The 1777 March of the Saratoga Convention Army

On July 6, 1777, British and German forces under the command of Lieutenant-General John Burgoyne occupied the American fortifications at Fort Ticonderoga and Mount Independence  and took control of Lake Champlain.  Outnumbered, American troops retired south to Skenesboro, some by boat, others by land southeast on military roads to Castleton, Vermont.  Burgoyne responded by focusing his attention on those fleeing by boat, and left the pursuit of those who traveled by land to the commander of his Advance Corps, Brigadier-General Simon Fraser, "Knowing how safely I could trust to that officers conduct."   [1] British Lieutenant James Hadden of the Royal Artillery noted in his Journal :  "July 6th At daybreak this Morning the retreat of the Enemy was discover'd, and B. Gen'l Frazer, with about 8 or 900 of his own Corps (leaving the rest with the Tents Batteaux's &c &c) pursued them towards Huberton, leaving his Artillery which the Road was not capable o...

Ensign Samuel Armstrong of the 8th Massachusetts Regiment of the Continental Line is one of those who traveled through the Berkshires during the Revolutionary War, transporting supplies for the Continental Army. On July 19, 1777, he set off west from Blandford with four teams of oxen and 20 men. His day was trying, beginning in the morning when one of the teamsters hired failed to show up.   Searching, he found “... one of our Genius's had as I suppos[ed] [b]een Bundling all Night & had not got the Snarls out of his head, for I catch'd his Girl Combing it as I entered the door (the fellow look'd as if he'd nev’r Seen me before & Quite forgot his promise he'd made the last Evening; besides that his Oxen were lame; the Cart did not belong to him, & more than that the Owner of the Cart said his Cart should not go) upon which I told him his Oxen & Cart Should Both go & if he was amind to go with them he might, if not one of the men Shoud drive the...

On June 24 and 25, 2023, the Bidwell House Museum in Monterey, Massachusetts, will host a Revolutionary War "Living History Weekend" that recreates the camp of an army on campaign.  Modern day "living history" can trace its roots to our nation's Bi-Centennial period, when participants generally focused on re-enacting a major (or imagined) battle.  Many of today’s re-enactors have benefitted from years of research and the greater availability of primary source information on which to base their presentations, and a shift to an immersive experience for visitors, such as recreating a Continental Army camp. The Bidwell House campaign event will be just that.  Most of the participants at the Bidwell House will portray troops on the march camped on the grounds of the Bidwell House, to give visitors the opportunity to see how the common soldier of the Revolution may have lived, what he ate, and how he spent his time in camp, drilling, maintaining his clothing and equ...

On October 22, 1777, Brigadier-General John Glover alerted the Massachusetts Council that the Convention Army was on its way to Boston, including 2,198 "foreign troops".  By foreign troops Glover meant Germans, almost half of the total force surrendered at Saratoga.  Labeling them as such, Glover avoided designations often used such as "Hessian" or "mercenary", but reaction in Massachusetts was predictable.  Massachusetts residents had a dim view of the German troops fighting with the British to start with.  Their reaction was hardly new or unique to New England.  Indeed, among the grievances listed in the Declaration of Independence in 1776 was that King George III was  "... transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous of ages..."   In addition to British troops and Canadian, Provincial and N...