But he keenly felt the
injustice of exchanging sound, healthy, British soldiers, for starved
and dying wretches, for the most part unable even to reach their
homes. In a letter written by him on the 28th of May, 1777, to General
Howe, he declared that a great proportion of prisoners sent out by the
British were not fit subjects for exchange, and that, being made so
unfit by the severity of their treatment, a deduction should be
made. It is needless to say that the British General refused this
proposition.
On the 10th of June, 1777, Washington, in a long letter to General
Howe, states that he gave clothing to the British prisoners in his
care. He also declares that he was not informed of the sufferings of
the Americans in New York until too late, and that he was refused
permission to establish an agency in that city to purchase what was
necessary to supply the wants of the prisoners.
It was not until after the battle of Trenton that anything could be
done to relieve these poor men. Washington, by his heroism, when he
led his little band across the half frozen Delaware, saved the lives
of the small remnant of prisoners in New York. After the battle he had
so many British and Hessian prisoners in his power, that he was able
to impress upon the British general the fact that American prisoners
were too valuable to be murdered outright, and that it was more
expedient to keep them alive for purposes of exchange.
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