Their patriotism in preferring such
treatment, and even death in its most frightful shapes, to the service
of the British, and fighting against their own country has seldom been
equalled, certainly never excelled, and if there be no monument raised
with hands to commemorate the virtue of those men, it is stamped in
capitals on the heart of every American acquainted with their merit
and sufferings, and will there remain as long as the blood flows from
its fountains."
We have already seen that many of the prisoners on board the Jersey
were impressed into the service of British men-of-war, and that others
voluntarily enlisted for garrison duty in the West Indies. It seems
probable, however, that, as Captain Coffin asserts, few enlisted in
the service to fight against their own countrymen, and those few were
probably actuated by the hope of deserting. It is certain that
thousands preferred death to such a method of escaping from prison, as
is proved by the multitudes of corpses interred in the sand of the
Wallabout, all of whom could, in this way, have saved their
lives. Conditions changed on board the Jersey, from time to
time. Thus, the water supply that was at one time brought by the
schooner Relief from New York, was, at other times, procured from a
beautiful spring on Long Island, as we will see in our next chapter.
Some of the prisoners speak of the foul air on board the prison ship
caused by the fact that all her port holes were closed, and a few
openings cut in her sides, which were insufficient to ventilate
her.
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