Early in the spring, comfortable barracks for the troops were erected, under the direction of Colonel Harvey. They were upon the brow and slopes of a high hill, on Colonel Harvey's estate, five miles from Charlottesville. They cost the government about twenty-five thousand dollars. A large portion of the land was laid out into gardens, fenced in and planted. General Riedesel spent more than five hundred dollars for garden seeds for the German troops, and when autumn advanced there was no scarcity of provisions. According to Mr. Jefferson, the location was extremely healthy. * It being the universal opinion that they would remain prisoners there until the close of the war, the officers spent a great deal of money in the erection of more suitable dwellings, and in preparing rough land for cultivation. They settled their families there, built a theatre, a coffee-house, and a cold bath; and in general intercourse with the families of neighboring gentlemen, and the pursuits of music and literature, their captivity was made agreeable to them, and profitable to the province. ** Notwithstanding this apparent quiet on the surface, there was turbulence below. Captivity under the most favorable circumstances is galling. A large number deserted, and made their way to British posts at the North. On one occasion nearly four hundred eluded the vigilance of their guards, and escaped. When, in October, 1780, General Leslie with a strong force took possession of Portsmouth, great uneasiness was observed
* "Of four thousand people (the number of the captives) it should be expected, according to ordinary calculations, that one should die every day; yet in the space of near three months there have been but four deaths among them; two infants under three weeks old, and two others by apoplexy. The officers tell me the troops were never before so healthy since they were imbodied."—Letter to Governor Patrick Henry.
** It can not be wondered at, that Mr. Jefferson and other agriculturists should have been opposed to their removal, when it was estimated that forty-five thousand bushels of grain from the harvest fields of Virginia were consumed by them in a year, and that thirty thousand dollars were circulated weekly in consequence of their presence.—See Jefferson's Letter to Governor Henry. Anburey, noticing their departure from the barracks, says, "I am apt to think that Colonel Harvey, the proprietor of the estate, will reap great advantage, if the province should not, as the army entirely cleared a space of six miles in circumference round the barracks."—Travels, ii., 414.
Removal of Troops from Charlottesville.—Their Final Dispersion.—The Germans.—Departure from Petersburg
among the British troops, and just fears were entertained that they might rise upon and overpower their guard, and join their countrymen on the Elizabeth River. The Germans were less impatient, for they were enjoying life better than at home; * yet it was thought expedient to remove the whole body of prisoners to a place of greater security. Accordingly, the British were marched across the Blue Ridge,Nov. 29, 1780 at Wood's Gap, and through the Great Valley to Fort Frederick, in Maryland; ** the Germans followed soon afterward, and were quartered at Winchester (then containing between three and four hundred houses), in the northern part of Virginia. Deaths, desertion, and partial exchanges had now reduced their numbers to about twenty-one hundred. Afterward they were removed to Lancaster, and some to East Windsor, in Connecticut. In the course of 1782, they were all dispersed, either by exchange or desertion. A large number of the Germans, remembering the perfidy of their rulers at home, and pleased with their national brethren who were residents here, remained at the close of the war, and many became useful citizens.
