The 1777 March of the Saratoga Convention Army

I have used a number primary sources, letters or other documents written by individuals with a direct connection to the march of the Convention Army, to research and write posts for this blog.  One of the first I encountered, years ago, was Travels Through the Interior Parts of America, In A Series Of Letters , written "By An Officer" .  Originally published in London in 1789, it has been reprinted on several occasions and in several languages, including almost two centuries later by the Arno Press, in 1969.  While the title page doesn't name the author, the work is dedicated "To Earl of Harrington, Viscount Petersham and Colonel of the 29th Regiment of Foot"  by Thomas Anburey. [1]  Anburey's account of his time in America covers five years, from 1776 to 1781, and was published in two volumes.  Included are eight prints, one being a map to illustrate the range of his travels from Quebec to Virginia, titled as shown in this excerpt from the online collectio...

On October 21, 1777, lead elements of the British column of the Convention Army arrived in Williamstown, Massachusetts.  Others arrived the following day, and would remain until the morning of the 23rd.  Their journey had been difficult - hard marching over bad roads in bad weather.  Their march through Vermont had brought them to what was then a small frontier town in the northwest corner of Massachusetts, in a valley among the Berkshires, where the Green River joined the Hoosic. Lieutenant Israel Bartlett of Haverhill, Massachusetts, had marched north on October 4, 1777 with Captain Nathaniel Marsh and nineteen men from their company, part of Colonel Samuel Johnson's 4th Essex County Regiment of the Massachusetts Militia.  Bartlett arrived at Saratoga at the time of the cease-fire, and on the 17th found himself among those ordered to "march in order to take charge of the prisoners, who are to march to Boston."  [1]   Four days later, on the 21st, he ...

"Remember the Ladies..."  Abagail Adams urged her husband John in a letter begun March 31, 1776 .  Mothers Day 2023 is a day to remember the women who were or are also mothers, including those of the Convention Army, or impacted by the Saratoga campaign, though the holiday was not established in the United States until well after the eighteenth century.   The idea of wives (or today civilian husbands, as some of our nation's  Soldiers are women and mothers themselves) and children accompanying soldiers to war is foreign to us today.  It was not in some armies of the eighteenth century.  Continental Army Chaplain Enos Hitchcock noted that those surrendered at Saratoga on October 17, 1777, totaled 5,840  "... besides Women & Children which were many."   [1]  Frederika Charlotte Riedesel, and her three children Augusta, Frederika and Caroline, ages six, three and one, were among those women and children who would march with the Convent...

What do trolley rides, an asparagus festival, and the Brimfield Flea Market have to do with the march of the Convention Army?  Nothing directly, but all are events occurring the next few weeks in towns along the route of the 1777 march of the Convention Army.  Exploring history doesn't mean we can't look beyond primary sources and historical sites to learn a little more about the people and places along the way.     First to consider date-wise is the  Brimfield Flea Market .  The "spring show", one of three held each year, runs from May 9th to the 14th.  If you have never been to Brimfield, it's an experience worth considering.  It is not a single flea market or antique show, but a collection of overlapping sales in the fields along Route 20 west from the center of town.  Vendors offer a dazzling array of items, ranging from traditional antiques to industrial salvage, fine pieces and some junk, as well as food and beverage.  Some fi...