PRISONERS OF WAR
Floating Dungeons

Thousands of prisoners were packed into the hulls of British ships off the shores of New York. Over 1200 prisoners cramped below each deck suffered through stench, malnutrition, starvation and disease. Smallpox and yellow fever raged in these dungeons of horror. According to an eyewitness, the floors were covered with human filth and the bones of the dead. An estimated 8,500 to 11,000 Americans died as POWs - at least one-half of the 18,000 who had been captured. American officers were more fortunate, often exchanged for captured British officers.