A journal, of a young man of Massachusetts, late a surgeon on board an American privateer, who was captured at sea by the British in May, eighteen hundred and thirteen and was confined first, at Melville Island, Halifax, then at Chatham, in England, and last at Dartmoor prison : $b Interspersed with observations, anecdotes and remarks, tending to illustrate the moral and political characters of three nations. To which is added, a correct engraving of Dartmoor prison, representing the massacre of American prisoners.

"A Journal of a Young Man of Massachusetts, late a Surgeon on board an American Privateer" by Benjamin Waterhouse is an early 19th-century historical narrative documenting the wartime experiences of a Massachusetts surgeon who becomes a prisoner of war. Beginning with the high spirits of sailing as a privateer out of Salem during the War of 1812, dreaming of making his fortune, the tale quickly turns to the grim reality of naval conflict when the protagonist is captured by the British. The story then shifts to the surgeon’s struggles with confinement. The book then tells of his time in British prisons, and the conditions and observations within the prison, Melville Island and Dartmoor Prison, painting a picture of the treatment of American prisoners and highlighting the difference between British conduct and American resolve during war.