CONVENTION TROOPS
\kənvˈɛnʃən tɹˈuːps], \kənvˈɛnʃən tɹˈuːps], \k_ə_n_v_ˈɛ_n_ʃ_ə_n t_ɹ_ˈuː_p_s]\
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On October 14, 1777, the British General Burgoyne, finding himself surrounded at Saratoga, proposed to surrender to General Gates. Accordingly, October 16, a convention was signed fixing the terms of capitulation. It was decided that Burgoyne, his officers and troops should march out of camp with the honors of war, and should be accorded passports to England upon promising to abstain from war against the States. In obedience to these terms the troops were marched to Boston, there to await transports from Howe. During the winter the troops remained quartered on Prospect Hill and Winter Hill, the officers being placed at Cambridge. Numerous delays followed. Congress disliked the terms; an expression of Burgoyne's was construed as a repudiation of them. Finally General Heath was instructed by Congress to suspend the embarkation indefinitely. Burgoyne and his staff returned to Rutland, VT, and afterward to Charlottesville, VA, where they remained till the close of the war.
By John Franklin Jameson
Word of the day
Stricture of the cesophagus
- Dysphagia constricta-s. of the Pharynx, constricta.