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Historical Highway MarkersConvention Army-The BarracksW-166
In Jan. 1779, during the American Revolution, 4,000 British troops and German mercenaries (commonly known as “Hessians”) captured following the Battle of Saratoga in New York arrived here after marching from Massachusetts. It was called the Convention Army after the instrument of its surrender. Most prisoners lived in primitive huts spread out over several hundred acres of the barracks camp, where they endured great hardships. Supplying and guarding the Convention Army taxed the resources of the community and militia. By Feb. 1781, the last of the prisoners had been relocated.
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References/Bibliographic Citation: Philander Chase, “‘Years of Hardship and Revelations’: The Convention Army at Albemarle Barracks, 1779-1781,” in The Magazine of Albemarle County History Volume 41 (1983):9-54; William Minor Dabney, After Saratoga: The Story of the Convention Army (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1954); George W. Knepper, “The Convention Army 1777-1783,” PhD Thesis, University of Michigan, 1954 |