The 1777 March of the Saratoga Convention Army

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 reach...

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 ...

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]...

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 mornin...

As mentioned in a prior post, I'm not aware of a period painting or drawing which shows the Convention Army on the march in 1777.  As a result, my descriptions of the column on the march have been based on written accounts, and pieced together from a number of sources. The arrival of several thousand soldiers in a small Massachusetts town, some accompanied by their wives and children, was bound to attract attention.  In this close-up of a painting by William Hogarth, British troops in fresh uniforms march off to suppress a rebellion in Scotland in 1745.  While Hogarth's painting pre-dates the march of the the Convention Army by several decades, it conveys the mix of curiosity, excitement and confusion that the passing of any army was likely to generate, including the Convention Army as they marched from Saratoga to Cambridge. Accounts of the German column's passage through Blandford and Westfield , to West Springfield suggest they were a hard pressed lot; wet, mud...