Convention Army Marches to Boston

The day after the surrender, nearly 6,000 British and German prisoners began the long march to Boston under the terms of the Convention of Saratoga. The column stretched for miles along the roads of western Massachusetts and eastern New York, guarded by Continental troops and militia.

The march strained the resources of every town it passed through. Feeding and housing thousands of prisoners tested American logistics and exposed the tension between the ideals of honorable treatment and the realities of wartime scarcity. Many of the German soldiers eventually settled in the communities where they were held, choosing a new life over return to Hesse.