On account of the treatment received by General Charles Lee, a prisoner in the hands of Sir William Howe, and the covert threat of condign punishment on the accusation of treason, Congress resolved, January 6, 1777, that "should the proffered exchange of General Lee, for six Hessian field-officers, not be accepted, and the treatment of him as aforementioned be continued, then the principles of retaliation shall occasion first of the said Hessian field-officers, together with Lieutenant-Colonel Archibald Campbell, or any other officers that are or may be in our possession, equivalent in number or quality, to be detained, in order that the same treatment, which general Lee shall receive, may be exactly inflicted upon their persons."
In consequence of this act Colonel Campbell was thrown into Concord gaol. On February 4th he addressed a letter to Washington giving a highly colored account of his severe treatment, making it equal to that inflicted upon the most atrocious criminals; and for the reasons he was so treated declaring that "the first of this month, I was carried and lodged in the common gaol of Concord, by an order of Congress, through the Council of Boston, intimating for a reason, that a refusal of General Howe to give up General Lee for six field-officers, of whom I was one, and the placing of that gentleman under the charge of the Provost at New York, were the motives of their particular ill treatment of me."
Washington, on February 28, 1777, wrote to the Council of Massachusetts remonstrating with them and directing Colonel Campbell's enlargement, as his treatment was not according to the resolve of Congress. The following day he wrote Colonel Campbell stating that he imagined there would be a mitigation of what he now suffered. At the same time Washington wrote to the Congress on the impolicy of so treating Colonel Campbell, declaring that he feared that the resolutions, if adhered to, might "produce consequences of an extensive and melancholy nature." On March 6th he wrote to the president of Congress reaffirming his position on the impolicy of their attitude towards Colonel Campbell. To the same he wrote May 28th stating that "notwithstanding my recommendation, agreeably to what I conceived to be the sense of Congress, Lieutenant-Colonel Campbell's treatment continues to be such as cannot be justified either on the principles of generosity or strict retaliation; as I have authentic information, and I doubt not you will have the same, that General Lee's situation is far from being rigorous or uncomfortable." To Sir William Howe, he wrote June 10th, that "Lieutenant-Colonel Campbell and the Hessian field-officers, will be detained till you recognise General Lee as a prisoner of war, and put him on the footing of claim. * * * The situation of Lieutenant-Colonel Campbell, as represented by you, is such as I neither wished nor approve. Upon the first intimation of his complaints, I wrote upon the subject, and hoped there would have been no further cause of uneasiness. That, gentleman, I am persuaded, will do me the justice to say, he has received no ill treatment at my instance. Unnecessary severity and every species of insult I despise, and, I trust, none will ever have just reason to censure me in this respect." At this time Colonel Campbell was not in the gaol but in the jailer's house. On June 2d Congress ordered that Colonel Campbell and the five Hessian officers should be treated "with kindness, generosity, and tenderness, consistent with the safe custody of their persons."
Congress finally decided that General Prescott, who had been recently captured, should be held as a hostage for the good treatment of General Lee, and Washington was authorized to negotiate an exchange of prisoners.
March 10, 1778, in a letter addressed to Washington by Sir William Howe, he concludes as follows:
"When the agreement was concluded upon to appoint commissioners to settle a general exchange, I expected there would have been as much expedition used in returning Lieutenant-Colonel Campbell, and the Hessian field-officers, as in returning Major-General Prescott, and that the cartel might have been finished by the time of the arrival of General Lee. If, however, there should be any objection to General Prescott's remaining at New York, until the aforementioned officers are sent in, he shall, to avoid altercation, be returned upon requisition."
To this Washington replied:
"Valley Forge, 12 March, 1778.
Sir:—Your letter of the 10th came to hand last night. The meeting of our commissioners cannot take place till the time appointed in my last.
I am not able to conceive on what principle it should be imagined, that any distinction, injurious to Lieutenant-Colonel Campbell and the Hessian field officers, still exists. That they have not yet been returned on parole is to be ascribed solely to the remoteness of their situation. Mr. Boudinot informs me, that he momentarily expects their arrival, in prosecution of our engagement. You are well aware, that the distinction originally made, with respect to them, was in consequence of your discrimination to the prejudice of General Lee. On your receding from that discrimination, and agreeing to a mutual releasement of officers on parole, the difficulty ceased, and General Prescott was sent into New York, in full expectation, that General Lee would come out in return. So far from adhering to any former exception, I had particularly directed my commissary of prisoners to release Lieutenant-Colonel Campbell, in lieu of Lieutenant Colonel Ethan Allen."
It was not, however, until May 5, 1778 that Washington succeeded in exchanging Colonel Campbell for Colonel Ethan Allen.[167] His imprisonment did not have any effect on his treatment of those who afterwards fell into his hands.