The 1777 March of the Saratoga Convention Army

On November 4, 1777, many of the British troops who had surrendered at Saratoga reached the Middlesex County town of Marlborough, Massachusetts.  Some, including British Lieutenant Francis (Lord) Napier of the 31st Regiment of Foot, stopped for the night.  Others, it was noted by Massachusetts Militia Lieutenant Israel Bartlett and Private David How, continued on to Sudbury. [1] The following day German troops arrived.  The usually loquacious German sources offer little detail on their stay, one writing: "November 5th, we marched through Shrewsbury and Northborough to Marlborough, sixteen miles." ; and another: "We marched through Shrewsbury and through Northborough up to Marlborough, where we received quarters.  We had marched 16 Engl. miles altogether.  The roads were good." [2]    Marlborough resident Alpheus Woods was able to sum up the coming and going with one entry (although he struggled with the spelling of the name of captured Britis...

  "The famous Gen. Burgoyne and his army..." proclaimed the  Massachusetts Spy on October 30, 1777, "... are expected in town tomorrow."   The citizens of Worcester, home to the pro-patriot newspaper since April of 1775, would wait two additional days for the first elements of the Convention Army to arrive in their town, and the famous General Burgoyne seems to have come and gone without much notice.  I found tracking his journey to be a challenge as well. Lieutenant-General John Burgoyne (seen here as a younger man in the painting  John Burgoyne , in the National Portrait Gallery in London, NPG 4158) remains a well-known figure of the American Revolution.  Unfortunately, many of the stories told about him appear suspect, while others remain rarely told or untold - especially the details of his journey from Saratoga to Boston.   Burgoyne dedicated the publication of his defense of his failed campaign before Parliament,  A State of the ...