During the American Revolution, authority over British-allied prisoners became a hotly contested issue. At the start of the conflict, provisional wartime governments including Committees of Safety assumed responsibility for the first prisoners of the war. The radical democratic spirit of the Revolution afforded early Americans significant power over prisoner allowances and restrictions through their revolutionary governments. In 1777, Congress established the Department of Prisoners to better pursue its interests regarding captive populations. Inhabitants in and around detention centers resisted this increase in Continental authority. This resistance reflected the endurance of the early war’s radical democracy, notwithstanding the recent dissolution of the revolutionary governments that provided a legal avenue for it. The nation’s first Commissary General of Prisoners Elias Boudinot and his deputies had to contend with popular opposition to his supremacy in prisoner affairs, as well as with the jealous pursuit of state interests regarding both American and enemy prisoners. The contest for control over prisoners during the war reflected the broader struggle for military authority in the new nation. This presentation will trace the establishment and evolution of America’s first, sprawling system of prisoner management, paying particular attention to influential figures and key detention centers. Along the way, it will highlight artifactual and manuscript findings pertaining to this understudied history.

Dr. Susan Brynne Long is Instructor of History at the University of Nebraska Omaha. She is also currently the 2024-2025 Charles Young Fellow at the United States Army Center of Military History in Washington, D.C. Her ongoing monograph project uses the American administration of British-allied prisoners during the Revolutionary War as a window into inchoate federalism and civil-military relations in the founding era. She has a forthcoming monograph from the United States Army Center of Military History about the frontier theater of the American Revolution. She has taught American history and the history of warfare at numerous institutions, including the University of Delaware and the University of the Cumberlands. Her scholarly writings have appeared in the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of American History and Transactions of the American Philosophical Society. A prolific public historian, her op-eds connecting early America with modern domestic and foreign policy issues have appeared in the Washington Post and Real Clear Defense. Dr. Long regularly presents her work in academic and educational venues, including the George Washington Masonic National Memorial and the American Revolution Institute at the Society of the Cincinnati.