Jersey prison-ship,
One of the prisons used by the
British at New York during a part of the
Revolutionary War. Nothing could exceed the horrors of these crowded prisons.
The sugar-houses of New York being large, were used for the purpose, and therein scores suffered and died.
But the most terrible scenes occurred on board several old hulks, which
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The Jersey prison-ship. |
were anchored in the waters around New York, and used for prisoners.
Of them the
Jersey was the most notorious for the sufferings it contained, and the brutality of its officers.
From these vessels, anchored near the present navy-yard at
Brooklyn, almost 11,000 victims were carried ashore during the war, and buried in shallow graves in the sand.
Their remains were gathered in 1808 and put in a vault situated near the termination
[
140]
of Front Street and Hudson Avenue,
Brooklyn.
