigg, shocked at the exposed condition of the remains, 
 made a contract in 1805 with an Irishman living in the AVallabout, 
 "to collect the bones as far as may be, without digging," and 
 deliver them to him at a stipulated price, which was done, and the 
 remains thus collected formed a portion of those afterward placed 
 in the Tomb of the Martyrs. In 1808 the Tammany Society 
 api3ointed a committee and proceeded to take steps toward the 
 long-talked of sepulchre. They initiated an extensive correspond- 
 ence, published stirring appeals, and invited patriotic citizens all 
 over the country to make a national affair of it. The public took 
 hold zealously, and showed so much interest that the corner-stone 
 of the tomb was laid on the 13th of April, 1808. An imposing 
 military and civic procession formed at Fulton Ferry, under Major 
 Aycrigg, grand marshal, and marched through Main, Sands, Bridge 
 and Jackson (now Hudson) streets, Brooklyn, to the vault on 
 Jackson street, adjoining the Navy Yard. Benjamin Eomaine, 
 grand sachem of Tammany, assisted by the Wallabout Committee, 
 laid the corner-stone of the vault, upon which was the inscription : 
 
 In the name of the spirits of the departed free, sacred to the memory 
 of American seamen, soldiers and citizens who perished on board the 
 prison-ships of the British at the Wallabout during the Revolution. 
 
 This is the corner-stone of the vault erected by the Tammany Society, 
 or Columbian Order, which contains their remains, the ground of which 
 was bestowed by John Jackson, Nassau Island. Season of blossoms. Year 
 of the discovery the 316th, of the institution the 19th, and of American 
 Independence the 33d. 
 
 April 6, 1808. 
 
 Ceremonies were completed by the interment of thirteen mam- 
 
16 
 
 moth coffins, and onitions by tlie most distinguished men of the 
 day. 
 
 Subsequent to the interment the excitement was kept up for it 
 while. Some money was collected, and then the Martyrs' Tomb 
 dropped out of public notice. Stiles, in his ''Wallabout Prison-Shii) 
 Series," speaking of the Tammany demonstration, gives this 
 peroration : 
 
 The pious tribute of the living to the dead is always solemn and affect- 
 ing; a society in mourning for a hero is interesting to everyone who 
 beholds it, but a nation of freemen bending in tears over the tomb of eleven 
 thousand martyrs to the cause of liberty is a sight never before exhibited, 
 and presents a theme for the historian and the poet. Happy, happy 
 Columbia ! May I'eturning years still find thee as thou art this day — 
 grateful to thy heroes, the nurse of liberty, at peace with the world. 
 
 After the great procession, the tomb, unfinished, was left to 
 take care of itself. 
 
 When the grade of Jackson street was altered the walls of the 
 vault were infringed upon, and finally the very lot with the tomb 
 upon it, containing the moldering dust of these 11,500 heroes, was 
 sold for taxes. 
 
 Benjamin Romaine, a true patriot, wlio had been a soldier in 
 the war, came forward and bought the lot, rescuing the remains 
 from desecration. He erected an ante-chamber over the vault and 
 appropriately adorned it. This was in 1839. Mr. Romaine held the 
 place sacred ; and in order to protect it from desecration, he apj)ro- 
 priated the tomb as a burial place for himself and family. At his 
 death, in 1844, his body was placed in a coffin, which he had long 
 kept for himself in the vault. Two years before his death, a com- 
 mittee of citizens petitioned the Legislature for leave to remove the 
 bones for the purpose of appropriate sepulture, but Mr. Romaine 
 protested. He said : 
 
 I have guarded these sacred remains with a reverence, which perhaps 
 at this day all may not appreciate or feel, for more than thirty j^ears. They 
 are now in their right place, near the Wallabout and adjoining the Navy 
 Yard. They are my property. I have expended more than .$900 in and 
 about their protection and preservation. I commend them to the protec- 
 tion of the general Government. I bequeath them to my country. This 
 concern is very sacred to me. It lies near my heart. I suffered with 
 those whose bones I venerate. I fought beside them ; I bled with them. 
 
 In consequence of this remonstrace nothing was done. 
 
Ten years later a large meeting of citizens of Brooklyn 
 resolved : 
 
 That the time has arrrived when the citizens of New York and Brook- 
 lyn can not, without criminality, longer delay the necessary efforts for 
 rearing the monumenttto the Martyrs of the Prison Ships — 
 
 and an organization was formed, entitled the " Martyrs' Monu- 
 mental Association," in which each Senatorial district in the State 
 of New York ; and each State and Territory in the Union was 
 represented. They set to work, selected a site on Fort Greene, 
 secured plans for the monument, agitated the subject, and solicited 
 donations. But once more enthusiasm died out, and two more 
 decades had almost passed before anything again was done. 
 
 The Common Council of the city of Brooklyn having granted the 
 association an appropriate lot on Fort Greene, called Washington 
 Park, the site was utilized in 1873. In that year a brick vault, 
 25 by 11 feet, was completed in the side of the hill facing toward 
 the junction of Myrtle avenue and Canton street, it being the 
 nearest point toward the Wallabout. By this time, the vault on 
 Hudson avenue (formerly Jackson street) had become so dilapidated 
 from neglect, that the remains were in an exposed state, many of 
 the old coffins being broken or defaced. Twenty-two new boxes 
 were procured, the old coffins placed in them; and on the 17th day 
 of June, 1873, all that remained of the mortal part of the 11,000 
 martyrs of the prison ships was quietly removed to the vault at 
 Washington Park. There was no ostentation this time ; it was 
 simply a labor of love. 
 
 After nearly a century of neglect, relieved occasionally by spas- 
 modic bursts of patriotism, the bones were at last placed in a spot 
 where it is believed they will rest undisturbed until time shall be no 
 more. So quietly was the removal performed, and so little interest 
 does it seem to have elicited, that the daily papers of the day did not 
 make any mention of it. The vault was covered with asphalt and the 
 surface restored, and there are few people in the city to-day who 
 know where these bones lie buried. The base work of the intended 
 ornamental stone superstructure has been constructed, upon which 
 it is intended to erect the monument proposed by the accompanying 
 bill. 
 
 This chosen site of Fort Greene is a lofty eminence looking 
 down upon the Wallabout, where the prison ships were anchored. It 
 also commands a view of the whole city of Brooklyn and the sur- 
 rounding country upon which, in 1776, the Battle of Long Island 
 
IS 
 
 was fought. ] )uring the battle a battery was located here, known as 
 Fort Putnam, in honor of General Putnam, who was the immediate 
 commander of the American Army during the illness of General 
 Greene. From this eminence General George Washington, Com- 
 mander-in-Chief, became the agonizing witness of the rout and 
 slaughter of Sullivan's command, and during the whole engagement 
 directed the movements of the American Army. It was here that 
 he signed the order to retreat, when he saw that resistance in the 
 face of overwhelming forces was useless. On this spot he encouraged 
 the suffering soldiers with words of hojae during the last day of the 
 battle, until the night brought the fog that made retreat possible. 
 
 Immediately after this memorable retreat, the British, having 
 gained absolute possession, used Wallabout 15ay for the incarcera- 
 tion of the prisoners of war. 
 
 News of the barbarous aud inhuman treatment of these prisoners 
 reached Congress in 1781, when a special committee was appointed, 
 consisting of Mr Boudinot, j\r. Sharpe, and Mr. Clymer, who 
 submitted the following resolutions : 
 
 Resolved, That it appears to Congress tliat a very large number of 
 marine prisoners and citizens of the United States, taken by the enemy, 
 are now closely confined on board prison-ships in the harbor of New York. 
 
 That the said prison-sliips are so unequal in size to tlie number of 
 prisoners, as not to. admit of a possibility of preserving life in this warm 
 season of the year, they being crowded together in such a manner as to he 
 in danger of suffocation, as well as exposed to every kind of putrid and 
 pestilential disorder. 
 
 That no circunastances of the enemy's particular situation can justify 
 tills outrage on humanity, it being contrary to the usage and custom of 
 civilized nations thus deliberately to murder their captives in cold blood : 
 as the enemy will not assert that prison-ships equal to the number of 
 prisoners can not be obtained, so as to afford room surticiont for the neces- 
 sary purposes of life. 
 
 That the enemy do daily improve the distresses to enlist and compel 
 many of our citizens to enter on board their ships of war, and thus to fight 
 against their fellow-citizens and dearest connections. 
 
 That the said marine prisoners, imtil they. can be exchanged, should be 
 supplied with such necessaries of clothing and provisions as can be obtained 
 to mitigate tlieir present sufferings . 
 
 That therefore the Commander-in-cliief be, and is hereby instnicted to 
 remonstrate to the proper officer within the enemy's lines on the said 
 unjustifiable treatment of our marine prisoners, and demand in the most 
 exjjress terms, to .know the reasons of this unnecessary severity towards 
 them ; and that the Commander-in-Chief transmit such answer as may be 
 
19 
 
 received thereon to Congress, that decided measures for due retaliation 
 may be adopted, if a redress of these evils is not immediately given. 
 
 That the Commander-in-Chief be, and is hereby, instructed to direct 
 the sujiplying- of the said prisoners with such provisions and light clothing 
 for their present more comfortable subsistence as may be in his power to 
 obtain, and in such manner as he may deem most advantageous for these 
 United States. 
 
 There is no question that these men were martyrs to the cause of 
 liberty ; that those who survived the war and were honored by the 
 grateful care of their Government and esteemed until the close of 
 their lives for their patriotism and valor, were entitled to much less 
 than these unfortunate victims of cruelty and hardship ; and that 
 the least that the Government can do at this time is to erect to them 
 a monument upon which shall be inscribed a record of their 
 service and the story of their martyrdom. 
 
 The propriety of the erection of such a monument by the nation 
 will not be questioned in view of these facts. 
 
 These helpless victims were prisoners of war, belonging not to 
 any city or State, but to the whole country ; Captured by the enemy 
 while in the service of their country in both the Army and Navy ; 
 citizens of all the original thirteen States, and numbered more than 
 were slain in all the battles, both by land and sea, of that long 
 and desperate struggle for^ freedom. 
 
 Had these victims been less arduous in their patriotism or less 
 firm in their devotion to liberty ; had they purchased their lives by 
 enlisting in the service of the enemy, as they were daily importuned 
 to do, and this army of 12,000 valiant men been added to the forces 
 against which Washington and his compatriots were fighting, the 
 struggle of our forefathers would have no doubt been greatly 
 prolonged. 
 
 Yom- committee therefore recommend that the bill do pass with 
 the following amendment : 
 
 Provided, That the money appropriated as aforesaid shall be expended 
 under the direction of the Secretaiy of War, and the plans, specifications, 
 and design shall first be approved by him. 
 
ACTION TAKKX BY THE TWEN'rY-EIGIITII CONCUJP^SS. 
 
 The Twenty-Eighth Congress, at its second session, referred ji 
 resolntion to the JMilitary (Committee to enquire into the propriety of 
 erecting a proper sepulcher for the bodies now haying at the 
 Wallabout, of the patriots of the Revolution who died from British 
 cruelty on board the Jersey prison sliip, and of an appropriate 
 monument over them, — 
 
 Keport that they have carefully investigated the subject com- 
 mitted to them by the resolution in connection with the aid afforded 
 by the history of the eventful period of the War of Independence. 
 It is equally incredible that such barbarities should have been per- 
 pertrated, as indubitable testimony establishes, to have been com- 
 mitted upon the Americans, who fell into the power of British 
 cruisers, and that Congress should have delayed so long to perform 
 its duty to the country, to give a proper resting place to the 
 remains of the Martyrs who thus cruelly perished, rather than enlist 
 in the British service and take up arms against their country. 
 
 In order, however, that the subject may be fully understood, 
 they deem it proper to present a brief statement of facts with the 
 authorities for them furnished by the mover of the resolutions, Hon. 
 Henry C. Murphy. 
 
 It appears from a correspondence between General Washington 
 and the officer commanding the British ships of war at Xew York, 
 opened by the former, in pursuance of the resolutions of Congress, 
 that the British government made no provision for the confine- 
 ment on shore of Marine prisoners, but kept them in ships alone, 
 notwithstanding the great number of those captured and the 
 inadequacy of the few ships which were used for the purpose, to 
 accommodate them (Spark's Washington, vol. 8, folio 14(; and 533). 
 From the treatment which the prisoners received in other respects, 
 and the thousand deaths which occurred from the crowded state of 
 the ships, the horrible truth is forced upon our minds, that this 
 system of imprisonment was designed and intended to kill them 
 off, while it was pretended to observe the rules of war towards 
 them. The ships used for this purpose were the hulks of con- 
 demned vessels, useless for any other object, and under the best 
 arrangements miserably calculated for that. The principal of these 
 were called the Jersey, Whitbi/, John, Scorpioii, Transport and 
 
21 
 
 Strombolo : others styled hospital ships were used ostensibly for 
 the sick, but really for the dying. 
 
 The Whitby was employed in the beginning of the war, but in 
 1780 the Jersey, which was larger, having carried 64 guns, was 
 moored in Wallabout — a great nook in the river, where the Navy 
 Yard is now located, as a ship to receive the prisoners, and was 
 continued there in that service until the end of the war. In 1808, 
 the remains of this human slaughter house was still to be seen at 
 low tide in the same place. In order to prepare her as a prison, 
 she was relieved of her armament, her port holes closed, and her 
 rigging and spars stripped off, all except her bowsprit; at the stern 
 was erected a flag staff, small holes about 20 inches square were 
 cut in the sides, at distances of ten feet, and across them at right 
 angles were two bars of iron ; on the upper deck hog pens were 
 erected for the hogs of the officers, below them were neither berths 
 to lie in nor seats to sit on. (Thompson's History of Long Island,, 
 p. 233). 
 
 In this unsightly and floating dungeon the prisoners were received, 
 no distinction between officers and sailors. In the Autumn of 1780, 
 the number in her was eleven hundred, and as fast as they escaped 
 or were exchanged, their places were supplied ; and at no time does 
 the number appear to have been miich less. They were kept below 
 deck from sun set to sun rise, and all intercourse with the upper deck 
 was prohibited, except they were allowed to go on deck one at a 
 time to obtain water. The guards were expressly forbidden during 
 these hours to relieve any prisoner however distressed he might be, 
 and as some were made maniacs by raging thirst, attempted to get 
 on deck for water, they were driven back by the bayonet. One 
 night when the pri^ners were assembled by the hatch-way for the 
 purpose of obtaining fresh air, the sentinels thrust their bayonets 
 among them, and in the morning twenty-five were found wounded, 
 stuck in the head and dead of the wounds they had thus received. 
 (Affidavit of William Burke, in his Historical Account of the 
 American Martyrs at the Wallabout, p. 90). 
 
 The sick were not taken to the hospital ships till they were so 
 weak that they frequently expired before they got out of the ship, 
 nor were they allowed to be mustered. (Affidavit of George 
 Batterman, made at Boston, December 19, 1780, politely furnished 
 by Peter Force, Esq). 
 
 The provisions furnished them were both insufficient to sustain 
 life, and deleterious to it. They were allowed eight ounces of 
 
22 
 
 coiKlenuied Ijreiul, and a pint of stinking water a day, and eiglit 
 ounces of meat a week. (Same affidavit.) The meat was putrid, the 
 broad worm-eaten, and the- water such as remained in vessels in 
 returning voyages. The whole system of treatment was such as to 
 make them sick, and when sick to accelerate their death. One of 
 the survivors (Alexander Coffin, Jr.) states, that so offensive was 
 the food given them, that whenever they could get an opportunity 
 they would scoop the bran from the troughs of the hog pens, and 
 eat it with as good an appetite as the hogs themselves (Historical 
 Account, p.,31). , 
 
 For more than a mouth he also states that they were obliged to 
 cat their food, such as it was, without cooking. Another witness 
 who was confined in the Jersey, and after the war, was a retail 
 trader in Philadelphia, declares that the hardest battles he ever 
 fought in his life were with a fellow prisoner, and that the object 
 of contention was the putrified carcass of a stewed rat. (Xiles 
 Ifeporter, fol. 2, p. 250). 
 
 Captain Thomas Dring states tliat the first night he was on 
 board, he was tormented with what he supposed to be vermin ; and 
 in coming on deck, lie found that the black handkerchief which he 
 wore around his neck was completely spotted with them [(Thomj)- 
 son's History of Long Island, p. 240). 
 
 The Rev. Thomas Andrews, a Presbyterian clergyman, who 
 shipped as a privateersman from New London, and was taken and 
 confined in the Jersey, informs us that he sometimes found the 
 man a corpse in the morning, by whose side he had laid himself 
 down at night ; once or twice, he said, by order of a stranger on the 
 quarter deck, a bag of apples was hurled promiscuously into the 
 midst of hundreds of prisoners crowded together as thick as they 
 could stand, and life and limb were endangered in the scramble. 
 This instead of com]iassion was cruel sport; when I saw it commenced 
 I fled to the most distant part of the ship. 
 
 The result of such treatment is manifest : disease soon broke out 
 and raged in the most horrid forms ; dysentery, small pox and 
 yellow fever all held victims (Tliompson's History of Long Island, 
 p. 2:38). 
 
 When Capt. Talbot was on l)i)ard. which was in October, when 
 frosty nights had reduced the number of deaths, the average on 
 board tlie Jersey was ten a day, "which it will be recollected was 
 only a receiving ship. What it was on board the Hosjiital ships, 
 the imagination alone can conceive. Such was the mortality, that 
 
23 
 
 out of thirteen prisoners taken from one vessel, all were seized with 
 the fever and all but four died. 
 
 Men were sewed up alive in their blankets in the haste to bury 
 them, if buried it could be called. A Rhode Islander by the name 
 of Clarot, thus sewed, miraculously escaped through the humanity 
 of the sailor who observed signs of life and ripped open the blanket. 
 He lived for some years afterwards. (Historical Account, p. 34). 
 
 The motives for such cruelty were ^.two-fold, and they reflect 
 eternal disgrace upon the English Government. It hoped in the 
 first place to induce the prisoners to enlist in the Royal service as 
 their only refuge from death, but to the honor be it said they spurned 
 the request as often as it was made. Alexander Coffin says he 
 knew of but one prisoner entering on board a British prison ship that 
 contested to enlist, though they knew they should die where they 
 were. The prison ships were held up in terrorism in other parts of 
 the country. In one instance in South Carolina we are told after 
 every artifice that cunning could devise had been used to induce the 
 American prisoners to enlist. After the British officer called, Frazier 
 had in vain attempted to seduce them by hope and terrify them with 
 threats. He presented to them this ever to be remembered, denun- 
 ciation. Go, he then'^aid, to your dungeons in the prison ships, 
 where you shall perish and rot, but first let me tell you that the 
 rations which have been hitherto allowed for your wives and chil- 
 dren, shall from this moment cease forever, and you shall die assured 
 that they are starving in the public streets, and that you are the 
 the authors of their fall. Solemn silence followed the declaration ; 
 they cast their wandering eyes upon one another and valor for a 
 moment hung suspended between love of family and love of 
 country. Love of country at length rose superior to any other con- 
 sideration and moved by one impulse this glorious band of patriots 
 thundered in the astonished ears of their persecutors the prison ship 
 and death, or Washington and our country. (Faig's Address in 
 Historical Account, p. 55). 
 
 The other inducement to this treatment was the jDrofit of the 
 Commissioners of Prisoners. It was disgraceful that the British 
 Government should appoint such men. The principal of these was 
 one David Sprout ; his name should be handed down to everlasting 
 infamy, and well described by Frencan, who says : 
 
 " Hell has no mischief like a thirsty throat 
 Nor one tormentor like your David Sprout." 
 
 But disease, famine and the bayonet were not the only causes of death. 
 
24: 
 
 George Blatterlnan, Avho was captured on a voyage from Turks 
 Island to Khode Island and taken to the Jersey, said the com- 
 manding officer on board the Jersey told us if the shij^ took fire we 
 should all be turned below and perish in the flames. 
 
 By accident the ship took fire in the Steward's room. The com- 
 manding officer ordered the Hessian guard to turn us below, and if 
 wo offered to resist, that they should fire among us, and if any of 
 us should get into the water they should fire on us and kill us if pos- 
 sil)le. 
 
 One of the ships, the Transport, containing about three hun- 
 dred prisoners, was entirely consumed, and as she burnt, the men 
 were seen dropping into the river from the port-holes (Historical 
 Account, p. 80). This brief summary of facts established by credible 
 testimony, and showing that it was the determination of the British 
 Commander to kill by cruelty these gallant men whom they could 
 not subdue in any other way, might be enlarged, but it is not neces- 
 sary. It sufficiently shows that we need not refer to other times or 
 other countries for examijles of man's inhumanity to man. Here in 
 our own land and in our own struggle for freedom, have transpired 
 scenes more horrible than that of Calcutta, and a punishment has 
 been infiicted as inhuman as that which bound the dead corpse to 
 the living num. 
 
 The precise number of the victims of all the prison ships is not 
 known. In a newspaper published in New London on the 25th of 
 April, 1783, the number who perished by this barbarous usage on 
 board the Jersey alone, is stated to have been 11,644 ; the whole 
 number was probably much greater. 
 
 The bodies of the dead were carried to Long Island shore and 
 there covered with a few shovelfuls of sand — not buried. The 
 elements soon disclosed many of them to public view, but when 
 the improvements in and about the NaA^ Yard were undertaken in 
 1802, the truth of the statement as to the number of those who had 
 perished was made evident to thousands still living. It Avas found 
 to be really Golgotha, a place of skulls. Nearly twenty hogsheads 
 of their bones were then collected. They have been preserved 
 mainly through the pious care of one of their compatriots, 
 Benjamin Romaine. They were placed in a temporary vault in 
 1S08, on a piece of ground given for that purpose by the late 
 Samuel Jackson, a citizen of Brooklyn. 
 
 In process of time that ground fell in the hands of I^Ir. Romaine. 
 The citizens of Brooklyn, through a highly respectable committee. 
 
petitioned the Legislature in 1843 for leave to remove the bones for 
 the purpose of an appropriate sepulture. 
 
 Against this Mr. Romaine remonstrated. He said, I have guarded 
 their sacred remains with a reverence which perhaps at this day all 
 may not appreciate or feel, for more than thirty years. They are 
 now in the right place, near the AVallabout and adjoining the Navy 
 Yard. They are my property, I have expended more than nine 
 hundred dollars in and about their protection and preservation. I 
 commend them to the care of the General Government ; I bequeath 
 them to my country. This concern is very sacred to me, it lies near 
 my heart, I suffered with these bones I venerate, I fought beside 
 them ; I bled with them. 
 
 In consequence of this remonstrance, nothing more was done. 
 Mr. Eomaine, then 80 years old, has since joined that host of 
 martyrs — his bequest to us, to Congress, to the country, is now to 
 be taken care of. 
 
 It is a national duty which we owe to these patriots to give them 
 proper sepulture. When living they were the object of the care of 
 Congress, they should be no less so now they are dead. Sound 
 policy in regard to the future, directs that we should perform our 
 duty to those who suffered in the past. Let it be known that courage 
 and patriotism in the service of the country are virtues duly 
 esteemed, and though we may not be able to compensate the loss to 
 their families, we can give some testimonial of our patriotism. 
 
 The following are the proceedings of the Continental Congress 
 alluded to in relation to the prisoners on board the prison ships, in 
 August 3d, ]781 : 
 
 The Committee, consisting of Mr. Boudino M. Sharpe and 
 Mr. Clymer, were appointed to take into consideration the state of 
 the American prisoners in the power of the enemy, — 
 
 Report that they have collected together, and curiously looked 
 into, various evidences of the treatment of our unhappy fellow 
 prisoners with the enemy ; have heretofore and still do find the sub- 
 ject wso important and serious a nature as to demand much greater 
 attention and fuller consideration than the present disteemed situ- 
 ation of these confined on board the prison ships at New York will 
 now admit of ; wherefore they beg leave to make a partial report, 
 and desire to sit again. 
 
2r. 
 
 They accordingly submitted a report, whereupon it was resolved. 
 
 That it appears to Congress that a very large number of marine 
 prisoners and citizens of the United States, taken by the enemy, 
 are now closely confined on board prison ships in the- harbor of 
 New York. 
 
 That the said prison ships 'are so unequal in size to the 
 number of prisoners, as not to admit of a possibility of preserving 
 life this warm season of the year, they being crowded together in 
 such a manner as to be in danger of suffocation as well as exposed 
 to every kind of putrid and pestilential disorder. 
 
 That no circumstance of the enemy's particular situation can 
 Justify this outrage on humanity, it being contrary to the usuage 
 and custom of civilized nations thus deliberately to murder their 
 captives in cold blood, as the enemy will not assert their prison 
 ships equal to the number of prisoners, cannot be obtained so 
 as to afford room sufficient for the necessary purposes of life. 
 That the enemy do daily impress these distresses to enlist and 
 compel many of our citizens to enter on board their ships of war, 
 and thus to tight against their fellow-citizens and dearest 
 connections. 
 
 That the said marine prisoners, until they can be exchanged, 
 should be supplied with such necessaries of clothing and provisions 
 as can be obtained to mitigate their present sufferings. 
 
 That, therefore, the Commander-in-Chief be, and is hereby 
 instructed to remonstrate to the proper official within the enemy's 
 lines on the said unjustfiable treatment of our marine prisoners, 
 and demand in the most express terms to know the reason of this 
 unnecessary severity towards them, and that the Commander-in- 
 Chief transmit such answer as may be received to Congress. That 
 decided measures for due retaliation may be adopted if a redress of 
 the evils is not immediately given. 
 
 That the Commander-in-Chief be and is hereby also instructed 
 to direct the supplying the said prisoners with such provisions 
 and light clothing for their present more comfortable subsistence, as 
 may be in his power to obtain, and in such manner as he may judge 
 most advantageous for the United States. 
 
 Ordered, that the Committee have leave to sit again. 
 
 In pursuance of these resolutions, General Washington, on the 
 21st of August, 1781, addressed the letter to the officer in c(tmmand 
 of the British ships at Now "^'oik, as mentioned in the first part of 
 this report. 
 
After stating the particulars of the complaint to be the inade- 
 quacy of the room in the prison ships to the number of prisoners 
 confined on board of them, which causes the death of many, and is 
 the occasion of most intolerable inconvenience and distresses to 
 those who survive, he adds a bare denial of what has been asserted 
 by so many individuals who have unfortunately experienced the 
 nuisance I have mentioned, will not be satisfactory. He therefore 
 requires permission for a proper officer to make a survey of the 
 situation of the prisoners. 
 
 Captain Atflick in reply says that the British Government had 
 made no provision for naval prisoners than the ships, and that he 
 would allow any officer who might be agreed upon to go with one 
 of his officers to witness in which way theytreated prisoners. 
 
 Nothing further appears to have been done, as it was evident 
 that such a survey would not be allowed, and that the war was to 
 be conducted on the part of the English Government without regard 
 to the cause of humanity. 
 
 The interpretation of Congress however at that time, and its fail- 
 ure to relieve the prisoners, call upon us now to do what alone can 
 be done in justice to the dead. 
 
 Such were the views and action of the Continental Congress 
 and General George Washington at the time of the horrible sufferings 
 of these patriotic martyrs which were fully brought to light by the 
 Twenty-Eighth Congress from the testimony of many witnesses as 
 well as Congressional and other documentary evidences. 
 
 It was brought before the last Congress in the report from the 
 Military Committee, and now it is brought before this Congress in 
 the following bill, whieh we pray will be passed, and the long 
 delayed act of justice will be accomplished. 
 
 JOHN W. HUNTER, 
 
 President 
 SAMUEL A. HAYNES, 
 
 Secretary. 
 
 Bxectdiv? Committee. 
 
 EDWARD D. WHITE, Chairman. S. WARREN SNEDEN, 
 ALBERT H. OSBORN, CHARLES C. LEIGH, Secretary, 
 
 JUDAH B. VOORHEES, 4 Willow Street, 
 
 Brooklyn, N. Y. 
 
28 
 
 n. R. 3887. 
 
 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 
 
 January 6, 1890. 
 
 Read twice, referred to the Committee on Military Affairs, and ordered to 
 be printed. 
 
 Mr. Campbell introduced the following bill : 
 
 A BILL 
 
 For the erection and completion of a Monvment to the memory of 
 the victims of prison-ships at Fort Greene, Brooklyn. 
 
 ■ Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
 the United States of America in Congress assembled, that the 
 sum of one hundred thousand dollars be, and the same is hereby, 
 appropriated, or so much thereof as may be necessary, out of any 
 money in the Treasury of the L^nited States, not otherwise appro- 
 priated, for the erection and completion of a monument to the 
 memory of the victims of the British prison-ships at New York 
 during the war of the American Revolution to be placed at Fort 
 Greene, Brooklyn, State of New York : Provided, that the money 
 appropriated as aforesaid shall be expejided under the direction of 
 the Secretary of War, and the i)lans, specifications and design for 
 such monument shall, before any of the money so appropriated is 
 expended, be first approved by the Secretary of War. 
 
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