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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convention_Army
The Convention Army (1777–1783) was an army of British and allied troops captured after the Battle of Saratoga in the American
Revolutionary War.
Encampment of the convention army at Charlottesville in Virginia. Etching from 1789.
Encampment of the convention army at Charlotte Ville in Virginia after they had surrendered to the Americans.
Etching shows a panoramic view of the landscape in Charlottesville, Virginia, with British troops,
captured at the surrender in Saratoga, engaged in subsistence farming.
CREATED/PUBLISHED: London : Publish'd as the Act directs by William Lane, Leadenhall Street, 1789 Jany. 1.
Illus. in: Travels through the interior parts of America : In a series of letters / Thomas Anburey. London :
Printed for W. Lane, 1789, v. 2, opp. p. 443.
REPOSITORY: Library of Congress Rare Book and Special Collections Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA.
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3a32496 Public Domain.
On October 17, 1777, British General John Burgoyne negotiated terms of surrender of his remaining force from the Saratoga
Campaign with American General Horatio Gates. The terms were titled the Convention of Saratoga, and specified that the army
would be sent back to Europe after giving a parole that they would not fight again in North America. A total of about 5,800 British
Army, Hessian, and Canadian troops were sent on to Boston by Gates.
The Continental Congress ordered Burgoyne to provide a list and description of all officers to ensure that they would not return.
When he refused, Congress revoked the terms of the Convention. In November 1778, the Convention Army was marched south 700
miles (1,100 km) to Charlottesville, Virginia, and held at the hastily, poorly constructed Albemarle Barracks until 1781. For several
years they had an important economic impact on the Blue Ridge area of Virginia.
The Virginia troops assigned to guard duty were generally better fed and equipped than any other forces, so that prisoner letters
would reflect a strong Army. Money sent by the prisoner's families in Britain and Germany provided a lot of hard currency and coin
for the back-country area. High ranking officers, and sometimes their wives, such as the Major General Riedesel and his wife were
sought as guests on the social scene.
In 1781, when British forces became active in Virginia, the army was again moved, this time being marched north to Lancaster,
Pennsylvania. Except for specific officer exchanges, they were held there until 1783. When the war formally ended, those who
survived the forced marches and camp fevers were sent home.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albemarle_Barracks
Albemarle Barracks was a prisoner-of-war camp for British prisoners during the American Revolution.
Following General Burgoyne's defeat at the Battle of Saratoga in 1777 several thousand British and German (Hessian and
Brunswickian) troops of what came to be known as the Convention Army were marched to Cambridge, Massachusetts. For various
reasons, the Continental Congress desired to move them south. One of Congress' members offered his land outside of
Charlottesville, Virginia. The remaining soldiers (some 2,000 British, upwards of 1,900 German, and roughly 300 women and
children) marched south in late 1778 - arriving at the site (near Ivy Creek) in January, 1779. As the barracks were barely sufficient in
construction, the officers were parolled to live as far away as Richmond, Virginia and Staunton, Virginia. The camp was never
adequately provisioned, and yet the prisoners built a theater on the site. Hundreds escaped Albemarle Barracks owing to lack of an
adequate number of guards.
As the British army moved northward from the Carolinas in late 1780, the remaining prisoners were moved to Frederick, Maryland,
Winchester, Virginia, and perhaps elsewhere.
Albemarle Barracks was located northwest of downtown Charlottesville, around "Ivy Farms." No remains of the encampment site are
left. Please note that what is believed to be the site is now private property, Barracks Stud Farm. Drive west of Charlottesville on
Barracks Road to Barracks Farm Road. Note that what is believed to be the footprint of the stockade is still evident today - the end
of the road constitutes two of the sides. The Albemarle County Historical Society erected a marker in 1982 on Ivy Farm Drive - a
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