From previous thread:

re: #240 sagehen

And the mercenary troops the British Crown brought in for backup? Turns out mercenaries don’t stay bought. We gave the Hessians 50 acres each to switch sides, and more than 20% of them did.

Very true.

After the Saratoga Campaign, the Americans captured about 6000 British and German troops.

The official surrender terms stated that they were to be exchanged for American prisoners of war and returned to England. Which would free up other British troops for the American Theater of War.

To avoid this, the Americans marched the Saratoga POWs all over the place in loosely guarded columns. (Ostensibly to prison camps in Virginia.) More than 1300 ‘escaped’ the first year alone.

en.wikipedia.org