Prisoners of the Bashaw
byBOOK REVIEW: Prisoners of the Bashaw: The Nineteen-Month of American Sailors in Tripoli, 1803–1805 by Frederick C. Leiner (Yardley, PA: Westholme, 2022) As the dust…
prisoners of war
This Week on Dispatches: Chip Langston on Captain James Morris
byOn this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews JAR contributor Chip Langston on the life of Captain James Morris of the Connecticut Light Infantry who…
Captain James Morris of the Connecticut Light Infantry
byIn 1812 when the British attacked the United States for the second time, Captain James Morris of the South Farms District of Litchfield, Connecticut,…
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The Fruits of Victory: Loyalist Prisoners in the Aftermath of Kings Mountain
byThe Battle of Kings Mountain was fought on October 7, 1780 in the upcountry of South Carolina near the border with North Carolina. As…
This Week on Dispatches: Travis Copeland on the Capture of North Carolina’s Governor Thomas Burke
byOn this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews JAR contributor Travis Copeland on the capture of North Carolina’s Patriot governor Thomas Burke by Loyalists…
The Capture of North Carolina Governor Thomas Burke
byWhen the vote came on Tuesday, July 26, 1781, before the House’s evening adjournment, it was Thomas Burke’s turn to hold the Executive office…
2
Incredible Insults and Hardships: The Hostage Experience of Ebenezer Sullivan
byWhen twenty-three-year-old Capt. Ebenezer Sullivan nobly volunteered himself as a prisoner-exchange hostage in the last weeks of the Canadian invasion, he had no way…
This Week on Dispatches: Louis Arthur Norton on the Plight of the Seamen
byOn this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews historian and JAR contributor Louis Arthur Norton on what happened to captured Continental Navy, states’ navies,…
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Plight of the Seamen: Incarceration, Escape, or Secured Freedom
byDuring the Revolutionary War, the British were particularly sensitive to challenges to their maritime sovereignty. Members of the Continental Navy, states’ navy sailors or…
9
Ethan Allen’s “Motley Parcel of Soldiery” at Montreal
byWhen Ethan Allen described his defeat and capture outside Montreal at Longue Pointe on September 25, 1775, he observed that “it was a motley…
Captives of Liberty: Prisoners of War and the Politics of Vengeance in the American Revolution
byCaptives of Liberty: Prisoners of War and the Politics of Vengeance in the American Revolution by T. Cole Jones (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2020)…
This Week on Dispatches: Kevin A. Conn on the Remarkable Career of Loyalist Soldier and Spy James Moody
byOn this week’s Dispatches host Brady Crytzer interviews AP History teacher and JAR contributor Kevin A. Conn on the remarkable career of New Jersey Loyalist…
A Moonlighting British Army Surgeon
byDuring the American War of Independence, the British Army officer corps routinely relegated its surgeons and physicians to a secondary status among its ranks….
This Week on Dispatches: Alex White on the Revolutionary Story of Thomas White
byOn this week’s Dispatches host Brady Crytzer interviews JAR contributor and University of Wisconsin-Madison employee Alex White on discovering his ancestor’s experience as an officer…
6
What Killed Prisoners of War?—A Medical Investigation
byEditor’s Note: This article contains graphic medical descriptions. Throughout the Revolutionary War, prisoners learned that dysentery accompanied starvation. Confined to the prison ship Jersey in…
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From Prisoner to Schoolmaster: The Revolutionary War Story of Lt. Thomas White
byThomas White, a twenty-two-year-old farmer in Chester County, Pennsylvania, answered the call to fight for the establishment of a new nation. The choice altered…
“Dispatch’t Him for America”: the Journal of Dr. Edmund Hagen, Privateer and Prisoner of War, Part 1 of 2
byEdmund Hagen presumably never intended the publication of his daily journal of his 1776 stint as the surgeon on a successful, but ultimately ill-fated,…
“Revolution Road” on the Dave Nemo Show to Air this Friday for Free
bySiriusXM Radio announced today that they will be offering their programs for free through May 15. This means JAR readers who don’t have a…
9
Trading Generals
byDuring the American Revolution, many players were removed from the chess board of war as a result of capture. From individual soldiers and sailors…
1
Rutland’s Rebellion: Defending Local Governance during the Revolution
byTypically, countries at war do not detain enemy prisoners in the backyards of their citizens. During the Revolutionary War Britain’s soon-to-be independent North American…
Contributor Close-Up: Katie Turner Getty
byWhat inspired you to start researching and writing about the Revolution? It was perhaps inevitable that I would end up studying the Revolution as…
Giving Thanks: John Gridley’s Prayer Bill
byHoused in the Medfield Historical Society is a rare collection of prayer bills containing the prayers of thanksgiving from Massachusetts soldiers and their families…
Augustine Barrett, Escaped British Prisoner of War, Pleads his Case
by“About five weeks after he made his escape from Prospect hill,” Augustine Barrett told the board of inquiry, “he was confined in the Prison…
1
A Chink in Britain’s Armor: John Paul Jones’s 1778 Raid on Whitehaven
byJohn Paul Jones has earned enduring fame in American history for his sailing and fighting exploits during the American Revolution. His influence on the…
1
Quebec Town Major William Dunbar: Captured, April 1775
byIn early 1775, the town major of Quebec decided to pay a visit to Gen. Thomas Gage in Boston. William Dunbar had been an…
This Week on Dispatches: Brian O’Malley on the 1776 Horror Show
byIn this week’s Dispatches host Brady Crytzer interviews Brian O’Malley about the sudden release of 2,000 “sickly and emaciated” Continental soldiers and sailors in 1776…
1
The Double Spy: The Service and Suffering of Caleb Bruen
by“But while a confidence trickster, a play actor or a gambler can return from his performance to the ranks of his admirers, the secret…
4
Walking Skeletons: Starvation on Board the Jersey Prison Ship
byEighteen-year-old Andrew Sherburne’s younger brother, Samuel, guided Sherburne into a room away from the rest of the family to help wash and dress him….
This Week on Dispatches: Katie Turner Getty and the Notorious Prison Ship Jersey
byIn this week’s Dispatches host Brady Crytzer interviews JAR contributor and editorial board member Katie Turner Getty about a dark side of the American…
13
1776—The Horror Show
byThe British Army held New York City from 1776 to November 25, 1783. In prisoner exchanges, royal forces in New York periodically released prisoners…
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Death Had Almost Lost Its Sting: Disease on the Prison Ship Jersey
by“There, rebels, there is a cage for you.”[1] Forced to row under guard of British marines, a boatload of captured American sailors approached the…
4
Who was the most promising person of the Founding Era?
byFor our first post of the New Year—a time when resolutions are announced, new leaves are turned, and anticipation and hope for a fulfilling…
2
The Extraordinary Life of Isaac Grant of Judea, Connecticut
byThe old man stepped out into the sun, shut his door, and turned north, leaving his home in Gainesville, New York, for the county…
6
Daniel Granger, Thirteen-Year-Old Soldier
byDuring the American Revolution children were no strangers to the realities of war, but some would find themselves in the very center of the…
1
Joshua Huddy: The Scourge of New Jersey Loyalists
byNew Jersey is known as the “Crossroads of the Revolution” because its location between New York and Philadelphia, as well as its strategic importance…
1
Elias Boudinot IV: America’s First Commissary General of Prisoners
by“The prisoner of war is one of the most tragic figures in any conflict.”Larry G. Bowman[1] Various studies have placed the number of Americans…
Major Christopher French, Prisoner of War
byWhen a party is formed within the State which ceases to obey the sovereign and is strong enough to make a stand against him,…
17
10 Facts About Prisoners of War
byCo-authored with Don N. Hagist An inevitable facet of warfare is prisoners. During the American Revolution, thousands of soldiers and sailors were captured by…
8
Elizabeth Burgin Helps the Prisoners… Somehow
byI was recently asked to speak about Elizabeth Burgin, an American woman who risked her life helping prisoners of war during the American Revolution….