The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1896-03-28

"I saw our vet'ran thousands yield
And pile their muskets on the field,
And peasant guards in rueful plight
March off our captured band from sight,
While ev'ry rebel fife in play
To Yankey doodle tun'd it's lay,
And like the music of the spheres,
Mellifuous sooth'd their vanquished
1 ears.''
The story of the capture of Gen. Bur-
goyne's army at Saratoga in 1777, and the
disposition of the prisoners, is of interest
in the history of Cumberland county,
from the facts that her sons took promi-
nent part in the battles of the Saratoga
campaign and in their capture, and that
accompany of guards as sent from this
county in ITS to Cambridge, to guard
the prisoners
Capt. John Wentworth's company was
raised, under resolve of April 90, ITS,
to guari the Burgoyne prisoners, and
June 80, it was reported that company
of forty-one men had been enlisted for
Col. Gerrish's regiment and Cumberland
county was excused from draft.
Gen. Burgoyne surrendered to Gen.
1
field pieces, nearly 5000 muskets and an
immense quantity of munitions of war.
The terms of the surrender were that the
prisoners were to be granted the honors
of war and were to be given free pass
age to Great Britain on condition of their
not serving again in N orth America dur
ing the contest. TIL officers were allowed
to retain their side arms and to remain
in command of their men. The reason
Gen. Gates gave such liberal terms was
that he thought that Clinton might, if
the matter was delayed much longer,
make junction with Burgoyne, and the
situation would then have been critical
for the Americans.
Gen. Burgoyne's army. after the sur
render, was called, "The Troops OF the
Convention because the terms were
agreed to by a convention Of officers.
Soon after they laid down their arms they
were marched to Cambridge. The British
regiments marched by the Hoosac Road
to Deerfeld and Northampton. The Ger
man prisoners were Hessians and Bruins
wickers, and there were about twenty
four hundred of them. They were used
to being sent outside of their own ooun-
try to serve under foreign flag but the
money for their services went to their
sovereigns. None of the officers or men
complained of the fact of their being sent
to this country. The employment of
German troops cost England about $50,
600 pounds annually. The Germans were
marched through Lansingburg. N. Y,
Great Darlington, Greenfield, Spring
field, Palmer, BrooIfield, Leicester, Wor-
cester Marlborough, Sudbury, Water
town to Cambridge, arriving Nov. z, the
British having arrived the day before.
There was considerable feeling between
the British and German soldiers. The
British officers and men thought the en-
ployment of the Germans was refeo-
ton on THAR ability to subdue the rebels,
as they called the Americans.
Before the surrender writer described
one of the Brunswick Light Dragons as
follows: "He wore high and heavy jack
boots, that weighed eleven and one half
pounds per pair, with large long Spurs,
stout and stiff leather breeches, gaunt-
letts reaching high up upon his arms and
hat with huge tuft of ornamental
feathers. On his side trailed tremen-
dous broadsword, short but clumsy
carbine was slung over his shoulder, and
down his back like Chinese Mandarin's
dangled long queue" When it is re-
memb ered that these soldiers were from
four to six inches shorter than the
Americans their appearance can be imag-
ined
The English officers rid1ouled these I'M
weildy troopers saying that the hat and
sword of one of them were as heavy as
the whole of an English private's equip
ments, which was true.
In their march, the prisoners were ao-
lcompanied by guard under Gen. John
Glover and Gen. William Whipple, a
native of Kittery, Maine, and one of the
signeps of the Declaration of Independ-
ence. The English arrived in peIting
rain storm and the soldiers were unarmed
and wore little of the defiant air Of the
British soldiers.
AS for the Germans, their appearance
| WAS plUiLul. Lucy NcIo IdSScu buu ulUly
from the effects of the long marches and
exposure. They were followed by num-
bers of their women carrying camp .uten-
sils and from some OF the huge hampers
on their backs peeped infants born on
the road. They were regarded with the
greatest curiosity by the population, as
there had been frightf1l stories circulat-
ed of their prowess and blood thirstiness.
The officers politely saluted the ladies',
but the soldiers were quietly putting
away at their tobacco pipes, while the
smoke enveloped them as they passed
along. These were the detested Hessians
of our boyhood.
The British regiments were CHARTERED
in the barracks on Prospect Hill and the
Germans on Winter Hill. Those were
the same barracks that were occupied by
the American soldiers during the siege
of Boston, and were without foundations
built of boards through which the rain,
and snow penetrated from all sides, had
| only xUindOxUs with oIac