The author does a good job of covering this neglected subject, including the various places of imprisonment- notorious prisoner ships, sugar houses, etc. I also appreciated the discussion of why prisoner exchange agreements failed, and the various motivations each side had for wanting (or not wanting) to exchange prisoners. A final chapter is devoted to the reasons for America's shameful neglect in creating a conspicuous monument for their fighting men over the decades. In the end, however, no one seriously disputes the soldiers in captivity suffered dreadfully.

With such a fascinating subject, effective prose should make for a page turning work. However, I simply didn't find his writing style compelling. ( )

Excellent book. A few places dragged but overall this was a wonderful book, explaining the (sometimes horrific) conditions in the early jails and what life was like as a prisoner in early america. The author made a great effort to not sensationalize but, instead, tell us what the exact conditions were. Highly recommend this book to history buffs. Made me want to cry that we've demolished some of the few places that would have so benefited our understanding of a young America. ( )

Forgotten Patriots embarks on the dark topic of prisoners-of-war and their inevitable maltreatment. Most never think of the Revolutionary War as a civil war, but it was just that! British Loyalists living as colonists fought "rebels" with vigor of how anyone would treat a traitor.

Centered around New York, but also lightly discussing prisons around Philadelphia, PA, Edwin G. Burrows covers in depth, the poorly recorded world of prisoners - not all of which were captured on the battlefield, nor were they all combatants! Occupied New York was turned into a prison town. Sugar houses were converted haphazardly into prisons. When space ran out, churches not affiliated with the Church of England were desecrated by becoming prisons. Eventually, prison populations and disease forced the British to employ men-of-war ships to be moored in the near-by bays. These ultimately became floating death mills. Tens of thousands of American rebels were run through these buildings and ships; an estimated fifty percent perished from starvation, disease or insanity.

The first 200 pages are devoted to detailing what scant information is available. Most of the records to ascertain the best accounts of the horror and numbers of prisoners (left to estimation) are autobiographical narratives, newspaper accounts and other propagandist material. He finishes up the history with some perspective, by comparing the events and toll British imprisonment took on Americans with other wars; only the Civil War surpasses the amount of deaths, battlefield and otherwise.

The final chapter (before the epilogue) could be mistaken for current political activity. Both parties in the trailing decades used bones and skulls littering the shoreline of Wallabout Bay for their partisan benefit. It is reminiscent of the aftermath of the 9-11-01 terrorist attacks.

As many books as I have read on this period, and more specifically Benjamin Franklin, Forgotten Patriots did a wonderful job discussing William Franklin's campaign of war ad terrorem. Plundering activity took place over a several year period, designed to harass Americans, it was carried out under the group of Tories known as The Refugee Club. The British government put an end to the sanctioned group after they took a prisoner and hanged him. ( )

An amazing book that re-introduces us to the forgotten patriots of the American Revolution; American and American sympathetic prisoners taken during the war against Great Britain for our independence. Written by Edwin G. Burrows, this exhaustively researched and documented look at early America provides a fascinating window into a time long forgotten by most Americans and swept under the rug of history by our own government!

War provides heroes and villains, but it also gives us a look into ourselves, our character, our true nature as human beings. Both sides in the Revolutionary War dealt with the horrific toll of war. Death, injury, and the prisoners taken captive in the struggle. Great Britain refused to consider Americans captured as prisoners of war, instead calling them 'rebels', criminals against the Crown rule. Many thousands were incarcerated in early New York City. In prison ships, converted sugar houses and almost every sizable building, prisoners were crammed into areas so small that they could not lie down to rest or sleep. Food was in small quantity and quality. Looking at just caloric intake, the diet that Great Britain claimed was provided to the captives was small enough to have induced the mostly sedentary prisoners to lose almost a pound of body weight weekly! Vermin and disease were rampant. Prisoners died horribly daily and were tossed in piles naked until they could be buried in shallow pits near by the prisons.

Complaints were lodged by prisoners, their families, clergy, visitors and our government. All went unheeded or at best given cursory answers that reflected little of the truth. They were promised release if they would renounce the American struggle for independence and sign up in service to Britain! Humiliation,torture and even murder were routine treatments.

So why aren't these patriots remembered and revered as Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and others? Shortly after winning our independence we found ourselves as British allies against Napoleonic France. To present a divided front and/or alienate Great Britain would expose a young America to further warfare which could prove disastrous. So the Revolutionary prisoners and their stories were allowed to fade from public display. It later became a crime to stir up any anti British sentiment. No monuments or any public remembrance continued.

It was not until the mid twentieth century that these men and women received some semblance of their worth to America's history. It was an honor too long overdue. ( )