The Convention Army was a force of British and Hessian troops under General John Burgoyne captured by the Continental Army after Burgoyne's surrender at the Battles of Saratoga during the American Revolutionary War. It is named for the convention concluded between Burgoyne and American General Horatio Gates, later rejected by the Continental Congress, to allow Burgoyne's army to be evacuated to Britain with the promise that it would not to return to North America. The Continental Army's commander-in-chief, George Washington, repudiated the convention and Burgoyne's army was not allowed to leave American-held territory. Although the British and Hessian troops were not formally prisoners of war, they were not at liberty either. The Convention Army remained in the United States until the conclusion of the war in 1783, despite persistent British efforts to rescue them.