The American Commissioners to American Prisoners
in England
Draft: Massachusetts Historical Society; copies: National Maritime
Museum, Public Record Office, National Archives (two); transcript:
Library of Congress
<Passy, September [19], 1778: We have not written you for a
long time but have been engaged in negotiating a cartel of
exchange, and have assurances from England that an exchange
will take place. The government of this kingdom has provided
a passport for the purpose. We now sincerely hope you will
obtain your liberty. Since we do not have an equal number to
exchange, those among you in captivity longest will be considered
first. So long as the British government refused an
exchange, we did not discourage the escape efforts of our
countrymen and provided them with small sums of money.
However such escapes at the present time could undermine
British commitment to the cartel. We now have permission to
make use of French prisons for British captives. Keep us informed
on the precise conditions of your captivity so we may
enforce the same provisions here.>
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