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...

Most of the German column of the Convention Army crossed over the Connecticut River to Springfield, Massachusetts , on October 31, 1777.  They were impressed by the town, but didn't stay in any of its fine homes.   The commentary which accompanies a transcription of Major-General Friedrich Adolph Riedesel's letters and journal indicates: “General Riedesel, however, did not find the people of East Springfield as obliging as those at West Springfield. Notwithstanding all his entreaties, he failed to induce them to quarter his troops. They were, accordingly, obliged to continue their march as far as Palmer, a distance of thirteen miles [from West Springfield].” [1]   The Germans would march to Palmer, but not on October 31st.  It appears that they spent the night camped closer to Springfield.  Massachusetts militiaman Joshua Pillsbury, who stayed in Springfield for two nights, notes that he traveled five miles on October 31st, and did not reach Palmer un...

People across Massachusetts were well aware of the 1777 march of the Convention Army from Saratoga to Cambridge.  Brunswick dragoon company surgeon Julius Friedrich Wasmus, who had been captured at the the Battle of Bennington in August, and was being held in Brimfield, Massachusetts, was among those who heard they were coming.  Two days after the surrender at Saratoga he wrote in his journal:  “[October] 19th  Tonight, we received the sad news that our army has been captured at Saratoga.  Therefore, they made a feu de joie with cannon in Springfield.”   Ten days later he would note:  “[October] 29th  News comes from everywhere that our army is expected in Springfield” [1]  Springfield, Massachusetts, was one of the oldest and largest towns that the Convention Army would pass through.  Europeans first settled in Springfield in 1636, when it was still part of Connecticut.  A plaque to the right of the door of the  Student Pri...

On December 31, 1777, British forces controlled Canada, continued to occupy New York City, and Newport, Rhode Island, and had recently taken the capitol of the new United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  They had not brought the rebellion in the thirteen colonies to an end, or taken Albany, New York.  Instead, Lieutenant-General John Burgoyne and over 4,000 of his British and German troops who had set out from Canada that summer were now prisoners in Massachusetts - the "Convention Army", following their surrender at Saratoga on October 17, 1777.   News of what one American officer would refer to as  " the greatest conquest ever known ",  spread quickly in Patriot circles (though not directly from  General Horatio Gates to General George Washington  - seen together on the cover of a 1778 Boston almanac as "The Glorious WASHINGTON and GATES" ).  News of what Burgoyne would come to call " the disaster at Saratoga "  appears to have tra...

The German column of the Convention Army marched seventeen miles on October 24, 1777, then stopped for the night near  "... a miserable village."   It would be their last night in New York (in 1777 at least), or perhaps their first night in Massachusetts.  Their march  "on hilly and stony roads"  had taken them well into the Taconic Mountains, and to  "... Nobletown, a village undeserving of its beautiful name."  [1]  Their stay was not pleasant, as:  "... we had to sleep in the open air for want of houses; we got so covered with frost during the night that we looked like great sugar dolls."  [2]   The Germans were not the first or the last Revolutionary War travelers to stop in the village.  Impressions were mixed.   Several months earlier Lieutenant Samuel Armstrong of the 8th Massachusetts Regiment of the Continental Line had passed through.  On July 21st he noted that he: "... march'd 8 miles to Kenyon's...

This year will be the 250th Anniversary of an incident in Boston that has become known as the " Boston Tea Party ".  There, on the night of December 16, 1773, a band of protestors boarded three ships carrying tea, unloaded and smashed the chests it was packed in, and threw 92,000 pounds of it into the harbor to protest the tax imposed to raise money for Britain and support the British East India Company.  In response, the British government shut down the port of Boston and passed other measures that would lead to the outbreak of the Revolutionary War on April 19, 1775. Three months later, on March 28, 1774, a lesser known incident referred to by some as the  "Weston Tea Party"  occurred at the inn of Isaac Jones in Weston, Massachusetts.  Jones was considered a Tory by many of his neighbors, as he remained loyal to Britain.  In addition, he allegedly had continued to sell tea despite the strong opposition to doing so across Massachusetts and being warn...

The first town on the route of march of the British column after crossing to the east bank of the Connecticut River was Hadley, Massachusetts.  Many of the British prisoners spent the nights of October 27th and 28th in Northampton, waiting for the weather to clear, and passed through or stopped in Hadley on the 29th.  Others crossed over the river, arrived in the town October 31st, and spent the night.   Most of those who kept journals of the march paid little attention to the town.  Massachusetts Militia Lieutenant Israel Bartlett would note: “[Oct.] 29 Wednsday. We are ordered to advance in front.  We marched [from Northampton] and crossed the river at 10 o’clock, and advanced four miles from Hadley: place called Amherst.”   Others, including Private David How stopped there: “[Oct.] 29 This Day we Crossed Coniticut River [from Northampton] and Staid at old Hadley At Night  Its ben Wet marching”   Most British entries were even briefer: "Oct...

There is no question that the British element of the Convention Army stopped in Northampton, Massachusetts, in October of 1777.  Lieutenant Israel Bartlett , one of their assigned guards from the Massachusetts Militia, recorded in his diary: "[October] 27 Monday.  We marched to Northampton today, 18 miles, through the rain & mud, very fatiguing.  Arrived at 2 O'Clock..." [1]  Militia Private David How noted the same: "This Day Its ben Very wet and rainy And we march'd to North Hampton And Staid at Night thare."  [2]   The column rested a day in Northampton before crossing the Connecticut River.  Bartlett and How writing respectively:  "[October] 28 Tuesday.  We rested at Hampton [Northampton] all day on account of a very severe storm of rain and snow." and "[October] 28 This Day It has Ben Very Stormy both Hail & Snow and we Staid Hear all Day and Night." [3] British prisoners noted likewise.  Lieutenant (Lord) Francis Nap...

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 ...