The 1777 March of the Saratoga Convention Army

Lieutenant-General John Burgoyne's British and German soldiers left their camp on the morning of October 17, 1777, with orders to march "... to the verge of the river where the old fort stood, where the arms and artillery are to be left; the arms to be piled by word of command from their own officers." [1]  Following the surrender, American Colonel Jeduthan Baldwin would record in his diary that among what was captured were "5000 Stands arms" , or as Lieutenant-Colonel James Wilkinson would quote  decades later  from Major Ebenezer Steven's return: "five thousand stand of arms are taken ..."  [2]     What is a stand of arms?  The term does not appear in Thomas Simes " A Treaty on the Military Science" .   Captain George Smith's  Universal Military Dictionary  helps some, as  "Stand of Arms"  is defined as being  "a complete set of arms for one soldier."   What is meant by "arms" though is open t...

Article I of the Articles of Convention required Lieutenant-General John Burgoyne's British and German soldiers to "march out of their camp" on the morning of October 17, 1777, "... to the verge of the river where the old fort stood, where the arms and artillery are to be left; the arms to be piled by word of command from their own officers." [1]   Burgoyne was very specific with regard to this point.  On October 14th, Major-General Horatio Gates had proposed to Burgoyne that once terms were agreed to, "... the troops under his excellency General Burgoyne's command, may be drawn up in their encampment, when they will be ordered to ground their arms, and may thereupon be marched to the riverside, to be passed over on their way towards Bennington."   [2] Burgoyne initially replied to Gates: "If General Gates does not mean to recede from the first [Burgoyne's troops surrender as prisoners of war] and sixth [Burgoyne's troops ground th...

When the British Army surrendered at Saratoga on October 17, 1777, Lieutenant-General John Burgoyne's soldiers were close to starving.    Brigadier-General William Whipple "who with Gen. Glover conducted G. Burgoyne & his Army prisoners from Saratoga to Cambridge..."  shared with the Reverend Ezra Stiles that Massachusetts Militia  troops had c aptured three-quarters of the supplies Burgoyne had left, and at the time of surrender "... Burgoyns Army had but one day's Store of Bread left & this bad ... & the failure of Stores obliged him to surrender on the 17th."   [1 ]   Article V of the  Articles of Convention  shifted the responsibility for feeding Burgoyne's men to his American captors, providing:  "The troops are to be supplied on their march ... with provisions, by General Gates's orders, at the same rate of rations as the troops of his own army...".   Neither British or American soldiers ate well by today's ...

I intended this blog post to focus on Cambridge as the final stop of the march of the Convention Army.  Two things changed that.  The first was learning that while Burgoyne and his senior officers were primarily quartered in Cambridge, his troops were held in Continental Army barracks on Prospect Hill, the site today marked by the magnificent stone tower shown below, and Winter Hill.  The second was visiting Somerville, which in 1777 was still part of Charlestown and is where both hills are located. The 1777 march of the Convention Army began in earnest on October 18th, with many thinking their destination was Boston.  German Grenadier Johann Bense noted in his diary for that day  "... we set out for Boston..." [1]  A letter dated October 22nd from Greenbush, New York, published in the Massachusetts Spy in Worcester, noted that after grounding their arms, Burgoyne's troops "... marched down to Stillwater, and crossed Hudson's river the 18th in order to ma...

February 22, 2023, marks the 291st anniversary of the birth of George Washington, pictured here in a  Library of Congress  print published in Germany in 1777 or 1778.  For more than two centuries Washington's birth has been widely noted, and was a federally recognized holiday from 1885 to 1971.  For the last five decades an all encompassing "Presidents' Day" has supplanted not only a holiday observance on the date of Washington's birth, but the February 12th celebration of the birthday of another truly great American President, Abraham Lincoln. In the fall of 1777 Washington hands were full as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army.  While Major-General Horatio Gates defended the upper Hudson River Valley, Washington was responding to British General Sir William Howe's expedition moving not north to support Burgoyne, but south by ship into the Chesapeake Bay and then north by land to Philadelphia.  On September 11th British forces maneuvered to fla...

On October 14, 1777, Lieutenant-General John Burgoyne Burgoyne, commander of the British expedition to seize the Lake Champlain and Hudson River Valleys, sent a messenger to Major-General Horatio Gates, commander of the opposing American forces, to propose a cease-fire and negotiate an end to the fighting  "... to spare the lives of brave men upon honourable terms."   Gates replied that Burgoyne's men should surrender, lay down their arms, and march to New England by way of Bennington, Vermont as prisoners of war.  Burgoyne responded his men would sooner fight to the death than lay down their arms in their camp, and proposed instead that his army be given free passage to England on the condition that they not serve in North America again. [1]   Gates agreed in principle to Burgoyne's proposal on the 15th, adding that Burgoyne's troops should make ready to begin a march to Boston the following day.  Late on the night of the 15th another message reached ...