The British Prison Ship

Although all American students study the American Revolutionary War at some point during their studies, little attention is given to British prison ships. British prison ships were one of the most brutal and also most overlooked aspects of the war. The British used abandoned and decommissioned ships to hold prisoners of war, who were kept in shackles, given barely any water, fed foul and rotten food, and left to die. Over 11,000 American colonials died aboard British prison ships—more than those who actually died in the armed forces over the entire course of the war. Recounting his own time held captive aboard the Scorpion, American poet Philip Freneau details how he almost died as a prisoner of war in his 1781 epic poem 'The British Prison Ship'.

'The British Prison Ship' by Philip Freneau: historical context

Although relatively unknown in the 21st century, Philip Freneau is considered "the poet of the American Revolution" for his political poetry that satirized British influence in the colonies and depicted the harsh reality of war against an oppressive mother country.

Freneau was directly involved in fighting the British during the American Revolutionary War. In 1778, he joined New Jersey's militia and served as seas captain on a privateer ship. His ship was captured by British forces, and Freneau was held as a prisoner of war on the Scorpion, one of the most notorious British prison ships of the war, for 6 weeks. The conditions on the ship were deplorable: the air was foul, sickness spread quickly, and the British overseers treated their prisoners inhumanely. After falling extremely ill, Freneau almost died in captivity. He recorded the entire ordeal in his long poem 'The British Prison Ship' (1781), composed of several cantos.

Fig. 1 - Freneau was held as a prisoner of war during the American Revolutionary War, which served as the inspiration behind The British Prison Ship.

British prison ships were notorious in the New York Harbor from 1776 to 1783. British forces occupying New York City used decommissioned and abandoned ships to imprison soldiers and private citizens that they had captured in battle. The British did not consider American colonials prisoners of war until 1781; instead, they were considered terrorists. Over 11,000 prisoners died on the ships from disease, malnutrition, and inhumane treatment. In contrast, historians estimate that only 6,800 Americans in the armed forces were killed in combat over the course of the Revolutionary War.

The poem ends abruptly before the speaker's release from the prison ship, calling on future generations of Americans to remember and honor the patriotic cause and the prisoners of war. In reality, Freneau was released on July 12, 1780, and he returned home to New Jersey where he continued to write satiric pieces promoting the war for American independence.

'The British Prison Ship' text excerpts

'The British Prison Ship' summary

The poem is made up of three+ cantos (depending on the edition): The first canto depicts the capture of Freneau's ship, The Aurora. The second one focuses on captivity aboard the prison ship, and the third one centers around life on a hospital ship, after the speaker falls ill.

The poem starts off on a peaceful morning as the sun rises and the speaker's ship, the Aurora, is sailing down the Delaware Bay towards the West Indies. The tone of the poem is light and pleasant, and the speaker is excited to get to the West Indies where "endless summer reigns" (Canto I). The calm is quickly broken, however, when the Aurora and the British ship the Iris set sight on one another. The Aurora attempts to flee while the Iris gives chase. The Aurora attempted to get to land, but the Iris was too fast and quickly gained on the speaker's ship. Realizing they couldn't outrun the Iris, the crew on the Aurora prayed and attempted to fight back.

The Iris began firing cannons at the Aurora and the crew on the Aurora attempted to fight back. The Iris was much better equipped and killed the captain of the Aurora before capturing the ship. Everyone aboard the Aurora is taken as a prisoner of war and transferred to the Scorpion. The American colonials quickly learn that death would have been a better fate than being sentenced to a prison ship.

The conditions on the ship are abysmal as the prisoners are shackled, starved, given foul food, and tormented by their captors. Death runs rampant through the prison ship. One day bleeds into the next with no hope or relents to the suffering. There is an unsuccessful escape attempt and sickness spreads through the ship.

The speaker is transferred to a hospital ship, where conditions are not any better. The foreign doctor is incompetent, using treatments that don't work and poisoning the sick. At least three Americans die a day, and the other prisoners have to bury them onshore. The poem ends with the speaker imploring future Americans to remember the prisoners of war who fought for freedom and were tortured and killed because of it.

Fig. 2 - After falling ill and nearly dying on the prison ship, the speaker is transferred to a hospital ship.

'The British Prison Ship' literary devices and analysis

The speaker employs many literary devices in order to convey the suffering of the prisoners and the inhumanity of the British who held them captive. Allusion, personification, and figurative language work together to create a dichotomy between the American prisoners and their captors.

Allusion

The speaker makes several allusions to Greek and Roman mythology throughout the poem.

Although Christianity was the dominant religion in Britain and the American colonies during Freneau's time, Freneau himself became increasingly distant from organized Christianity over the course of his life. Scholars now consider Freneau a deist, meaning he believed human reason, not divine revelation, was the provider of religious truth. Deists rejected organized religion taught in churches. His speaker relying on Greek/Roman gods and mythology throughout his hellish experience on the prison ship, as opposed to Christianity, could depict that Freneau's own faith was brought into question as he experienced the horrors of war. The first line of the poem starts with an allusion:

In Greek mythology, Clio is the muse of history. As the daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne (the goddess of memory), Clio is one of the nine muses. Her symbols are scrolls and books. The speaker goes on to invoke Phœbus, also known as Apollo, the Greek God of archery, truth and prophecy, the Sun, and more. He uses the allusion to Phœbus to introduce the ship he was captured on, named Aurora:

Aurora is also the name of the goddess of dawn in Roman mythology. The allusions, coupled with the imagery of the peaceful morning, help to situate the poem and create a juxtaposition between the violent capture that the Aurora and her passengers are about to experience and the calm of the morning.

In Canto II, the speaker's allusions shift towards tragic characters, employing both mythology and Shakespeare. The speaker laments,

There are various stories in Greek mythology surrounding Orestes. Mostly known for his madness and purification, Orestes killed his mother to avenge his father's death. In Hamlet (1603) Shakespeare's Ophelia, similarly went mad after her father's death and drowned to death.

The speaker also compares the hellish experience on the prison ship to Pandora's box: "Heat, sickness, famine, death, and stagnant air— / Pandora's box, from whence all mischief flew, / Here real found, torments mankind anew!—" (Canto II). The allusion serves to depict that reality on the prison ship was a curse devoid of any hope.

The use of tragic allusions to depict the horrors of being a British prisoner continues in the third canto, when the speaker is transferred to a hospital ship after becoming extremely ill. Although he hoped that conditions would be better on the new ship, they were still horrid:

The allusions here build off of the feelings of despair introduced in the second canto. Autolycus, Orestes, and Alcander were all heroes in Greek/Roman myth. But none of their skills or strength would matter on the hospital ship where everyone wastes away. The speaker then compares the ship to a polar world, a dessert, and a volcano, stating that just like nothing can survive in those states, nothing can live aboard the prison ships. Finally, the speaker uses an allusion to Pluto, the Roman god of the underworld, to depict that the doctor in charge of the hospital ship was incompetent and killed many of his patients.

Fig. 3 - The speaker says the doctor on the hospital ship sends his patients to Pluto's realm in the Underworld.

Personification

Personification is mostly used to describe how everything, even the nonliving things, on the British prison ships helped the British contribute to the prisoners' torture.

The physical ships themselves seemed to house suffering and death:

And the prisoner's own bodies conspired against them as they suffered extreme dehydration and starvation:

Heat, hunger, and thirst become antagonistic forces that help the British prepare their victims for death. They actively "join" in on the torment and "fit him for the shades"—death. Personification also showcases how things that were once an active source of comfort and joy are now meaningless and indifferent.

The sun had been a positive force just weeks ago, as the speaker compared it to mythical, powerful gods. Now, the sun has no effect on the prisoners; instead, they are in a constant state of distress.

Rhetorical Question

A rhetorical question is used to show that there is no hope for the prisoners or chance for things to get better.

The speaker reflects:

The speaker implicitly compares the prisoners' situation on the British ship to the conflicts presented in his rhetorical questions. He claims nothing can grow or even survive in these conditions, just as the American colonials cannot withstand the prison ship. By asking rhetorical questions, the speaker is able to emphasize just how dire his situation is by bringing to mind images of barren deserts, volcanoes, and lifeless regions.

Fig. 4 - The speaker compares life on the prison ship to the desert, where nothing can survive.

Figure of Speech

The speaker also uses figures of speech to position the British as unmerciful, violent brutes.

He said that the prisoners pleaded to the naval officer of the ship for better conditions, but he was indifferent to their suffering:

Figurative language is used here to say that the British officer wanted the prisoners dead and believed that all rebels in the colonies should be put to death. This was actually a common belief among British officers during the war. Instead of prisoners of war, American captives were considered terrorists of Britain until 1781. Many thought that all American soldiers should be put to death because, in the eyes of the British, they were fighting against their own country.

Figurative language extends to all of the Brits, who "pant to stain the world with gore" (Canto III). This example shows that the speaker believes the British are obsessed with bloodshed and violence. It strips them of their humanity, and depicts them as rabid animals who are excited about inflicting pain and suffering.

Alliteration

Alliteration serves to create the heavy tone of the poem.

This starts early on in Canto I with the repetition of the "D" sound in "dismal day." "D" is a plosive sound, creating a harsh, heavy effect that contributes to the foreboding feeling of what's to come aboard the prison ship.

This is continued in Canto II with the repetition of the plosive "P" sound in "Prison Ships where pain and horror dwell." "P" is plosive, meaning like "D" it is made by creating a sudden burst of air. This leads to it sounding heavy and powerful. The same effect is created with the "D" in "deadly dose," (Canto II) the "G" in "no groves nor grassy," (Canto II) and the "B" in "best blood" (Canto III).

Consonance

Similarly, consonance is used to create the pained undertones of the poem, full of suffering.

Consider the repetition of the "L" sound in Canto I: "In sickly hulks, devoted while we lay." It makes the line sound mournful, like a lament. And the repetition of the soft "N" sound in "found, torments mankind anew" (Canto II) reinforces the idea that the prisoners have given up on hope and have resigned themselves to their own suffering. Consonance catches the reader's eye and makes them pay more attention to the language being used in the poem, slowing down the reading process just like mourning slows down one's life because it's a painful and slow process. While the alliteration is harsh and reflects the Brits' violent actions, the consonance is soft and mournful, reflecting the prisoners' emotions.

Simile

Simile is rare in the poem, but, like figurative language, depicts how the speaker viewed the British as evil.

He compares the moral state of the British to the night, saying that they are equally black and devoid of light. He also calls the British "hell born refugee," using figurative language to assert that loyalists come straight from hell. He strips them of their morality and their humanity in one line, positioning them in league with the devil.

'The British Prison Ship' themes

Pain and Suffering

Pain and suffering is at the forefront of the poem as the prisoners are tortured by starvation, illness, thirst, and their merciless captors. Although the prisoners' suffering expands throughout the poem, the first hints at the horrors to come:

The speaker uses allusion and rhetorical questions to state that nothing—neither mythical heroes nor God's own Eden—would be able to survive the horrors of the British prison ships unscathed. Pain and death become personified in things that were once familiar signs of comfort to the prisoners, like their own bodies and the sun rising in the sky. For the American colonials, death would be a better fate than the ship.

Fig. 5 - The British kept their prisoners in shackles, adding to their pain and suffering.

Honoring Those Who Died for Freedom

The end of the poem introduces the theme of honoring those who died for freedom, while serving as a call to action for future Americans. The speaker states,

Instead of detailing his release, the speaker uses the end of the poem to implore future generations of Americans to remember those who fought for their freedom from the British and to avenge them. Over 11,000 Americans died on British prison ships alone. The speaker argues that it is the duty of future generations of free Americans to upkeep the graves of those who died and remember what they did for this country. He says that resentment against the British must live on in future generations so that Americans don't forget who oppressed them and why they had to be free of Britain's tyranny.