Gov. Thomas Jefferson Seeks to Supply General Washington With Information on the Condition of British Prisoners of War of the Saratoga Convention

An extraordinary letter, wherein Jefferson positions himself in relation to news from his state to the General of the Continental Army

It also shows the remarkably challenging proposition of keeping charge of such a large and hostile army

Jefferson and the Convention troops

The surrender of General Burgoyne to General Gates at Saratoga, N.Y. on October 18, 1777, placed nearly 6,000 British and Hessian prisoners of war in the hands of the Continental Congress. According to the terms of their surrender, written in a document entitled the “Convention of Saratoga,” the prisoners were to be marched to Boston and then shipped back to Great Britain. When they arrived at Boston, a dispute arose between the Americans and Burgoyne, and on the 8th of January 1778, Congress resolved to suspend the terms of the Convention and keep the prisoners in custody. Late that year the decision was made to relocate them to Charlottesville, Virginia, where they could be more closely watched and better supplied. Many of the British and Hessian officers had their wives and children with them, and wagons were provided for their transportation. British General Philips and the genial Hessian General von Riedesel led the march southward. They reached Charlottesville, 700 miles from Boston, in January 1779, exhausted by a long journey during an inclement season and arriving to find their barracks unfinished and their supplies insufficient. Moreover, the local population was alarmed to have introduced into their presence so many enemy soldiers.

Jefferson, however, urged his fellow citizens to remain calm and willingly serve as hosts to the Convention troops, who he felt were entitled to the same kindness and hospitality when in distress as would a guest. Jefferson engaged personally in erecting barracks for the privates and establishing accommodations for the officers, made arrangements for supplies and was tireless in his endeavors to render the situation of the captives comfortable. He even took the lead in befriending the prisoners. His efforts were no sooner crowned with success, however, than the governor of Virginia, Patrick Henry, determined to remove the prisoners from Charlottesville. This would have caused much hardship and Jefferson wrote Henry opposing the measure, saying “The practice…of treating captive enemies with politeness and generosity is not only delightful in contemplation, but really interesting to all the world, friends, foes, and neutrals…” Henry relented – the proposition to move the troops was abandoned and they were permitted to remain at Charlottesville.

Governor Jefferson

Jefferson took office as governor of Virginia in June 1779, and his relationship to the Convention troops changed, as their maintenance became his ever-present task. They were a financial burden to the state, the treasury of which was practically empty. In the fall he felt compelled to write a letter he must have hated to send, telling the Continental Congress that Virginia needed help if it was to supply the Convention troops. Then in 1780 it became even harder as the state became an active theater of war.

In Governor Jefferson’s first months in office, Virginia already faced threats that it had never known during Patrick Henry’s administration. From 1776 to 1779, Virginia had remained largely untouched by enemy operations, except Indian raids on its western frontier. During that same period, the state became a granary, magazine, and arsenal for American armies fighting to the north and south. Jefferson encountered the misfortune that British officials decided to do something about Virginia’s supporting role in the Revolution just as he became governor. In 1779, the British began a series of increasingly destructive raids along the coasts and up the rivers of Virginia. As these incursions grew in size and penetrated ever more deeply into its countryside, Virginia’s economy suffered, and concerns grew that the British would rescue the Convention Army and use it for reinforcements.

James Wood, a future governor of Virginia, was colonel of the 12th Virginia Regiment and commanded that unit during the Philadelphia and Monmouth campaigns. He was appointed Superintendent of the Convention Army when the prisoners were moved to Charlottesville, and continued in that post all through Jefferson’s term as governor. As liaison between the American side and the Convention troops, he was charged with actually getting supplies to the prisoners. By late 1780, his job had become a difficult one indeed as funds were not available to make necessary purchases. Not only was Jefferson actively involved in monitoring the situation, but with the added focus on the Convention Army, it had attracted the attention of General George Washington, who wanted things handled properly.

General Washington becomes involved

On August 25, Wood wrote directly to George Washington, “Whenever there was a Deficiency of Meat, they had the Liberty of Drawing a Double allowance of Indian Meal, with Assurances from me, that the Difference between the Value of the Meat and Indian Meal, shou’d be Made good to them, which they always refused… Our Supplies of Animal food have been so Partial since the first of May that we are in Arrear to the Troops of Convention Near Seventy Days Allowance. I have Often & repeatedly represented the Situation of the Post to the Board of War, and Executive of the State, and was always referred by the former, to the Latter, but finding that Nothing Effectual was likely to be Done, I thought it My Duty to attend the Assembly of Virginia then Siting, where I stated in the fullest Manner the Distressed Situation of the Post; the Assembly took up the matter, and Passed an Act, Appointing Commissioners in the Circumjacent Counties, with Powers to Seize live Stock for the use of the Post, since which I have been Constantly Exerting Myself, aided by the Executive of the State, to have the Law Carried into Execution, & have hopes that in a few Days we shall be Better Supplied. Since the Scarcity Prevailed many Desertions have taken Place Among the Troops of Convention.”

Just 7 days earlier, Francis Tate, a deputy commissary, had traveled to the state legislature to secure funding to purchase meat, at which time the Deputy Governor, noting the absence of Governor Jefferson, had secured 50,000 pounds.

Brigadier General James Hamilton, on August 24, had written to Washington, stating the lack of ability to secure meat. “When Mutton Was brought to the Barracks & offer’d the Continental Comissaries they never had a farthing to pay for them, the same must happen in the Country even after the Comissioners have Sequestred Provisions for the use of the Public.”

Jefferson wrote to Washington four days later lamenting the arrears in meat given to the Convention troops.  He had, he claimed, done what could be done to provide the Convention Troops with food consistent with that of the guards.

But as some of the accommodations offered the Convention Troops by Wood had been refused, as he noted above, there was some concern that, with new powers and funds, efforts to make them whole would also be refused. Jefferson, having forwarded Washington letters on the state of affairs and led him to believe that things would improve and that all that could be done was being done, wanted to make sure that representations made to General Washington would not be undone by actions of the Convention Troops themselves.

Letter Signed, Richmond, Va., September 14, 1780, to Colonel Wood. “Mr. Tate informs me you are now in condition to pay up the arrearages of animal food due the Convention troops, but that he supposed they would not receive them. If you be really in such condition I should be glad to have the arrearages tendered, and if refused a proper certificate of the fact, that I may transmit it to General Washington and prevent any disagreeable consequences from the representations already forwarded to him.”

Wood wrote two letters upon receiving the above. With Washington, he intervened directly, stating on September 21 that “the Convention troops have been fully supplied for the last three weeks…and that I shall have it within my power within a few days to begin paying up the arrears…”He apparently told Jefferson a less promising story, however, as Jefferson’s letter to Wood of September 23 reads “I am sorry the supplies of provisions to the troops have been less than Mr. Tate represented them,” and lets Wood know “There is no probability of a supply of money to your purchasing commissary till the meeting of assembly.” That same day, Jefferson wrote Washington what Wood had written him, and himself took a defensive – hard to pin down and hard to criticize – position on the issue, saying “That Post [Charlottesville] has been for some time past pretty regularly supplied, and I hope will continue to be for some time…” He then added that Wood was threatening to quit his job and that “the public good” required that he remain in place. It is fascinating seeing both Jefferson and Wood position themselves with Washington to receive the least blame, should blame he assess.

In October 1780, the British began active ground operations in Virginia, and Jefferson, who had previously opposed the Convention Army’s removal, changed his mind. He wrote to President of Congress Samuel Huntington on October 26 that “The Executive of this State think it expedient and necessary that under our present circumstances the prisoners of war under the convention of Saratoga, be removed from their present situation. Many circumstances have led to this necessity. It will be utterly impracticable as long as they remain with us to prevent the hostile army now in this state from being reinforced by numerous desertions from this corps…” The Convention army was uprooted and transferred to Frederick, Maryland, outside Jefferson’s purview.