‘We stayed there a year and 8 months’: Historical Archeology and British POWs at Camps Security and Indulgence, York County, Pennsylvania

Summary

General John Burgoyne surrendered his British army at Saratoga in October 1777, marking great victory for the American rebels. Four years later in the spring of 1781 the remnants of that army marched to a north-facing hillside on the Pennsylvania frontier of York County and built a prisoner-of-war camp. Referred to as the Convention Army, the York County site was the fourth such camp these British soldiers and their families had called home. In January 1782 the Convention Army was joined by the defeated remains of General Cornwallis’ Yorktown army and a second POW camp was established. Known as camps Security and Indulgence these sites were occupied by British POWs and their families until the termination of the American Revolution in 1783. Historical records, topography, and archeological information shed light on the ‘other’ occupants of these camps, how they were treated, and the ways they interacted with the local community.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Encountering the Other on the Field of Battle : Global Conflict, Identity, and Archaeology in the Era of the American Revolution   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2014

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): SYM-48,06