William Russell (1748–1782) was born in Boston on May 24, 1748. He participated in colonial protests against the tea trade and served in the Continental Army, including with Thomas Craft’s artillery regiment during the Rhode Island campaign. He was a member of St. Andrew’s Lodge of Freemasons and later served as a captain’s clerk aboard a privateer. He died on March 7, 1782, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The William Russell letters consist primarily of correspondence and documents dating from 1774 to 1783 that document Russell’s military service, imprisonment, and efforts to support his family during the American Revolutionary period. The collection includes letters written by Russell to his wife Mary, his mother-in-law Mary Richardson, and the printer Benjamin Edes while he was held as a prisoner of war at Mill Prison in Plymouth, England, and later aboard the British prison ship Jersey in New York Harbor. Also present are a small group of earlier manuscript writings, likely part of a diary, with brief entries dating from 1774 to 1776, as well as letters sent to Russell by officers in the Continental artillery, including Thomas Crafts and William Gordon, concerning military orders and troop matters in 1778. British administrative documents relating to Russell’s confinement in England and New York are also included, among them a warrant for his imprisonment and a parole document issued by the British deputy commissary of naval prisoners. Together, the materials document Russell’s experiences as a Revolutionary War privateer and prisoner of war, including conditions of confinement, correspondence with family members, and military administration on both the American and British sides. The collection also includes a pamphlet issued by the Prison Ship Martyrs’ Monument Association.