The 1777 March of the Saratoga Convention Army

American Major-General Horatio Gates and British Lieutenant-General John Burgoyne were both criticized for agreeing to the Articles of Convention that led to the surrender at Saratoga on October 17, 1777.  Susan Livingston of Pennsylvania wrote to her sister in Connecticut on November 1, 1777, saying: "The Articles of Capitulation [sic] ... are not relished this way, neither by Whigs, nor Tories, the latter say if Mr. Burgoyne was in a Situation to obtain such Terms he ought to have fought, the Former say if Burgoyne was obliged to surrender at all, Gates might have brought him to what Terms he pleased, so that it looks as if the two Generals wished to avoid fighting." [1] Should they have continued to fight, rather than agreeing to terms both generals would be criticized for accepting?  A significant factor in making that decision was what was happening to their south.  British Lieutenant William Digby would note in his account of the Saratoga campaign that even in its fi

What might be called "Burgoyne's Army" is different from what has become know as the "Convention Army".  When British Lieutenant-General John Burgoyne left Canada in June of 1777 bound for Albany, New York, his army of over ten-thousand included Native warriors, Canadians, and “Provincials" (also known as Loyalists or Tories), in addition to thousands of British and German soldiers.  Four months later, roughly half that number would march out of their final camp at Saratoga, New York, when they were forced to surrender to American Major-General Horatio Gates on October 17, 1777 .  Burgoyne's British and German troops who left Saratoga were bound for the port of Boston under the second of the Articles of Convention , with the expectation that they would sail to England.  It was this group that would become what is now known as the Convention Army.  Others, "All Canadians, and persons belonging to the Canadian establishment, consisting of sailors, ba

In September of 1777, Massachusetts Militia Colonel John Brown led a raid on Fort Ticonderoga in New York, seen below in the distance across Lake Champlain, from Mount Independence, Vermont.  Friend and colleague Mike Barbieri has written about what has become known as “ Brown’s Raid ”, part of a larger operation under the overall command of Major-General Benjamin Lincoln to harass Burgoyne’s army in a manner that “will most annoy, divide, and distract the enemy.” ; as well as the importance, or rather  the unimportance of Brown’s Raid . [1] Mike concludes his article on the raid's significance by stating: “Brown’s Raid developed at a time when the goal and objectives seemed valuable and attainable. At its inception, should it have been successful, the raid might well have created a serious problem for Burgoyne’s army. But over the weeks between planning and implementation, conditions changed so that the results of the raid had little value. Short on supplies, worn out, wet, and f

Fort Ticonderoga is recreating a 1777 attack on the fort that has become known as  Brown’s Raid  on the weekend of September 14 and 15, 2024, and inviting visitors to  “Join Fort Ticonderoga for an  exciting two-day battle re-enactment  highlighting the epic 1777 Brown’s Raid! An attack led by patriot Colonel John Brown will take British troops garrisoning Fort Ticonderoga by surprise 247 years later during the upcoming real-life action adventure at Fort Ticonderoga.”    Those participating will include reenactors who are representing some of the British units which were with Lieutenant-General John Burgoyne during the “Saratoga Campaign” , and after the surrender took part in the 1777 march of the Convention Army.  On the American side, most units will portray New England militia troops, representative of the guards which escorted Burgoyne's captured British and German troops to from Saratoga to Cambridge.  While the schedule of events  focuses on inspections, parades and battles,

What was it like to have the Convention Army pass through your town after the surrender at Saratoga ?  It probably depended on who you were.  Officers and soldiers with the Northern Army wrote home and noted in their journals the immense pride they felt as they watched Lieutenant-General John Burgoyne's defeated British and German troops march by them at Saratoga on October 17, 1777.  One of these was Massachusetts Militia Colonel Ralph Cross, who noted it was:  “... a Grand Sight as ever was Beheld by Eye of man in America ... Their March was Supposed to bee Seven miles in Length with Baggage etc. Grand in Deed.”  [1] Local residents from Schaghticoke, New York , to Cambridge, Massachusetts, turned out in droves along the 1777 route of march of the Convention Army.  Some wrote about what they saw.  Hannah Winthrop watched the Germans arrive in Cambridge on November 7, 1777, and noted:  "... I never had the least Idea, that the Creation producd such a Sordid Set of Creatures

Waltham, Massachusetts, was one of the last towns on the 1777 route of march of the Convention Army from Saratoga to Cambridge, and the barracks in Charlestown on Prospect Hill and Winter Hill.  There wasn't a lot written about their passing through.  Several who must have done so didn't mention the town by name at all.  The one detail that I have found to date reflects poorly on the prisoners, that source claiming:  “Petty pilfering at the places they stopped and annoyances of one kind or another marked their march, as might be expected.  As an instance, the widow Eunice Dench advertises that a silver porringer and spoon were taken from her inn at Waltham, Mass…”  [1] The British column and its guards were the first to reach Waltham.  They did so on November 5th.  Some simply passed through.  Massachusetts Militia Lieutenant Israel Bartlett noted in his diary: "Marched to Watertown [from Sudbury ], 5 miles from Cambridge.”  [2]  Brigadier-General William Whipple, who al

Reenactors, scholars and historians will remember the Revolutionary War with a variety of events in September and October of 2024.  Several will commemorate Lieutenant-General John Burgoyne's failed 1777 campaign, including his surrender on October 17th, as shown in this photo taken last year at a recreation of the event in Schuylerville, New York. September and October are great months to visit historic sites in New York and New England.  First up on my list is "Soldiers on the Mount", on Labor Day weekend at Mount Independence, a Vermont State Historic Site in Orwell, Vermont .  Several reenactor groups will camp out there to portray the American occupation of the site from July 1776 through July of 1777.  Site staff are organizing what they call their "Walkabout" on Saturday, August 31st.  This will feature a number of reenactors and historians at several points along the site's Baldwin Trail, who will interact with visitors on a variety of topics.  Later