A Relic of the Revolution

A first-person journal recounts capture at sea and prolonged confinement aboard prison ships, in hospital wards, and in gaols, chronicling daily privations, outbreaks of disease, deaths, and repeated escape attempts. It systematically records the names of vessels and crew, shipboard and prison routines, food and allowances, punishments, and visits from guards and charitable supporters, noting episodes of cruelty alongside instances of care. Interwoven with the prison narrative are contemporaneous reports of a naval squadron’s cruises and prizes, concluding with the events that lead toward prisoner exchange.