Prison Riot
In New York, there were a lot of people who opposed the Revolution, or at least didn’t support it, or who were suspected of being opposed to it. Some of them were regarded as threats to the Revolutionary cause, so they were arrested and imprisoned. As a result, the number of people in jail was probably higher than normal, which made for problems. A 23-year-old Massachusetts lieutenant named Isaac Bangs, who was stationed in New York, wrote in his journal:
The great Number of Prisoners confined in the Jail made it Necessary to keep a Strong Guard to keep them in due Subjection; this guard had been kept for a considerable Time. Sergt. Sprague of our Company happening to be on this Guard, an Insurrection was made among the Prisoners, & one of them named Armstrong fired at the Lieut of the Guard & was just about to kill the Sheriff of the City when Sergt. Sprague shot him dead on the Spot, for which he was highly applauded. This calmed the Insurgents, & they were subdued.
That’s not the sort of event that’s likely to be considered an event of great historical significance, but it was certainly significant for at least three of the people involved, and it’s one of the many things that made up the day-to-day life of people at the time. And day-to-day life is what real history is made up of.
Source
- Journal of Lieutenant Isaac Bangs, April 1 to July 29, 1776, p. 56.