Hell in New York Harbor: HMS Jersey
By Armonee Wilkins
Armonee Wilkins explores the HMS Jersey, often simply referred to as “Hell,” which housed thousands of prisoners in New York Harbor during the American Revolutionary War.
When thinking about war, it's easy for one to focus on the battlefield. However, it's important to shine a light on the prisoners of these wars that were not on the field, that had to constantly live in fear with little hope of freedom. The practice of prison ships often referred to as ‘hell ships', was popularized between the 17th and 18th century by British forces. It solved a problem the British had with the influx of prisoners in their jails and allowed them to capture and detain prisoners without having them sent to Britain.
One particularly infamous prison ship was the HMS Jersey. A small 60-gun ship of the Royal Navy, the ship was originally built for war. As time went on, many Royal Navy ships were redesigned to better fit the needs of the British. In 1771, the HMS Jersey served as a hospital ship, before being repurposed as a prison ship in 1779 solely for the American Revolution. Docked in Wallabout Bay: today known as the Brooklyn Navy Yard, the small body of water found between the modern-day Manhattan and Williamsburg Bridges.
Figure 1 from Recollections of the Jersey prison ship: from the original manuscripts of Capt. Thomas Dring, one of the prisoners.
The living conditions on this ship were horrendous. The capacity of ship was 400 men. However, British forces imprisoned up to 1,100 people at a time. Prisoners on these ships consisted of soldiers, sailors, and rebel citizens, and were packed on top of each other. They were given little to no food and forced to endure the overcrowded heat of the ship. At least 8 people died a day on the Jersey, from disease, malnutrition, and the overcrowded conditions. In 1783, a poem was sent out and published by newspapers around the world: “The black ship like a demon state, Upon the prowling deep, from her came fearful sounds of hate, till pain stilled all in sleep It was the sleep that victims take, Tied, tortured dying at the stake.” The author of the poem was determined to share the conditions the British allowed, while also paying homage to the lost and tormented souls left on prison ships.
When people died onboard this ship, their bodies were left untouched for days. Once the British officers were ready to move the dead, they were taken to the edge of the bank, lowered from the ships, tied up with rope, and stuffed in a hole that was only 1 or 2 feet deep. To avoid this fate, some people joined the British forces to gain immediate immunity. Others who were wealthy enough paid to get released. The rest had to wait and hoped they could escape.
The conditions of these ships were not unnoticed. General Washington heard word of the inhumane conditions and wrote a letter to General Lord William Howe. In this January 13, 1777, letter, General Washington wrote “But, remember, my Lord, that supposing us rebels, we still have feelings as keen and sensible as loyalists, and will, if forced to it, most assuredly retaliate upon those upon whom we look as the unjust invaders of our rights, liberties and properties.”
General Howe responded on January 27,1777 “The Means of preventing a Repetition of the improper Terms in which your Letter of the 13th Instant is expressed & founded upon the grossest Misrepresentations: I shall not make any further Comment upon it than to assure you, that your Threats of retaliating upon the innocent such Punishment... will not divert me from my Duty in any Respect.” In other words, his duties were more important than the threat General Washington had made.
Even though the British surrendered at Yorktown in 1781, people were still held on the ships until 1783. The HMS Jersey was burned shortly after. At the end of the war, it was recorded that 4,435 died in battle, while approximately 11,000 Americans died aboard prison ships. Historians estimate that 8,000 prisoners were registered to the HMS Jersey during the Revolutionary War. In 1808, the remains of prisoners found along the shore were buried in a crypt on Jackson Street, now known as Hudson Avenue.
Sir William howe, by c. corbett. courtesy of brown university library.
FOrt greene prison ship martyrs monument. courtesy of NYC Parks.
In 1873, the remains were transported to a more suitable burial ground in Fort Greene Park. By 1905, a group consisting of government officials, donors and private societies decided to enlist the help of architecture Stanford White and sculptor Adolph Alexander Weinman to design a new crypt. After undergoing many changes throughout the 20th century, the Prison Ship Martyrs Monument was fully restored in 2008.
Bibliography
Dandridge, Danske. American Prisoners of the Revolution. (Kessinger Publishing, LLC, Whitefish, MO, 2004.)
Fort Greene Park Monuments - Prison Ship Martyrs Monument: NYC Parks. https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/fort-greene-park/monuments/1222.
“From George Washington to General William Howe, 13 January 1777,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-08-02-0063. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 8, 6 January 1777 – 27 March 1777, ed. Frank E. Grizzard, Jr. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1998, pp. 59–61.]
Stiles, Henry Reed. “Letters from the Prisons and Prison-Ships of the Revolution.: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909, Ed: Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming.” Internet Archive, New York: Priv. Print., 1 Jan. 1865, https://archive.org/details/lettersfrompriso00stil/page/1/mode/1up?ref=ol&view=theater.
Taylor, George. Martyrs to the revolution in the British prison-ships in the Wallabout Bay. (New York: W.H Arthur & Co.,1855)
“To George Washington from General William Howe, 23 January 1777,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-08-02-0143. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 8, 6 January 1777 – 27 March 1777, ed. Frank E. Grizzard, Jr. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1998, pp. 137–138.]
