[Forton Prison, Portsmouth, July 1778]
Friday 24th, Rainy weather this week past, Last Night 10 of our Officers made their escape by cutting a hole through their Chamber floor into the black hole and have got off clear and have not been heard of since they were as follows Capt. Hinman, Capt. Dannis, Capt. Murphy, Capt. Chew, Capt. Slacomb, Dr. Burns, Mr. Wailland, Mr. Lagear, Mr. Tryon, Mess. Bubotrong, a French Gentleman1 it was not made known till five o’Clock this afternoon when strick search was made after them but to no effect.
D, DLC, Forton Prison, England, American Prisoner’s Journal, 1777–79, collection 2272.
1. Capt. Elisha Hinman of Continental Navy ship Alfred; Capt. William Davis of Massachusetts privateer brigantine Angelica; Capt. John Murfey [Murphy] of Rhode Island letter of marque sloop Swallow; Lt. Benjamin Chew of Maryland letter of marque brig Sturdy Beggar; Prize Master Gabriel Slacomb of Sturdy Beggar; Dr. Thomas Burns of Angelica; Midn. Benjamin Whaland of Sturdy Beggar; Lt. Edward Leger of Maryland armed ship Hornet; Lt. William Tryon of South Carolina Navy brigantine Notre Dame; René-Etienne Henry Vic Gaiault de Boisbertrand, a former French cavalry officer who had gone to America seeking a colonelcy in the Continental Army. Boisbertrand had been captured with Maj. Gen. Charles Lee in December 1776. See Boisbertrand to the American Commissioners in France, 5 September 1778, Benjamin Franklin Papers, vol. 27: 356–57. There is an account of the break-out of “Thirteen” officers in the Gentleman’s Magazine for 1778, which states that on the same day as their escape “there was a mutiny in the hospital, which was so serious that the militia who were encamped near Wevil Brewhouse were ordered to lie on their arms all night.” Gentleman’s Magazine, p. 332.
