The 1777 March of the Saratoga Convention Army

News of British Lieutenant-General John Burgoyne's surrender to Major-General Horatio Gates at Saratoga, New York, on October 17, 1777,  spread quickly .  Patriotic citizens of the young United States of America were jubilant, and celebrated in a number of ways.   Those present at the surrender noted their feelings in their journals and diaries, and the letters they sent home.  For Doctor Samuel Merrick of Massachusetts, who had seen firsthand the suffering of the troops who retreated south from Canada in 1776, it was "A day never to be forgotten by the American States. ... The Lord be praised for this wonderful token of divine favor for which we cannot be sufficiently thankfull." [1]  Colonel Ralph Cross of the Massachusetts Militia described what he saw as "... a Grand Sight as ever was Beheld by Eye of man in America."  [2]  In the habit of the times, men gathered in local taverns to toast the victory, and local newspapers reported those...

Tuesday, October 17th, is the 246th anniversary of the British surrender at Saratoga.  On that day in 1777, Major-General Horatio Gates, commander of the Northern Army of the United States, ordered his soldiers to be prepared.   “The regiment of riflemen under the command of Colonel Morgan and the company of Light Infantry under the command of Major Dearborn to be ready when ordered to take possession of the enemy’s lines, posts, and redoubts. The commanding officers of those troops are to be particularly attentive to the soldierlike and good behavior of their men. The enemies of the United States have propagated an opinion among the British and German troops that the Americans are barbarians who pay no regard to the faith of treaties, and whose sole view is rapine and plunder. From the preceding glorious behavior of the army, the General is convinced that not an officer or soldier under his command will suffer the smallest infringement of the convention. Their general ha...

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 ...