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Old 03-07-2004, 07:17 AM
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revwardoc revwardoc is offline
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The British had some mastless prison ships in NY harbor during the war. American prisoners (enlisted men) were stuffed into the hold and not allowed to come up on deck for exercise or fresh air. They had to urinate and defecate over the side and, since the ship was anchored, the foul water was only washed away with the tides. They were given small cast iron pots (1 for every 10 men) to cook whatever rancid meat they were given and it had to be cooked in salt water since they weren't given any fresh water for cooking. And the only salt water they could get was the aforementioned water covered with feces. Occaisionally, locals would row out to the ships and donate or sell fresh food to the prisoners. Thousands died under those conditions.

In many parts of America, the Revolution took on aspects of a Civil War in that families and neighbors of seperate alligences fought against one another out of revenge, greed, spite, or whatever excuse they could find to get some land or possessions. There was a story of a woman down south who was found tied to a tree and her unborn infant had been cut out of her, hung upside down to the tree and a note attached to it saying, "This bastard will never grow up to be a rebel." The Hessians were noted for their lack of compassion to surrendering troops and there are several accounts of them bayoneting Americans asking for quarter. The most famous account was after the Battle of Camden when Banistre "Bloody Ban" Tarleton had his men slaughter surrendering American troops. The ironic thing about that was Tarleton's troops weren't British, but American loyalists who gladly slaughtered their own people.

And a young Andrew Jackson took a sword swipe across the head from a Brit officer when Andy refused to clean the man's boots.
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