Siege of Fort Schuyler continued—Forced letter from prisoners to Col. Gansevoort—St. Leger summons the garrison to surrender—Refusal of Gansevoort—Appeal of Sir John Johnson to the people of Tryon County—Secret expedition of Colonel Willett and Major Stockwell—Schuyler orders Arnold to the relief of Gansevoort—Willett proceeds to Albany—Arrest of Walter Butler, and others, at German Flats—Tried and convicted as a spy—Reprieved—Sent to Albany—Escapes—Arnold's proclamation—Advance of the besiegers—Uneasiness of the garrison—Sudden flight of St. Leger and his forces—Stratagem of Arnold—Story of Hon-Yost Schuyler—Merriment and mischief of the Indians—Arrival of Arnold at the Fort—The spoils of victory—Public estimation of Gansevoort's services—Address to his soldiers—His promotion—Address of his officers.
Though in fact defeated at Oriskany, the enemy claimed, as we have seen, a victory. In one sense, it is true, the achievement was theirs. They had prevented the advance of the Americans to the succor of the fort; and on their retreat the Americans were unable to pursue. Still the field was won, and retained by them. [FN-1] Availing himself of his questionable success, however, and well knowing that days must probably elapse before the garrison could become apprised of the whole circumstances of the engagement and its issue, St. Leger lost no time in endeavoring, by false representations, to press the besieged to a capitulation. On the same night of the battle, therefore, at 9 o'clock, Colonel Bellinger and Major Frey, being in St. Leger's camp as prisoners, were compelled to address a note to Colonel Gansevoort, greatly exaggerating the disasters of the day, and strongly urging a surrender. In this letter they spoke of the defeat at Oriskany, of the impossibility of receiving any farther succor from below—of the formidable force of St. Leger, together with his train of artillery—announced the probable fact that Burgoyne and his army were then before Albany, and stated that longer resistance would only result in "inevitable ruin and destruction." [FN-2] The letter was transmitted to Colonel Gansevoort by St. Leger's Adjutant-general, Colonel Butler, who, in delivering it, made a verbal demand of surrender. Colonel Gansevoort replied that he would give no answer to a verbal summons, unless delivered by Colonel St. Leger himself, but at the mouth of his cannon.
[FN-1] It was alleged, in some of the contemporaneous accounts, that the forces engaged with Herkimer were ordered back in consequence of the sortie of Willett. That circumstance, however, does not alter the essential facts of the case. The victory was the same.
[FN-2] See Appendix, No. V. for a copy of this letter, written while under duress.
On the following day a white flag approached the garrison, with a request that Colonel Butler, and two other officers, might be admitted into the fort as bearers of a message to the commanding officer. Permission being granted, those officers were conducted blind-folded into the fort, and received by Colonel Gansevoort in his dining-room. The windows of the room were shut, and candles lighted; a table was also spread, upon which were placed some slight refreshments. Colonels Willett and Mellen were present at the interview, together with as many of the American officers as could be accommodated in the quarters of their commander. After the officers were seated and the wine had been passed around, Major Ancrom, one of the messengers, addressed Colonel Gansevoort in substance as follows:—
"I am directed by Colonel St. Leger, the officer commanding the army now investing this garrison, to inform the commandant that the Colonel has, with much difficulty, prevailed on the Indians to agree, that if the garrison, without farther resistance, shall be delivered up, with the public stores belonging to it, to the investing army, the officers and soldiers shall have all their baggage and private property secured to them. And in order that the garrison may have a sufficient pledge to this effect, Colonel Butler accompanies me to assure them, that not a hair of the head of any one of them shall be hurt." (Here turning to Colonel Butler, he said, "That, I think, was the expression they made use of, was it not?"—to which the Colonel answered, "Yes.") "I am likewise directed to remind the commandant, that the defeat of General Herkimer must deprive the garrison of all hopes of relief, especially as General Burgoyne is now in Albany; so that, sooner or later, the fort must fall into our hands. Colonel St. Leger, from an earnest desire to prevent farther bloodshed, hopes these terms will not be refused; as in this case it will be out of his power to make them again. It was with great difficulty the Indians consented to the present arrangement, as it will deprive them of that plunder which they always calculate upon on similar occasions. Should, then, the present terms be rejected, it will be out of the power of the Colonel to restrain the Indians, who are very numerous and much exasperated, not only from plundering the property, but destroying the lives, probably, of the greater part of the garrison. Indeed, the Indians are so exceedingly provoked and mortified by the losses they have sustained in the late actions, having had several of their favorite chiefs killed, that they threaten—and the Colonel, if the present arrangements should not be entered into, will not be able to prevent them from executing their threats—to march down the country, and destroy the settlement, with its inhabitants. In this case, not only men, but women and children, will experience the sad effects of their vengeance. These considerations, it is ardently hoped, will produce a proper effect, and induce the commandant, by complying with the terms now offered, to save himself from future regret, when it will be too late."
This singular oration was of course delivered extemporaneously, as also was the following reply by Colonel Willett, with the approbation of Colonel Gansevoort:—
"Do I understand you, Sir? I think you say, that you come from a British colonel, who is commander of the army that invests this fort; and by your uniform, you appear to be an officer in the British service. You have made a long speech on the occasion of your visit, which, stripped of all its superfluities, amounts to this—that you come from a British colonel, to the commandant of this garrison, to tell him, that if he does not deliver up the garrison into the hands of your Colonel, he will send his Indians to murder our women and children. You will please to reflect, sir, that their blood will be on your head, not on ours. We are doing our duty; this garrison is committed to our charge, and we will take care of it. After you get out of it, you may turn round and look at its outside, but never expect to come in again, unless you come a prisoner. I consider the message you have brought, a degrading one for a British officer to send, and by no means reputable for a British officer to carry. For my own part, I declare, before I would consent to deliver this garrison to such a murdering set as your array, by your own account, consists of, I would suffer my body to be filled with splinters, and set on fire, as you know has at times been practised, by such hordes of women and children killers as belong to your army."
Colonel Willett observes in his narrative, whence these facts are drawn, that in the delivery he looked the British major full in the face; and that he spoke with emphasis is not doubted. The sentiments contained in this reply were received with universal applause by the Provincial officers, who, far from being intimidated by the threats of the messengers, were at once impressed with the idea that such pressing efforts to induce a capitulation could only be the effect of doubt, on the part of the enemy himself, of his ability either to sustain the siege or carry the works by assault. Before the interview was closed, Major Ancrom requested that an English surgeon who was with him might be permitted to visit the British wounded in the garrison, which request was granted. Major Ancrom also proposed an armistice for three days, which was likewise agreed to by Colonel Gansevoort—the more readily, probably, because of his scanty supply of ammunition.
On the 9th of August, Colonel Gansevoort having refused to recognize any verbal messages from the British commander, Colonel St. Leger transmitted the substance of Major Ancrom's speech in the form of a letter—protesting that no indignity was intended by the delivery of such a message—a message that had been insisted upon categorically by the Indians—and formally renewing the summons of a surrender—adding, that the Indians were becoming exceedingly impatient, and if the proposition should be rejected, the refusal would be attended with very fatal consequences, not only to the garrison, but to the whole country of the Mohawk river. [FN]
[FN] See Appendix, No. VI.
The reply of Colonel Gansevoort was written with soldierly brevity, in the following words:—
"Col. Gansevoort to Col. St. Leger.
Fort Schuyler, Aug. 9th, 1777.
"Sir,
"Your letter of this day's date I have received, in answer to which I say, that it is my determined resolution, with the forces under my command, to defend this fort to the last extremity, in behalf of the United American States, who have placed me here to defend it against all their enemies.
"I have the honor to be, Sir, Your most ob't. humble serv't., Peter Gansevoort, Col. commanding Fort Schuyler. "Gen. Barry St. Leger." [FN]
[FN] Copied, by the author, from the original draft, found among the Gansevoort papers.
Failing in these attempts to induce a surrender, the besiegers, four days afterward, had recourse to another expedient. It was the issuing of an appeal to the inhabitants of Tryon County, signed by Sir John Johnson, Colonel Claus, and Colonel John Butler, similar in its tenor to the verbal and written messages of St. Leger to Colonel Gansevoort. The appeal commenced with strong protestations of a desire for the restoration of peace, with a promise of pardon, and oblivion for the past, notwithstanding the many and great injuries the signers had received, upon a proper submission by the people. They, too, were threatened with the ravages of a victorious army, and the resentment of the Indians for the losses they had sustained at Oriskany, in the event of rejecting this appeal. In regard to the garrison of Fort Schuyler, its longer resistance was pronounced "mulish obstinacy," and the people of the Mohawk Valley were urged to send up a deputation of their principal men, to oblige the garrison to do at once what they must be forced to do soon—surrender. If they did not surrender, the threat was again repeated that every soul would be put to death by the Indians. [FN] Messengers were despatched with this document into Tryon County, but to no good purpose; while, as will soon appear, some of those messengers were involved in serious difficulty by their errand.
[FN] See Appendix, No. VII. I have found this document only in The Remembrancer for 1777, page 451.
But if Colonel Willett's success in the brilliant execution of the sortie on the 6th, entitled him, as it unquestionably did, to the commendations he received, a still more perilous enterprise, undertaken by him a few days afterward, was thought, alike by friends and foes, to entitle him to still greater applause. The artillery of the besiegers was not sufficiently heavy to make any impression upon the works, and there was every probability that the garrison might hold out until succors should be obtained, could their situation be made known. Colonel Willett was not only well acquainted, but exceedingly popular, in Tryon County; and it was supposed that, should he show himself personally among the militia of that district, notwithstanding the extent of their suffering in the late expedition, he might yet rally a force sufficient to raise the siege. The bold project was therefore conceived by him of passing by night, in company with another officer, through the enemy's works, and, regardless of the danger from the prowling savages, making his way through some forty or fifty miles of sunken morasses and pathless woods, in order to raise the County and bring relief. [FN-1] Selecting Major Stockwell for his companion. Colonel Willett undertook the expedition on the 10th, and left the fort at ten o'clock that night, each armed with nothing but a spear, and provided only with a small supply of crackers and cheese, a small canteen of spirits, and in all other respects unincumbered, even by a blanket. Having escaped from the sally-port, they crept upon their hands and knees along the edge of a morass to the river, which they crossed by crawling over upon a log, and succeeded in getting off unperceived by the sentinels of the enemy, although passing very near to them. Their first advance was into a deep-tangled forest in which, enveloped in thick darkness, they lost their direction, and found it impossible to proceed. While in this state of uncertainty, the barking of a dog added little to their comfort, inasmuch as it apprized them that they were not far from a new Indian encampment, formed subsequent to the sortie a few days before. They were therefore compelled to stand perfectly still for several hours, and until the morning star appeared to guide their way. Striking first in a Northern direction for several miles, and then Eastwardly, they traced a zig-zag course, occasionally adopting the Indian method of concealing their trail by walking in the channels of streams, and by stepping on stones along the river's edge. In this way they traveled the whole of the ensuing day without making a single halt. On the approach of night they dared not to strike a light, but lay down to sleep, interlocked in each other's arms. Pursuing their journey on the 12th, their little stock of provisions being exhausted, they fed upon raspberries and blackberries, of which they found an abundance in an opening occasioned by a windfall. Thus refreshed, they pushed forward with renewed vigor and at an accelerated pace, and arrived at Fort Dayton at three o'clock in the afternoon. [FN-2]
[FN-1] British Universal Magazine.
[FN-2] "So successful was Colonel Willett in all his movements, that the Indians, believing him to be possessed of supernatural power, gave to him the name of the Devil."—Campbell.
The Colonel and his friend received a hearty welcome from Colonel Weston, whose regiment was then in charge of Fort Dayton, and from whom he obtained the agreeable intelligence that, on learning the news of General Herkimer's disaster. General Schuyler had ordered Generals Arnold and Larned, with the Massachusetts brigade, to march to the relief of Colonel Gansevoort. Colonel Willett thereupon took horse immediately for Albany to meet General Arnold, who was to command the expedition; and in four days afterward accompanied Arnold back to Fort Dayton, where the troops were assembling. The first New-York regiment had been added to the brigade of General Larned, who was yet in the rear, bringing up the heavy baggage and stores.
During Willett's brief absence to Albany, an incident occurred in the neighborhood of Fort Dayton, showing that if he had been active in his attempts to bring succors to the fort, the enemy, on the other hand, had not been idle. About two miles above Fort Dayton resided a Mr. Shoemaker, a disaffected gentleman, who had been in his Majesty's commission of the peace. Having heard of a clandestine meeting of Tories at the house of that gentleman, Colonel Weston despatched a detachment of troops thither, which came upon the assemblage by surprise, and took them all prisoners. Among them was Lieutenant Walter N. Butler, from St. Leger's army, who, with fourteen white soldiers and the same number of Indians, [FN-1] had visited the German Flats secretly, with the appeal of Sir John Johnson, Claus, and the elder Butler, referred to in a preceding page, for the purpose of persuading the timid and disaffected inhabitants to abandon the Provincial cause, and enroll themselves with the King's army before Fort Schuyler. Butler was in the midst of his harangue to the meeting at the moment of the unwelcome surprise. General Arnold ordered a court-martial, and caused him to be tried as a spy. [FN-2] Of this tribunal Colonel Willett officiated as Judge Advocate. The Lieutenant was convicted, and received sentence of death; but at the intercession of a number of officers, who had known him while a student at law in Albany, his life was spared by a reprieve. He was, however, removed to Albany and closely imprisoned until the Spring of the following year. When General the Marquis de Lafayette assumed the command of the Northern department, the friends of the Butler family, in consequence, as it was alleged, of his ill-health, interceded for a mitigated form of imprisonment. He was then removed to a private house and kept under guard, but shortly afterward effected his escape—owing, it was reported, to treachery—and was subsequently distinguished as one of the severest scourges of the beautiful valley which had given him birth.
[FN-1] The Remembrancer for 1777, page 395.
[FN-2] The Remembrancer states that Butler came "on a truce to the inhabitants of the County." But if he did bear a flag, it could be no protection for such a mission—as it was not.
The address of Johnson, Claus, and Butler, having been thus introduced among the people of the County, Arnold issued a proclamation from Fort Dayton for the purpose of counteracting its influence. It was couched in severe language in regard to St. Leger and his heterogeneous army—denounced those of the people who might be seduced by his arts to enroll themselves under the banner of the king—but promised pardon to all, whether Americans, Savages, Germans, or Britons, who might return to their duty to the States. [FN]
[FN] See Appendix, No. VIII.
Meantime Colonel St. Leger was pushing his operations before the fort with considerable vigor. Every effort to intimidate the garrison having failed, and the commander exhibiting an unsubmitting spirit, St. Leger "commenced approaching by sap, and had formed two parallels, the second of which brought him near the edge of the glacis; but the fire of musketry from the covert way rendered his farther progress very difficult." [FN] The fire of his ordnance producing no effect, his only means of annoying the garrison was by throwing shells; but these proved of so little consequence as to afford a discouraging prospect of success. Having advanced, however, within one hundred and fifty yards, it is not to be denied that some uneasiness began to be manifested within the garrison. Ignorant of the fate of Colonel Willett and Major Stockwell, and entirely cut off from all communication from without, their provisions daily exhausting, and having no certain prospect of relief, some of the officers commenced speaking in whispers of the expediency of saving the garrison from a re-enactment of the Fort William Henry tragedy, by acceding to St. Leger's proffered terms of capitulation. Not so the commander. After weighing well the circumstances of the case, he came to the deliberate resolve, in the event of obtaining no succor from without, when his provisions were about exhausted, to make a sally at night, and cut his way through the encampment of the besiegers, or perish in the attempt.
[FN] Willett's Narrative.
Fortunately, the necessity of executing the bold determination did not arrive. The siege had continued until the 22d of August, when, suddenly, without any cause within the knowledge of the garrison, the besiegers broke up their encampment, and retired in such haste and confusion as to leave their tents, together with a great part of their artillery, camp equipage, and baggage behind. What was the motive for this unexpected flight of a vaunting and all but victorious foe, was a problem they were unable to solve within the garrison, although their joy was not, on that account, the less at their deliverance. It subsequently appeared that the panic which produced this welcome and unexpected change in the situation of the garrison, was caused by a ruse-de-guerre, practised upon the forces of St. Leger by General Arnold, who had been waiting at Fort Dayton several days for the arrival of reinforcements and supplies. [FN-1] But, having heard that St. Leger had made his approaches to within a short distance of the fort, Arnold, on the 22d of August, determined at all events to push forward and hazard a battle, rather than see the garrison fall a sacrifice. [FN-2] With this view, on the morning of the 23d, he resumed his march for Fort Schuyler, and had proceeded ten miles of the distance from Fort Dayton when he was met by an express from Colonel Gansevoort, with the gratifying intelligence that the siege had been raised. The cause of this sudden movement was yet as great a mystery to the Colonel and his garrison, as was the flight of the host of Ben-hadad from before Samaria to the king of Israel, when the Syrian monarch heard the supernatural sound of chariots, and the noise of horses, in the days of Elisha the prophet. Arnold was, of course, less in the dark. The circumstances were these:—
[FN-1] "I wrote you, the 21st instant, from German Flats, that from the best intelligence I could procure of the enemy's strength, it was much superior to ours; at the same time I inclosed you a copy of the resolutions of a council of war, and requested you to send me a reinforcement of one thousand light troops."—Letter of Arnold to General Gates, Aug, 23, 1777.—"I have been retarded by the badness of the roads, waiting for some baggage and ammunition, and for the militia, who did not turn out with that spirit which I expected. They are now joining me in great numbers. A few days will relieve you."—MS. letter from Arnold to Colonel Gansevoort, Aug, 22, 1777.
[FN-2] Letter above cited from Arnold to General Gates. Vide Remembrancer, 1777, page 444.
Among the party of Tories and Indians captured at Shoemaker's under Lieutenant Butler, was a singular being named Hon-Yost Schuyler. His place of residence was near the Little Falls, where his mother and a brother named Nicholas, were then residing. Hon-Yost Schuyler was one of the coarsest and most ignorant men in the valley, appearing scarce half removed from idiocy; and yet there was no small share of shrewdness in his character. Living upon the extreme border of civilization, his associations had been more with the Indians than the whites; and tradition avers that they regarded him with that mysterious reverence and awe with which they are inspired by fools and lunatics. Thus situated and thus constituted, Hon-Yost had partially attached himself to the Royalist cause, though probably, like the Cow-boys of West Chester, he really cared little which party he served or plundered; and had he been the captor of the unfortunate Andre, would have balanced probabilities as to the best way of turning the prize to account. Be these things, however, as they may, Hon-Yost was captured, with Walter Butler, and, like him, was tried for his life, adjudged guilty, and condemned to death. His mother and brother, hearing of his situation, hastened to Fort Dayton, and implored General Arnold to spare his life. The old woman strongly resembled the gypsy in her character, and the eloquence and pathos with which she pleaded for the life of her son, were long remembered in the unwritten history of the Mohawk Valley. Arnold was for a time inexorable, and the woman became almost frantic with grief and passion on account of her wayward son. Nicholas, likewise, exerted himself to the utmost in behalf of his brother. At length General Arnold proposed terms upon which his life should be spared. The conditions were, that Hon-Yost should hasten to Fort Schuyler, and so alarm the camp of St. Leger as to induce him to raise the siege and fly. The convict-traitor gladly accepted the proposition, and his mother offered herself as a hostage for the faithful performance of his commission. Arnold, however, declined receiving the woman as a hostage, preferring and insisting that Nicholas should be retained for that purpose. To this the latter readily assented, declaring that he was perfectly willing to pledge his life that Hon-Yost would fulfill his engagements to the utmost. Nicholas was, therefore, placed in confinement, while Hon-Yost departed for the camp of Colonel St. Leger—having made an arrangement with one of the Oneida Indians, friendly to the Americans, to aid him in the enterprise. Before his departure several shots were fired through Schuyler's clothes, that he might appear to have had a narrow escape; and the Oneida Indian, by taking a circuitous route to Fort Schuyler, was to fall into the enemy's camp from another direction, and aid Hon-Yost in creating the panic desired. The emissary first presented himself among the Indians, who were in a very suitable state of mind to be wrought upon by exactly such a personage. They had been moody and dissatisfied ever since the battle of Oriskany—neither the success nor the plunder promised them had been won, and they had previously received some vague and indefinite intelligence respecting the approach of Arnold. They had likewise just been holding a pow-wow, or were actually convened in one, for the purpose of consulting the Manitto touching the dubious enterprise in which they were engaged, when Hon-Yost arrived. Knowing their character well, he communicated his intelligence to them in the most mysterious and imposing manner. Pointing to his riddled garments, he proved to them how narrow had been his escape from the approaching army of the rebels. When asked the number of the troops that Arnold was leading against them, he shook his head mysteriously, and pointed upward to the leaves of the trees. The reports spread rapidly through the camps, and reaching the ears of the commander, Hon-Yost was sent for to the tent of St. Leger himself. Here he was interrogated, and gave information that General Arnold, with two thousand men, was so near that he would be upon them within twenty-four hours. He gave St. Leger a pitiable narrative of his captivity, trial, and condemnation to the gallows. It was while on his way to execution, as he alleged, that, finding himself not very closely guarded, he took an opportunity to effect his escape—thinking, at the worst, that he could only die, and it would be as well to be shot as hanged. A shower of bullets had indeed been let fly at him, but fortunately had only wounded his clothes, as the General might see. [FN-1] Meantime the Oneida messenger arrived with a belt, and confirmed to the Indians all that Schuyler had said; adding, that the Americans had no desire to injure the Indians, and were intent only upon attacking the British troops and rangers. While making his way to the camp of the besiegers, the ingenious Oneida had fallen in with some two or three straggling Indians of his acquaintance, to whom he communicated his business, and whose assistance in furthering the design he engaged. These sagacious fellows dropped into the Indian camp at different points, and threw out alarming suggestions—shaking their heads mysteriously, and insinuating that a bird had brought them intelligence of great moment. [FN-2] They spoke of warriors in great numbers advancing rapidly upon them, and used every indirect method of infusing a panic into the minds of the listeners who gathered around them. The Indians presently began to give signs of decamping, and St. Leger assayed in vain to reassure them. He convened a council of their chiefs, hoping that by the influence of Sir John Johnson, and Colonels Claus and Butler, he should still be able to retain them. Other reports, of a yet more terrifying tendency, getting afloat, not only among the Indians but in the other camp, the former declared that "the pow-wow said they must go;" and a portion of them took their departure before the council broke up. The result was a general and precipitate flight. It has been stated, that in the commencement of the retreat the Indians made themselves merry at the expense of their white allies, by raising a shout that the Americans were upon them, and then laughing at the groundless terror thus created. [FN-3] According to the account derived by Gordon from the Rev. Mr. Kirkland, an altercation took place between Colonel St. Leger and Sir John Johnson, the former reproaching the latter with the defection of the Indians, while the Baronet charged his commander with but an indifferent prosecution of the siege. It was in the gray of twilight, when a couple of sachems, standing upon a little eminence not far in the rear, and overhearing the interchange of sharp words between them, put an end to the unpleasant colloquy by raising the shout—"they are coming!—they are coming!" Both St. Leger and Sir John recommenced their retreat with all possible expedition upon hearing such an alarm. Their troops were equally nimble of foot on the occasion, throwing away their knapsacks and arms, and disencumbering themselves of every hindrance to the quick-step; while the Indians, enjoying the panic and confusion, repeated the joke by the way until they arrived at the Oneida Lake. It is believed, however, that it was not the Americans alone of whom St. Leger began to stand in fear, being quite as apprehensive of danger from his own dusky allies as he was of the approaching army of Arnold. There is British authority for stating that the Indians actually plundered several of the boats belonging to their own army; robbing the officers of whatsoever they liked. Within a few miles of the camp, they first stripped off the arms, and afterward murdered, with their own bayonets, all those British, German, and American soldiers who were separated from the main body. [FN-4] Thus were the threats of savage vengeance sent by Colonel St. Leger to the garrison, in some degree wreaked upon his own army. Hon-Yost Schuyler accompanied the flying host to the estuary of Wood Creek, where he deserted, threading his way back to Fort Schuyler the same evening—imparting to Colonel Gansevoort his first information of the advance of Arnold. [FN-5] From Fort Schuyler, Hon-Yost proceeded back to the German Flats. On presenting himself at Fort Dayton, his brother was discharged, to the inexpressible joy of his mother and their relatives. But he proved a Tory in grain, and embraced the first opportunity subsequently presented, which was in October, of running away to the enemy, with several of his neighbors, and attaching himself to the forces of Sir John Johnson. [FN-6]
[FN-1] Remembrancer, for 1777—p. 447-448.
[FN-2] Travels of President Dwight, vol. iii. p. 195-197.
[FN-3] Travels of President Dwight, vol. iii. p. 195-197.
[FN-4] British Universal Magazine. Indeed, St. Leger's report of this disastrous retreat, addressed to General Burgoyne from Oswego, on the 27th of August, corresponds very closely with the American accounts whence the present narrative has been drawn. He states that the Indians fell treacherously upon their friends, and became more formidable than the enemy they had to expect. He leaves no room, however, to suppose that there was any difficulty between Sir John Johnson and himself—calling him "his gallant coadjutor," &c. and commending his exertions to induce the Indians again to meet the enemy, as also those of Colonels Claus and Butler.
[FN-5] Letter of Colonel Gansevoort to General Arnold.
[FN-6] After the close of the contest, Hon-Yost returned to the Mohawk Valley, and resided there until his death—which event occurred about twenty years since.
Immediately on the receipt of Colonel Gansevoort's despatch announcing St. Leger's retreat. General Arnold pushed forward a detachment of nine hundred men, with directions, if possible, to overtake the fugitives, and render their flight still more disastrous. On the day following, Arnold himself arrived at the fort, where he was received with a salute of artillery and the cheers of the brave garrison. He, of course, found that Gansevoort had anticipated his design of harassing the rear of the flying enemy, and had brought in several prisoners, together with large quantities of spoil. [FN-1] So great was their panic, and such the precipitancy of their flight, that they left their tents standing, their provisions, artillery, ammunition, their entire camp equipage, and large quantities of other articles enhancing the value of the booty. [FN-2]
[FN-1] Letter of Arnold to General Gates, Aug. 24, 1777.
[FN-2] Among other articles was the escritoire of St. Leger himself, containing his private papers, several of which have been used by the author in writing this and the preceding chapters.
Thus ended the siege of Fort Schuyler, or Fort Stanwix, as the public have always preferred calling it. St. Leger hastened with his scattered forces back to Oswego, and thence to Montreal. From that post he proceeded to Lake Champlain, passing up the same to Ticonderoga, for the purpose of joining the army of Burgoyne. Finding that the enemy had evacuated the country between the fort and Lake Ontario, and that the post could be in no immediate danger from that direction, Colonel Gansevoort took the opportunity of visiting his friends at Albany, and at the seat of the State government, then just organised at Kingston. His reception was most cordial, as appears not only from contemporaneous accounts, but from the following modest address to his fellow-soldiers of the garrison, on his return to resume his command:—
"I should be wanting in justice to you, if I did not give some testimony of your good conduct during the time you have been in this garrison, and especially while we were besieged by the enemy. Believe me, that I am impressed with a proper sense of the behavior by which you have done essential service to your country, and acquired immortal honor to yourselves. Nothing can equal the pleasure I have experienced since my absence, in hearing and receiving the public approbation of our country for our services, which is, and must be, to every soldier, a full and ample compensation for the same. Permit me to congratulate you upon the success of the American arms, both to the Southward and Northward. Every day terminates with victory to America; and I make not the least doubt, but in this campaign we shall effectually establish the Independence of the United States, and thereby secure to ourselves the rights and liberties for which we have so nobly stood forth." [FN]
[FN] Copied by the author from the original manuscript. It was filed away among the Colonel's papers, with the following inscription:—"A laconic address to my fellow officers and soldiers after our success at Fort Stanwix."
As an evidence of the value placed upon the services of the Colonel in the defence of Fort Schuyler, he was shortly afterward promoted in the State line to the rank of Brigadier General, while his gallantry was farther rewarded by a Colonel's commission from Congress in the army of the United States. [FN-1] On leaving his regiment, its officers presented him with an affectionate letter of congratulation on his promotion, mingled with an expression of their regret at the loss to the regiment of "so worthy a patron." To which the Colonel returned an appropriate letter of thanks. [FN-2] The people of Tryon County were of course rejoiced, that the blow, directed, as the enemy supposed, with unerring certainty against them, had been averted. They had suffered severely in the campaign; but there were enough of her sons yet left to swell the ranks of General Gates not a little; and they pressed ardently to join his standard, although circumstances did not then require them long to remain in the field.
[FN-1] There seems to have been something peculiar and special in this commission. In a letter which Colonel Gansevoort wrote jointly to William Duer and Gouverneur Morris, a copy of which is preserved among his papers, he observes:—"Congress have done me the honor of appointing me Colonel Commandant of Fort Schuyler. I should esteem it as a favor if you would inform me whether I am to receive any pay for that commission, other than as Colonel of the third regiment of New-Yorkers; and if not, I should be glad if you would endeavor to get something allowed me, as my present pay will not reimburse my table liquors, which you may well conceive to be something considerable as commanding officer. I am not solicitous to make money by my commission; but I could wish not to sink by it, as I am obliged to do now. The commission which Congress has sent me as commandant of Fort Schuyler, subjects me as much to the command of my superior officers, as any former one. If that was the intention of Congress, the appointment is nugatory. If not, I wish Congress to alter the commission."
[FN-2] The following is a copy of the address referred to in the text:—"Honored Sir: From a just sense of that conduct which has hitherto been so conspicuously shown to advance the third New-York regiment to honor and public notice, we congratulate you that those characteristics which so eminently point out the gentleman and soldier, have by your personal bravery been deservedly noticed by our bleeding country. Although we rejoice at your promotion, yet we cannot but regret the loss of so worthy a patron. That the prosperity which has crowned your conduct with victory may still be continued, is the sincere wish and prayer of, honored Sir, your most obedient and very humble servants." It was signed by twenty-six officers. Colonel Gansevoort replied as follows:—"Gentlemen: Your polite address on my promotion merits my sincerest thanks. Gratitude, I hope, shall never be wanting in me to the third N. Y. regiment, who have, by their firmness and discipline, been the chief authors of my promotion. Therefore, Gentlemen, please to accept my warmest wishes for the prosperity of the corps, that all their virtuous endeavors in the defence of their bleeding country may be crowned with honor and success, which will always be the earnest prayer of, Gentlemen, your most obliged, humble servant."
In October following, when Sir Henry Clinton was ascending the Hudson for the purpose either of succoring, or of co-operating with, Burgoyne, Colonel Gansevoort was ordered to Albany by General Gates, to take command of the large force then concentrating at that place. Happily, as will appear in the succeeding chapters, there was no occasion to test his prowess in his new and temporary command.
Recurrence to the invasion of Burgoyne—General Schuyler again superseded by Gates—Causes of this injustice—Battle of Stillwater—Both armies entrench—Battle and victory of Behmus's Heights—Funeral of General Frazer—Retreat of Burgoyne—Difficulties increasing upon him—His capitulation—Meeting of Burgoyne and Gates—Deportment of Gates toward Gen. Washington—Noble conduct of General Schuyler.
The temporary pacification of the Western part of the State, resulting from the events of which we have just closed the narrative, affords an opportunity for recurring to the invasion of Burgoyne, who was left in the mid career of victory, checked, it is true, by unexpected and increasing difficulties, until brought to a stand by the serious affair of Bennington, heretofore incidentally disposed of. On shifting the scene, however, from the head waters of the Mohawk to the upper districts of the Hudson, General Gates is again found in command of the Northern Department—General Schuyler, to whose wise measures and indefatigable exertions the country was mainly indebted for arresting the progress of Burgoyne, and during whose command the victory of Bennington had been won by General Stark—having been most unjustly superseded by express resolution of Congress. There had, during the present year, been a very unwise, unworthy, and capricious interference, on the part of Congress, with the command of this department. On the 25th of March, without a reason assigned, General Gates had superseded General Schuyler, his superior officer, by order of Congress; and on the 22d of May, without any expressed motive, General Schuyler was restored to the command of that department. [FN-1] Again, on the 1st of August, it was resolved by Congress that General Schuyler should repair to head-quarters, while the Commander-in-chief was, by the same resolution, directed to order such general officer as he should think proper, to assume the command in Schuyler's place. The day after the passage of that resolution, General Washington received a letter from the New England delegation in Congress, suggesting the name of General Gates, as the officer who would be most likely to restore harmony, order, and discipline, and to relieve our affairs in that quarter. [FN-2] We have, in a former chapter, referred to the prejudices existing against General Schuyler, and the causes of them. These had now become so strong, and the Eastern States, in particular, were so hostile to his longer continuance in the command, that even his friends acquiesced in the expediency, though not in the justice, of his removal. [FN-3] General Schuyler himself, however, felt acutely the discredit of being recalled at the most critical and interesting period of the campaign; when the labor and activity of making preparations to repair the disasters of it had been expended by him; and when an opportunity was offered, as he observed, for that resistance and retaliation which might bring glory upon our arms. [FN-4]
[FN-1] Memoirs of General Wilkinson, vol. i. p. 163.
[FN-2] Sparks's Life and Cor. of Washington, vol. v. p. 14. The original of this letter to Washington is in the hand-writing of Samuel Adams, and is signed by the following names, in the order in which they here stand, viz: John Adams, Nathaniel Folsom, Samuel Adams, Henry Marchant, Elbridge Gerry, Eliphalet Dyer, William Williams.
[FN-3] Marshall.
[FN-4] Address of Chancellor Kent before the New-York Historical Society, Dec. 1828. The calumnies directed against St. Clair and Schuyler, in regard to the fall of Ticonderoga, were so gross as to exceed belief in their propagation. These officers were denounced as traitors to the country, acting in concert with the enemy, and the ignorant and credulous were led to believe that they had received an immense treasure in silver balls, fired by Burgoyne into St. Clair's camp, and by his order picked up, and transmitted to Schuyler at Fort George. Wilkinson, who was Gates's Adjutant General, avers that respectable people questioned him with much gravity as to the fact! These slanders were, for factious purposes, countenanced by respectable men, and the consequence was, general defection and desertion, in the early part of the Summer, so that, at one time, the Northern army was reduced to less than three thousand, and the militia to less than thirteen hundred—and these subject to no effectual restraint.
The Commander-in-chief paid no heed to the advisory epistle from the New England delegates, but in a respectful letter to the President of Congress, declined the honor of making the selection. [FN] Had he not thus excused himself, it is not presumption to intimate, that, influenced by the peculiar attitude which Gates had even then begun to assume, and acting, as Washington ever did, under the stern behests of conscience, he would have made a different selection from that proposed to him by the Eastern representatives, and which ultimately prevailed.
[FN] "At the same time that I express my thanks for the high mark of confidence which Congress has been pleased to repose in me by their resolve, authorising me to send an officer to command the Northern army, I should wish to be excused from making the appointment. For this, many reasons might be mentioned, which, I am persuaded, will occur to Congress on reflection. The Northern department in a great measure has been considered as separate, and more peculiarly under their direction; and the officers commanding there always under their nomination. I have never interfered farther than merely to advise, and to give such aids as were within my power, on the requisitions of those officers. The present situation of that department is delicate and critical, and the choice of an officer to the command may involve very interesting and important consequences."—Letter of Washington to the President of Congress, Aug. 3, 1777.
General Gates, however, did not join the Northern army until the 19th of August; and as the time was not specified within which he was required to report himself at head-quarters, General Schuyler was allowed to remain at the North, with the approbation both of Congress and the Commander-in-chief, until after the campaign had been closed by the surrender of the British commander and his army. Nor were his exertions the less active, or his counsels the less freely proffered, in the cause of his country, because of the injustice by which his pride had been wounded. [FN]
[FN] "The zeal, patriotism, perseverance, and salutary arrangements of General Schuyler, had roused the spirit of the country, and vanquished the prejudices excited against him by artifice, intrigue, and detraction."—Wilkinson's Memoirs.
After the evacuation of Fort Edward, [FN-1] as mentioned in a former chapter, General Schuyler fell down the river to Stillwater, on the 3d of August, and began to entrench his camp there on the 4th. Burgoyne's ill-conceived expedition to Bennington, under Colonel Baum, deprived him of one-sixth of his effective force on the 16th. It was not until near a month afterward, during which period the American army had been greatly strengthened at Stillwater, that Burgoyne was again prepared to advance. Having at length, by dint of almost incredible labor, brought up from Fort George a supply of provisions for thirty days, and thrown a bridge of boats over the Hudson, the British commander with his army crossed on the 13th and 14th of September, and encamped on the heights and plains of Saratoga. On the night of the 17th, Burgoyne encamped within four miles of the American army; and about noon on the 19th, advanced in full force against it—the latter having, in the mean time, advanced toward the enemy three miles above Stillwater. Burgoyne commanded his right wing in person, covered by General Frazer and Colonel Breyman, with the grenadiers and light-infantry, who were posted along some high grounds on the right. The front and flanks were covered by Indians, Provincials, and Canadians. The enemy's left wing and artillery were commanded by Generals Phillips and Riedesel, who proceeded along the great road. Colonel Morgan, who was detached to observe their motions, and to harass them as they advanced, soon fell in with their pickets in advance of their right wing, attacked them sharply and drove them in. A strong corps was immediately detached by the enemy against Morgan, who, after a brisk engagement, was in turn compelled to give way. A regiment being ordered to the assistance of Morgan, whose riflemen had been sadly scattered by the vigor of the attack, the battle was renewed at about one o'clock, and was maintained with spirit, though with occasional pauses, for three hours—the commanders on both sides supporting and reinforcing their respective parties. By four o'clock the battle became general, Arnold, with nine Continental regiments and Morgan's corps, having completely engaged the whole right wing of the enemy. [FN-2] The contest, accidentally commenced, in the first instance, now assumed the most obstinate and determined character. It was maintained four hours longer—the soldiers being often engaged hand to hand. The approach of night terminated the battle—the Americans retreating to their encampment, but not from other necessity than the darkness. The enemy were provided with artillery, but the ground occupied by the Americans would not allow the use of field-pieces. The fluctuations of the battle were frequent during the day, and although the British artillery fell into the hands of the Americans at every alternate charge, the latter could neither turn them upon the enemy nor bring them off. "The wood prevented the last, and the want of a match the first, as the lint-stock was invariably carried away, and the rapidity of the transitions did not allow the Americans time to provide one." [FN-3]
[FN-1] It was during a skirmish before Fort Edward, when the Americans were flying from a party of thirty or forty Indians, that the late General Matthew Clarkson, of New-York—then Major Clarkson and aid to General Arnold—was wounded by a ball which passed through the muscular integuments of the throat. The wound was supposed to be fatal at the time, but he soon recovered.
[FN-2] Holmes, who follows Stedman. General Wilkinson denies that Arnold shared much in this battle. He says:—"Not a single general officer was on the field of battle on the 19th, until evening, when General Lamed was ordered out. About the same time Generals Gates and Arnold were in front of the centre of the camp, listening to the peal of small arms, when Colonel Morgan Lewis, deputy quartermaster General, returned from the field, and being questioned by the General, he reported the undecisive progress of the action—at which Arnold exclaimed, 'by G— I will put an end to it,' and clapping spurs to his horse, galloped off at full speed. Colonel Lewis immediately observed to General Gates, 'You had better order him back, the action is going well, and he may by some rash act do mischief.' I was instantly despatched, overtook, and remanded Arnold to camp."—Memoirs, vol. i, Chap. vi.
[FN-3] Memoirs of General Wilkinson, vol. i. chapter vi.
General Wilkinson, at that time Adjutant General, who was himself in the battle, and whose account of it is the best that has been written, sustains the remark made above, that the engagement was perfectly accidental; neither of the opposing Generals meditating an attack at that time, and yet, by a mutual misconception of each other's purposes, they were kept the whole day acting upon the defensive; confining themselves to the ground occupied at first by accident, "and neither attempting a single manœuvre during one of the longest, warmest, and most obstinate battles fought in America. General Gates believed that his antagonist intended to attack him, and circumstances seemed to justify the like conclusion on the part of Burgoyne; and, as the thickness and depth of an intervening wood concealed the position and movements of either army from its adversary, sound caution obliged the respective commanders to guard every assailable point. Had either of the Generals been properly apprised of the dispositions of his antagonist, a serious blow might have been struck either on the left of the American army, or on the enemy's right;" but although the combatants changed ground a dozen times in the course of the day, the contest was terminated by the darkness, on the spot where it began. [FN-1] Few actions have been more remarkable than this, both for vigor of attack and obstinacy of resistance. [FN-2]
[FN-1] Idem.
[FN-2] Stedman. The loss on the part of the Americans, in killed and wounded, was between three and four hundred. Among the former were Colonels Colburn and Adams, and several other valuable officers. The loss of the British was from six hundred to a thousand, killed, wounded, and taken.
Both armies remained in the same positions until the beginning of October—each entrenching itself within lines and redoubts, which, in the most eligible positions, were strengthened with batteries. The engineer having the direction of the American works at Behmus's Heights, was the celebrated Polish patriot, Thaddeus Kosciusko, who had also served in the same capacity at Ticonderoga.
The action of the 19th of September had again essentially diminished the strength of Burgoyne, added to which were the great and increasing difficulties of obtaining supplies, and the perpetual annoyances to which he was subjected by the American scouts, and still larger detachments, who were attacking his pickets, hanging upon his flanks, and cutting off his foraging parties. By the 4th of October his supplies were so far reduced that the soldiers were placed upon short allowance, and his position was in other respects becoming so critical, that, hearing nothing from Sir Henry Clinton, for whose cooperation from New-York he had been waiting since the battle of the 19th, the idea of advancing was relinquished, and instead thereof, discussions were held respecting the practicability of a retreat. This could only be done by first dislodging the Americans, whose forces, disciplined and undisciplined, now far out-numbered his own, from their posts on the heights. On the 4th of October, Burgoyne sent for Generals Phillips, Riedesel, and Frazer, to consult with them on the best measures to be taken. His project was to attack and attempt to turn the left wing of the Americans at once; but the other Generals judged that it would be dangerous to leave their stores under so feeble a protection as eight hundred men, according to the proposition of their commander. A second consultation was held on the 5th, at which General Riedesel positively declared that the situation of the army had become so critical, that they must either attack and force the entrenchments of Gates, and thus bring about a favorable change of affairs, or recross the Hudson, and retreat upon Fort George. Fraser approved of the latter suggestion, and Phillips declined giving an opinion. General Burgoyne, to whom the idea of retreating was most unwelcome, declared that he would make, on the 7th, a reconnaissance as near as possible to the left wing of the Americans, with a view of ascertaining whether it could be attacked with any prospect of success. He would afterward either attack the army of Gates, or retreat by the route in the rear of Battenkill. This was his final determination, and dispositions were made accordingly. [FN]
[FN] Memoirs of Madame the Baroness de Riedesel.
Early in the afternoon of the 7th, General Burgoyne drew out fifteen hundred men for the purpose of making his proposed reconnaissance, which he headed himself, attended by Generals Phillips, Riedesel, and Frazer. They advanced in three columns toward the left wing of the American positions, entered a wheat-field, displayed into line, and then began cutting up the wheat for forage. The movement having been seasonably discovered, the centre advanced guard of the Americans beat to arms; the alarm was repeated throughout the line, and the troops repaired to the alarm posts. Colonel Wilkinson being at head-quarters at the moment, was despatched to ascertain the cause of the alarm. He proceeded to within sixty or seventy rods of the enemy, ascertained their position, and returned; informing General Gates that they were foraging; attempting also to reconnoiter the American left, and likewise, in his opinion, offering battle. After a brief consultation. Gates said he would indulge them; and Colonel Morgan, whose rifle corps was formed in front of the centre, was directed "to begin the game." [FN-1] At his own suggestion, however, Morgan was allowed to gain the enemy's right by a circuitous course, while Poor's brigade should attack his left. [FN-2] The movement was admirably executed; the New-York and New Hampshire troops attacked the enemy's front and left wing with great impetuosity; while, true to his purpose, Morgan, just at the critical moment, poured down like a torrent from the hill, and attacked the enemy's right in front and flank. The attack was soon extended along the whole front of the enemy with great determination. Major Ackland, at the head of the grenadiers, sustained the attack of Poor with great firmness. [FN-3] But on his right the light infantry, in attempting to change front, being pressed with ardor by Colonel Dearborn, were forced to retire under a close fire, and in great disorder. They were re-formed by the Earl of Balcarras behind a fence in the rear of their first position; but, being again attacked with great audacity in front and flanks by superior numbers, resistance became vain, and the whole line, commanded by Burgoyne in person, gave way, and made a precipitate and disorderly retreat to his camp, [FN-4] The right of Burgoyne had given way first, the retreat of which was covered by the light infantry and a part of the 24th regiment. The left wing in its retreat would inevitably have been cut to pieces, but for the intervention of the same troops, performing in its behalf the same service that, a few moments before, they had done for the right. This retreat took place in exactly fifty-two minutes after the first shot was fired—the enemy leaving two twelve and six six pounders on the field, with the loss of more than four hundred officers and men, killed, wounded, and captured, and among them the flower of his officers, viz: General Frazer, Major Ackland,[FN-5] Sir Francis Cook, and many others.
[FN-1] General Burgoyne afterward stated to Wilkinson, in conversation, that his purpose on that day was only to reconnoiter and obtain forage, and that in half an hour, had his motives not been penetrated by Wilkinson and he not been attacked, he should have finished his observations and returned to his camp.
[FN-2] Wilkinson's Memoirs.
[FN-3] Holmes.
[FN-4] Memoirs of General Wilkinson.
[FN-5] Idem. General Wilkinson gives an interesting incident respecting Major Ackland. While pursuing the flying enemy, passing over killed and wounded, he heard a voice exclaim—"Protect me, sir, against this boy!" Turning his head, he saw a lad, thirteen or fourteen years of age, deliberately aiming at a wounded officer, lying in the angle of a worm-fence. The purpose of the boy was arrested—the officer proved to be the brave Ackland who had commanded the grenadiers, and was wounded in both legs. He was immediately sent to head-quarters. The story of Major Ackland has been rendered familiar to all, even before escaping the nursery, by the interesting narrative of Lady Harriet, his wife, who was with the army, and who, two days after the battle, came to the American camp, under a flag, to join her husband. The incident, from the embellishments it received, was touching and romantic. When divested of its poetry, however, and reduced to the plain matter of fact, according to the statement of the late General Dearborn, which he authorized Wilkinson to publish in his memoirs, the affair was not so very extraordinary that it might not have been enacted by any other pretty woman under the same circumstances, who loved her husband. Major Ackland had already been sent down to Albany, when Lady Harriet arrived at the camp of General Gates. She was treated with all possible courtesy, and permitted to follow and join him. Major Ackland was a gallant officer and a generous foe. While in New-York, on his parole, he did all in his power to favor the treatment of distinguished American prisoners. After his return to England, he sacrificed his life in defence of American honor. Having procured a regiment, at a dinner of military men, the courage of the Americans was questioned. He repelled the imputation with decision. High words ensued, in the course of which Ackland gave the lie direct to a subordinate officer named Lloyd. A meeting was the consequence, in which he was shot through the head. Lady Harriet lost her senses, and continued deranged two years; after which she married a gentleman named Brudenell, who had accompanied her from the camp of Burgoyne, at Saratoga, to that of Gates, in search of her wounded husband.
The British troops had scarcely entered their lines, when the Americans, led by General Arnold, pressed forward, and, under a tremendous fire of grape-shot and musketry, assaulted their works throughout their whole extent from right to left. Toward the close of the day, the enemy's intrenchments were forced by the left of the Americans, led by Arnold in person, who, with a few of his men, actually entered the works; but his horse being killed, and the General himself badly wounded in the leg, they were forced to retire, and the approach of darkness induced them to desist from the attack. [FN-1] Meantime, on the left of Arnold's detachment, the Massachusetts troops, under Colonel Brooks, had been still more successful—having turned the enemy's right, and carried by storm the works occupied by the German reserve. Colonel Breyman, their commander, was killed; and his corps, reduced to two hundred men, and hotly pressed on all sides, was obliged to give way. This advantage was retained by the Americans; and darkness put an end to an action equally brilliant and important to the Continental arms. Great numbers of the enemy were killed, and two hundred prisoners taken. The loss of the Americans was inconsiderable. [FN-2]
[FN-1] Subsequent to the battle of the 19th September, and previous to that now under review, Arnold had had some difficulty with Gates. A sharp correspondence en sued, in the course of which the former demanded permission to join the Commander-in-chief in Pennsylvania. The consequence was, that Arnold found himself without any command on the 7th. He was exceedingly chafed at his position; but, orders or no orders, he could not be kept from the field. His conduct was very strange, and he has been charged by Wilkinson and others with intoxication that day. Be it so or not, before the action was over, he was in the hottest of it, and exercising command. He expressed himself foolishly and presumptuously in front of the German division; and it was without orders that he collected a few desperate followers, with whom he entered the enemy's intrenchment, where he received his wound.
[FN-2] Holmes.
On the morning of the 8th, before daybreak, the enemy left his position and defiled into the plain where his provisions were; but was obliged to halt until the evening, because his hospital could not be sooner removed. [FN-1] The Americans immediately moved forward, and took possession of the abandoned camp. Burgoyne having condensed his force upon some heights which were strong by nature, and covered in front by a ravine running parallel with the entrenchment of his late camp, a random fire of artillery and small arms was kept up through the day—particularly on the part of the enemy's sharpshooters and Provincials, who were stationed in coverts of the ravine, which rendered their fire annoying to every person crossing their line of vision. [FN-2] It was by a shot from one of these lurking parties, that General Lincoln, late in the day, received a severe wound in the leg while riding near the line.
[FN-1] Memoirs of the Baroness de Riedesel. Of this lady. General Wilkinson says—"I have more than once seen her charming blue eyes bedewed with tears at the recital of her sufferings. With two infant children she accompanied her husband, Major General the Baron de Riedesel from Germany to England, from England to Canada, and from the last place to the termination of General Burgoync's campaign, in which she suffered more than the horrors of the grave in their most frightful aspect." Her Memoirs were published in Berlin in 1800. They are full of interest. Some of the distressing scenes which attended the close of Burgoyne's campaign are so graphically told by the Baroness, and afford such striking illustrations of the horrors of war, that the author has ventured to transfer a few pages to the Appendix of the present volume. See Appendix, No. IX.
[FN-2] Memoirs of General Wilkinson.
The gallant Frazer, who had been mortally wounded the day before, died at 8 o'clock on the morning of the 8th. On the evening of his fall, when it was rendered certain that he could not recover, he sent for General Burgoyne, and requested that he might be buried at 6 o'clock the following evening, on the crest of a hill upon which a breastwork had been constructed. It was a subject of complaint against Burgoyne, that in order to comply with this request, he delayed his retreat, and thus contributed to the misfortunes of his army. Be that as it may, the dying soldier's request was observed to the letter. At the hour appointed the body was borne to the hill that had been indicated, attended by the Generals and their retinues; the funeral service was read by the Chaplain; and the corpse interred, while the balls of the American cannon were flying around and above the assembled mourners. [FN]
[FN] The Baroness Riedesel, from whose spirited Memoirs the circumstances of this funeral are drawn, states that General Gates protested afterward that had he known what was going on, he would have stopped the fire immediately. It must have been a solemn spectacle, and General Burgoyne himself described it with his usual eloquence and felicity of expression:—"The incessant cannonade during the solemnity; the steady attitude and unaltered voice with which the chaplain officiated, though frequently covered with dust, which the shot threw up on all sides of him; the mute but expressive mixture of sensibility and indignation upon every countenance; these objects will remain to the last of life upon the mind of every man who was present. The growing duskiness added to the scenery, and the whole marked a character of that juncture, that would make one of the finest subjects for the pencil of a master that the field ever exhibited. To the canvass, and to the faithful page of a more important historian, gallant friend! I consign thy memory. There may thy talents, thy manly virtues, their progress and their period, find due distinction; and long may they survive, long after the frail record of my pen shall be forgotten!"—State of the Expedition from Canada, &c. &c. p. 169.
It was evident from the movements in the enemy's camp, that he was preparing to retreat; but the American troops, having in the delirium of joy consequent upon their victory, neglected to draw and eat their rations—being withal not a little fatigued with the two days' exertions, fell back to their camp, which had been left standing in the morning. Retreat was, indeed, the only alternative remaining to the British commander, since it was now quite certain that he could not cut his way through the American army, and his supplies were reduced to a short allowance for five days. He accordingly commenced his retreat that night, but lingered by the way; so that on the 10th he was yet near Saratoga, where he took up a position. During this retreat he ordered the farm-houses to be burnt by the way, among which was the elegant mansion of General Schuyler, with its mills and out-buildings. This conduct on the part of the British commander was viewed as alike disreputable and unnecessary. [FN]
[FN] "The cruelties which mark the retreat of your army, in burning the gentlemen's and farmers' houses as it passed along, are almost, among civilized nations, without precedent; they should not endeavor to ruin those they could not conquer; their conduct betrays more of the vindictive malice of the monk than the generosity of a soldier."—Letter of Gates to Burgoyne, Oct. 12, 1777.
Well knowing that a farther retreat, with a view, if possible, of reaching his depot at Fort George, and escaping through the lakes, was now the only movement to which Burgoyne could have recourse to save the shattered remains of his army, Gates lost no time in throwing several strong detachments of troops into his rear. A division of fourteen hundred was stationed on the heights opposite the ford at Saratoga; two thousand in his rear, to prevent his retreat upon Fort Edward; and fifteen hundred at a ford yet higher up. Apprehensive that he should be entirely penned up, Burgoyne sent forward a corps of artificers to repair the bridges; but these, though strongly guarded, were driven precipitately back. His thoughts were next directed to the opening of a passage by the way of Fort Edward; but the Americans had already re-possessed themselves of that work, and were well provided with artillery. Thus environed with difficulties, which were increasing; every hour, his effective force reduced to less than three thousand five hundred men,—the American army increasing every moment, and now forming an almost entire circle around him,—harassed at all points, especially by the sharp-shooters who hovered about him,—Burgoyne was driven to the necessity of entering into a convention with General Gates, which was done by the unanimous consent of a general council of his officers. The preliminaries were soon adjusted; and on the 17th of October, the royal army surrendered prisoners of war. At the opening of the campaign, the army of Burgoyne numbered nine thousand two hundred and thirteen men. The number that laid down their arms, was five thousand seven hundred and fifty-two. His Indian allies had all, or nearly all, abandoned him several days before.
On the same day that the articles of capitulation were carried into effect, Burgoyne, with his general officers, was received in the quarters of General Gates, and entertained by him at dinner. They were received with the utmost courtesy, and with the consideration due to brave but unfortunate men. The conversation was unrestrained, affable, and free. [FN-1] Indeed, the conduct of Gates throughout, after the terms of the surrender had been adjusted, was marked with equal delicacy and magnanimity, as Burgoyne himself admitted in a letter to the Earl of Derby. In that letter, the captive General particularly mentioned one circumstance which, he said, exceeded all he had ever seen or read of on a like occasion. It was the fact, that when the British soldiers had marched out of their camp to the place where they were to pile their arms, not a man of the American troops was to be seen—General Gates having ordered his whole army out of sight, that not one of them should be a spectator of the humiliation of the British troops, nor offer the smallest insult to the vanquished. This was a refinement of delicacy, and of military generosity and politeness, reflecting the highest credit upon the conqueror; and was spoken of by the officers of Burgoyne in the strongest terms of approbation. [FN-2]
[FN-1] Memoirs of the Baroness de Riedesel. The first meeting of Burgoyne with Gates is thus described by Wilkinson:—"General Gates, advised of Burgoyne's approach, met him at the head of his camp—Burgoyne in a rich royal uniform, and Gates in a plain blue frock; when they had approached nearly within sword's length, they reined up and halted. I then named the gentlemen, and General Burgoyne, raising his hat most gracefully, said—'The fortune of war. General Gates, has made me your prisoner;' to which the conqueror, returning a courtly salute, promptly replied—'I shall always be ready to bear testimony that it has not been through any fault of your Excellency.'"
[FN-2] Remembrancer of 1777, pages 482, 83. A letter published in that repository of the events of the American Revolution, at the same time, stated that "some few of the New England men desired to have Burgoyne in their hands for half an hour. Being asked for what purpose, they said they would do him no manner of harm; they would only tar and feather him, and make him stand on the head of one of his own empty beef-barrels, and read his own proclamation."—481, 82. If made at all, the suggestion must have been merely the sportive sally of a wag.
It was, perhaps, no fault of General Gates, that he had been placed in command at the North just at the auspicious moment when the discomfiture of Burgoyne was no longer problematical. He was ordered by Congress to the station, and performed his duty well. But it is no less true that the laurels won by him ought to have been harvested by Schuyler. General (then Colonel) Wilkinson, who was not only an active officer in that campaign, but a member of Gates's own military family, has placed this question in its true aspect. He maintains that not only had the army of Burgoyne been essentially disabled by the loss of a heavy detachment, artillery and baggage, and by the defeat of the Hessians at Bennington, before the arrival of Gates, but that the repulse of St. Leger at Fort Schuyler had deranged his plans, while safety had been restored to the western frontier, and the panic thereby caused to subside. He likewise maintains that after the reverses at the North, no wise in justice attributable to him, and before the arrival of Gates, the zeal, patriotism, and salutary arrangements of General Schuyler had vanquished the prejudices excited against him; that by the defeat of Baum and St. Leger, Schuyler had been enabled to concentrate and oppose his whole Continental force against the main body of the enemy; and that by him, also before the arrival of Gates, the friends of the Revolution had been re-animated and excited to manly resistance, while the adherents of the royal cause were intimidated, and had shrunk into silence and inactivity. From these premises, which are indisputable, it is no more than a fair deduction to say, "that the same force which enabled Gates to subdue the British army, would have produced a similar effect under the orders of General Schuyler; since the operations of the campaign did not involve a single instance of professional skill, and the triumph of the American arms was accomplished by the physical force and valor of the troops, under the protection and direction of the god of battles." [FN]