 Well, thank you folks for coming, you know for the past year and a half we've been doing our talks all through zoom And it's really nice to be able to see some live faces again. You know that said you got my message today. Yeah The plan was you know eventually to go back in the tavern, but obviously the tavern being so small No windows. We felt it would be much better for all parties including us for the outside for a little while But it's nice to see you all here. I'm John Devenal the president of the board and I've been a volunteer here for Almost 20 years now. I believe doesn't seem possible and Rob has been here doing he's on our board, by the way And you've done about what four talks. This is your four talk here So so you folks know that the topic is sketching Burgoyne's campaign and Rob gonna be showing us some of these watercolors that were done by This Hessian captain I would assume perhaps when Burgoyne came down the lake in 1777 So before I turn it over to Rob Just like to mention that Rob is an award-winning author of a dozen books on American military history He earned his master's in American history from Rhode Island College He's a former national park ranger and for the last several years is Working for the immigration service He resides in Jericho center with his wife and two kids. So join me in greeting Rob Great to be here Ironically, I was the very last in-person speaker last February before all this mess came. I see some faces. I talked about military weapons like here in the Champlain Valley during the revolution and the Civil War. So it's certainly great to be back Before I begin just a brief caveat. I do not speak German. I speak pretty good English and Probably can get by up in Canada But if anybody out there speaks German if I mispronounce something I do apologize. Please Do bear with me but the topic today is a pretty famous series of paintings Done by a Hessian captain during the American Revolution And chances are if you've read any books about the American revolution More especially ones that focus on what's called the northern theater around here in the Champlain Valley You've probably seen some of these sketches before But they've got quite a really interesting story not only for the sketches But what they show and what they tell us today as historians. They're a pretty interesting set of paintings. So without further ado, let's learn about the von Gammon watercolors So what do they show is Soldiers from Germany Britain and America during the Saratoga campaign. And what is the Saratoga campaign? So a brief background for those not familiar with it. It is a British attempt In 1777 to launch an invasion down the Champlain Valley designed to split the colonies into An envy American revolution. The British theory the British strategy is The whole revolution is caused by those troublesome people in Boston the sons of liberty John Hancock Sam Adams John Adams and that whole lot if we can separate New England from the rest of the colonies The rest of the colonies will come back into the fold as loyal subjects of the crown And we'll just deal with those troublemakers in Massachusetts later on So this guy John Burgoyne He is a British general and he comes up with an idea that he publishes in a pamphlet called thoughts on conducting the war from Canada And he publishes this in the winter of 1776 He had come over to the American theater in 1775 He had seen service at Bunker Hill and had fought in Canada during the repulse of the American invasion in the spring of 1776 Prior to that he had had significant combat experience in the seven years war leading a British brigade in Portugal He was a cavalry officer by training Pretty well experienced military commander And he publishes this pamphlet thoughts on conducting the war from Canada and his idea Is that three British columns will converge on Albany In 1777 again in that attempt to separate New England from the rest of the colonies One column will come west out of Oswego under Barry st. Ledger Another column will come up the Hudson valley Under general lord how commanding the main British army in New York Burgoyne himself will take another British army south out of Montreal down the Champlain Valley And attack from the north Well, you know when you're when you're thinking about an attack through the woods of new york and vermont from 3000 miles away It you know is something that seems pretty easy As would be the case it would not be too easy for Burgoyne Uh, the British army that was supposed to come out of new york decides to go to philadelphia instead So one prong is cut off the prong that was supposed to come out of Oswego under Barry st. Ledger Is repulsed at fort stanwicks in iriscony in central new york that leaves burgoyne's column coming south Well, we have a series of engagements for ticonderoga a major british victory On july 5th and 6th 1777 Burgoyne is so happy. He thinks he's chased all the americans away The following day on july 7th, there is a very sharp rare action at harvardon Where part of Burgoyne's army under simon frazer attacks three american regiments One of the only major battles fought on vermont soil but contrary to part of their belief not the only battle Fought on vermont soil during the revolutionary war. There were several others but not as large as harvardon The result of harvardon the american rearguard is defeated But the bulk of the american army is able to escape from ticonderoga and regroup at castleton in ruttland And they'll later be used that fall in the battles of saratoga July 8th. There's another battle found for it for and new york very similar to harvardon an american rearguard Puts up a pretty significant action the british are stopped at skeinsboro whitehall And those two actions really stopped the british momentum coming down the champlain valley Burgoyne has to bring all of his supplies down the valley down the lake Drop them off at ticonderoga and then bring them overland the americans start Flooding swamps. They start cutting down trees walking roads small rare actions So much so that by the beginning of august the momentum of burgoyne's advance is really starting to stall That leads to august 16th at bennington Burgoyne sends about a thousand men into What is supposed to go into the hamster grants into vermont to try to find supplies wagons horses Well, we all know what happens on august 16th because we celebrate it as bennington day Which is actually fought in new york mostly by troops from vermont new hamster and massachusetts One day burgoyne loses a thousand men The momentum continues. He eventually gets south crosses the hudson river and on september 19th He fights the first battle of saratoga The battle is Really a tactical draw the americans inflict more casualties on the british army The british feel that they've won a victory because they hold the field at nightfall when the americans pull back Burgoyne he's waiting for reinforcements the reinforcements never come. He's running out of supplies So on october 7th He decides to launch a reconnaissance and force to try to find the americans The second battle of saratoga is over in the course of about 15 or 20 minutes Benedict Arnold leads the american attack. They smash through the british defenses The british retreat up to what is now skylersville old saratoga back then october 17th the british capitulate at saratoga The result is france comes in recognizes the united states as a sovereign nation Starts openly sending guns and supplies And basically it's the turning point of the revolution long story short There's a lot of books you can read on this and i've read most of them next slide so That gets us to these von gamon watercolors and their importance because they actually show us What the soldiers who took part in this campaign? looked like they are some of the only contemporary illustrations From the revolutionary period and they are showing us what these men actually looked like on campaign now i graduated from high school almost 20 years ago, but my revolutionary war Part of high school in 10th grade history was the british foreign competent morons who came over to the colonies Stood there and got picked off by american riflemen and trees seven miles away That's not how it worked The british army time and again Adapts to the continent they adapt to the conditions of what they are facing here in north america Really the only reason why the british lost this war was the political will of the politicians and parliament To continue funding it as well as a supply train that's coming from 3000 miles away Think of it this way every uniform every bullet everything the british are using is coming out of england and ireland The americans they're getting a lot of supplies from the spanish from the french But a lot of it is being made here all their food is coming from here So their supply line and the will of the british public to continue this war is really the reason why they lost But these sketches show us Conclusively how the british adopted to the war in north america Today they are a very important source by both historians and reenactors The historians to illustrate to show and understand this and the reenactors to Assume the identity of these soldiers by providing illustrations of them on that campaign so Burgoyne's army, but the thing that friedrich von gammon is sketching Leaves Canada with about 8 000 men. That's that's a huge force for the time This army is going to be constantly worn down by battle by disease and rear-guard Detachments now burgoyne thought that Part of the british army that is left in canada Would eventually come down the champlain valley and garrison places like point au fur up on your platform With garrison ticonderoga that would allow him to take the bulk of his army further south Burgoyne didn't get along with the commander-in-chief in canada a guy by the name of guy carlton Carleton felt that as the senior officer. He should have been in command of this expedition heading south The king overruled put burgoyne in so carlin basically sits up in canada all summer with several british and german regiments that had been left behind And Refuses really to send any help to burgoyne other than what had already been planned to send south Likewise the logistics everything's coming down the lake goes to ticonderoga and skeinsboro It's then put in small carts and brought overland Burgoyne has a Huge artillery train. He thought he would have bombard ticonderoga and mount independence into submission He realizes when the americans up and vanish on the night of july 5th into july 6th That that artillery is not needed. So most of that artillery is left behind at ticonderoga some of it is eventually sent back up north to canada and The artillery that's brought south is smaller pieces three six and 12 pounders That will eventually become surrendered at saratoga and a number of those pieces still survive today Burgoyne does have a decent size staff And it's very interesting because his army is composed of two divisions one division of british one division of germans well basically none of the English speak german Basically none of the germans speak english so to work between the two They actually use french as a lingua franca to speak between the two uh divisions of the army This guy right here is lieutenant john ross He commanded the 34th regiment of foot grenadier company and he actually spilled blood on vermont soil He was severely wounded at huberton and was sent back up north to canada and later in the war would command a loyalist Regiment out of canada Uh the uniform he's wearing is typical of what british officers would have worn during the french and indian the seven years war Very elegant with all the lace the sash The grenadiers hat uh not quite what you would have seen Later on during the american revolution So again burgoyne's army is composed of two divisions The right wing is under this guy major general william phillips and his army is split into three brigades The advanced corps is the 24th foot grenadiers light infantry And the select marksman I would I will add their brish regiment at this time is composed of 10 companies Eight of those companies are what are called a hat men or battalion soldiers These are what we typically think of of men who stand shoulder to shoulder And with muskets and shoot it out with each other one company is composed of light infantry And these were guys who were taught to spread out make use of the terrain make use of certain features to fight What was called indian style and the grenadiers which you might be familiar with from the movies They wear those tall bear skin hats Today they're the people who guard the queen And those were tall soldiers. Those were the shock troops But what we're going does is he takes all of the light infantry from these regiments Pairs them together along with the grenadiers to make these two battalions Likewise the first brigade is the 20th 21st and 62nd the second brigade is the 9th 47th and 53rd This changes significantly as the saratoga campaign goes on Because the 53rd foot is going to be left behind garrison for ticonderoga The 47th foot is going to be left behind garrison supply dumps at lake george and along bergoyne's route heading south So going into the first battle of saratoga is the 20th the 21st the 62nd and the 9th That british brigade is pretty much destroyed in the first battle of saratoga The 62nd foot loses nearly two-thirds of its men in about an hour of combat against poors new hampshire brigade Very heavy casualties for the time Likewise the Germans are on the second division or the left wing Now when we typically think of the german Mercenaries so to say what thomas jefferson Embodied in the declaration of independence coming over here to fight for the british Typically we're thinking of what we call we lump them together as the hessians Well, most of these guys are actually from brunswick And one another one of those german states that sent men over here to fight under british command They they are led by this guy nature general friderich agald von reidazel And uh, he is a very competent commander, but he hated john bergoyne. These two men did not get along at all um reidazel The these german soldiers. These are professional germans Some of them probably have more combat experience from the british They had fought in the seven years war on the continent against france reidazel was a very competent officer But he feels that bergoyne sort of dismisses his german soldiers as second line soldiers Reidazel's men are basically going to save simon frais from being overrun at the battle of hoberton They come up at the last minute and save the day. So these guys knew what they were doing Uh, likewise three brigades um Rats speck reidazel friderich This regiment here the arab prince regiment is actually interesting because it's from a small german principality called hess Hanna which was separate from hess castle Which uh comprises most of the german Units so uh arab prince is uh one of those uh units and that is the regiment that uh the guy we're talking about Friderich von gammon Is in command of a company So who is uh friderich von gammon? Well, he during this campaign. He is serving as a captain in the air prince regiment from hess hanow He was he lived 50 years He's pretty much spent his entire adult life in the army Back then you were commissioned in your teenage years And you served uh pretty much for life. And that's what uh von gammon uh dies He uh is captured at saratoga in 1781 Scurves in the army as a lieutenant colonel upon his death and as we'll be seeing he is a skilled artist and One thing he didn't do was provide us with a sketch of himself So this is what he would have looked like in the uniform of a captain in the arab prince regiment From hess hanow uh during the saratoga campaign Typically when we think of the american revolution a lot of our ideas of what these people were wearing Come from the series of paintings that hang in the u.s capital done by trumbull and these were done in the 1820s 1830s Very very different than what would have been worn during the american revolutionary period But this is typical of the post revolutionary generation and their interpretation of what folks were wearing during the war The british soldiers during the revolution what they're wearing is based on what's called the 1768 warring And these uniforms were approved by george the third And this is basically saying what the british army should be looking like The 1768 warring it's based on experience that had been shown during the french and indian war Instead of those really baggy Coats a lot of lace epaulets. These are much more tight fitting much more Cut down uniforms that and they are designed for a parade ground. They are designed For europe they're not really thought of when this comes into effect in 1768 For a war that might be fought on the continent in north america British soldiers received one uniform per year typically the new uniforms are issued out in june Why june the king's birthday the king would have a parade He'd want all the soldiers to look nice. He'd go buy and review and go back to the castle and Start complaining about the americans again But the british uniforms of 1768 they have red as a background But they also have every regiment has a specific facing color And you'll see this later on in the sketches along with the lace and every regiment has a unique button Every british soldier's coat has about 40 to 44 buttons on it These buttons are still found throughout the champlain valley So we know for example if a button from the 34th foot is found Down at mount independence. Well, there are only two companies from the 34th foot there So it came from one of those soldiers likewise with the 24th every regiment has their own button Their own belt buckle etc. There's really uh, no uniformity what we uh think of other than they had red coats on These are two british soldiers based on the 1768 warrant And these are two men an officer over here and a grenadier And these are from the 62nd regiment of foot that would have come with bergoyne The 62nd was pretty much destroyed in the first battle of saratoga We see on the grenadier. He's got the 12 grenadiers hat on He's got his uh breaches that are buff color The facing color of the regiment is buff. He's got his waist belt carrying a sword A bayonet his musket We see the officer wearing a very interesting hat the uniform returns Continuously complained that the 62nd foot's officers had really small hats Um, quite quite interesting to the regiment likewise the officer is wearing a sword Uh, they're wearing uh gators. Uh, they had breaches on with long stockings black gators to go over their shoes Also notice the length of the coat coming down mid-thigh almost to the knee Um, keep this uh keep this picture in mind as we go along This is what british soldiers would have looked like going into the american revolution Things very quickly changed when they got over here to north america Likewise, this is the germans This is a sketch not done by von german of the erb prince regiment Shortly before they embarked to come over to north america as part of the uh, germany contingent From left to right. We've got an officer Typical of what von gemmann would have looked like we have a sergeant We have a grenadier. We have a musket man and a drummer drummers both german and british wore very elaborate coats with a lot of lace on them because when the shooting starting a lot of white smoke Commands are given by the drum an officer would want to be able to find a drummer very quickly because When the shooting starts very hard to give voice commands. So the men are taught to respond to command by drum But this gives us a typical look of what the germans would have looked like Before they came over here Likewise a really nice Detailed sketch of a german grenadier. I should have added a german regiment is a five musket companies On one grenadier company the german regiments are slightly bigger than the british companies The british company was about 50 men and german company is about 100. So they were uh small less companies But more men in each So this is a typical Hessian grenadier of what they would have looked like Before coming over to on north america Probably the most interesting thing is the mitre hat Also known as the grenadier hat. Um, I've always thought it looked like a tin can with a pom-pom that you're wearing on your head Um, you know really good for the parade ground. Not really good when you're fighting in the battle of beddington You'll notice the german cartridge box Grenadiers get their names because they were originally the guys who the tall guys who were supposed to leave the attack and throw Hand grenades So you keep your hand grenades in this large cartridge box by the time of the revolutionary war They're not really throwing hand grenades anymore, but they keep a large cartridge box Embellished with a big plate the grenadiers badge Um, and that holds a lot of ammunition almost 50 to 60 rounds Uh, very nice, uh, white gators, uh, again for the parade ground those would have been soiled very quickly Um, we we carry here. Uh, what's called the tornester, which is a backpack A knapsack would have carried part of his Camp supplies These men live in what are called masses of between four to five soldiers So one soldier carries, uh, the tent one soldier carries the tent poles another one carries, uh But uh pot that they use this guy is carrying an axe and look he's got tent pegs hanging from his Cartridge box, so he's carrying part of his equipment. We also have here a haversat And the uh musket Now a lot of this stuff is going to be captured from the brunswick Detachment that is defeated by stark at beddington on august 16 And uh stark sends trophies out to new hampshire massachusetts and vermont Uh, if you go to the new hampshire historical society, they still have The hessian helmet the hessian cartridge box Likewise massachusetts has their beddington trophies Nobody knows where vermont's went they disappeared in the 1830s Whether they were thrown away or they burned down in one of the fires of the state house Nobody knows but we celebrate beddington is this great vermont thing But we have no idea where our beddington trophies went except for the canon that's in front of the state house And the other one that's down at the beddington museum the two three pounders So the 1777 campaign So for going again was over in england comes back and starts pulling his forces from all over Canada to convert on montry all to get ready for the invasion down the champlain valley But we're going to rise and he realizes that his regiments Especially the british are still wearing their 1776 uniforms What happened to the new uniforms we're about to go on this campaign And some of these british soldiers are literally wearing rags the leftover uniforms from the previous year Where'd they go thank this guy john paul jones in the u.s. Navy uh john paul jones is uh operating off of the Nova scotia coast when his ship intercepts a british convoy carrying supplies to canada for bergoyan's army They capture the british uniforms that are supposed to go to bergoyan's army in 1777 Well what john paul jones does is sales those uniforms to boston And they're actually issued to continental soldiers So americans end up wearing british uniforms that have been intended for bergoyan These uniforms are going to be dyed brown. You don't want any friendly fire incidents But they literally still have the lace the buttons everything. They're just dyed brown By order of washington So bergoyan has this dilemma. It's uh april may 1777 and uh, he needs uh to outfit his men to go on the war pack. What's he gonna do? british orders issued on april 6 The clothing for the several regiments not being arrived His excellency the commander in chief allows the commanding officers of battalions to accommodate the present clothing Ash will be most convenient for the men and it is to be repaired so as to serve the campaign until the new clothing arrives Well, what's that mean make do with what you got? We've got you've got the old clothing. We don't know when the new clothing is coming So try to get it in the best order possible so we can go on campaign So what they're going to do Is take their coats Remember those coats were uh Mid-thigh length almost to the knee They're going to cut them down to waist length into what's called jackets They're going to take the extra material that they've cut down and they're going to patch And literally patch the hell out of those 1776 clothes They're going to take their cocked hats And they're going to do something very interesting With those Some british regiments are going to go a step farther. They're going to make a small ornaments to put on their packs This is one from the 62nd that was found at saratoga So again, this shows the british army is adapting. They don't have any new clothes. They're about to go on campaign They have to get ready Thomas anberry served in bergoins army as an instant in the 24th regiment of foot There are some problems with his account, especially with uh his description of what happens at hubbard in I won't go into detail on that, but it was published in vermont history about 10 years ago Basically he at hubbard in he was in three places at once And we have no idea where he actually was or if he was actually there or back at ticonderoga But he does provide some good details of what the british army is doing and even british officers Are making these changes Uh british officers are cutting down their coats british officers are cutting down their hats They're also leaving their swords behind up in canada. They're uh going out and british officers had to buy their own equipment And they're buying uh white carbines fuses small muskets 60 62 caliber muskets to carry with them on campaign So they're leaving the officers are doing this, but this is uh rather comical The regiments have the hair that is a fix to their caps of different colors Ours is red and as the purest white here takes the best color Several soldiers ambitious to have theirs superior to the rest Occasions a very ludicrous fray between mechs and the inhabitants in which the soldiers were worsted and got a severe beating Little background one night these british soldiers went out to this uh farm Tried to get some horse hair off this uh french canadian farmer And uh he went out and uh gave him a good shellac and with a shalei or something Don't steal from uh from them. So the british are again, they're getting their hats ready getting ready for uh heading south And the hat is probably the most interesting Uh thing that they do for this campaign if it wasn't for von gamon's paintings We wouldn't have any idea of what they looked like they uh take the cock cat the tricorn hat You're probably pretty familiar with and they convert it into a white infantry helmet The white infantry companies that fight with bergoin. They're already wearing helmets This is one that's worn by a soldier in the ninth regiment of foot So they retain theirs We have no idea what the grenadier companies with bergoin wore Uh, they leave obviously those 12 bare skin hats back up in canada But there's a lot of disagreement between phraser and phillips That basically every grenadier company is wearing something different on their head and we have absolutely no idea what they were wearing So this is the hat that bergoin comes up with Uh, rather interesting design. This was actually taken on my kitchen table on a few years ago, but it's uh Got a curved curved front the uh, cockade and it's got this a force here crest That is dyed the facing color of the regiment. So this is from the 24th uh foot And it just shows you how they are able how the british army before they leave canada Is able to make use of their old uniforms and convert them for the campaign Here's our first uh set of uh von gamon watercolors We see a soldier in the 24th the royal artillery and the 21st We see how the british were able to make do with those old uniforms and convert them again We have a waist length jacket Underneath we still have a vest The bayonet belt remember that uh the sketch of the 62nd foot The bayonet belt is now worn over the shoulder. So it doesn't get caught up on rocks and trees fighting in the woods The hat The royal artillery even though these guys are mostly manning the guns with bergoins army They're also carrying muskets for protection of those cannon in case some of the other regiments could not uh participate The details on these sketches is amazing We know that the royal artillery they were white cartridge boxes that also doubled as a fuse pouches For the uh cannon we see we see the white Uh the white cartridge box there the details on the lace uh von gamon probably painting with a literally a toothpick is painting some of the details of the lace Uh here on the 24th foot soldier We see a a narrow green stripe an epaulet on his shoulder lined with lace again amazing amazing details In these paintings What do the germans do however They don't make really any changes at all uh to their uniforms some of the equipment from germany Actually gets to montreal in time to outfit some of the germans. So they don't have to take As many changes as the british do going into this campaign They still wore this heavy equipment those huge cartridge boxes Uh the swords you'll notice but the brunswick dragoons And history has lambasted the british the bergoin the dragoons that bergoin took with him Since the battle of bennington. Well, they brought these huge swords with them down from canada Why do they need that? There's not enough horses To outfit the dragoons to go south out of canada all available horses are being used to drag bergoins artillery It's being used to drag bergoins wagon train So the idea was that the dragoons would find horses along the way Hence why we have the battle of bennington where the dragoons go back And fight looking for horses in vermont they end up getting defeated What they do change however is their trousers They wore much like the british white wool Breaches not really something that's that effective for summer campaigning So They decide to make a new pair of pants to wear And uh captain posh is in command of a hess hand out artillery battery And he writes there was ordered long loose and wide linen overalls such as sailors wear To be made in one piece from one end to the other and to be made of the same length as leggings They were mostly made of old tents. I found this clothing well adapted to the client in our present situation They were particularly convenient not only for marching but his protection against insects While you live up here long enough, you know about mosquitoes and black flies So these uh trousers are going to be adopted by both the british and the germans to be worn or not in the campaign They're made out of old tents Uh typical of the eight frame tent that we see British soldiers wearing And you could get several pair of these trousers out of each tent And this shows uh posh's artillery in action at the first battle of saratoga and we see the men Wearing those trousers and some british royal artillery men Coming to their rescue But again, these trousers are adopted by both british and germans for the campaign So Now that we know about bergoyne's army about what they were wearing how they adapted Let's talk about the paintings themselves There's been a lot of debate among historians Since these paintings really came to life. When were they painted? We know they were painted sometime during the american revolution between 1776 and 1781 However, research most likely indicates that they were painted in a very short window in montreal All before bergoyne's army left heading south down lake champlain Why you may ask is because the amount of the paintings this time in montreal Was the only time that the british and german regiments were all together in one place And it's really the only time when vongamon would have had the time To paint before going out on campaign His commander is colonel vilhelm von gall Commander of the erud prince regiment Captured at sarah choga and he would have been the one that would have allowed Vongamon to paint in his free time So these paintings show the british Units in particular right before the campaign starts Before they start taking casualties. The uniforms are pretty crisp I mean, they had been cut down from 1776, but they're not really worn out rags as they would appear later in the during the capitulation in october 77 So most of these are painted in canada before the army leaves going south and they're going to be carried with him Throughout the sarah toga campaign. So it's pretty amazing that he was able to do this before he left canada Who did he paint? There are 22 of these paintings in total He's going to paint the 20th 21st 24th 47 53rd and 62nd british regiments a royal artillery soldier A british soldier in winter uniform and a member of the 84th foot Again going in with why these were painted in montreal before he left the 84th is composed of scottish soldiers Who had settled in canada? They don't go south with bergoyne the only time he would have had contact with an 84th foot soldier was in montreal Likewise painting some of the germ units the dragoons the friederic von reidazel wrecks speck air prints The light infantry battalion the brunswick jager a hessian jager Again getting to my point the hessian jagers Actually go to oswego and head out with barry saint ledger They don't go with bergoyne, but the brunswick jagers do they actually basically save fraisers men at hubbardon He also paints the hessian artillery Three paintings that are not uh, not british or german. They're actually really interesting He paints a nice little sketch of a frank canadian farmer that we'll see later on And two more that he paints are american soldiers He painted those american soldiers after the surrender when they would have had contact with americans So 22 in total And here's some of them The urb prince regiment that he is serving with Uh brunswick regiment von speck and the prince friederic regiment now Think back to those uh bridge sketches that we saw how the british converted their uniforms Look at the germans. They're still wearing a tricorn hat. They're still wearing very long coats Um those coat tails can get caught up pretty easily. Uh walking through woods and stuff out here They're still carrying uh swords All of the british including the officers and the grenadiers they left their swords back up in canada The british grenadiers were issued out tomahawks the british officers Simply carried bayonets or nothing at all besides the carbines that they bought up in canada So we see them carrying swords which are not really practical when you're walking through the woods We also see the uh pants the trousers that uh captain posh uh wrote about uh when he uh Talked about how they converted their uh trousers So that's really the only big change that the germans are doing to get ready For this uh campaign. Uh, we still have a very tall high neck stock Uh typical uh worn by both british and german soldiers The heavy cartridge box carrying all that ammunition But um, you know some sketches that uh von gammon did that show uh what the germans Did get ready which really wasn't much besides their pants two Two units that are uh very familiar uh to us vermoners The brunswick dragoons, uh Composed the bulk of the british force that goes to bennington Which bennington is down here but battle's actually fought in new york over here um So this shows the brunswick uh dragoons And they're carrying shorter muskets carbines because again, they were supposed to be on horseback Uh, they're still carrying the very large sword Again, they're supposed to go out and find horses and they would get on these horses And it was thought with these big swords that are really three feet long They could just scare the americans and ride them down Almost 150 of these swords are captured at saratoga Summer taken away by americans summer given away by stark as trophies But most of these swords are actually issued to the continental army dragoons A lot of this equipment that's captured at saratoga at bennington Is reissued out uh two american units especially uh, we know those swords um Again showing what the uh, what the british uh, the german soldier's wearing This large white strap on the brunswick dragoons soldier is actually not a cartridge box It's cartridge boxes here. These are really small cartridge boxes only holding about 20 rounds of ammunition Primarily they're mounted supposed to use the sword This right here is actually what's called a carbine sling He's supposed to be on a horse so this sling would hook up to a little ring on his carbine And he could use it while he was mounted. So again, this shows That the brunswick dragoon battalion was fully supposed to come down on this campaign and find their own horses Uh pretty important sketch for that reason The brunswick yeager we see the the short stocky Yeager rifle that they were using this is the there's about a hundred of these guys This is the only unit in bergoyan's army that it's actually armed with rifles Everyone else is using smoothbore muskets Uh, this unit actually saves the day at harbourton. They come up on the american Left flank Just when it looks like warner's regimen is about to push back the british. They take position behind Fence and fire some well-placed shots that probably killed carnal francis and the americans retreat So they played a pretty prominent role at harbourton But again two regiments very closely associated with vermont Uh, some more, uh, sketches Of the uh, ridazel regiment again showing the sword the musket Uh, the pom-pom on the hat, which I always uh think is interesting And this is actually a british soldier wearing a winter uniform Uh, probably done by bondamon from either memory or you know, it's still as we know up here It's still pretty cold in may so the british might have been wearing this uniform in may when these sketches Were done. He's wearing a pair of blue leggings Fur cap And also a converted blanket that has been made into a coat He's also going to do two very interesting sketches of americans Uh, this sketch shows an enlisted man of the 11th massachusetts regiment Uh, this is one of the american regiments that fights at harbourton Uh, most of these guys were actually from main, but main was part of massachusetts until about 2020 So this shows an american soldier, uh from the 11th massachusetts And this was probably sketch after the surrender at saratoga Likewise an american officer Uh, wearing a uh almost a black blackish uniform With a red piping It's thought that this might be an artillery officer from stevens artillery A battalion that fought at saratoga and wore a black uniforms faced with red Likewise we see the american officer carrying a musket and a bayonet Something that they would have done not just besides uh swords Uh, another uh one of the sketches of a british soldier from the 47th regiment We know that by the white facing on his coat Again the details that i uh spoke about you can see the lacing on the coat little ruffles on the Shoulder's shirt that uh would have been seen Uh the 47th surrenders at saratoga But they had left a number of companies along the way guarding supplies near lake george So what happened to these 22 sketches? Where did they go? Well van gammon carries these paintings with him during the revolutionary war They're with him and during the saratoga campaign, but he's captured as a prisoner of war at saratoga He's released in 1781 and goes back to canada 1782 he gives these paintings to a guy named adolf du roi Who is the adjutant of the brunswick detachment? And he gives them these paintings to go back to canada Uh van gammon himself will go back to canada and stay in the army again till his death As luthana chrome well du roi owns these paintings until 1823 When he dies du roi bequeaths them to a major hustler What does hustler do with these paintings? Well in 1851 He is going to loan them to the brunswick municipal archives And a very talented artist there is actually going to make copies of all 22 of the van gammon paintings And returns the originals to major hustler And a set of these was because again, we don't have any copy machines We don't have really photography is in its infancy So if you want a copy of something you have to sketch it yourself So this artist from the brunswick archives copies the paintings that van gammon had done in 1777 So they're copied. They're putting the archives And then lo and behold the originals disappear The actual paintings that van gammon did in montreal and during the saratoga aftermath Simply up and disappear Where on earth did they go? One theory that's out there think the athi air force in the raf carpet bombing germany during world war two They might have been blown up Somewhere in germany where they might have ended up likewise American gi's like to take a lot of things home with them Pretty much they were even able to bring german heavy machine guns back with them That's how liberal the american army was with their trophy policy Who knows an american gi might have seen these sketches thought hey, these are really nice And they might have been brought back to the united states by an american gi during world war two either way The original 1777 van gammon paintings have not been seen since 1851 So if they had not been copied by That artist at the brunswick archives, we would not have what we have today So Nobody really knows about these things until this guy william l stone comes into the picture And he is the first real historian of the saratoga campaign Saratoga was forgotten about for a while until a guy wrote a book about 10 battles that changed the world Among them was waterloo marathon Carthage the carthaginian wars But saratoga makes that list because it's recognized even in the 1860s and 70s As really the turning point of the american revolution the battle that gained those french recognition and eventual independence So william l stone is the first what we would consider historian of this campaign He published several important books about it including posh's journal. He spent a number of years living in germany Where he found posh's journal and a number of other important german texts from the american revolution And one day he's in the brunswick archives Going through a box and pulls out the copies of the vongamon paintings And The germans won't let them take these paintings back to new york where he's from. So what does he do? He commissions his own paintings So there are some differences between The paintings that are in brunswick The ones that were copied direct from vongamon and the paintings that stone commissions based on those copies There are some differences Most noticeably in the arab prince regiments sketch But he doesn't copy all 22 of them. He's primarily interested in the german contingent the hessians the brunswickers in the american revolution. So they copy all the german sketches He's he looks at the british soldiers and all these british soldiers look the same So i'm just going to copy one of them So they only copy the 62nd the royal artillery and the two sketches of the americans And he uses these in some of his books that he publishes about the senator toad campaign And the originals that stone had sketched from the ones in brunswick are on deposit at the new york public library special collections And that's uh william else some right there. So we thank him for finding Those sketches But for years We thought that those were the only ones Stone copied these and These were used the ones that are on a display at the new york public library were thought for Decades to be the only van gammon sketches that survived And they were used in many publications about the american revolution and i was obviously not using spell check on this slide. I apologize Um, this is the uh the neat one that i uh that i told you about the french canadian farmer um I'm canadian fowler, which i think translates as a canadian farmer Um, he's wearing uh, you know a converted blanket that's been made into a coat. He's wearing a pair of Native american moccasins. He's got a Indian sash around his waist Smoking his pipe and just trying to survive another brutal canadian winter um and Gators uh socks probably appear of um Uh something but you know really again fantastic detail and i don't know what's up with the uh the broken fence in the background but um He's just chilling out up in montreal having a good time So again We we thought these were the only ones of Out there until steven strack comes into the picture in the 1990s Strak is a national park service historian And he had been commissioned uh to really uh carry on with the project that had begun in the 1930s with the wpa uh, the wpa commissions a project for a group of american historians to go over to germany in 1933 1934 Right as hitler is coming to power to go through german archives and copy records Relating to german soldiers that had fought in the american revolution And they copy a ton of material from the hessian archives from the brunswick archives Put it on microfilm and send it back to the national archives very lucky They did that because nearly all those records disappear during the carpet bombing of germany during world war two So strack is a park service historian military history Is his thing and he is sent over to germany to really carry on this project that had begun in the 1930s To find our records are relating to the german participation during the american revolution He goes to the brunswick archives and ah ha He finds all 22 of the sketches. There are more vangamon sketches out there Than had previously have been seen because in the united states We had been using the copies that stone had put at the new york public library Stephen strack finds all 22 sketches by this time in the 1990s early 2000s We have high quality scanners. He's able to get scans of all 22 paintings And reproductions are now available. So we have all 22 of them available and the brunswick archives Graciously has allowed for their publication So the value for historians These are some of the most detailed sketches of british germany and american troops during the revolutionary war They show that the british changed their dress and tactics to the continent to north america Especially the british. This is a soldier from the 62nd regiment And again the amazing details that are in these paintings show us their value today They're also going to be used uh contemporarily by uh his reenactors On that sketch of the american soldier from the 11th massachusetts This is a coat based on that sketch of the 11th massachusetts soldier Remember what i said how the british they wore their waist belts on their waist And then by the time the saratoga campaign they were using them Over the shoulder this shows how they were able to cut down part of that leather belt and convert it to shoulder use Uh likewise a soldier from the uh 60 uh 53rd foot uh for ticonderoga employee Who shall remain nameless? That i uh that i took uh liberty of using his sketch Showing what a british soldier would have looked like on campaign Uh likewise a group of men from the uh the 24th reenacted regiment And this was taken about three years ago the uh Guide back here with the glasses on was drawing a beat on the director dan o'neill Who was in the middle of running away? I did reenact british for a few years up here, but uh shows how reenactors are able To you base their impression off of these sketches Again a royal artillery soldier uh unnamed british soldier right there And we are actually pulling a three pound cannon up mount defiance Um the british dragged 12 pounders up there Let me tell you about even about a dozen people dragging a little free pounder from the parking lot up to the top of the hill That was uh that was pretty hot work on a uh on a july afternoon Um but again showing that the uh these uh these paintings are are still valuable for us today Thank you very much Yes, sir Well the in this campaign in particular it's cutting the uniforms down It's uh cutting the hats down making them into almost like light infantry helmets Uh wearing uh trousers with gators attached instead of breeches Um, this isn't just going on in set in the saratoga campaign in 1777 British units throughout the war they uh wear what are called roundabout jackets, which are like waist length Coats they wear round hats sort of like a slouch hat um They're really, you know converting their uniforms throughout the revolutionary period Officers are leaving their swords behind. They're carrying muskets just like their men Really not to be used but as a symbol of authority um So the british army is adapting time and again for uh the continent and we really don't have a lot of sketches of those other campaigns There's a few sketches uh by uh zavia delegata showing british soldiers in philadelphia in 1777 again showing those waist length coats the round hats But especially as the war progresses into the carolinos in uh 1779 1780 You know, it's very hot down south. Um, we we have descriptions of what they're wearing But we don't really have actual sketches So what complements the the von gammon sketches we know they were converting their uniforms We know they were cutting them down We know they were making their hats going out and sealing force here to put in them But this backs up what they were actually doing Yes, sir Something No, no, they they are they are made out of leather. They're made out of a tin There's no there's no body armor in any of these brass um They're the white infantry hats might protect against Calvary saber slashes down on the head. Some of them have a chain mail on them But by the time the war goes on they're really abandoning them for Felt hats like everyone else is wearing Burgoy's light infantry They already had the light infantry hats and we know several from the ninth foot for example that survive So we know what they are wearing there Yes, sir Stone was active in the 1860s 1870s He's also going to be the guy who gets the monument built at saratoga commemorating the surrender Um, but most of his books are published 1860s 1870s. So right after the civil war They're um pretty uh pretty hard to find today, but reprints are available Google books is the best thing that ever came around especially for uh historians Uh, yes, sir They were in the winter of 1777. They were spread Way out, you know, you've got to remember even the winters here in vermont You know, there's not a lot of infrastructure in canada back then, you know, montreal and kebek are the two biggest cities But they don't they don't have enough houses. They're not sleeping in tents in the middle of a canadian winter They're sleeping in buildings. There's not enough buildings to support the british forces So they're spread out in three rivers in montreal kebek city So it takes a while for burgoyne's army to get All to montreal to head south so It's not until mid june When the ice is finally melted when everything's ready when burgoyne finally leaves and he leaves canada on june 20th They would have been all of those soldiers would have been in montreal I mean, they would have been spread out, you know in different parts of montreal with their brigades and divisions But he would as an officer he would have been able to come and go And uh would have been able, you know permission wise to sketch soldiers He did miss several regiments. Unfortunately. We don't have a grenadier. We don't have a late infantry soldier Um, there were a number of native american allies indians with burgoyne's army. He didn't sketch any of them So we are missing we are missing quite a few but we we know what we know from the overall picture And we're lucky we have those 22 Yes, sir Yes Yes So after so after the surrender of the british at saratoga The articles the articles of surrender at saratoga were basically the british are going to lay down and i use british to go with the germans as well Lay down their arms march to boston get on a ship and go back to germany and england And they wouldn't fight in north america for the rest of the revolutionary war That's the terms that burgoyne surrendered to Burgoyne actually is allowed to go back to england right away to defend himself before the king This is the first time in british history a british army ever surrendered So for about a year in the winter of 1777 1778 the uh british and german soldiers are housed um in boston in actual houses They had surrendered their guns their you know swords etc A number of those especially the uh british escape Uh, there's a british army in newport rhod island at the time a number of them escape there a number of them um are able to You know work their way out of camp and go back to new york So almost half the british force eventually will Uh, what's called an honorable desertion because it's deserting with the intention of going back and fighting with the british army well congress gets around to ratifying the convention of saratoga and there There's been several books written about this belong story short the number of muskets and accoutrements that were surrendered Didn't match up with the number of soldiers that surrendered because a number of these british soldiers Uh, you know sell their weapons to the americans the americans walk away with them So The british the congress basically says well you didn't surrender enough muskets enough articles of war Likewise the british refuse to recognize the convention of saratoga because if they recognize the convention of saratoga They're recognized in the united states of america as a sovereign nation that forced one of their armies to surrender Long story short the summer of 1778 The british forces the germans are moved to rutherland massachusetts for a few months then after that they are moved down to charlotte'sville virginia And rye daisel actually becomes friends with thomas jefferson and dying several times at monicello Uh, so they're in virginia for uh a few years till 1781 When they're moved back when they're moved up to lancaster pennsylvania And the uh by this point most of the officers are allowed to go on parole and go back So that's when von gamon goes back to canada With the sketches that he had carried all the time The prisoners of war that had been captured at your town are also sent to lancaster Well, what do we have in lancaster most of the germans are sent there like Hey, there's people here speak german the amish and the menonites So a lot of them are like, hmm, do I want to go back to germany and be a feudal peasant farmer? Or do I want to become a pacifist and live in pennsylvania? So almost a third of and then the numbers vary based on what i've seen But almost a quarter to a third of the hessians You know end up staying here in america So it's a very long answer to that but there's been several books written Most prominently after saratoga and the convention army that provide good answers I think we'll hold it there and some of you would like to talk to robert more more at length afterwards And he'll be here for a few more minutes I'd like to thank our sponsors, which I forgot to do at the beginning people's united bank Right slumber company Both in cars and 802 cars and also we want to thank public access television for recording the talk Those will be available on their public access channel. We'll get the schedule and I'll be sending that out to you And then it will be available online So you'll get the link so if you know some people who might be interested in this topic You can send you know send them the email and they can They'll be able to see the talk at a later date And also this place runs on volunteers, right? So if any of you have an interest in american history, do you mean interesting people like rob and John ockenbach and phyllis back there? We it is a great place to Meet visitors from all over the country and also from foreign countries who come here to learn about vermont the vermont brand is Extreme interest and we're seeing a real uptick in tourists now that covid is over with so If you would like to be involved in any way stop by Stick around and talk to us and thank you for coming. The next talk will be august 16th Jacob Barney who rob? I'm sure you know Has written a lot about the vermonters activities in the war of 1812 will be our speaker on the 16th All right, so we gotta take you all for coming. Thank you