The British Continue On - “March Through … Ware”

The British troops who surrendered at Saratoga were apparently well rested when they left Hadley, Massachusetts, on October 30, 1777.  Many would march through Amherst, Belchertown and Ware before they stopped to spend the night in Western.  "[Oct.] 30 Thursday..." wrote Massachusetts Militia Lieutenant Israel Bartlett, "We marched thro’ Belcher[town, from Amherst] and Ware and put up at Weston [Western then, now Warren], about 20 miles from Amherst.”  Private David How didn't specify how far he marched, but noted:“[Oct.] 30 This morning we Set off [from Hadley] march Through Belcher[town] And Ware River. at Night We Staid at Westurn [Western, now Warren].”  British Lieutenant Francis (Lord) Napier of the 31st Regiment of Foot stopped a bit sooner, noting: "October … 30th. [Marched from Hadley to ] Weir - 17 M[iles]"  [1]

British accounts of the march from Saratoga to Cambridge tell us nothing about the town of Ware, on the eastern edge of Hampshire County.  In 1764 there were 485 people who lived there.  Twenty-six years later, in 1790 when the first United States census was taken, the population of the town was 773.  The British column, numbering 2,442 according to Brigadier-General John Glover, was at least three times the size of the town's population when it passed through the town in 1777. [2]  

How's reference to Ware as "Ware River" may reflect its geographic location on the banks of that stream, which runs to the southeast through town, or that following European settlement in the area in 1729,  the town was initially established as the Ware River Precinct in 1742, before becoming a district, and then the town of Ware in 1775. [3]  

An early history of Ware (which Napier refers to as "Weir") by the Reverend Arthur Chase indicates that the town was named for the fish traps ("weirs") that its native population had been setting on what is now the Ware River. [4]  Unfortunately Chase's history of Ware makes no mention of the surrender at Saratoga or the march of the Convention Army.  This, the lack of detail in accounts of the march, and the vagueness of period maps, leaves open the question as to how the British column got there from Belchertown.  

Once again the Belchertown Historical Association's archivist, Cliff McCarthy, has helped me out.  Cliff shared what I had suspected, that travelers in 1777 were taking Cold Spring Road and Old Belchertown, rather than what is now Route 9 from Belchertown to Ware - a route that Chase labels as "Post Road to Boston". [5]

When the British column passed through Ware in 1777, almost half the of the town's existence since its founding in 1742 had been spent in wartime, starting with King George's War (1744–48), followed by the French and Indian War (1754–63), and then the Revolutionary War in 1775.  Twenty years earlier, in 1757, a militia company from Ware was part of a regiment which marched to support Fort William Henry in New York, passing through Kinderhook on their way.  Others served in expeditions to Crown Point, New York in 1756 and 1759, and in 1760.  A decade and a half later, fighting against rather than with the British, twenty-nine "marched to reinforce the army under the command of the Hon. Maj. Gen'l Gates...", and served from September 23 until October 17, 1777. [6]

The town took an interesting approach to representative government at the start of the Revolutionary War, when on May 20, 1775, they: "Voted to Chuse three men to take turns to atend the s'd Congress.  Made choice of Capt. Wm. Breakenridge, Ens. Joseph Foster, Dea. Thomas Jinkins to atend s'd Congress a free Gratis - the District bearing their Expense."  A change in outlook regarding government is reflected in the notices issued for town meeting after the Revolution started.  The one held March 4, 1776, was called in "His Majesty's Name"; a meeting notice in September of 1776 was called without reference to any authority; while the meeting held at the beginning of 1777 was called "In the name of the State of Massachusetts and the People". [7]  

The Revolutionary War impacted towns and people across Massachusetts in a number of ways.  One of the more unusual examples may still be found in Ware.  When the Reverend Ezra Thayer died in February of 1775, his congregation voted to "see about a piller" to mark his grave.  The coming of the war delayed this.  The carved headstone pictured above, costing four pounds, four shillings when it was erected to mark his grave in 1784, still stands in the Center Burying Ground, directly behind what it the Ware Center Meeting House & Museum today. [8] 

[1] Bartlett, 402.  How, 50.  Napier, 329.

[2] J.H. Benton, Jr., Early Census Making In Massachusetts 1643-1765 (Boston, MA: Charles E. Goodspeed, 1905), appendix.  Return of the Whole Number of Persons Within The Several Districts of the United States of America (Philadelphia, PA: Childs and Swaine, 1791), 27.

[3] Stephen Robert Katz, "Ware's Founding Documents", accessed May 14, 2024 at: https://www.stephenrkatz.com/historical-documents.

[4] Arthur Chase, History of Ware, Massachusetts (Cambridge, MA: The University Press, 1911), 4.

[5] Cliff McCarthy, email to author, May 19, 2023.  Chase, History of Ware, following page 55.

[6] Chase, History of Ware, 133-137, 144.

[7] Chase, History of Ware, 139-140.

[8] Chase, History of Ware, 89-90.

Next Week: Western, Westurn or Weston? - “The Same Road To Boston”

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

 Annotated Bibliography