The British Experience - “Two Hundred Miles From Saratoga To Boston”

When I last wrote about what the Convention Army looked like, I indicated that I was not aware of any image depicting the 1777 march.  Since then I've come across one, in a 1778 British political cartoon in the Library of Congress entitled "The Closet".  It shows, among other things, King George III with several of his advisors, and two panels labeled "Saratogha" [sic].  One of the Saratoga panels, pictured here, shows a column of soldiers marching off into captivity, hands bound, as American troops look on from a distance. Their commander, Lieutenant-General John Burgoyne, leads his men sword in hand, and a copy of his play "Maid of the Oaks" under one arm and book of poems under the other, and remarks of his downcast followers: "I have led my Rag-o-muffians where they have been Peppered".

While there is nothing that suggests this image was drawn from life, especially since Burgoyne rode to meet Gates at his headquarters before departing for Albany and leaving his men to march under their regimental officers, the downcast appearance of the marchers likely reflects what many were likely feeling.  

In addition to this lack of imagery, British accounts from Saratoga campaign provide little detail on the 1777 march of the Convention Army after the surrender on October 17th for the most part.  Some, such as the diary of Lieutenant Francis (Lord) Napier of the 31st Regiment of Foot, and the journal of an officer of the 47th Regiment of Foot simply list dates, places and miles traveled. [1]  Another, from Lieutenant James Hadden of the Royal Artillery, consists of a journal which ends with the Battle of Freeman's Farm on September 19th, and orders which jump from October 3, 1777, regarding flour rations, forage money for officers, and Burgoyne's hope for support from Sir Henry Clinton two weeks before the surrender, to Burgoyne's order on November 12, 1777, regulating the conduct of his men in Cambridge and their barracks on Prospect Hill. [2]

Lieutenant William Digby, of the 53rd Regiment of Foot, provides a description of the start of the march of the Convention Army, of which he notes: “Gen Burgoyne desired a meeting of all the officers early that morning [October 17th], at which he entered into a detail of his manner of acting since he had the honour of commanding the army; but he was too full to speak; heaven only could tell his feelings ...About 10 o'clock, we marched out, according to treaty, with drums beating & the honours of war, but the drums seemed to have lost their former inspiriting sounds, and though we beat the Grenadiers march, which not long before was so animating, yet then it seemed by its last feeble effort, as if almost ashamed to be heard on such an occasion. As to my own feelings, I can not express them. Tears (though unmanly) forced their way, and if alone, I could have burst to give myself vent.” Unfortunately, he ends his account of the campaign with his description of that day. [3]  

Sergeant Roger Lamb, of the 9th Regiment of Foot, is one of only the few British soldiers who wrote about his service with the British army in America, including during the Saratoga campaign.  In his Memoirs of His Own Life, published in 1811, he noted with regard to the 1777 march:  "We were marched during the rigours of winter, in a cold climate, two hundred miles from Saratoga to Boston, and obliged to endure harsh and cruel usage..."  Lamb goes on to say, after sharing a short account of Burgoyne's life:  "On the morning of the 17th of October we surrendered, and in the evening crossed the Hudson river from Saratoga on our march to Boston. From the outset of our marching we experienced much hardship, sleeping in barns, and having but bad clothing, and scanty provisions. The way before and about us presented an uncheering appearance; mountainous and barren, with little of pleasing scenery to amuse the traveller. In our progress we crossed the ridge of mountains called Blue Hills, which begin in New Hampshire, and extend through a long tract of country in New England. Hadley was the first place we arrived [sic] at, which had any local attractions to delight the eye. It is a pleasant town of Hampshire County Massachusetts, on the east of Connecticut river. It then consisted of one extensive and spacious street parallel to the river."  He concludes his account of the march ten pages later, after relating an anecdote about two English generals who took refuge in New England in consequence of their role in approving the execution of King Charles I in 1649, with a single sentence which reads: "From Hadley our rout lay to Prospect-hill, which is about 90 miles distant from it, where we stoped [sic] during the winter months, and endured harsh usage in different ways." [4]

Private William Crawford, of the 29th Regiment of Foot, also served under Burgoyne and was present at the surrender and made the march.  His account though is even briefer than Lamb's, just two sentences which read in their relevant part: "... we were at last obliged to surrender to the rebels under gen. Gates near Saratoga in the stat of New York.  We were then marched to Prospect Hill near Boston in the state of Massachusetts, where we remained for several months..." [5]

Corporal George Fox, of the 47th Regiment of Foot, who like Lamb and Crawford served as a British soldier under Burgoyne, similarly offers only the barest details on the march, noting his in account: "... we stack'd our arms and march'd [October] 17... we were receive'd by a strong guard of 500 they march'd us to freemans farm that night... the next day from there to Still water 13 m 200 m from boston, we had five days provision serv'd out.  The next morning we crossed the river and so was [at ?] N Hampshire.  Next day we lay in the woods, 27 m the next day, 27 next, 27 next, next to Hadley 27 m New England.  next 6 Days provision serv'd out.  The middle of nov [November] we arriv'd at prospect Hill near Boston..." [6]  In addition to Fox's claim that he marched twenty-seven miles on four consecutive days not aligning with any other accounts, the total of one-hundred twenty-one miles exceeds the distance of the likely route of march from Saratoga to Hadley by some twenty miles.

The one extensive account of the march we have from a British perspective comes to us from Ensign Thomas Anburey of the 29th and 24th Regiments of Foot, in his two volume work Travels Through the Interior Parts of America, In A Series Of Letters published in London in 1789.  As I noted when writing about him before, Anburey has been criticized for inaccuracies, plagiarism and bias in the stories he shares with his readers.  Still, what he shared offers us some insight as to how he and his readers in Britain perceived New Englanders in 1777.

Next Week: The German Experience - “We Finally Reached 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 

   General Whipple's Journal         Burgoyne in Albany                    Annotated Bibliography  

[1] Napier, "Lord Francis Napier's Journal of the Burgoyne Campaign", 329.  "47th Regiment Journal", 157.
[2] James Hadden, Hadden's Journal and Orderly Books (Albany, NY: Joel Munsell's Sons, 1884), 325-327.
[3] Digby, The British Invasion From The North... With The Journal of Lieut. William Digby of the 53rd, or Shropshire Regiment of Foot, 317-320.

[4] Lamb, Memoirs of His Own Life, 207, 212 and 222.

[5] Don N. Hagist, "The Narrative of William Crawford, Private Soldier of the 29th Regiment of Foot", Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research, Vol. 86, No. 348 (Winter 2008), 319-320.

[6] J. A. Houlding and G. Kenneth Yates, "Corporal Fox's Memoir of Service", Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research, Vol. 68, No. 275, (Autumn 1990), 162.