The 1777 March of the Saratoga Convention Army

A number of museums have displayed items said to be associated with British Lieutenant-General John Burgoyne.  They offer visitors a physical connection to the Saratoga campaign, and serve as a reminder of the American victory in October of 1777, which changed the course of the Revolutionary War.  One of these objects is a kettle described as “Burgoyne’s Camp Kettle” which, up until recently, was on display at the Bennington Battle Monument in Bennington, Vermont. My introduction to Burgoyne’s Camp Kettle came by way of a postcard, as pictured here.  In addition to the painted description on the kettle itself which identified this as “Gen. Burgoyne’s Camp-Kettle”, the back of the postcard indicated that this was “Gen. Burgoyne’s Camp Kettle captured October 17, 1777, in the battle of Saratoga, where Gen. Burgoyne surrendered” .  A caption on the front of the postcard indicated that the picture was taken at the Bennington Battle Monument, a Vermont State Historic Sit...

On September 18, 1777, British Ensign Thomas Hughes of the 53rd Regiment of Foot noted in his diary that he and a detachment of two other officers and 50 men stationed about a mile outside Fort Ticonderoga in New York were "Surprised by a party of 600 men, under a Col. Brown." [1]  Hughes was not only surprised, but captured and held for a year as a prisoner of war in Massachusetts, then paroled to New York City until he was released and allowed to sail to England in June of 1781. Hughes was captured in what is known as " Brown's Raid ", the topic of an article in the on-line Journal of the American Revolution by friend and colleague Mike Barbieri.  In mid-August of 1777 the 53rd Regiment was detached from Lieutenant-General John Burgoyne's expedition from Canada to garrison Fort Ticonderoga and the landing on Lake George, of which Hughes says "I was unfortunately station'd here. ...".   At some point prior to September 18th, he and those cap...

Bennington Battle Day, August 16th, is a state holiday in Vermont.  It commemorates the victory of American militia forces over a mostly German detachment from British Lieutenant-General John Burgoyne's army sent to Bennington, Vermont, to seize badly needed supplies.  The Vermont Division of Historic Preservation maintains the 306 foot tall Bennington Battle Monument , erected in 1891, to commemorate the victory.   Despite these strong Vermont connections, the battle was fought in New York .   American forces fought under the command of New Hampshire Brigadier-General John Stark, memorialized today in prints, paintings,  and sculpture, including in the Crypt of United States Capitol under the Rotunda, as pictured on the website of the Architect of the Capitol .  Much of the battlefield is a New York state park, near the Walloomsac River just outside the town of Hoosick .  The site is not far from the route the British element of the Convent...