We sailed from England the 8th day of January, and from the cove of Cork the 12th day of Feb'y. 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 who 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 forcible 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 to the coast of England, and the crew saved. We were then said to be in the Bay of Biscay. After the storm abated, I could plainly discern the prisoners were better used for some considerable time.
Nothing of consequence happened after this, till we had sailed to the island of Maderia, except a certain favor I had 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 clothes 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 Maderia, and anchored, sundry gentlemen with the captain went on shore, who I conclude, gave the rumor that I was in the frigate; upon which I soon after found that Irish generosity was again excited; for a gentleman of that nation sent his clerk on board, to know of me if I would accept a sea store from him, particularly wine. This matter I made known to the generous lieutenant Douglass, who readily granted me the favor, 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 despatch, which he did; but in the meantime, captain 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 forbidden 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 that 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 usage; inferring 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 empowered 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 that they should treat me as such. I further drew 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 directions 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, he would at least allow me to purchase of the purser, from my own money, such 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 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 Burgoyne was taken;* a happy event! and not only of the officers but the whole British army.
* It was the plan of the British generals, to push a body of
troops from New York, to join General Burgoyne at Albany,
and by establishing a line of British posts on the Hudson,
to intercept the intercourse between the New England and
Southern States. While General Burgoyne was attempting to
advance towards Albany, General Clinton with a force of
three thousand men took possession of Fort Montgomery, after
severe loss. General Vaughan, with a body of troops, on
board of armed ships, sailed up the Hudson, as far as
Livingston's manor, where he landed a party, burnt a large
house belonging to one of the family; then sent a party to
the opposite shore and laid in ashes the town of Kingston.
But General Burgoyne, despairing of the junction between his
army and the division from New York, surrounded by a
superior army, and unable to retreat, consented to
capitulate, and the 17th of October, surrendered to the
American General. The detachment under General Vaughan
returned to New York and the plan of the British commanders
was totally frustrated.
I appeal to all my brother prisoners, who 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 was North, was a very humane, obliging man, and took the best care of the prisoners who were sick.
The third day of May we cast anchor in the harbor of Cape Fear, in North Carolina, as did Sir Peter Parker's ship, of 50 guns, a little back of the bar; for there was not depth of water for him to come into the harbor. 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 harbor; but such cursing of riflemen I never heard.
A detachment of regulars was sent up Brunswick river; as they landed, they 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 detachments 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 Gen. Clinton's little army who commanded at that time; and I am apt to think there were four thousand men, though not two thirds of them fit 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 of most who 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 deal 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 whole of them put on board the Mercury frigate, Capt. 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-war in this harbour, and, by extraordinary swimming, got safe home to New England, and gave intelligence of the usage of his brother prisoners. The Mercury set sail from this port for Halifax, about the 20th of May, and Sir Peter Parker was about to sail with the land forces, under the command of Gen. Clinton, for the reduction of Charleston, the capitol 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, humor or bravery, of which Symonds was by turns susceptible. A Capt. 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 with it on their passage. I was weak and feeble in consequence of so long and cruel 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 upon deck, and in the handsomest manner requested the favor 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 honor to view, and his behavior to me and the prisoners in general, as being derogatory to it, but found his honor impenetrable. I then endeavored 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 forbade his surgeon to administer any help to the sick prisoners. I was every night shut down in the cable tier, 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 a 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 favor, which was sometimes good wine bitters, and at others a generous drink of grog.