Community Corner

Memorial Day: 8 Murdered POWs From Connecticut Get Long Overdue Recognition

It took 231 years for eight men from Haddam who fought in the American Revolution to be recognized for their service. Their names are now memorialized in stone.

Written by Philip R. Devlin

It is important never to forget the sacrifice of those veterans who gave their lives in war for this country. That is why Memorial Day is such a special holiday for Americans. It will be a holiday of special poignancy this year in Haddam, CT, where, 231 years after their service in the American Revolution, eight sons of Haddam will finally be recognized for their enormous sacrifice for their country. Memorial stones with their inscribed names will be dedicated this Memorial Day.

All eight men were crew members of a war sloop called the Samson. Built in Higganum with a sharp bow for fast sailing, the Samson was equipped with eight guns that could shoot 9-12 lb. projectiles. Both the ship's speed and its crew's skill enabled it to engage and to defeat bigger ships with more guns, such as the British sloop, Swallow, which carried 20 guns.

Despite the ship's speed and the crew's prowess, the British finally captured the Samson off of the New York coast. Its crew was taken to a dismasted British prison ship in New York City known as the HMS JerseyThe Jersey was the most notorious of the 16 British prison ships in New York Harbor.

The American death rate for battle casualties during the American Revolution is estimated to be between 4,200- 4,500 men; however, one of the least publicized facts of the American Revolution is that more than three times that number of Americans died in British prison ships in New York Harbor! Eight men from Haddam were among those casualties: Captain David Brooks, Lt. Shubael  Brainerd, William Aikens, Jonathan Brainerd, Jr., Elihu Cook, Elijah Green, and brothers James and Nathaniel Stocking.

By all known accounts of the time, American POWS on these prison ships were subjected to a level of abuse and deprivation comparable to the concentration camps of World War II. Thousands were crammed below the decks of prison ships in abominable conditions. Disease was rampant, as was extreme thirst and malnutrition. On average, eight to 10 men on theJersey died each day. Sometimes, however, some prisoners were simply murdered. Such was the case with the crew of theSamson.

Church records from Middle Haddam indicate that eight crew members of the Samson were deliberately poisoned in June of 1782. Field's Genealogy of the Brainerd Family also mentions their poisoning ( pg. 106). In fact, the steward of the Jersey, a man named Cunningham, boasted that he had killed more rebels with poison than the guns of the British army had during the war. He may have been right.

One Connecticut prisoner, Robert Sheffield of Stonington, miraculously escaped from the Jersey in 1778. He had this to say in the Connecticut Gazette on July 10, 1778:

"The heat was so intense...Their sickly countenances and ghastly looks were truly horrible; some swearing and blaspheming, others crying, praying, and wringing their hands and stalking about like ghosts; others delirious, raving, and storming...the air was so foul that at times a lamp could not be kept burning, by reason of which the bodies were not missed until they had been dead 10 days."

Following the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown in 1783, the British burned the HMS Jersey in the harbor. While the USS Connecticut was being built at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in 1902, workers discovered the remains of the Jersey. In 1908, the Prison Ships Martyrs Monument was dedicated in Brooklyn. It is a 145-foot-tall Doric column that stands over the collected bones of thousands of American POWS. Men from all 13 colonies were known to have died there. Most of them remain unknown. Now, however, we know that at least eight of them from Haddam have been identified and will be forever honored annually for their sacrifice by a grateful community.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here