There are a few interesting articles of note in the latest editions of the magazines published by the "Sons of the American Revolution" and the "Daughters of the American Revolution." The "SAR" publication has a well documented and fascinating article about the swords of George Washington. There is also a very informative piece which details the battles that continued even after the British defeat at Yorktown in October of 1781. In August and September of 1782 battles were fought in Kentucky, Tennessee and in what is now West Virginia. The battles are considered to be "the last battles" of the Revolutionary War. The "Daughters of the American Revolution" publishes "American Spirit" magazine. The March/April 2007 issue has an article about the prison ships in New York. The conditions in which more than 11,000 Americans were held were appalling. Many firsthand accounts are used throughout the article and it also details The Prison Ship Martyrs' Monument in Brooklyn's Fort Greene Park. The remains of the prisoners who lost their lives on the ships were placed in a brick crypt at the site. Recently, the New York City Parks and Recreation Department has funded a restoration project and the monument is supposed to be rededicated in 2008. If you are interested in learning more about the "Fort Greene Park Conservancy" visit their website: www.fortgreenepark.org Both magazines are very interesting to those who want to learn more about the Revolutionary War. You do not need to be a member of either organization to subscribe. I highly recommend both publications. Regards, Pamela Jo
Thanks so much for that info. A couple years ago I searched both the New York Public Library and Libvrary of Congress's catalogs for books on the American prisoner experience during the war. I was surprised at how scanty the results were. I assumed there had to be at least one "classic" 20th-century-or-later monograph on the subject, but I couldn't find one. Maybe the search terms I used were too narrow. Another article, which I found just yesterday, is "British Prison Ships: A Season in Hell," by James E. Held (Military History, November 2006). Held recommends the following books for further reading: American Maritime Prisoners in the Revolutionary War, by Francis D. Cogliano; American Prisoners of the Revolution, by Danske Dandridge; and History of the Prison Ship Martyrs, by Henry Onderdonk.
