The Convention Army 1777 1783

Author : Richard Sampson
Publisher : Picton Publishing
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 268 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (91 download)

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Download or read book Escape in America written by Richard Sampson and published by Picton Publishing. This book was released on 1995 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the War of American Independence and after the British defeat at Saratoga, 3,000 British soldiers from the Royal Artillery and 10 British infantry regiments, on orders from their commanding officer, Lieutenant General John Burgoyne, laid down their arms. The story of what happened to these men, often distorted, has been largely ignored by British military historians. Now for the first time, Escape in America disperses some of the mystery which has surrounded their story. In the terms of the Convention of Saratoga, the men were to march to the Atlantic coast, there to wait for British vessels to return them to England. American politicians reneged on the treaty made by their victorious general and on the flimsiest of excuses, the men were held prisoner for the duration of the war. While other prisoners of war were exchanged, from being a privileged group with treaty rights to be repatriated, the Convention Prisoners were held hostage for over five years. The price set for their freedom was the recognition by Britain that the Congress of the United States was a sovereign government. The majority of the men, supported by their junior officers, refused to accept the then official British policy requiring them to remain put until the political disputes surrounding their future could be settled. Large numbers embarked on a series of remarkable escapes from captivity. The story of their adventures has been reconstructed from British, American and Canadian records. The sheer volume of the escapes and the number of successful "home runs" in reaching British lines are noteworthy, and compare favourably with the level of escape efforts made in later wars. George Washington became personally involved in the men's escape when many joined American regiments, but only to use them to reach British lines. Washington quickly recognised they had no love for the American cause and had great difficulty in making his officers understand what the British soldiers were up to. He had to resort to threats against his officers to make them aware their regiments were being used only as a convenient means of transportation through American-held territory. On the British side it seems that contrary to orders, Burgoyne's second in command, Major General William Phillips, Royal Artillery, broke the conditions of his parole by conspiring to effect the escape of the men. Likewise, General Sir Henry Clinton, commanding in New York, did all he could to encourage escape and did much to support the prisoners actions. In this carefully researched book Richard Sampson is fair to both sides. He has concluded that the American army cannot be blamed for the conditions of incarceration under which the men were held. He is critical of the Americans only when the politicians in Congress broke the treaty, at the same time giving orders to their soldiers which were impossible for them to carry out, and which adversely impacted both the prisoners and the surrounding American population.