A Bibliography Related to the People, Places and Events of the 1777 March of the Convention Army from Saratoga to Boston

In October of 2022, I set out to explore the line of march of the Convention Army in 1777 from Saratoga, New York, to Cambridge, Massachusetts. I assumed the march was simple enough, a single route with nightly stops along the way.   

I've read letters, diaries and journals written by some of the 6,000 men, women and children who marched as prisoners or guards, as well as the people they encountered; seen rivers, streams, mountains, buildings and other sights they saw; and met people along the way who love history and their community, and are happy to share their knowledge and passion.

My knowledge of the march remains incomplete, but what I've learned has given me insight on the people of 1777, the places they went, and the sacrifices they made, regardless of their allegiance or status in life. My research, like my attempt to follow their path, has had its twists and turns, like the road in the photograph below that once passed over Kettle Brook in Leicester, Massachusetts.  

Below is a list of the books that I've used in my research for this blog.  Expect it to grow as I find more on my journey.  

For more on the Convention Army's 1777 march from Saratoga to Boston, see:

1777 March Blog Home        Overnight Stopping Points       Towns and Villages Along the Way

Bibliography - A Work In Progress:

"47th Regiment Journal" (Anonymous),  on-line digital resource, The Huntington Library, San Marino, CA.  The journal of an anonymous officer, likely a copy created in the late 1780's or early 1790's, it details the Saratoga campaign and includes a list of dates and stopping places on march to Cambridge, of what appears to be one element of the British column, pp. 23-101.

Anburey, Ensign Thomas, Travels Through the Interior Parts of America, Arno Press, New York, NY, 1969.  The author relates his experiences as a British officer in the Saratoga campaign, march to Cambridge and confinement with the Convention Army through a series of letter said to be written from America to a friend in England.  Criticized for plagiarism since its publication, and embellished content, there is a question as to who Anburey actually was, though the use of a pen-name was common in 18th century England.  There is considerable content on the march, see Volume 2, pp. 15-59.

Armstrong, Lieutenant Samuel, From Saratoga to Valley Forge: The Diary of Lt. Samuel Armstrong, The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. CXXI, No. 3, July 1997.  The journal of Armstrong's service with the 8th Massachusetts Regiment of the Continental Line covers a period from August 1777 through June 1778 includes his experiences in the Saratoga campaign, pp. 238-270. 

Baldwin, Colonel Jeduthan, The Revolutionary Journal of Col. Jeduthan Baldwin 1775-1778, Ayer Company Publishers, North Stratford, NH, 2001.  Baldwin's diary details his service as an engineer in the Northern Department of the Continental Army in 1776 and 1777.  He notes the surrender at Saratoga, Burgoyne's leaving Albany for Cambridge, and his own travel from Albany to Brookfield, one of the towns on the march route, where on arrival he wryly states "... Lodge with Mrs. Baldwin & you may guess for the rest."

(Bartlett, Lieutenant Israel) Chase, George Wingate, The History of Haverhill, Published by the Author, Haverhill, MA, 1861.  Chase's history includes a transcription of the journal kept by Lieutenant Israel Bartlett of the Massachusetts Militia in 1777, beginning October 4th when he marched to join the Northern Army, and his return as one of those guarding the British element of the Convention Army to Prospect Hill on November 6th, pp. 400-403.

(Bense, Grenadier Johann) Reuter, Claus, Brunswick Troops and Saratoga, S.R. Research and Publishing, Canada, no date.  The diary of Brunswick Grenadier Johann Bense, one of five accounts in the book related to the Saratoga campaign, includes daily details of the German route of march from October 17 through November 7, 1777, pp. 75-80, and the remainder of his time in captivity.

(Blake, Lieutenant Thomas) Kidder, Frederick, History of the First New Hampshire Regiment in the War of the Revolution, Peter Randall Publisher, Hampton, NH, 1973.  A history of New Hampshire's First Regiment of the Continental Line.  Blake's journal, which is included, begins with his joining the regiment May 13, 1777 at Fort #4 in Charlestown, New Hampshire, his being at Saratoga for the surrender, and the march to join Washington's army in New Jersey, arriving Nov. 21, 1777, pp. 25-38.

Burgoyne, Lieutenant-General John, A State of the Expedition From Canada, As Laid Before The House Of Commons, By Lieutenant-General Burgoyne, And Verified By Evidence, With A Collection Of Authentic Documents..., Arno Press, New York, NY, 1969 (originally published in London, 1780).  A compilation of letters and documents, and a transcription of the testimony of Burgoyne and others before Parliament, this work is Burgoyne's explanation of the Saratoga campaign, dedicated to his officers, in an attempt to defend his reputation. 

Burgoyne, Lieutenant-General John, (O'Callaghan, E.B., ed.), Orderly Book of Lieut. Gen. John Burgoyne, J. Munsell, Albany, NY, 1860.  A transcription of the general orders issued by Burgoyne during the Saratoga campaign, from June 20, 1777, through October 17, 1777.  Includes a list of officers paroled in Cambridge on December 13, 1777.

Cross, Colonel Ralph, (Williamson, Joseph, ed.), The Journal of Ralph Cross, of Newburyport, Who Commanded the Essex Regiment, At The Surrender of Burgoyne in 1777, Historical Magazine, Morrisannia, NY, Jan. 1870.  Day by day diary details Cross's movement from Newburyport to Vermont in September of 1777, participation in the attack on Mount Independence in Pawlett Expedition, Battle of Bemis Height, destruction of the British "bridge of boats" and surrender of Burgoyne, pp. 10-11.

Dearborn, Major Henry, Journals of Henry Dearborn, University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1887.  Dearborn's diary of his service in the Continental Line, including as commander of the Light Infantry at Saratoga.

Digby, Lieutenant William, (Baxter, James Phinney), The British Invasion From The North... With The Journal of Lieut. William Digby of the 53rd, or Shropshire Regiment of Foot , Joel Munsell's Sons, Albany, NY, 1887.  Baxter's history of the Saratoga campaign includes Digby's journal, detailing his experiences in the 1776 and 1777 campaigns launched from Canada to reclaim the Champlain Valley.  Digby ends his journal ends with Burgoyne's surrender, and does not describe the march of the Convention Army.

Drew, Bernard A., Henry Knox and the Revolutionary War Trail in Western Massachusetts, MacFarland & Company, Jefferson, NC, 2012.  A collection of vignettes on the people and places along the Berkshire County section of the "Great Road."  Drew covers a much broader period than simply Knox in the winter of 1775-1776, including Burgoyne and the Convention Army, and travelers and events before and after the Revolution, pp. 162-190.

Du Roi The Elder, Journal of Du Roi The Elder - Lieutenant and Adjutant In The Service Of The Duke Of Brunswick , 1776-1778, Translated by Charlotte S. J. Epping. New York: University of Pennsylvania D. Appleton & Co. Agents, 1911.  Du Roi's journal of his service with the Prinz Friedrich regiment does not cover the 1777 march of the Convention Army, but does describe his experience in Canada and the Saratoga campaign through August of 1777.  Additionally, beginning at page 166 he notes the orders issued at Fort Ticonderoga from July 15th to August 11, 1777; and beginning on page 128, the 1778-1779 march of the Convention Army from Cambridge to Virginia. Two tables at the end list the weight and exchange rates for currency in 1770's.

Fitts, Lieutenant Abraham "Diary of Lieutenant Abraham Fitts, of Candia, N.H.; Copy by J.H. Fitts", in Isaac W. Hammond, ed., Rolls Of The Soldiers In The Revolutionary War (Concord, NH: Parson B. Cogswell,  1886), 3:937.  Fitts, an officer with the New Hampshire militia, appears to have marched with the British column of the Convention Army from Stillwater to Worthington, until a disagreement with the commander of his regiment led to his being dismissed.

(Glover, Brigadier-General John) Gardner, G.A., Glover's Marblehead Regiment, Salem Press, Salem, MA.  Included is a letter dated Oct. 22, 1777 that tells how he divided the Convention Army into two columns on separate routes to Cambridge, p. 12.

(Glover, Brigadier-General John) Upham, William P., Memoir of General John Glover of Marblehead, Printed by Charles W. Swasey, Salem, MA, 1863.  The story of Glover's service, including a letter to Washington explaining his reasons for dividing the Convention Army onto two march routes, p. 32.

Charles E. Goodspeed, Census Making In Massachusetts 1643-1765 With A Reproduction Of The Lost Census Of 1765 (Boston, MA: Charles E. Goodspeed, 1905).

Heath, Major-General William, Memoirs of the American War, A Wessels Co., New York, NY, 1904.  Originally published in 1798, Heath's account of his service in the Revolutionary War includes his recollections of Burgoyne's surrender and the challenges he faced in quartering the Convention Army as commander of the Eastern District, until replaced by Gates in November of 1778 (and at which time the Convention Army was marched to Virginia), pp. 143-211.

Hitchcock, Chaplain Enos, (Weedon, William B., ed.), Publications of the Rhode Island Historical Society, Standard Printing Company, Providence, RI, 1899, Vol. 8. Chaplain Hitchcock's diary of his service as a chaplain in the Revolution appears in three sections, starting at pages 87, 147 and 207.  Interesting, in addition to his account of the surrender and meeting Burgoyne along the road to Cambridge in November of 1777 (p. 163), is his account of his losses when Fort Ticonderoga was taken in July.  Along with clothes, two blankets, a Bible and a psalm book and various other items were "15 Gallons best Rum, 5 ditto best Brandy", p. 92.

Holland, Lieutenant Park, (Fiske, Jeffrey and Sally, eds.), Journal of Park Holland, Towaid, New Braintree, MA, 2000.  A brief account of the service of Park Holland, Sergeant-Major of the 5th Massachusetts Regiment of the Continental Line at the time of Saratoga, pp. 6-11, and 68.  While not an actual journal, the modern printing is of two letters Holland wrote for his family in 1834, and in the appendix a letter Holland sent his sister from Albany on October 23, 1777. 

How, Private David, Diary of David How, H.O. Houghton and Company, Cambridge, MA, 1865.  Massachusetts Militiaman David How kept at least two diaries, one of his service in the Continental Army in 1776, and a second of his militia service in the Saratoga campaign, including his march as a guard of the British column from Stillwater, New York to Cambridge, Massachusetts, pp. 48-51.

Hughes, Ensign Thomas,  (E.A, Benians, ed.), A Journal by Thos: Hughes, University Press, Cambridge, Great Britain, 1947.  Hughes, an ensign in the British 53rd Regiment of Foot, was captured in the raid on Fort Ticonderoga September 18, 1777.  His journal details his experience as a prisoner, including his travels through New York and Vermont into captivity in Massachusetts.

Lamb, Sergeant Roger, Memoirs of His Own Life, J. Jones, Dublin, 1811.  In the second of two biographical works, Lamb, of the British 9th Regiment of Foot, expands slightly on the account he gave of his march into captivity in his 1809 Journal of the American War.

Lingley, Charles Ramsdell,  "The Treatment of Burgoyne's Troops Under the Saratoga Convention", Advance Sheets From Political Science Quarterly, Vol. XXII, No. 3, 1907.

McKenzie, Matthew G., Barefooted, Bare Leg'd, Bare Breeched, The Revolutionary War Service of the Massachusetts Continental Line, The Massachusetts Society of Cincinnati, 1995.  See letter from Elisha James, describing his feelings and observations of the surrender at Saratoga, p. 62.

Napier, Lieutenant (Lord) Francis, (Bradford, S. Sidney, ed.) "Lord Francis Napier's Journal of the Burgoyne Campaign",  Maryland Historical Magazine, Vol. 57, No. 4, Dec. 1962, p. 285.  The journal of Lieutenant Napier of the light infantry company of the 31st Regiment of Foot, one of four nobles who served under Burgoyne, covers the Saratoga Campaign and march of the Convention Army.  His entry at the time of the surrender offers a candid assessment of the campaign, followed by a day to day listing of the overnight stops on the march to Cambridge, and miles traveled, p. 329. 

Pettingill, Ray W., trans., Letters From America 1776-1779, Riverside Press, Cambridge, MA, 1924.  A letter from Cambridge dated Nov. 15, 1777 (starting p. 107) describes Burgoyne's retreat north to Saratoga from Bemis Heights and includes the often quoted description of American forces, in particular the wearing of wigs.  Letters on pp. 113-130 describe the march in detail, and on p. 122 the American escort as "... consisting of six hundred men..."  Pettengill notes the letters in his work were used in 1884 by Edwin Lowell in The Hessians and Other German Auxiliaries of Great Britain in the Revolutionary War, and translated by William Leete Stone for inclusion in 1891 in Letters of Brunswick and Hessian Officers During the American Revolution, but both works were incomplete and contained errors.  

Pillsbury, Joshua, (Pettengill, Ray, ed,) "To Saratoga and Back 1777", The New England Quarterly, Vol. 10, No. 4, Dec. 1937, p. 787.  After indicating his regiment had been "... ordered as Guard to the Hushens from [Stillwater, NY] to Winterhill...", Pillsbury lists mostly where they stopped and how far they marched.  Pettengill identifies the author of the account of the Saratoga campaign he transcribes as Joshua Pillsbury, but Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War, vol. 12, p. 419 shows him to be Joshua Pilsbury - spelled with one "l" - serving for forty-two days from September 29, 1777 through November 7. 1777.

Riedesel, Baroness Frederika Charlotte Louise, (Brown, Marvin, ed.), Baroness Riedesel and the American Revolution, Journal and Correspondence, University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, NC, 1965 (originally published in 1800).  Includes her experiences at the surrender and on the march, pp. 63-67.

Riedesel, Major-General Friederick Alophus, (Stone, William, ed.), Memoirs, Letters and Journals During His Residency in America, J. Munsell, Albany, NY, 1868.  Riedesel documents the councils called by Burgoyne to consider surrender and preparation for the march, including saving the German colors and his soldiers' distress over surrendering their cannon and muskets (pp. 188-189) and details of the march (pp. 191-193 and 214-217).

Sexagenary, The Sexagenary or Reminiscences of  the American Revolution, W.C. Little and O. Steele, Albany, NY, 1833.  The memoir of a "Farmer of Saratoga county, whose memory outlives his better days", who served as an "unpretending but not useless" waggoneer.  His recollections mention many of the towns and villages along the route of the Convention Army, and include tales from the French and Indian War, his own experiences accompanying Colonel Henry Knox transport captured artillery as far as Springfield (pp 26-35), and his experiences and observations of the Saratoga campaign and Burgoyne's surrender.

Snow, Dean, "American Orderly Books, Saratoga, September 15 to October 17, 1777", accessed online on 1/1/23.  A day by day compilation of four American orderly books from the Saratoga campaign. 

Specht Regiment, (Doblin, Helga, trans.), The Specht Journal, Greenwood Press, Westport, CT, 1995.  This work, subtitled "A Military Journal of the Burgoyne Campaign" is the translation of a journal thought to be kept by the regiment's adjutant, Lieutenant Anton Adolph Heinrich Du Roi.  It covers the period from the regiment's departure from Germany in 1776 through November 9, 1777, two days after its arrival at Winter Hill, and includes a highly detailed day by day account account of the march of the Brunswicker von Specht Regiment from Saratoga to Cambridge, pp. 101-110.

Wasmus, Surgeon Julius Friedrich, (Doblin, Helga, trans.), An Eyewitness Account of the American Revolution and New England Life, Greenwood Press, New York, NY, 1990.  As Wasmus was captured at the Battle of Bennington he did not march with the Convention Army, but as he was being held in a town nearby the route to took, he rode to meet them and spent the night with them in Brookfield (pp. 89-90).  His observations provide additional insight on the experience of German prisoners in New England.

Whipple, Brigadier-General William, Memorandum and Expenses, Burgoyne Campaign, 1777, Collection of the Portsmouth Athenaeum, Portsmouth, NH, John Langdon Papers, Catalog Number MS050 B08 F36.  Whipple's journal details his escorting Burgoyne from Albany to Cambridge in 1777.  A transcribed and annotated version of the journal is now available on the Athenaeum's website.

Wild, Lieutenant Ebenezer, Journal of Ebenezer Wild (1776-1781), University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1891.  Includes his account of his scout around Saratoga Lake, the surrender and departure from Saratoga, p. 24. 

Wilkinson, Lieutenant-Colonel (later General) James, Memoirs of My Own Times, Abraham Small, Philadelphia, PA, 1816.  Includes his service as Gates' adjutant in the surrender negotiations with Burgoyne, starting p. 297.