The 1777 March of the Saratoga Convention Army

This week's celebration of the anniversary of the United States declaring it's independence seems as good a time as any to share a story about the writing of the song "Yankee Doodle", and its connections to the  surrender at Saratoga  on October 17, 1777, and the 1777 march of the Convention Army.   There are a number of claims that the song was played by victorious American musicians when the army of Lieutenant-General John Burgoyne surrendered at Saratoga.  One comes from a footnote in a collection of accounts of visits to the battlefield by William L. Stone which reads: "The piling of the arms was, it is true, done amid profound silence and without any attempt to humiliate the British.  The instant, however that the march southward began, the American bands struck up "Yankee Doodle".  ... This song had been set to music by a facetious English surgeon at Lake George during the French war..." [1]  Stone’s earlier work,  Ballads and Poems Re...

The Convention Army arrived in Western, Massachusetts, from two different directions.  American Brigadier-General John Glover had ordered the captives to march in two separate columns after the surrender at Saratoga ,  "... one Division of the prisoners, Consisting of 2,442 British troops, by Northampton, the other by way of Springfield, Consisting of 2,198 foreign troops..."  . [1 ]   Two weeks later, after the British column reached Brookfield , and the German column left Palmer , a German officer would note: "November 2  We marched through Weston, a rather nice village, 15 Engl. miles to Brookfield.  The Engl. corps crossed us today on our march and from now on had to march on the same road to Boston with us.  As this corps had arrived in Brookfield before us and consequently taken possession of the houses, it was evident that our corps had to bivouac." [2] Massachusetts militia private David How, who crossed the Connecticut River on October 29th ...

The British troops who surrendered at Saratoga were apparently well rested when they left Hadley, Massachusetts , on October 30, 1777.  Many would march through Amherst ,  Belchertown  and Ware before they stopped to spend the night in Western.  "[Oct.] 30 Thursday..."  wrote Massachusetts Militia Lieutenant Israel Bartlett,  "We marched thro’ Belcher[town, from Amherst] and Ware and put up at Weston [Western then, now Warren], about 20 miles from Amherst.”   Private David How didn't specify how far he marched, but noted: “[Oct.] 30  This morning we Set off [from Hadley] march Through Belcher[town] And Ware River. at Night We Staid at Westurn [Western, now Warren].”   British Lieutenant Francis (Lord) Napier of the 31st Regiment of Foot stopped a bit sooner, noting:  "October … 30th. [Marched from Hadley to ] Weir - 17 M[iles]"   [1] British accounts of the march from Saratoga to Cambridge tell us nothing about the town of War...

In September of 1774, as towns across Massachusetts reacted to laws passed by Parliament to punish the colony for its resistance to British rule, the residents of Belchertown, Massachusetts, approved a statement which read:  "We declare that we will take no unreasonable liberties or advantage from the suspension of the course of law,  but we agree to conduct ourselves agreeably to the laws of God, of reason, of humanity; and we hereby engage to use all prudent and justifiable and necessary measures to secure and defend each others persons and families, their lives, rights and properties, against all who shall attempt to hurt, injure, or invade them, and to secure and defend ourselves and our posterity our just and constitutional rights and privileges."  [1]    Seven months later, when fighting began at Lexington and Concord on  April 19, 1775 , the "necessary measures" they pledged to take would for the most part involve sending men and materials out of tow...

There isn't a lot of information that ties the town of Amherst, Massachusetts, to the surrender at Saratoga  on October 17, 1777, or the march of the Convention Army.  Militiamen from Amherst were called up to serve during the Saratoga campaign, as was the case in towns across Massachusetts.  A history of the town written in 1896 states in its introduction "Along its highways marched the captive troops of Burgoyne on their weary journey from Saratoga to Boston."  Unfortunately their passing receives no further mention, but the authors do quote from a letter allegedly written by a descendant of the owner of a tavern in town to claim that:  "During the war of the Revolution, a detachment of Burgoyne's army officers, who had gone out to attend a dance near Saratoga, were captured and brought under a guard to the Clapp tavern, on their way to Boston."   The tale continues on to relate that as straw had been spread on the floor for them to sleep on, the lan...

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...

There was no bridge across the Connecticut River at  West Springfield, Massachusetts , in 1777.  This meant that the men, women, children, horses and baggage wagons which made up the German element of the Convention Army, and their guards, would all cross by ferry, as  the   British column was doing at Northampton .  Such a crossing required organization as well as resources.   German accounts provide us some insight on how they accomplished the task, starting on October 29, 1777.      The Germans began the process by issuing orders prior to crossing directing all unit commanders to ensure that  "Necessary watch for each regiment, and necessary helmsmen were [assigned] so that in the morning nothing will interfere with the crossing." [1]   Some of the guards escorting the Germans were the first to cross, as was the case with the British column.  Private Joshua Pillsbury of the Massachusetts militia wou...