| Elizabeth Burgin | |
| Birth Date: | before 1760 |
| Death Date: | after January 1801 |
| Other Names: | Elizabeth Bergin |
| Known For: | Helping more than 200 prisoners of war escape British prison ships |
Elizabeth Burgin (before 1760 – January 1801 or after) was an American patriot during the American Revolutionary War who helped over 200 prisoners of war escape British prison ships. She worked with George Higday of the Culper Spy Ring, and after he was caught by the British, Major General James Pattison ordered her capture. Burgin went into hiding and did not see her children for weeks. She lost her home and possessions and struggled until she was awarded an annuity with George Washington's assistance. In a letter to the Continental Congress, he stated those who attest to her service include "many of our own officers who have returned from captivity" due to her missions.
When the British and the American forces fought during the American Revolutionary War, each side took prisoners and housed them in inhumane circumstances on ships, in jails, or wherever they could house them. Men starved due to lack of food, suffered from disease due to unsanitary conditions, and did not improve without medical care. The soldiers were held captive so that they were not able to fight again. Prisoners were not given any supplies, like clothing, blankets, and medicine. There was no recordkeeping of who was held captive on the ships.
There were an estimated 10,000 patriot prisoners of war in New York City. Of those, 7,000 died in captivity.[1]
Not much is known of Elizabeth Burgin's early life. She was a mother of three and probably a war widow who lived in New York. John Franklin, a wine merchant, and his wife, Deborah, were Burgin's neighbors. They lived near the "New Slip" in the shipyards (New York Harbor).
Burgin and Franklin helped prisoners held by the British Army.[2] Only women were allowed to visit the prison ships,[3] anchored at Wallabout Bay. Burgin rowed a boat to the ships to deliver[4] clothing, medicine, blankets, and food to the prisoners.
In 1779, she was approached by George Higday, a member of the Culper Spy Ring, to help prisoners of war escape the prison ships. The Culper Spy Ring was organized by Benjamin Tallmadge. Higday, who had connections within the British Army, and Burgin helped three officers escape imprisonment on Long Island. Burgin, a covert risk-taker, may have been an agent with the ring, with the code Agent 355.
They were able to remove more than 200 prisoners of war off the ships in weeks because the men were not missed. There was no record of who or how many people were held captive.
The British intercepted a letter sent from George Washington to Benjamin Tallmadge, which talked about Higday's espionage. On July 13, 1779, Higday's home on the North River (Hudson River) was raided by the British and arrested him. Higday's wife, in order to help her husband, told the British that Burgin helped 200 prisoners escape. Upon checking in with the prison ships, it was determined that there were large numbers of missing soldiers.
As a result, Major General James Pattison, the British commander of New York, sent for Burgin on July 17, 1779, ordered guards to watch her house for five days, and placed a bounty of £200 (£ or $ in 2016). It would take a British soldier 20 years to earn £200. If she was captured, she could have been hanged.[5] In a letter to James Caldwell written on November 19, 1777 from Elizabethtown (now Elizabeth, New Jersey), Burgin admitted her guilt and her need to hide.
Burgin hid for two weeks before moving to Long Island, where she may have been introduced to spys in the Culper Ring. After hiding for another five weeks, she moved to Connecticut and finally Philadelphia.[6]
In October 1779, Burgin received a flag of truce from the Board of War in order for her to get her children from New York back to Philadelphia. She went to Elizabethtown by November where she was told to make arrangements to collect her children from New York, which she was able to do under a flag of truce within a month of her arrival in Elizabethtown.[7] However, she was not allowed to take her clothes or furniture. Since she was left with essentially nothing, Burgin petitioned to Washington in November 1779 for assistance. While she was in Elizabethtown, she learned that Colonel Silvanus Seely had traded illegally "with the enemy". The issue was brought before the Pennsylvania Supreme Executive Council on December 23, 1779, and the next day Joseph Reed corresponded with New Jersey governor William Livingston about the matter. Livingston responded on December 28 that due to his preliminary discussion with Seely, he finds an investigation is warranted.[8]
Thomas Franklin, Jr., an agent for patriot prisoners, offered her a place to live in late 1779. She and her three "small children" were then allowed to live in part of the house where the Board of War was located. She asked for employment to support her family.
On December 25, 1779, George Washington sent a letter to the Continental Congress that allowed her to receive rations. Washington said of her,
The request was delayed because "this Post does not comprehend persons of this description"; Burgin was not a war widow and she was not a soldier. She received an annuity starting from 1781 and claimed the funds at least through 1787. After that, she was paid by the Register of the Treasury, who held that office at that time and was her assignee. The last payment was made in January 1801.[9]