An American prisoner
Jewel House Warden Tommy Raper tells the story of the only American prisoner at the Tower of London.
The American Henry Laurens was prisoner at the Tower in 1780, during the American War of Independence. Laurens was one of the richest men in America – a plantation owner. He was captured off the coast of Newfoundland by a Royal Navy war ship and brought back to England.
So the story goes that when he was brought in through the Tower gate the Yeoman Warders were singing Yankee Doodle Dandy. Laurens was not treated like a common criminal. I think the English knew by this time that they were going to lose the war and they should treat this guy a bit carefully. He was treated to crates of Champagne, the finest wines and merchants would come to visit him if they wanted to strike deals with the brand new United States of America.
Laurens was released in 1781 as part of a prisoner exchange scheme. We traded him for the captured Lord Cornwallis, famous for surrendering at the Siege of Yorktown. So the Americans agreed to do a mid-Atlantic transfer – you give us Laurens back, we’ll get Cornwallis.
