Camp Security was probably similar to this Charlottesville, Virginia Revolutionary War prisoner-of-war camp. Some of Camp Security's prisoners were previously detained at the Charlottesville camp.
"At York they were kept in huts newly constructed, also surrounded by a high stockade, and were also strictly guarded. At a little distance from, but in sight of, our men's huts, upon a rising ground were situated a number of huts occupied by soldiers of General Burgoyne's army, also prisoners of war, but without stockade or guard. Our men named their own camp " Security," and the other camp " Indulgence."
Exactly where were the camps described above by General Samuel Graham, one of the British troops surrendered at Yorktown? How far did they extend? We don't really know, and we will never know if more thorough archaeological investigation is not done on the site, the whole of which we now call Camp Security.
Upon returning recently from a trip to Florida to visit relatives, I discovered that there was a new proposal for development at the site of Camp Security, this time on both the Weist and Rowe parcels.
After catching up on the newspaper articles, I reread the archaeology reports produced in 1979 and 2000. The 1979 study, funded by Springettsbury Township and the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, with participation of Historic York, Inc. and others, was more extensive than the 2000 archaeological survey done for the developer who owns the Wiest tract. As a result of these surveys, some features have been identified and artifacts have been found.
Those excavations and samplings are a start, but there are clearly more questions to be answered. Where was the stockade? Where was the cemetery? We have clues from contemporary reports and documents and passed down stories. Even after extensive documentary research, researchers don't agree on locations. Clearly, more definitive archaeological studies need to be done.
I was present at the October 11, 2001 meeting when Dr. Brent Glass, then Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, offered to do extensive archaeology on the site the following summer, at no cost to the developer. That offer was turned down. Once houses and condos are built on Camp Security, this last remaining American Revolution prisoner of war camp, it will be too late. Let's hope something substantial is done before time runs out.
For a concise history of Camp Security, see below for my previous York Sunday News column.
Some of the artifacts from the 1979 exploration are on display at the Pennsylvania State Museum.
Numerous newspaper stories on Camp Security and threatened development can be found by doing a search at www.InYork.com.
Copies of the archaeological reports, contemporary accounts, modern papers and much more on Camp Security are contained in file 16140 at the York County Heritage Trust Library/Archives. There is a nominal daily fee for non-members of the Trust. (It is a large file, so allow plenty of time for in depth perusal.)
Click below for links to more blogs on Camp Security.
Prisoner numbers hard to pin down.
