The 1777 March of the Saratoga Convention Army

A goal of this blog is to find, see and share some of what the Convention Army saw on their 1777 march from Saratoga to Cambridge.  Milestones, markers set at one mile intervals along part of their route, are one such example, and a clue to which roads they took - especially where original sections of those roads have been replaced.  They also revealed to me that for years I had overlooked links to the past just miles from my home. The story of post road milestones in New England is traditionally linked to Benjamin Franklin, in his role as Deputy Postmaster General.  According to many accounts, in 1767 he personally placed red sandstone markers at one mile intervals along what is known as the Upper Post Road from Boston through Springfield, to New York City.  Typical is this one pictured, located in Brookfield, Massachusetts, 65 miles west of Boston. The problem with this legend is that in what I've read to date, no primary source is cited to link Franklin or the 176...

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...

On November 1, 1777, the the Convention Army was in or nearing Brookfield, Massachusetts, and a common route to Cambridge.  At its front were some of the British troops, escorted by soldiers from the Massachusetts Militia, including Lieutenant Israel Bartlett who claimed that after a short march they stopped for the night in Spencer:  "Nov. 1 Saturday - We marched 1 1/2 miles to Spencer & halted all the rest of the day to draw provisions; the commissary being absent, could not draw."   The following day, he and those under his charge "... drew one day's provision and marched thro' Leicester and halted at Worcester, 14 miles from our last quarters."   [1] Most of the Convention Army marched through Spencer without staying overnight.  Massachusetts Militia Private David How, who also guarded the British column, noted that on November 2nd:  "This morning we set off [from Brookfield] march'd through Spenser & Lester and at Night we staid at Wors...

The lead elements of the British column of the Convention Army left Worcester, Massachusetts, on November 3rd, 1777.  "We marched to Northborough..." noted Massachusetts Militia Lieutenant Israel Bartlett, without so much as a mention of the town of Shrewsbury, which lay between the two stops.    "This morning we all Draw'd Provisions [in Worcester] to Last to Boston And Set off.  marched Through Susbarry.  At Night We Staid at Northberry" wrote Private David How, noting, but erring on the spelling of both Shrewsbury, and its neighbor Northborough to the east .  Others halted in Shrewsbury overnight, and continued on the following day, Lord Napier noting the town as "Shrewsberry" . [1] German troops passed through a day later.  "Wednesday [November 5th] Shrewsbury and Northboro to Marlborough 23 [miles]" wrote Joshua Pillsbury.  Perhaps the fatigue of two weeks on the road had set in for the diarists of the march.  Even the usually lo...

By 1777 the central Massachusetts town of  Worcester, forty miles west of Boston, had a reputation as friendly to the patriot cause.  Residents had  shut down the courts  in September 1774, in what author Ray Raphael argues was the true start of the American Revolution.  Patriot printer Isaiah Thomas, who fled British controlled Boston in April of 1775 due to the political views expressed in his newspaper the  Massachusetts Spy , subtitled  "Or, American ORACLE Of Liberty" , published an account of the fighting on April 19th at Lexington and Concord in his  first Worcester issue  on May 3rd, 1775.  Worcester residents had served as militiamen and Continental soldiers in the Northern Army that had stopped British Lieutenant-General John Burgoyne and his army - and allegedly one of his messengers.  Like many Massachusetts towns though, it was also home, or   once home, to Loyalists  a s well.   On October 22, 1777,...

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 ...