The 1777 March of the Saratoga Convention Army

The five thousand British and German soldiers who surrendered at Saratog a on October 17, 1777, were not the first prisoners of the Revolutionary War.  That distinction goes to a much smaller number who were captured or surrendered (or perhaps even deserted) on the first day of fighting at Concord and Lexington, and during the British retreat back to Boston.  Isaiah Thomas, the publisher of the  Massachusetts Spy , noted in his paper that he had  "escaped myself from Boston on the memorable 19th of April, 1775, which will be remembered in future as the Anniversary of the BATTLE of LEXINGTON!" , and once relocated in Worcester, Massachusetts, published an account of the fighting which noted:  "Lieut. Gould of the 4th regiment, who is wounded, and Lieut. Potter of the Marines, and about thirty soldiers, are prisoners."  [1] The exact number of British soldiers taken as prisoners appears to be unknown, but "about thirty" is likely close to the truth.  Profe

Only one of the seven British regiments which left Canada with Lieutenant-General John Burgoyne in 1777 could make the claim that its soldiers had fought on April 19, 1775.  This was the 47th Regiment of Foot - "a Very Fine Regiment" .  If this designation sounds familiar, it's how the regiment was described when inspected in 1772, and is the title of Paul Knight's "very fine" book by the same name. It seems appropriate to  write about the 47th again , as we approach the 249th anniversary of the fighting at Lexington and Concord, after having now read Knight's book, and as a group of dedicated reenactors now portray  the grenadier compan y of the regiment. Knight's book includes chapters on the history of the regiment, its officers, men and women, the training it received, and its service in North America.  Other reviewers have described the book as requiring a slow, deliberate read, which makes sense given the amount of information it contains.  Hav

After leaving Pittsfield , much of the British column of the Convention Army marched through what was then  Partridgefield  to Worthington, Massachusetts, where they would stay on the night of October 25, 1777.  The following day some proceeded on to Chesterfield and stopped again to spend the night.  Their march to  Northampton  on October 27th would be the halfway point in their journey from the surrender at Saratoga , New York, to their confinement in the barracks at Winter Hill in Charlestown, Massachusetts, both in days and in distance.   Worthington, incorporated in 1764 , was one of what were three Berkshire hill towns then, but five towns now, that the British column would march through from Pittsfield to Northampton.  Chesterfield , to its east, had been incorporated in 1760.  Neither Worthington nor Chesterfield was marked on Captain John Montressor's 1775 map of New England, shown here in part as published in London in 1777. Once again the journals associated with the B

On October 25, 1777, the British column of the Convention Army marched through a region with place names that have changed considerably since that day.   “This morning we Set out [from Pittsfield] march’d through the East mountain and patreidge field.”  noted Private David How, one of their guards with the Massachusetts militia. [1] It's unclear from what I've read as to exactly where East Mountain was (or is).  Partridgefield, which the British prisoners and their guards would all pass through after leaving Pittsfield , was one town in 1777, and just six years old.  Now it is three towns, Dalton (incorporated in 1784), Hinsdale (incorporated in 1804), and Peru, allegedly renamed as such in 1806 :  "because it is like the Peru of South America, a mountain town, and if no gold or silver mines are under her rocks, she favors hard money and begins with a P."   Regardless, their march on the 25th would not be easy.   When the British column reached Partridgefield, seen he

The  British troops captured at Saratoga and their guards began arriving in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, on October 24, 1777.  Lieutenant Israel Bartlett of the Massachusetts militia wrote in his diary for that day: “Marched 7 miles to Pittsfield [from Lanesborough] and halted at good quarters.” [1]  British Lieutenant Francis (Lord) Napier of the 31st Regiment of Foot noted that he marched six miles and arrived at Pittsfield that day as well, but nothing further, as had been the case with each entry since the surrender. [2]  Massachusetts militia private David How, and those who appear to have been traveling a day behind the first division caught up, as he noted: “[Oct.] 24 This morning we Set out [from New Ashford] march’d Through Lainsborough  Staid at Night at Pitsfield”. [3] It was a relatively short march, and apparently an uneventful stay.  Once again primary sources for the march of the British column offer limited information on their stopping in town, including what kind of

On October 23, 1777, Lieutenant Israel Bartlett left  Williamstown  with the guards at the rear of the first division of the British column of the Convention Army, passed through New Ashford , and arrived in Lanesborough, Massachusetts, where he would spend the night. [1]  British Lieutenant Francis (Lord) Napier of the 31st Regiment of Foot recorded doing the same, noting: "October … 23rd. Lanesborough 15 M[iles]" . [2]  It was a good day's march. Both left Lanesborough the next day, Bartlett noting:  "Marched 7 miles to Pittsfield and halted at good quarters” , and Napier:  "October … 24th. Pittsfield 6 M[iles]".  [3]  More prisoners followed, some stopping, some simply passing through.  Private David How of the Massachusetts militia was one of those who passed through and continued on, noting:  “[Oct.] 24 This morning we Set out [from New Ashford] march’d Through Lainsborough  Staid at Night at Pitsfield”.  [5]  Among those who stopped was an officer of

After the surrender at Saratoga, New York, on October 17, 1777, the British column of the Convention Army marched through the southeast corner of Vermont , then into Williamstown, Massachusetts .  There, the two thousand prisoners and their guards halted to draw provisions, and then marched south on October 23rd, towards Pittsfield, Massachusetts.  Residents in Berkshire County, the westernmost part of Massachusetts, would see them pass by for several days.   British accounts of the march offer us considerably less detail than those of the Germans.  Some list only the distance marched and where they stopped; others a sentence or two at best (with the exception of Thomas Anburey , though many of his stories are not specific as to date or place, and need to be taken with a bit of caution).  What we have though provides a bit of insight on how the column was organized, and what they did.   It apparently took a few hours to get moving some mornings.  Lieutenant Israel Bartlett, part of the