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The Convention Army's Six-Year Imprisonment

[2007 July 19: The following is based on the National Park Service archives at www.nps.gov/archive/thst/battle.htm/.] 1777 Oct 18 -- The surrender of General John Burgoyne to General Gates at Saratoga NY made prisoners of war out of 2,400 Hessian, 800 Canadian, and 2,600 British soldiers. Generals Gates and Burgoyne agreed to surrender terms ("Convention of Saratoga") which stated that these prisoners were to be marched to Boston and then transported to Great Britain with the agreement that they would not be sent to fight in America again. The prisoners were marched to Boston and held in camps near that city (in Rutland MA). However, the Continental Congress was concerned that releasing these troops would allow them to occupy defensive posts in England and free Great Britain to send an equivalent number of troops back here to fight the U.S. While Burgoyne was invading the U.S. from Canada much of Gen. Howe's army had moved from New York to the top of the Chesapeake Bay, marching north to capture Philadelphia (following the battle of the Brandywine). This action had driven the Congress out of Philadelphia, and it was now meeting in York, Pennsylvania. Congress refused to honor the Convention of Saratoga and released only Gen. Burgoyne and several other staff officers. British Maj-Gen William Phillips was the senior British officer remaining in captivity and as such he helped keep order within the prisoners (sometimes called the "Convention Army"). Route of the "Convention Army" Prisoners -- 1777 Oct to 1778 Nov Base map is © 2005 DeLorme (www.delorme.com) Street Atlas USA® 1778 Nov -- The Convention Army, under guard, began a twelve-week, 700-mile march to Charlottesville, Virginia. This move eliminated the possibility of the prisoners being freed by a British naval raid in Massachusetts and shifted the guard and food cost to Virginia, where the prisoners could build their own prison camp, and work with local farmers to provide for the prison's food. Many of the officer had wives and children with them, and these were allowed to ride in wagons. As the column of prisoners passed through the heavily-Germanic region of Pennsylvania many of the 2,400 Hessians disappeared into the local population. This suited U.S. interests, since it reduced both the need to guard them and their threat as possible enemy combatants. 1780 -- When Great Britain began its southern campaign the prisoners in Charlottesville, Virginia, were moved to Winchester, Virginia, ro reduce the possibility of the prisoners being freed by a British raid. Route of the "Convention Army" Prisoners -- 1778 Nov to 1781 June Base map is © 2005 DeLorme (www.delorme.com) Street Atlas USA® 1780 Oct -- Gen. Phillips was exchanged for American Gen. Benjamin Lincoln. Following this Gen Phillips led several attacks against the U.S.: one against Rochambeau in Newport RI, a second raiding Virginia along with the American traitor -- now a British General -- Benedict Arnold. To prevent the freeing of the Convention Army troops by this British army the prisoners were moved to Fort Frederick (in Frederick MD). 1781 May -- Gen. Phillips died of typhoid fever in Petersburg, Virginia. 1781 June -- Congress ordered the prisoners to be moved again, this time into the heart of well-controlled Pennsylvania. There were by this time about 3,000 of Burgoyne’s officers and men held. Joseph Reed, then President of Pennsylvania, objected to the number of prisoners being brought into his state. In response to his objection, the Board of War asserted that Congress would not change its decision and that Pennsylvania must begin looking for a suitable site to house these prisoners. The prisoners began to reach Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in early June 1781, and were quartered at the Lancaster Barracks there and on the village green. Although President Reed of Pennsylvania again protested about his state being the main location for prisoners in the country, Congress would not budge. At about the same time, Governor Thomas Lee of Maryland wrote to President Reed to inform him that Governor Thomas Jefferson of Virginia had told him that about 500 British troops who had been captured at Cowpens, South Carolina, in 1781 January were also on their way to Pennsylvania and that 800 British prisoners at the town of Frederick, Maryland, were also being relocated to York, Pennsylvania. On June 30, 1781, President Reed was instructed to move the Hessian prisoners to Reading, Pennsylvania, and to split the British prisoners -- half going to Fort Security (near York, Pennsylvania) and the remainder going back to Rutland, Massachusetts. Here they remained for over two more years. 1783 Sept 03 -- The Peace Treaty was signed. After six years of imprisonment in the U.S. most of the Convention Army prisoners returned home, but a few remained in the U.S.

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