Officers were insulted and often struck for attempting to afford some
of the miserable privates a small relief. In about three weeks Colonel
Williams was able to walk, and was himself a witness of the sufferings
of his countrymen. He could not describe their misery. Their
constitutions were not equal to the rigor of the treatment they
received and the consequence was the death of many hundreds. The
officers were not allowed to take muster-rolls, nor even to visit their
men, so that it was impossible to ascertain the numbers that perished;
but from frequent reports and his own observations, he verily believed,
as well as had heard many officers give it as their opinion, that not
less than 1,500 prisoners perished in the course of a few weeks in the
city of New York, and that this dreadful mortality was principally
owing to the want of provisions and extreme cold. If they computed too
largely, it must be ascribed to the shocking brutal manner of treating
the dead bodies, and not to any desire of exaggerating the account of
their sufferings.

When the King's commissary of prisoners intimated to some of the
American officers General Howe's intention of sending the privates home
on parole, they all earnestly desired it, and a paper was signed
expressing that desire; the reason for signing was, they well knew the
effects of a longer confinement, and the great numbers that died when
on parole justified their pretensions to that knowledge. In January
almost all the officers were sent to Long Island on parole, and there
billeted on the inhabitants at $2 per week.

The filth in the churches (in consequence of fluxes) was beyond
description. Seven dead have been seen in one of them at the same time,
lying among the excrements of their bodies. The British soldiers were
full of their low and insulting jokes on those occasions, but less