What The Convention Army Looked Like - "The Most Agreeable Sight That My Eyes Beheld"
The surrender at Saratoga was bound to attract attention. Countless paintings and engravings picture defeated British Lieutenant-General John Burgoyne offering his sword to American Major-General Horatio Gates. I've yet to find a contemporary drawing, painting or print depicting scenes from the three week march of the Convention Army. The closest I've come is this print in the Library of Congress , which shows curious onlookers, including what appears to be a person of color, watching as American guards escort Germans captured at Trenton to Philadelphia in 1776. Fortunately, a number of memoirs, diaries and letters describe the Convention Army as it passed, from the beginning of its march at Saratoga to its arrival outside of Boston. Among the many American witnesses present at the start was Colonel Jeduthan Baldwin, who recorded in his diary that on October 17th, "About 11 o clock the enemy laid down there arms & Marched out thro our Army th...