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Known for Helping more than 200 prisoners of war escape British prison ships | ||
Elizabeth Burgin was an American patriot during the American Revolutionary War. She aided prisoners in British prison ships. Burgin brought food for prisoners of war housed on British prison ships in New York Harbor. Word of mouth through the years say the escape hinged on a smuggled drug the prisoners placed in a guard's beer. Burgin rowed up to the prisoner ship and waited for POWs to climb in, then transferred them across NY Harbor. She was credited with helping over 200 prisoners escape the ships in 1778. The British offered £200 (at the time equivalent to about 20 years' pay for a British soldier) for her capture. She was not apprehended and at the urging of George Washington was granted a pension by the Continental Congress for her services to the nation in 1781. Between 10,000 and 12,000 men were captured and died on the prisoner ships during the 6 years of the war. By comparison, there were approximately 8,000 American battle deaths on land in the entire Revolutionary War. Most of her possessions were confiscated and sold.
