Newport Rhode Island July 2d. 1778
Sir
The Commanding Officer of his Majestys Fleet here;1 having seen Your Letter of the 30th of June addressed to General Pigot,2 respecting the Exchange of several Seamen that are Prisoners at Rhode Island: I am Directed to acquaint You that the Prisoners you request in lieu of those You have at Providence being Men belonging to the New England Provinces; I am not at liberty to make an Exchange for them, having received Orders from the Right Honorable the Viscount Howe not to Release any Prisoners that come within that Discription till proper Restitution is made for the Number of Men that were released in the Royal Bounty a Cartel Ship, that was forcibly carried into Marblehead;3 as well as for the Ship, Furniture, & Stores &ca. With respect to Mr: Joseph Handy,4 I am ready to release him so soon as you are pleased to send Me a Person of equal for him—I have the Honor to be [&c.]
Chas: Waller Commissary of Prisoners
L, Nh-Ar, Meshech Weare Papers, vol. V, fol. 56. Addressed below close: “Majr: Genl: Sullivan/Providence—}." On 4 July Sullivan notified Ellis Gray, member of the Massachusetts Board of War, of the contents of Waller's letter. Ibid., fol. 60.
1. Capt. John Brisbane, commanding H.M. frigate Flora.
2. Maj. Gen. Sir Robert Pigot, commanding British Army at Newport.
3. For more on the prisoners' seizure of cartel ship Royal Bounty, see Charles Waller to Governor Nicholas Cooke, 24 Jan. 1778, NDAR 11: 200, The Continental Journal, and Weekly Advertiser (Boston), 29 Jan. 1778, NDAR 11: 229; and Jeremiah Powell to Vice Admiral Viscount Howe, 16 July 1778, below.
4. Capt. Joseph Handy, commanding Maryland privateer schooner Buckskin. DNA, PCC, item 196, vol. 2, p. 56. The privateer was captured on 25 Dec. 1776 by H.M. frigate Galatea and may have later sunk. Its crew appears to have been lodged temporarily in Bermuda. For more on this capture, see Journal of H.M.S. Galatea, 25 Dec. 1776, NDAR 7: 597; Henry Tucker to St. George Tucker, 13 Jan. 1777, NDAR 7: 948-49.
