The Captives of Ticonderoga: Coercing Prisoner-of-War Labor in Revolutionary Connecticut, 1775–1777.

In May 1775, Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys' surprise capture of British-held Fort Ticonderoga marked the first offensive victory for the nascent Patriot cause in the American Revolutionary War. Beyond the well-known strategic significance of this victory lies a largely overlooked story of coercion and exploitation. This article examines the fate of the British prisoners captured at Ticonderoga, arguing that their subsequent treatment by the revolutionary authorities in Connecticut laid the foundation for a coercive method of prisoner-of-war management that would be adopted by other colonies and eventually institutionalized by the Continental Congress. With no established policy for handling prisoners of war at the struggle's outset, Connecticut officials drew on precedents from earlier conflicts, such as the English Civil Wars and the colonial wars of the eighteenth century, to revive a practice of hiring out prisoners to local farmers and artisans. This approach both mitigated the logistical burdens of prisoner care and proved profitable for the colony. In so doing, Connecticut authorities openly violated the established rules of war in European conflicts to which Patriot leaders had hoped to adhere. By [End Page 6] situating the Ticonderoga prisoners within the wider context of early modern warfare, European legal norms, and colonial labor practices, this article highlights the tension between the Patriots' humanitarian aspirations and the harsh realities of revolutionary conflict. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]