This paper documents the routes and encampments of Burgoyne's Convention Army in Connecticut in N... more This paper documents the routes and encampments of Burgoyne's Convention Army in Connecticut in November, 1778 during its march from Massachusetts to Virginia. It provides historical background for the Convention troops, identifying confusion and false assumptions in the secondary source record concerning the movement of certain groups of prisoners taken before the Convention and those surrendered in Burgoyne's capitulation in October 1777. It examines evidence for the number of Convention troops that passed through Connecticut in 1778, their unit composition, and order of march. It also records details about the Continental soldiers and militia troops that comprised their military escorts. It provides evidence for the route of march of each of the six divisions of the Convention Army through Connecticut based on documentation from historical maps, contemporary primary sources (including English translations of German journal entries,) and local records. The research confirms that Convention Troops entered Connecticut at Enfield and exited at Sharon, but reveals that not every division camped in the same place as its predecessors and that two divisions proceeded through Salisbury to Sharon while the other four took a different route that bypassed the village of Salisbury. It identifies another potential route for at least some of the German troops escorted by Poor's Brigade from Norfolk to New Milford. The paper provides documentation for each known place of encampment, assessing the quality of the available evidence to pinpoint likely areas for further archaeological research.
This paper documents the routes and encampments of Burgoyne's Convention Army in Connecticut in N... more This paper documents the routes and encampments of Burgoyne's Convention Army in Connecticut in November, 1778 during its march from Massachusetts to Virginia. It provides historical background for the Convention troops, identifying confusion and false assumptions in the secondary source record concerning the movement of certain groups of prisoners taken before the Convention and those surrendered in Burgoyne's capitulation in October 1777. It examines evidence for the number of Convention troops that passed through Connecticut in 1778, their unit composition, and order of march. It also records details about the Continental soldiers and militia troops that comprised their military escorts. It provides evidence for the route of march of each of the six divisions of the Convention Army through Connecticut based on documentation from historical maps, contemporary primary sources (including English translations of German journal entries,) and local records. The research confirms that Convention Troops entered Connecticut at Enfield and exited at Sharon, but reveals that not every division camped in the same place as its predecessors and that two divisions proceeded through Salisbury to Sharon while the other four took a different route that bypassed the village of Salisbury. It identifies another potential route for at least some of the German troops escorted by Poor's Brigade from Norfolk to New Milford. The paper provides documentation for each known place of encampment, assessing the quality of the available evidence to pinpoint likely areas for further archaeological research.
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Papers by Timothy Abbott