Convention Army The Convention Army ( 1777 – 1783 ) was an army of British and allied troops captured after the Battles of Saratoga in the American Revolutionary War . Convention of Saratoga . On October 17 , 1777 , British General John Burgoyne surrendered his army according to terms negotiated with American General Horatio Gates following the October 7 Battle of Bemis Heights . The terms were titled the " Convention of Saratoga " , and specified that the troops would be sent back to Europe after giving a parole that they would not fight again in the conflict . Cambridge . A total of about 5 , 900 British , German , and Canadian troops surrendered at Saratoga . Under guard by John Glover ' s troops , they were marched to Cambridge , Massachusetts , where they arrived on November 8 . The rank and file were quartered in crude barracks that had been constructed during the 1775 siege of Boston , while most of the officers were billeted in houses . The army ended up spending about one year in Cambridge , while negotiations concerning its status took place in military and diplomatic channels . During this year , about 1 , 300 prisoners escaped , often because they became involved with local women while working on farms in the area . 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 , resolving in January 1778 to hold the army until King George ratified the convention , an act they believed unlikely to happen , as it represented an acknowledgment of American independence . Virginia . In November 1778 , the Convention Army began marching south 700 miles ( 1 , 100 km ) to Charlottesville , Virginia , arriving in uncharacteristically snowy weather in January 1779 . Approximately 600 men escaped during the march . They were held at the hastily and poorly constructed Albemarle Barracks until 1781 . During the army ' s years in Virginia it 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 Continental 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 . The presence of the POWs created new demands for food and other goods - items for which they had to pay steep prices . Thomas Jefferson estimated that the presence of the prisoners increased the area ' s circulating currency by at least $ 30 , 000 a week . High - ranking officers , and sometimes their wives , such as the Major General Riedesel and his wife and Major General William Phillips were sought as guests on the social scene . The rank - and - file , however , dealt with miserable living conditions as the small amount of money appropriated to build the barracks proved inadequate . " Each barrack , " observed Lieutenant August Wilhelm Du Roi , " is 24 feet long , and 14 feet wide , big enough to shelter 18 men . The construction is so miserable that it surpasses all that you can imagine in Germany of a very poorly built log house . It is something like the following : Each side is put up of 8 to 9 round fir trees , which are laid one on top the other , but so far apart that it is almost possible for a man to crawl through . . . The roof is made of round trees covered with split fir trees . . . " And then , " a great number of our men preferred to camp out in the woods , where they could protect themselves better against the cold than in the barracks . " 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 .