Forgotten Patriots: The Untold Story of American Prisoners During the Revolutionary War

by Edwin G. Burrows

Book Overview

Between 1775 and 1783, some 200,000 Americans took up arms against the British Crown. Just over 6,800 of those men died in battle. About 25,000 became prisoners of war, most of them confined in New... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0465008356
• ISBN13: 9780465008353
• Release Date: November 2008
• Publisher: Basic Books (AZ)
• Length: 364 Pages
• Weight: 1.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.6" x 9.3"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Time will not forget

The Forgotten Patriots I believe was written at a time when America was being awakened to the horrible fact that American forces engaged in an unlawful war were torturing Afghan "terrorists" in CIA-controlled prisons. I truly wish to thank Doctor Burrows for his scholarly research into the plight of those Americans who made the ultimate sacrifice and who were considered traitors to the British Crown. I also beleive the underlying lesson of what goes around does come around is a very important theme our government officials can learn from.

A Fine Overview of A Neglected Issue

I'm only aware of one other book that's treated the issue of Patriot POWs -- "American Prisoners of the Revolution" by Danske Dandridge (1910). Dandridge's book is fine for a general audience, but it's somewhat sensationalistic and spends much time transcribing and summarizing primary narrative without adding critical analysis. A number of specific assertions have been disproven by later scholarship. Burrows relies much more on reasoned discussion to cull through the lore, pointing out what could not, and what must, be true. He also supplies much-appreciated background discussion of relevant issues, when such wouldn't necessarily be otherwise understood by a general audience. Considering that the prisoner issue was such a large portion of the total American sacrifice, it's a wonder that the issue has been left on the back burner for so long. As a descendant of a Continental officer who spent most of the war as a paroled POW on Long Island, it's an issue of particular interest for me. I'll point out one fault: I believe that the Continental Army's failure to exchange its captured officers was less attributable to the reasons suggested by Burrows, and more to do with a problem universal to wars of all time -- a tendency to blame the vanquished. The few officers captured at Ft Washington (for example) who were quickly released or exchanged, largely found themselves frozen out of further assignments in the Continental Army. I believe the many who languished for years as POWs, did so as scapegoats for the defeats they suffered. I would have welcomed a discussion of this issue by Burrows.

Forgotten History

I have had the pleasure of taking Professor Burrows classes at Brooklyn College so I went into this reading expecting not only his great story-telling but a book of thorough research and high calibre and I was not disappointed. As a historian (and veteran) I had some knowledge of the subject but once I read this book I realized how much more there was to learn. The treatment that our prisoners received was nothing short of attrocious--there truly are no words to describe it--and I am suprised that we don't make the British continue to pay for the atrocities. That aside, today's youth would learn a very valuable lesson about how prisoners are treated in comparison to the current Iraq/Afghanistan situation. It may make many people realized that we treat prisoners of war as if they are living in high-class hotels with every amenity. Congratulations to Professor Burrows. Another great book.

Excellent Work on an Overlooked and Forgotten Subject

This is a book displaying the best in American historical scholarship! Frankly I have been put off lately by political tomes revising American history to support some agenda -- usually Marxist -- and "proving" that the United States is not the shining light among nations that so many of us believe it is. Yes, our history is studded with evil acts and misguided policies, but eventually the will of a free and democratic people re-asserts itself time and time again in the face of specious propaganda, feckless politicians, and unbridled greed. But I digress.... (I read another book touted by Eric Foner this week.) Author Burrows deserves the highest praise for this book. Most often the Revolutionary War is dismissed as one with relatively few casualties since the "official" killed in action number is only 4,435, a number that woefully understates the sacrifice in the war. Burrows gives 6,824 based on recent scholarship, but that number still misses the some forty percent of the wounded that later died from their wounds. The official number for wounded is 6,188, but since the wounded to killed ratio was likely around five to one, the wounded was more likely 20,000 of whom probably 8,000 died of their wounds and were permanently lost to the Continental Army and patriot cause. The author estimates that up to 32,000 American prisoners were held around New York at some point during the war of which up to 18,000 died in captivity. But those released or exchanged were greatly enfeebled and often died within a few months after release. Combining these estimates with those deaths in captivity elsewhere by the British and adding the deaths from sickness while in service estimated at 10,000, and one arrives at deaths from all causes to be over 40,000. Out of a white male population over sixteen estimated at 551,000 of which somewhat more than a third were patriots (say 200,000), then approximately one in five patriots gave his life for his country. Wow, and double wow! If those numbers seem high, then read Burrow's book. In any case, rebellion was truly a serious business. Most of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were improverished or worse as a result of their actions and the war, and the ordinary patriots also paid a very high price for independence. (I need not even think about the willingness of Americans today to make such sacrifices.) In my Great-great-great-grandfather's company that went with Arnold to Quebec in 1775, only 37% returned, and some of those were enfeebled for life (notably John Joseph Henry.) Getting into the meat of the author's work, he focuses on the imprisonment of thousands of patriots in and around New York City, in the Sugar House on Manhattan, and in the prison hulks of the Royal Navy. He makes supurb use of contemporaneous sources and accounts, mostly highly credible and descriptive. These accounts have been submerged on purpose by politicians who sought a rapprochement with Gre