[Mill Prison, Plymouth]
February 1. Sunday [1778]. Last evening, between seven and nine o'clock, five of the officers in a separate prison, who had agreed with the sentry to let them go, made their escape and took two sentries with them. The five officers were Captain Henry Johnston,1 Captain Eleazer Johnston,2 Offin Boardman, Samuel Treadwell and one Mr. Deal.3 Captain Henry Johnston having several suits of good clothes, he gave each sentry one, which they put on, and left their regimentals at their posts, with their firelocks, and made off; they were soon discovered by the guard, and pursued, but not taken.
Charles Herbert, A Relic of the Revolution (Boston, 1847), 94.
1. Capt. Henry Johnson, Continental Navy.
2. Eleazer Johnson, Jr., captain of Massachusetts privateer brig Dalton.
3. Master's Mate Richard Dale, Continental Navy.
