"
_The Constitutional Gazette_ for the 19th of April, 1776, has
this announcement, and though it does not bear directly on the subject
of prisoners, it describes a set of men who were most active in taking
them, and were considered by the Americans as more cruel and
vindictive than even the British themselves.
"Government have sent over to Germany to engage 1,000 men called
Jagers, people brought up to the use of the rifle barrel guns in
boar-hunting. They are amazingly expert. Every petty prince who hath
forests keeps a number of them, and they are allowed to take
apprentices, by which means they are a numerous body of people. These
men are intended to act in the next campaign in America, and our
ministry plume themselves much in the thought of their being a
complete match for the American riflemen."
From Gaine's _Mercury_, a notorious Tory paper published in New
York during the British occupancy, we take the following: "November
25th, 1776. There are now 5,000 prisoners in town, many of them half
naked. Congress deserts the poor wretches,--have sent them neither
provisions nor clothing, nor paid attention to their distress nor that
of their families. Their situation must have been doubly deplorable,
but for the humanity of the King's officers. Every possible attention
has been given, considering their great numbers and necessary
confinement, to alleviate their distress arising from guilt, sickness,
and poverty.
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