As He Prepares for the First Formal American Inspection of Its Prisoners of War in New York, Elias Boudinot, Washington’s Commissary General of Prisoners, Sets Prisoner Exchange Policy of the Continental Army

In a detailed and unpublished letter, he writes his deputy, accusing the British of treachery: “I have sent to General Howe a proposal for exchanging all the officers in our hands on parole…Congress have discontinued all allowance to them of every kind, unless they are close confined & then only a common ration. They are not to be allowed either horse or carriage, but at their own expense, and if they do not satisfy their landlords of the certainty of payment for their board, they are to be confined... This is severe, but is precisely on the plan, the enemy have marked out in the treatment of our prisoners, and my orders from Congress are to follow them exactly in every step."

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Boudinot sends word of the capture of a valuable British vessel to General Washington, then camped at Valley Forge, by way of the Mersereau spy ring

 

Letters relating to the establishment of the first American POW agency are very rare, this being our first ever

The number of Americans taken prisoner...

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As He Prepares for the First Formal American Inspection of Its Prisoners of War in New York, Elias Boudinot, Washington’s Commissary General of Prisoners, Sets Prisoner Exchange Policy of the Continental Army

In a detailed and unpublished letter, he writes his deputy, accusing the British of treachery: “I have sent to General Howe a proposal for exchanging all the officers in our hands on parole…Congress have discontinued all allowance to them of every kind, unless they are close confined & then only a common ration. They are not to be allowed either horse or carriage, but at their own expense, and if they do not satisfy their landlords of the certainty of payment for their board, they are to be confined... This is severe, but is precisely on the plan, the enemy have marked out in the treatment of our prisoners, and my orders from Congress are to follow them exactly in every step."

Boudinot sends word of the capture of a valuable British vessel to General Washington, then camped at Valley Forge, by way of the Mersereau spy ring

 

Letters relating to the establishment of the first American POW agency are very rare, this being our first ever

The number of Americans taken prisoner during the American Revolution was about 20,000, with half that amount dying in captivity. The harsh treatment of Americans taken by the British began after the Battle of Bunker Hill when twenty Americans out of the thirty-one taken captive were reported to have died in prison. The Continental Congress at first took no formal action to deal with the problem of prisoners, whether in American or British hands. On December 3, 1776, Gen. William Howe reported that during the New York and New Jersey campaigns the British captured 4,430 American troops. He noted that he released about 2,000 enlisted men, mainly militia, telling them to return to their homes. This still left him with 2,000 prisoners, to be held in what was an already overcrowded New York City. With no special prisoner of war camps, the prisoners were held in local jails, various warehouses, particularly sugarhouses, churches, and most infamously, the prison ships. According to British custom, prisoners of war were allotted two-thirds the daily ration of a British soldier. The British did not feel responsible for supplying prisoners with any amenities such as clothing, bedding, or firewood; these were to be provided by their own countrymen.

At that point Gen. George Washington called upon Congress to set up a centralized authority to deal with the handling of prisoners of war. On December 27, 1776, Congress authorized the establishment of the post of Commissary General of Prisoners. On April 1, 1777, from his Morristown, New Jersey Headquarters, Washington wrote Elias Boudinot, saying “Sir, I am authorized by Congress to appoint a Commissary of Prisoners”, and asking him to take the post. At first Boudinot turned down the offer. But Washington retorted with an impassioned plea: “That if men of character and influence would not come forward and join him in his exertions, all would be lost.” Boudinot then relented and became the Continental Army’s first Commissary General of Prisoners.

Boudinot had been elected to the New Jersey provincial assembly in 1775. In the early stages of the Revolutionary War, he was active in promoting enlistment; several times he loaned money to field commanders to purchase supplies. In 1777 Boudinot was commissioned as a colonel to take his post as Commissary General of Prisoners, and as commissary managed enemy prisoners, in addition to being responsible for supplying American prisoners who were held by the British. He served until July 1778, when he resigned to assume a seat in Congress. From 1782-3 he was President of Congress, the seat John Hancock had held. In that capacity, on April 15, 1783, he signed the Preliminary Articles of Peace that ended the American Revolution.

As Boudinot knew, the success of his efforts as Commissary General of Prisoners would be based on the principle of reciprocity, which would require his office to have at least some control over the British and Hessian prisoners of war in American hands. He expressed great disappointment that between all the branches and levels of revolutionary government, “no clear chain of authority was outlined.” Congress, its Board of War, individual states, local committees, and General Washington all issued orders to him or gave him directions. On April 29, 1777, for instance, Richard Peters from the Board of War wrote to Boudinot that “by the Constitution of the Board of War Prisoners are put under their Direction.” Boudinot, Peters continued, would “no Doubt think it proper to consult [the Board of War] on Occasions of Importance.”

But Boudinot pressed on in his important work. By January 1778, he had managed to appoint a number of American deputies in various places where British and German prisoners of war were held. His deputy in Massachusetts was Joshua Mersereau; at Albany, New York, Daniel Hale; at Fishkill, New York, John Adam; at Easton, Pennsylvania, Robert E. Hooper; at Reading, Pennsylvania, Henry Haller; at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, William A. Atlee; at York, Pennsylvania Thomas Peters; at Winchester, Virginia, Joseph Holmes; and in Connecticut, Ezekiel Williams, who handled financing matters for Connecticut’s soldiery. With the assistance of these men, Boudinot pursued his assigned task of putting together the first ever American prisoner of war effort.

Autograph letter signed, 3 long pages, Baskingridge (NJ), January 16, 1778, to Ezekiel Williams, lamenting the state of affairs and weakness of his situation, striving to put together an organization and set policy, and accusing the British of treachery. “Your favor of the 4th instant was just brought to me from camp, being engaged here on a little business. I am much surprised at your being yet without my letter of the 1st December, copy of which is enclosed, and which was sent I think by post. I hope you have received it ere this, especially as I have heard that General Prescott is arrived in New York. [British General Richard Prescott and American General Charles Lee, both prisoners of war, would be exchanged soon after]. I did not wonder that you did not fully comprehend my last letter, without reading the one last referred to. My design is that you should send in by New York all the British officers you had in your care, they first signing the Parole & paying up all arrears etc. This I hope is already done, if not, the sooner the better

“I have sent to General Howe a proposal for exchanging all the officers in our hands on parole, as he will not by any means agree to an absolute exchange. I expected an answer long ago, but am yet expecting of it, and if agreed to, shall then send in the other levies, with every other officer that remains behind. As to Col. Barton’s [British Colonel Joseph Barton] request, he is by no means entitled to anything beyond the common treatment of a prisoner of war, and must not be allowed any further indulgence. If General Howe admits of his exchange, he will then be immediately sent in.

“I have wrote to you lately, and beg now to repeat it, not to admit any exchanges without letting me know of them, as the utmost confusion must otherwise ensue, as the instance you mention will fully evince – Capt. Keating being the second captain now given for Captain Trowbridge. It is now upwards of four months since a Capt. Frazier was sent in as an exchange for Capt. Trowbridge, and till lately I thought he [Trowbridge] was at home with his family, but now by this artifice the enemy have got two for one. Also I am informed that a lieutenant has now been sent in for a Mr. Callender who was only a cadet in our service. This conduct of partial exchange has never been used but by the Eastern states, which has given very just cause of heavy complaints in the Army and must not be allowed hereafter by any means.

“I have received the accounts of disbursements etc. but have not leisure yet to examine them. You will be careful not to advance any money to [British] officers on the public account, as the Congress have discontinued all allowance to them of every kind, unless they are close confined & then only a common ration. They are not to be allowed either horse or carriage, but at their own expense, and if they do not satisfy their landlords of the certainty of payment for their board, they are to be confined… This is severe, but is precisely on the plan, the enemy have marked out in the treatment of our prisoners, and my orders from Congress are to follow them exactly in every step. As to [British] Lieut. Bloxham, you must not suffer him to be exchanged till he pays you all he owes, and if he does not observe your directions with good exactness, keep him continually locked up.

“As soon as I return to camp…to York Town [Congress was then seated in York, Pa.] for orders on your loan office in your favor. If you have an opportunity to write me within the week, direct to be left at this place, within about 7 miles of Morristown, New Jersey. We have taken several vessels lately in the Delaware by the help of the ice, one of which was very valuable. Although it did not contain what is published in our newspapers, yet it was well worth the capture – about 800 hand of arms, 400 tents, 50 marques [casks of port], 200 trunks of officers’ best baggage, 20 pork saddles, rum, wine, etc. & 62 soldiers & sailors with two officers. If you can forward Mr. Mersereau the letter sent herewith you will much oblige me.” The copies of other letters he mentions are not present, but are noted on the address leaf, which is free franked by Boudinot.

On January 20, Boudinot heard from General Henry Clinton in New York, permitting him to visit the Americans imprisoned there, a trip he made at the beginning of February. When General Howe moved his headquarters to Philadelphia. Gen. Clinton was left with command of the British and Hessian troops stationed in New York. He gave permission for Boudinot to enter New York City and meet American prisoners without restriction. From February 3 to February 17, 1778, the American commissary of prisoners visited and interviewed prisoners of war. The first person he met with was Gen. Charles Lee, who had been held since December 1776; Lee was living in a private residence in the city and negotiations were underway for his exchange.

Boudinot’s job was a thankless one. When he resigned from his post, his resignation letter included a scathing critique of the Board of War. Because he never had enough prisoners of war under his supervision, Boudinot wrote angrily, he experienced numerous problems when negotiating exchanges with the British. He wrote that the Board of War, Congress, the states, and local communities exchanged captives on their own or hired them out as prisoner laborers. Boudinot simply did not have enough leverage to press his demands with the British.

Letters relating to the establishment of the first American POW agency are very rare. This appears to be unpublished.

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