Dr Amos G Babcock – fact or fiction?

Abstract

The War of 1812–1814 between the United States of America and Great Britain gave rise to several journals relating the sufferings of prisoners of war confined in prison ships and gaols in England. One of these is A journal of a young man of Massachusetts, said to have been written by Dr Amos G Babcock, an American ship’s surgeon, and first published in 1816. This article sets out arguments for and against the truth of this assertion.

Keywords

Prisoners of War HMS Frigate Tenedos Massachusetts

On 21 May 1813, HMS Frigate Tenedos in the company of HM Brig Curlew captured the Salem-owned American Schooner privateer the Enterprise off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard on her return from a 4 month voyage to the coast of Brazil. The Enterprise was armed with four guns and crewed by 99 men. She was no match for the Tenedos, which as a fifth-rate frigate was armed with 38 guns (twenty-eight 18 pounders on the upper deck and 10 smaller guns on the quarter deck and forecastle). At that time, Enterprise was one of 40 privateers based in the port of Salem, just North of Boston, during the war of 1812. On the orders of Captain PVB Broke RN (1776–1841), the prisoners along with the ship’s surgeon, Dr Amos G Babcock, were transferred on board HM Brig Curlew and dispatched at once to Melville Island Prison in Halifax, Nova Scotia. This marked the second time that Babcock was taken prisoner by Curlew, the first while serving on the US privateer Revenge on 4 December 1812, when he was released and put ashore “without exchange” one day after Christmas. After a few weeks, Babcock and his fellow prisoners were sent across the Atlantic to Chatham, England, and from there to their last destination Dartmoor Prison, Devon.¹

Babcock is the American ship’s surgeon whose exploits were edited by Professor Waterhouse (1754–1846) and remain shrouded in mystery. Many notable historians and physicians have written on their interpretation of the journal but have failed to provide proof of the authenticity of its main character. One of these physicians is Dr Henry Viets (1890–1969), who made a convincing case on the original authorship of A journal of a young man of Massachusetts and the other is Dr Robin Agnew.²

The story of Surgeon Babcock has left no fingerprints to prove whether he truly existed, whether he was a fictional character, and whether his journal was passed on to him by the real author. Questions remain about the veracity of the whole story.

A journal of a young man of Massachusetts

The book itself, A journal of a young man of Massachusetts, is questionable. Are the exploits of Amos G Babcock truly his own or are they fiction? Why would Babcock seek Professor Benjamin Waterhouse’s involvement in the editing and publishing of the journal? Where is Babcock's original handwritten journal that was given to Waterhouse to be edited and published? Why did Waterhouse not share the royalties with Babcock, who at this time seems to have vanished?

Certainly one would expect Babcock to be around to give his account of the book that was being published about his exploits. Babcock describes in his journal the overcrowding and malnutrition and the outbreaks of smallpox and typhus fever that occurred on board the prison ship Nassau during the winter of 1813–1814. Was Babcock an assistant surgeon or surgeon? If he was one or the other, why was he not helping his fellow prisoners since even at this time, doctors had a code of ethics to the sick and injured? Did Babcock actually write the journal, or was it passed on to him by the true author of whose existence, like Babcock, we have no evidence?

Genealogy

Where and when was Babcock born, where did he die, who were his friends and family? Which medical school did Babcock attend and for how long, and where did he serve his internship?³ Why are there no letters sent home from the imprisoned Babcock? Is there positive proof of Babcock's service record on the Revenge and Enterprise besides what is written in Waterhouse’s journal? Why is he not listed in the Massachusetts State Census—and especially under the work force as a doctor?

So far, the only positive thing about his existence is the journal, and that is questionable.

The journal of Amos G Babcock did exist and was precisely recorded by Waterhouse. The correspondence between President Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) and Waterhouse is recorded in The Library of Congress, as is Waterhouse’s reply from Cambridge dated 18 June 1816: “I cannot refrain, because I think it is proper, giving you more information relative to its publication than what appears on the face of the book. This smart young man put his manuscript Journal into my hands, when I question him on each and every part of it, and felt satisfied of its authenticity. At his request, and at the request of the printers, I undertook to prepare this narrative for the eye of the American and British public.”⁴

Jefferson replied on 20 July 1816, “I thank you, dear Sir, for the new Robinson Crusoe you have been so good [as] to send me. The name of its hero like that of the old, merits to be known as should that also of the new Defoe. I have read it with avidity; for a more narrative I have not met with; and it may be truly said of the whole edifice, that the bricks and the mortar are worthy of each other and promise to be a lasting monument to British Character.”

Housed in the Massachusetts Historical Society is Waterhouse's letter from Cambridge and dated 5 August 1816 to General Jacob Brown:⁵ “I consider while writing it that it was a sort of an appendix to our military history, at least as far as the American character of its soldiers and seamen was implicated,” and Brown's reply supposedly clears the veracity of the authorship. Waterhouse writes again, on 21 November 1816: “another edition of the Journal of the Dartmoor Prisoner is just completed in Boston. This makes eight thousand copies of that popular book. The high Federalists dare not attack its authenticity; so only condemn its tendency as it regards the character of England and their own.”⁶

The Department of the US Navy does show the list of the crew of the Privateer Schooner Enterprise with Babcock as ship’s surgeon.

The London Gazette

An entry relating to the capture of Enterprise by Tenedos is documented in the London Gazette: “Sir, I beg to inform you, that I have this day, in company with His Majesty’s Brig Curlew, captured the Enterprise American Schooner privateer, belonging to Salem, of four guns (but pierced for eighteen) and ninety-one men, on her returned from a four months cruise on the coast of Brazil, without having made any captures; she is quite new and copper fastened, and in my opinion well qualified for His Majesty’s service. I have the honour to be, &c Hyde Parker, Captain. And PBV Broke, Esq. Captain of His Majesty’s Shannon.”⁷

A second entry in the London Gazette in Aston, Derbyshire, and dated 14 July 1817 states, “notice is hereby given to the officers and companies of His Majesty’s ships Tenedos and Curlew, that their respective proportions of the proceeds of head money received for the American privateer Enterprise, captured by said ships, on 31st May 1813, have been paid to the Treasurer of Greenwich Hospital: where the same may be had on application; and the amount of an individual share in each class.”

The transfer of prisoners from Melville Island, Halifax, to Chatham in England and thence to Dartmoor is fully documented also by the Daughters of the American Revolution and by the Halifax Historic Society.^8,9

However, the US Department of the Navy Archives lists the crew of the Enterprise, taken from A journal of a young man of Massachusetts, but this is the only evidence that the list of crew of the US Schooner privateer Enterprise is accurate. However, the register of Halifax prisoners lists Babcock as surgeon on Enterprise.

United States organisations

The United States Census Bureau is one of the largest government-run offices in the United States and holds records of the type of employment a person is situated in, the number of family members, and the yearly wage of the head of the family together with details of his residence. However, after their ongoing search, the United States Census have no record of Amos G Babcock—even in this period in American history, he would have been listed as a doctor in some publication.¹⁰

Enquiry at The National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, DC¹¹ dated 20 April 2011 evoked a reply from Ms Kim Y McKeithan, Archives Specialist, that states, “I was unable to locate any information relating to Dr Amos G Babcock among our holdings but was able to find the history of the privateer schooner Enterprise. It seems the story of Babcock's capture by HM Brig Curlew may be false.”

The US Schooner Privateer Revenge was captured by the HMS Paz, a schooner captured by the British from the Spanish in 1807. Again he is listed as Surgeon on Halifax Prisoner’s List¹² and discharged on 26 December 1812. American prisoners of war held at Halifax during the war of 1812 list the captured crewmen of the Revenge and among this crew list is an Amos Balcock, perhaps the spelling of the surname being a typo, but he is not listed as a surgeon and no rank was given to his fellow shipmates; he could be a seaman just seeking his fortune, for Babcock stated in his journal, “by the fifth of January, 1813, she was ready to sail and only wanted some young man to go as assistant surgeon of her. The offer was made to me, when without much reflection or consultation of friends, I stepped on board her in that capacity, with no other ideas than that of a pleasant cruise and making a fortune.” This indicates they were looking for someone to be an assistant surgeon but not that Babcock was actually an assistant surgeon when he signed on board.

In the correspondence with Brown, Waterhouse stated in his first letter, “I consider while writing it that it was a sort of an appendix,” but why would Waterhouse state this in his letter? It gives us the impression that he wrote the journal. In his second letter to Brown, he mentions, “another edition of the journal of The Dartmoor Prisoner has been completed in Boston, this makes eight thousand copies of the popular book had been published.”But in the letter he is worried about the attack the Federalist will have on the authenticity of the book—why? Was Waterhouse hiding the real truth about the journal?

In his letter to Waterhouse, Jefferson states that this story was like another Robinson Crusoe—did he believe it fictitious? In another part of his letter to Jefferson dated 18 June 1816,¹³ Waterhouse states, “I believe every representation in this little book to be true; but the painter, aiming to make a general picture, has used a free and rapid brush, which now betray marks of an incorrect manner, without ever once violating the truth of the story.”

Where was Babcock when several editions of the journal had been published, and where was Waterhouse getting the added material for the new editions? The location of the original handwritten journal of Babcock has never been found, and so it may have been destroyed, but for what purpose? Babcock tells of the prison condition and how his fellow inmates were treated in great detail right to the time of the massacre, but evidence that Babcock was a prisoner at Dartmoor has not been found.

Whose journal is it?

So in reality, who actually wrote the journal? Abell offers a different story as to who wrote the journal:¹⁴ “the following experience of an American prisoner of war are from The journal of a young man of Massachusetts, 1816, who was a surgeon by the name of Benjamin Waterhouse, captured at sea in May 1813.” Abell states that Waterhouse, with a hundred of his countrymen, was shipped to England on Regulus and his complaints are bitter about the shameful treatment on board, the filth, the semi-starvation, the vermin, the sleeping on stone ballast, and the lack of air movement.

Waterhouse adds, “If an American, having lost all his money, wanted to borrow of a Frenchman under promise of repayment, the latter would say,¹⁵ ‘Ah mon ami! I very sorry, very sorry, indeed; it is la fortune de guerre.'” Waterhouse admits that on the whole he was treated as well on the Crown Prince as were the British prisoners at Salem and Boston.

Waterhouse describes the surroundings of the Crown Prince thus: “The Medway is a very pleasant river… its banks are rich and beautiful… The picture from the banks of the river to the top of the landscape is truly delightful, and beyond anything I ever saw in my own country and this owing to the hedges.” Viets describes this, and so who is right on the accuracy of the journal? Viets gives his interpretation of Babcock's journal, leaving us with still unanswered questions whether he was the real author at this time. Abell now tells a different story but with more depth and has us believe Waterhouse was the true prisoner and the author of the journal and he writes, “I shall only say that I found it, take it all in all, a less disagreeable prison than the ships.”

Abell tells us of Waterhouse's exploits at Dartmoor, and he describes the peculiarly harsh proceedings of Shortland, the Governor after his discovery of the tunnel dug from under No 6 caserne: “All the prisoners with their baggage were driven into the yard of No 1: thence in a few days to another yard, and so on from yard to yard, so that they could not get time to dig tunnels.”¹⁶

The ancestry genealogy society does not list Babcock. The Babcock Family genealogy has no idea of who he is. Yale and Harvard Universities have no record of Amos G Babcock attending, and their records date back to the early 1700s.^17–20

Footnotes

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Dr Gary Bovine, DC, who gave me the support to put this manuscript together. Without his help, I would not have found my interest in history again. Dr Robin Agnew is a retired Emeritus Consultant Chest Physician from Liverpool, England, and I owe him a debt of thanks for his advice and editing of this manuscript, and Michael Dun for his professional research on providing much needed information.

Author biography

Douglas Smith is a retired professional purchasing agent and consultant from Welland, ON, Canada. He studied purchasing and business management at Niagara College, Welland. His love of history and literature was brought back to him by Dr Gary Bovine, DC, Welland, ON, Canada, and Dr Robin Agnew, MA, MD, Liverpool, England.

References

Viets

. A journal of a young man of Massachusetts … written by himself. Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine 1939–1940; 12: 605–622.

Agnew

A journal of a young man of Massachusetts. Journal of Medical Biography 2010; 18: 181–182.

Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine. Waterhouse Publications and Essex Institute, p.622, www.med.yale.edu/hismed (accessed 16 June 2011).

Library of Congress, Thomas Jefferson Papers. ID No: MSS27748 1743-1826. Repository, Manuscript Division (accessed 14 October 2011).

Appendix 4.

library@masshist.org (accessed 7 August 2011).

Department of the US Navy Archives, Washington DC, http://www.history.navy.mil/library/special/dartmoor.htm (accessed 29 June 2011).

As recorded American vessel captured by the British during the Revolution and War of 1812. Records of the Vice-Admiralty Court at Halifax, Nova Scotia, under the Halifax Prizes of War of 1812 and the Essex Institute, Salem, Massachusetts (1911), and Marine Notes at Salem (1812–1815), Essex Institute History Collection vol 36, p.285 et seq.

Michael Dun. Editor@Dun.org.uk and http://www.1812privateers.org (accessed 7 July 2011).

10.

www.us-census.org/research (accessed 12 August 2011).

11.

www.nationalarchives.com (accessed 27 June 2011).

12.

The records from the National Archives at Kew. ADM 103/511 pp. B 3, 4, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 104, 105, and 106. Dartmoor prisoners references do not list Amos G Babcock, www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records (accessed 11 September 2011).

13.

Appendix 2.

14.

Abell Francis. Prisoners of war in Britain: record of their lives, their romances, and their suffering. The Library of the University of California Los Angeles, 1914, London, England.

15.

Abell Francis. Prisoners of war in Britain, 1765–1815, life on the hulks, pp.82, 85–87 (accessed 7 July 2011).

16.

Prisoners of war in Britain, Dartmoor Prison, pp. 256–257, www.lib.berkeley.edu (accessed 7 July 2011).

17.

www.ancestry.com (accessed 10 June 2011).

18.

www.ancestry.co.uk (accessed 10 June 2011).

19.

www.ancestry.ca (accessed 10 June 2011).

20.

www.newenglandancestors.org (accessed 7 July 2011).

21.

The London Gazette Archives, first issue 16762 10 August 1813 and second issue 17268 on 15 July 1817. www.london-gazette.co.uk/research (accessed 3 September 2011).