Econlib

The Library

Other Sites

 Front Page arrow Titles (by Subject) arrow TO LIEUTENANT-GENERAL HOWE. - The Writings of George Washington, vol. V (1776-1777)

Return to Title Page for The Writings of George Washington, vol. V (1776-1777)

Search this Title:

Also in the Library:

Subject Area: Political Theory
Subject Area: War and Peace
Topic: The American Revolution and Constitution

TO LIEUTENANT-GENERAL HOWE. - George Washington, The Writings of George Washington, vol. V (1776-1777) [1890]

Edition used:

The Writings of George Washington, collected and edited by Worthington Chauncey Ford (New York and London: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1890). Vol. V (1776-1777).

Part of: The Writings of George Washington, 14 vols.

About Liberty Fund:

Liberty Fund, Inc. is a private, educational foundation established to encourage the study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals.


TO LIEUTENANT-GENERAL HOWE.

Head-Quarters,Morristown, 13 January, 1777.

Sir,

I am directed by Congress to propose an exchange of five of the Hessian field-officers, taken at Trenton, for Major-General Lee; or, if this proposal should not be acceded to, to demand his liberty upon parole, within certain bounds, as has ever been granted to your officers in our custody. I am informed, from good authority, that your reason for keeping him hitherto in stricter confinement than usual is, that you do not look upon him in the light of a common prisoner of war, but as a deserter from the British service, as his resignation was never accepted of and that you intend to try him by a court-martial as such. I will not undertake to determine how far this doctrine may be justifiable among yourselves, but I must give you warning, that Major-General Lee is looked upon as an officer belonging to, and under the protection of, the United Independent States of America, and that any violence which you may commit upon his life or liberty, will be severely retaliated upon the lives or liberties of the British officers, or those of their foreign allies, at present in our hands.1

I am sorry, that I am again under the necessity of remonstrating to you upon the treatment, which our prisoners continue to receive in New York. Those, who have lately been sent out, give the most shocking account of their barbarous usage, which their miserable, emaciated countenances confirm. How very different was their appearance from that of your soldiers, who have been lately returned to you, after a captivity of twelve months; and whether this difference in appearance was owing to a difference of treatment, I leave it to you, or any impartial person, to determine. I would beg, that some certain rule of conduct towards prisoners may be settled; if you are determined to make captivity as distressing as possible to those whose lot it is to fall into it, let me know it, that we may be upon equal terms, for your conduct must and shall mark mine.

If a real scarcity of the articles of provisions and fuel, at this inclement season, is the cause that our prisoners are debarred them, common humanity points out a mode, which is, of suffering them to go home under parole, not to serve during the war, or until an equal number are released by us for them. Most of the prisoners, who have returned home, have informed me, that they were offered better treatment, provided they would enlist into your service. This, I believe, is unprecedented; and what, if true, makes it still more unnecessary for me to apologize for the freedom of expression, which I have used throughout this letter. But it would be criminal in me to be silent, were such abuses, when made known to me, left unrepresented by me.1 I am, with due respect, Sir, &c.

[1 ]The above statement, in regard to the character in which the British commander held General Lee, is confirmed by his correspondence with the minister. He wrote to Lord George Germaine, on the 20th of December:—“General Lee, being considered in the light of a deserter, is kept a close prisoner; but I do not bring him to trial, as a doubt has arisen, whether, by a public resignation of his half-pay, prior to his entry into the rebel army, he is still amenable to the military law as a deserter; upon which point I shall wait for information; and if the decision should be for trial on this ground I beg to have the judges’ opinion to lay before the court. Deserters are excluded in my agreement with the enemy for exchange of prisoners.”

To this the minister replied:—As you have difficulties about bringing General Lee to trial in America, it is his Majesty’s pleasure, that you send him to Great Britain by the first ship of war.”

Sir William Howe wrote in answer to this order:—“Washington declines to exchange the Hessian field-officers, taken at Trenton, or Lieutenant-Colonel Campbell, unless Lee is recognised as a prisoner of war. Lee is therefore detained for further instructions, being apprehensive, that the close confinement of the Hessian officers would be the consequence of sending Lee to Britain, and that this would occasion much discontent among the foreign troops.”—Letter, July 8th, 1777.

This measure of caution was approved, and the minister replied:—“His Majesty consents that Lee (having been struck off the half-pay list) shall, though deserving the most exemplary punishment, be deemed as a prisoner of war, and may be exchanged as such, when you may think proper.”—Letter, September 3d.

[1 ]“The inhuman treatment our prisoners met with while in New York is beyond all description. Humanity cannot but drop a tear at sight of the poor, miserable, starved objects. They are mere skeletons, unable to creep or speak in many instances. One vessel lost 27 in her passage from York to Medford, and 7 died the night they were put ashore; and they are dying all along the roads. Most who have got home in the neighboring towns, are taken with the small pox, which undoubtedly was given them by design—all this does not seem to discourage the few surviving ones. They pray that God would only give them health and strength again, and they are determined to have sweet revenge.”—Col. John Chester to Col. Samuel B. Webb, 17 January, 1777.

“Complaints of the usage of the prisoners both in the land and sea service have been the subject of many of my letters to Lord and General Howe, but all the satisfaction or answer that I could ever obtain was that the reports were groundless. However upon the authority of Capt. Gamble’s relation, and the miserable, emaciated countenances of these poor creatures who have lately been released, I shall take the liberty of remonstrating sharply to his Lordship and the General, and let them know in very plain terms, that if their rule of conduct towards our prisoners is not altered, we shall be obliged, however disagreeable it may be, to make retaliation.”—Washington to Committee of Congress, 12 January, 1777.