The Revolutionary War Years
Conditions were terrible during the winter of 1777 at Valley Forge. The British had just captured Philadelphia, and the Continental Army was struggling to keep itself alive. Lacking food and clothing, the men were dying of exposure and starvation. Certain political leaders – many of them jealous of Washington – began to whisper that the general’s cause was hopeless.
But the men who served under Washington felt differently. Washington was a leader like no other, and he inspired their loyalty.
In today’s “anything goes” culture, intense striving after moral excellence is rare. But it was the reason Washington’s men were willing to sacrifice for him, even when their cause appeared hopeless. Later, Washington’s striving after moral excellence was the reason he was chosen as our first president.
Many soldiers were taken as prisoners of war by the British. General George Washington heard reports of abuse on the prison ships, and in 1777 he wrote to the ranking British officer, General Lord William Howe. He wrote, “You may call us rebels, and say that we deserve no better treatment, but remember, that supposing us rebels, we still have feelings ...”
The terrible conditions faced by prisoners of war during this time are described in the following report from the National Archives. It is a testimony of just how committed Washington’s men were. This account was given by Daniel Lion II, son of the man who fought with Washington:
Daniel Lion II related, “that he frequently and repeatedly heard his father, the said Colonel Daniel Lion I, relate his service in the Revolutionary war, and that he first enlisted (as well as his son now recollected) in Albemarle county, Virginia in the year of 1775 or 1776. That enlistment was under Captain Thomas Holt of one of the Virginia regiments. (The son no longer remembers the number of the regiment his father originally joined nor the name of the commander of the regiment). The son frequently heard his father relate stories of some of the battles which he distinctly yet recollects, to wit, the battle of Brandywine, the battle at Monmouth, the battle at Germantown, and the battle at Long Island (which he said was the hardest and toughest of any). After the 14th Virginia Regiment was split up from General Washington, Daniel Lion I was in the siege of Charleston in South Carolina, where he was taken prisoner by the British and put aboard a dungeon ship about nine months. During that time he never saw land. He was confined in irons while prisoner, and his legs and ankles were made extremely sore by the irons. His son had seen the marks and sores caused by the irons on his father’s legs while a prisoner. One William Westbrook was taken a prisoner by the British at the same time as Daniel Lion I and was confined in the dungeon in irons upon the same vessel. The son frequently heard Westbrook and his father, Colonel Daniel Lion I, relate together the same story about the being taken prisoners at Charleston and about their escape. They described how they made their escape from the British somewhere at or near Quebec in Canada. They were able to escape while the vessel lay near the shore one night because they had the irons taken off their legs on account of the extreme soreness and danger of their wounds becoming mortal. They returned home together to Albemarle County, Virginia about the year 1782. The son repeatedly heard the said Colonel Daniel Lion I and Westbrook speak of their services and sufferings in the war and say that they had been massmates together while in the service. At the time of this writing, Westbrook has been dead a number of years; he died in Virginia. The son heard Colonel Daniel Lion I say often that he had seen two horses shot dead from under General Washington during battle.”
Colonel David Lion I was one of the first prisoners of war of the United States, living in dreadful conditions of starvation, disease, and death. Nights were especially bad. Lion would fall asleep thinking of the vision he had seen with General Washington. He saw the coming of a new, free country in angelic and heavenly dreams. To get through the night, he shared the prayer that General Washington had given him with William Westbrook, who was chained to the same mast. “Oh, eternal and everlasting God, direct my thoughts, words and work. Wash away my sins in the immaculate blood of the Lamb and purge my heart by thy Holy Spirit. Daily, frame me more and more in the likeness of thy son, Jesus Christ, that living in thy fear, and dying in thy favor, I may in thy appointed time obtain the resurrection of the justified unto eternal life. Bless, O Lord, the whole race of mankind and let the world be filled with the knowledge of thee and thy son, Jesus Christ.”
Days aboard the prison ship, the Esk, were not much better than nights. The men were confined in three-foot cages much of the time. Colonel Daniel Lion I shared moldy bread and foul water with William Westbrooke. Thousands died of disease and malnutrition; the conditions were inhumane. Epidemics that could have been stopped by good nutrition emptied the prison ships by death. “Turn out your dead,” the jailers would yell each day on the rounds of the prison ships.
The prisoners looked sickly and ghastly. Some cursed the day they were born and the God above. Others would pray the “Our Father” until they became delirious. At times like these, Colonel Daniel Lion I had visions of his descendents walking in a new America, free of British oppression.
The British offered the American prisoners a way to esc