Overnight Stopping Points of the Convention Army On Its March From Saratoga to Cambridge in 1777

By


Albany [New York]
22 Oct., 1777

To the Hon'ble Jer'h [Jeremiah] Powell.
Sir; This will inform your Honour, that I have sent on one Division of the prisoners, Consisting of 2,442 British troops, by Northampton, the other by way of Springfield, Consisting of 2,198 foreign troops...
[Brigadier-General] John Glover.
 

The British route (in red) from Stillwater, New York to Brookfield, Massachusetts through Williamstown, Pittsfield, Northampton, and Hadley; and German route (in blue) through Kinderhook and Hillsdale, New York to Brookfield through Great Barrington and Springfield, Massachusetts converge onto a common route (in black) from Brookfield through Worcester to Cambridge.  An element of the British column appears to have taken an offshoot from the common route through Westborough to Weston.  The routes have been overlaid on Bowles's 1775 Pocket Map of New England.

The circles on the routes above align with the chart below that indicates when and where elements of the Convention Army spent the night during the march.  Each column often stretched out over many miles, due to its size, and slow travel over poor roads, mountains, rivers and streams.  Massachusetts Militia Private David How, a guard with the British column, noted on November 1st in Brookfield: “This Day we have Ben waiting for the Prisoners all to Get together & Draw provisions”.

Date:

British Column


German Column


Burgoyne:

Oct. 18

Cross Hudson River at Stillwater, NY

Stillwater, NY 

Burgoyne departs Saratoga

Oct. 19

Tulls Mills, NY

Cross Hudson River to 

Schaghticoke, NY


Oct. 20

St. Croix (now North Hoosick), NY

New City (now Troy), NY

Burgoyne writes to Lord Germain from Albany

Oct. 21

5 miles from St. Croix, NY; Williamstown, MA

Greenbush, NY

Burgoyne remains in Albany

Oct. 22

Williamstown, MA

Kinderhook, NY

Burgoyne remains in Albany

Oct. 23

New Ashford and Lanesboro, MA

Second night in Kinderhook, NY

Burgoyne remains in Albany

Oct. 24

Lanesboro and Pittsfield, MA

Nobletown, MA (now Hillsdale, NY) and Egremont, MA

Burgoyne remains in Albany

Oct. 25

Pittsfield and Worthington, MA

Great Barrington, MA

Burgoyne’s baggage sent across Hudson River; Burgoyne remains in Albany

Oct. 26

Partridgefield (now Dalton, Hinsdale and Peru) Worthington and Chesterfield, MA

Tyringham and Green Woods (now in Otis), MA

Burgoyne's last night in Albany

Oct. 27

Worthington and Northampton, MA

Blandford and Westfield, MA

Kinderhook, NY

Oct. 28

Second night in Northampton, MA

Westfield, MA

Nobletown, MA (now Hillsdale, NY)

Oct. 29

Upper Chesterfield, and cross Connecticut River into Hadley and Amherst, MA; 

West Springfield and initial elements cross Connecticut River into Springfield, MA

Great Barrington, MA

Oct. 30

Northampton, Ware and Western (now Warren), MA

Second night in West Springfield and Springfield, MA

Tyringham (in the section that is now Monterey), MA

Oct. 31

Hadley and Brookfield, MA

Cross Connecticut River into

Springfield, MA

Westfield, MA

Nov. 1

Belchertown, second night in Brookfield, and Spencer MA

Palmer, MA

Springfield, MA

Nov. 2

Brookfield and Worcester, MA

Western (now Warren) and Brookfield, MA

Remains in Springfield, MA

Nov. 3

Worcester, Shrewsbury & Northborough, MA

Leicester, MA

Brookfield, MA

Nov. 4

Marlborough and Sudbury, MA; Westborough, MA

Worcester, MA

Somewhere between Worcester and Marlborough, MA

Nov. 5

Weston, Waltham, and Watertown, MA

Marlborough, MA

Watertown, MA

Nov. 6

Cambridge (officers) and Charlestown (now Somerville) at Prospect Hill, MA

Weston, MA

Remains in Watertown, MA

Nov. 7

N/A – Arrived day prior.

Cambridge (officers) & Charlestown (now Somerville) at Winter Hill, MA

Burgoyne arrives Cambridge, MA


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

General John Burgoyne and Taylor Swift - "Built To Perfection"

By
Image
In my first post on this blog , I reserved the right to stray now and then from the 1777 line of march of the Convention Army.  I didn't expect that it would take me to pop music star Taylor Swift .  It has though, by way of a report that she was purchasing a house in Kinderhook, New York, that hosted British Lieutenant-General John Burgoyne after his surrender at Saratoga, while on his way to confinement in Cambridge, Massachusetts. First off, the story is said to be false.  An August 15, 2023,  article in the Albany Times Union clarified that it was only a rumor that Swift was buying a house in Kinderhook, where a historical marker out front indicates  Burgoyne stayed on October 22, 1777 . According to the Times Union article, a local middle-school principle posted on his Facebook page that:  “It appears that Taylor Swift may become our neighbor. If the rumor is true, she has recently purchased the historic Burgoyne House across from the old Martin Van Buren Elementary School...
Read more

Burgoyne's Artillery - "Drawn Through The Village"

By
Image
Lieutenant-General John Burgoyne's British and German troops marched out of their camp and entrenchments at Saratoga on the morning of October 17, 1777, and left their arms and artillery at  "the verge of the river where the old fort stood."  [1]   Supposedly, "With a moist eye the artilleryman looked for the last time upon his faithful gun parting with it as he would from a bride - and that, forever!"  [2]  For the American army, the surrendered artillery was something to be secured, inventoried, and redistributed for use in future battles against their former owners.   A German office would note:  "England's greatest loss may be considered the loss of the  artillery, which was taken by the rebels."  - though Britain's loss of an army, the boost to American morale, and the resulting alliance between the United States and France was surely more significant. [3]   An account of  the Convention Army's stop in Great Barrington includes a stor
Read more

Black History Month 2024 - "Stolen By The Americans Before The Revolutionary War"

By
Image
February is Black History Month.  According to the website of the National Museum of African American History and Culture , our national celebration of African-American history, culture and achievement dates back to 1926, when it began as "Negro History Week".  Carter G. Woodson, historian and founder of Black History Month, is quoted as saying: "Those who have no record of what their forebears have accomplished lose the inspiration which comes from the teaching of biography and history."   [1] The contributions of persons of color was overlooked in the telling of American history for many years.  Over time there has been a conscious effort to tell their stories, or at a minimum note their presence, such as through these bottle trees last year entitled  “Forgotten Souls of Tory Row: Remembering the Enslaved People of Brattle Street” , on the lawn of the Hooker-Lee-Nichols House in Cambridge, Massachusetts (now the home of " History Cambridge ").  Fortunate
Read more