the Convention prisoners from the Battle of Saratoga were kept at the Albemarle Barracks between 1778-1781
Source: New York Public Library, Encampment of the Convention Army at Charlotte Ville in Virginia after they had surrendered to the Americans (1789)
General John Burgoyne surrendered his British Army to General Horatio Gates in October, 1777, after being defeated by the Americans. The surrender terms negotiated between the two commanders and documented in the Convention of Saratoga, called for the 5,900 British and German troops to march to Boston. They would be shipped to England, with a commitment not to rejoin the fight against the American rebels.
Though the British and German troops marched to Boston, they were not sent across the Atlantic Ocean. George Washington feared that they would replace other soldiers, and those would be sent to America to fight the rebels. The Continental Congress found an technique to abrogate the Convention and keep the prisoners, though Burgoyne was allowed to return to England. Congress insisted that England had to ratify the surrender articles, and in January, 1778:1
The British paid the Convention Army's bills, but the blockade of Boston Harbor by British ships made it difficult to provide supplies to the prisoners. One group was sent to Rutland, Vermont, but in October 1778 they were all sent to Charlottesville.
Americans claimed the move to Virginia was necessary because supplies would be more available there. The common soldiers walked 15 or more miles each day, then camped by the side of the road each night. Officers rode horses, and traveled further each evening to find a house in which they could sleep. The officers paid for the hospitality, noting that their gold/silver specie was welcome everywhere but state currency had value only within the boundaries of that state.
The weather was mild for the entire march to Charlottesville for the first brigades, but a major snowstorm struck when the third brigade reached Frederick, Maryland. One woman in Pennsylvania had commented earlier that God must have become a Tory, to provide such good conditions.
British officers assumed a wintertime march of 600 miles was designed in part to make it possible for deserters to leave the army and become laborers on American farms. The Hessian soldiers in particular were willing to desert in order to live free among other German-speaking settlers in Pennsylvania, rather than complete the march and be trapped in a prisoner-of-war camp for an undetermined length of time.2
The troops entered Virginia after a trip across the ice-filled Potomac River at Noland's Ferry downstream from Point of Rocks.
About 2,000 British soldiers, 1,900 German soldiers, and 300 women and children passed through Leesburg, then along the old Native American trail east of the Blue Ridge. They arrived in January, when there was snow on the ground.
the Albemarle Barracks were built five miles northwest of the town of Charlottesville in 1779
Source: ESRI, ArcGIS Online
The prisoners were sent to a site five miles from town. Their new home was on land made available by Colonel John Harvie, a member of the Continental Congress.
Charlottesville did not have a surplus of housing available for them. The barracks prepared by the Virginians were log huts, built without nails and without roofs when the Convention soldiers arrived. As described by a Hessian officer:3
A British officer in the third brigade noted upon arrival that the officers who arrived earlier had filled up the available spaces to stay in Charlottesville's houses. Later arrivals had to scour the countryside to find people willing to provide shelter, and paroles allowed officers to travel as far as Richmond.
Military discipline weakened when the march ended. Some officers found supplies of what one identified as an "abominable liquor, called peach brandy," and a half-dozen duels were fought over perceived slights to personal honor. Late-arriving officers discovered:4
While officers searched for beds in warm houses and struggled over status, the common soldiers experienced a much rougher situation upon arrival:5
The soldiers quickly improved the barracks for shelter and created gardens that impressed the local community. Modern-day Barracks Road and a shopping center mark the path from the town of Charlottesville to the location where the Convention soldiers were kept.
Colonel James Wood and Colonel Theodorick Bland gave the British and German officers authority to live within 20 miles of Charlottesville, and they rented space in private housing around the town. Thomas Jefferson saw the prisoners as an economic stimulus to the local economy, and the officers as an intellectual stimulus for him. He played violin with the Hessian commander Baron Frederick von Riedesel at Monticello, while the commander's wife led dances.
Von Riedesel rented Colle, a house built by Philip Mazzei, but ultimately built his own house because Colle was an unstable structure. The English commander, Brigadier General William Phillips, lived at Blenheim. He tried to build another house, but the agent he sent to convert specie into American dollars bought counterfeit money produced by the British to undercut the rebel war effort.
General Phillips and von Riedesel were treated more as guests than as prisoners. They were even allowed to travel to the Berkeley Springs health resort.
During the next 18 months, some officers were formally exchanged for American prisoners. Baron Frederick von Riedesel and General William Phillips were exchanged for General Benjamin Lincoln.
Some of the troops deserted to the Americans, especially when food supplies ran low because the British quit paying the bills when the troops were sent to Virginia. Others apparently managed to escape and get back to the British base at New York City.6
Charlottesville was far enough inland to be safe from sea raids, but in October 1780 General Clinton sent General Alexander Leslie to establish a post on the Elizabeth River. A British raiding party in Hampton Roads was intended to create a diversion for Lord Cornwallis' operations in the North Carolina backcountry. The governor of Virginia, Thomas Jefferson, feared the prisoners in Charlottesville would try to escape and join Leslie, and the British might move inland to assist them.
Jefferson ordered that the British prisoners be taken to Fort Frederick in Maryland. When advised that Fort Frederick could not handle all the prisoners, Jefferson sent the remaining 800 English troops via Winchester across the Potomac River, and 400 more to the town of Frederick. The British prisoners set fire to their huts when leaving.
Jefferson let the 1,500 Hessians stay in Charlottesville area. He calculated that the Germans were less likely to escape in order to reach General Leslie. The gap between the British and Hessian camps prevented the Hessian huts from catching fire when the British left.7
When Col. Banastre Tarleton raided Charlottesville in June, 1781 in an attempt to capture the General Assembly and Thomas Jefferson, about 20 of the Hessian prisoners of war were able to gain their freedom. Tarleton wrote in his memoirs:8
the Convention prisoners from the Battle of Saratoga were kept at the Albemarle Barracks between 1778-1781
Source: New York Public Library, Encampment of the Convention Army at Charlotte Ville in Virginia after they had surrendered to the Americans
Maryland Governor Thomas Sim Lee had no desire to receive the British prisoners, fearing the British might target his state. He also had no housing available at Fort Frederick. The Continental Congress ordered Maryland to accept them, however. They were placed in local homes, taverns, and even the poorhouse.
Later, Congress sent them and then the Hessians to Pennsylvania. The Hessians were placed in a camp near Reading, and the British in Camp Security near York. In September, 1781, the British officers were marched to East Windsor, Connecticut.9
After the Albemarle Barracks were abandoned, the Continental Army's quartermaster general planned to sell the buildings. The assistant quartermaster general for Virginia assessed that they had minimal value, and John Harvie got his land back without valuable improvements:10