A.D. 1777.
"Westward the course of empire takes its way;
The first four acts already past,
A fifth shall close the drama with the day:
TIME'S NOBLEST OFFSPRING IS ITS LAST."
BISHOP BERKELEY.
"Even of those great conflicts, in which hundreds of thousands have been
engaged and tens of thousands have fallen, none has been more fruitful
of results than this surrender of thirty-five hundred fighting-men
at Saratoga. It not merely changed the relations of England and
the feelings of Europe towards these insurgent colonies, but it has
modified, for all times to come, the connexion between every colony and
every parent state."--LORD MAHON.
Of the four great powers that now principally rule the political
destinies of the world, France and England are the only two whose
influence can be dated back beyond the last century and a half. The
third great power, Russia, was a feeble mass of barbarism before the
epoch of Peter the Great; and the very existence of the fourth great
power, as an independent nation, commenced within the memory of
living men. By the fourth great power of the world I mean the mighty
commonwealth of the western continent, which now commands the admiration
of mankind. That homage is sometimes reluctantly given, and accompanied
with suspicion and ill-will. But none can refuse it. All the physical
essentials for national strength are undeniably to be found in the
geographical position and amplitude of territory which the United States
possess: in their almost inexhaustible tracts of fertile, but hitherto
untouched soil; in their stately forests, in their mountain-chains and
their rivers, their beds of coal, and stores of metallic wealth; in
their extensive seaboard along the waters of two oceans, and in their
already numerous and rapidly increasing population. And, when we examine
the character of this population, no one can look on the fearless
energy, the sturdy determination, the aptitude for local self
government, the versatile alacrity, and the unresting spirit of
enterprise which characterise the Anglo-Americans, without feeling that
he here beholds the true moral elements of progressive might.
Three quarters of a century have not yet passed away since the United
States ceased to be mere dependencies of England. And even if we
date their origin from the period when the first permanent European
settlements, out of which they grew, were made on the western coast
of the North Atlantic, the increase of their strength is unparalleled,
either in rapidity or extent.
The ancient Roman boasted, with reason, of the growth of Rome from
humble beginnings to the greatest magnitude which the world had then
ever witnessed. But the citizen of the United States is still more
justly entitled to claim this praise. In two centuries and a half his
country has acquired ampler dominion than the Roman gained in ten. And
even if we credit the legend of the band of shepherds and outlaws with
which Romulus is said to have colonized the Seven Hills, we find not
there so small a germ of future greatness, as we find in the group of
a hundred and five ill-chosen and disunited emigrants who founded
Jamestown in 1607, or in the scanty band of the Pilgrim-Fathers, who, a
few years later, moored their bark on the wild and rock-bound coast of
the wilderness that was to become New England. The power of the United
States is emphatically the "Imperium quo neque ab exordio ullum fere
minus, neque incrementis toto orbe amplius humans potest memoria
recordari." [Eutropius, lib. i. (exordium).]
Nothing is more calculated to impress the mind with a sense of the
rapidity with which the resources of the American republic advance, than
the difficulty which the historical inquirer finds in ascertaining their
precise amount. If he consults the most recent works, and those written
by the ablest investigators of the subject, he finds in them admiring
comments on the change which the last few years, before those books were
written, had made; but when he turns to apply the estimates in those
books to the present moment, he finds them wholly inadequate. Before
a book on the subject of the United States has lost its novelty, those
states have outgrown the description which it contains. The celebrated
work of the French statesman, De Tocqueville, appeared about fifteen
years ago. In the passage which I am about to quote, it will be seen
that he predicts the constant increase of the Anglo-American power, but
he looks on the Rocky Mountains as their extreme western limit for many
years to come. He had evidently no expectation of himself seeing that
power dominant along the Pacific as well as along the Atlantic coast. He
says:--
"The distance from Lake Superior to the Gulf of Mexico extends from
the 47th to the 30th degree of latitude, a distance of more than 1,200
miles, as the bird flies. The frontier of the United States winds along
the whole of this immense line; sometimes falling within its limits,
but more frequently extending far beyond it into the waste. It has
been calculated that the Whites, advance every year a mean distance of
seventeen miles along the whole of this vast boundary. Obstacles, such
as an unproductive district, a lake, or an Indian nation unexpectedly
encountered, are sometimes met with. The advancing column then halts for
a while; its two extremities fall back upon themselves, and as soon as
they are re-united they proceed onwards. This gradual and continuous
progress of the European race towards the Rocky Mountains has the
solemnity of a Providential event: it is like a deluge of men rising
unabatedly, and daily driven onwards by the hand of God.
"Within this first line of conquering settlers towns are built, and
vast estates founded. In 1790 there were only a few thousand pioneers
sprinkled along the valleys of the Mississippi: and at the present day
these valleys contain as many inhabitants as were to be found in the
whole Union in 1790. Their population amounts to nearly four millions.
The city of Washington was founded in 1800, in the very centre of the
Union; but such are the changes which have taken place, that it now
stands at one of the extremities; and the delegates of the most remote
Western States are already obliged to perform a journey as long so that
from Vienna to Paris.
"It must not, then, be imagined that the impulse of the British race in
the New World can be arrested. The dismemberment of the Union, and the
hostilities which might ensue, the abolition of republican institutions,
and the tyrannical government which might succeed it, may retard this
impulse, but they cannot prevent it from ultimately fulfilling the
destinies to which that race is reserved. No power upon earth can close
upon the emigrants that fertile wilderness, which offers resources to
all industry, and a refuge from all want. Future events, of whatever
nature they may be, will not deprive the Americans of their climate or
of their inland seas, or of their great rivers, or of their exuberant
soil. Nor will bad laws, revolutions, and anarchy be able to obliterate
that love of prosperity and that spirit of enterprise which seem to be
the distinctive characteristics of their race, or to extinguish that
knowledge which guides them on their way.
"Thus, in the midst of the uncertain future, one event at least is sure.
At a period which may be said to be near (for we are speaking of the
life of a nation), the Anglo-Americans will alone cover the immense
space contained between the Polar regions and the Tropics, extending
from the coast of the Atlantic to the shores of the Pacific Ocean; the
territory which will probably be occupied by the Anglo-Americans at
some future time, may be computed to equal three-quarters of Europe in
extent. The climate of the Union is upon the whole preferable to that of
Europe, and its natural advantages are not less great; it is therefore
evident that its population will at some future time be proportionate to
our own. Europe, divided as it is between so many different nations, and
torn as it has been by incessant wars and the barbarous manners of
the Middle Ages, has notwithstanding attained a population of 410
inhabitants to the square league. What cause can prevent the United
States from having as numerous a population in time?
"The time will therefore come when one hundred and fifty millions of men
will be living in North America, equal in condition, the progeny of
one race, owing their origin to the same cause, and preserving the same
civilization, the same language, the same religion, the same habits, the
same manners, and imbued with the same opinions, propagated under the
same forms. The rest is uncertain, but this is certain; and it is a fact
new to the world, a fact fraught with such portentous consequences as to
baffle the efforts even of the imagination."
[The original French of these passages will be found in the chapter on
"Quelles sont les chances de duree de l'Union Americaine--Quels dangers
la menacent." in the third volume of the first part of De Tocqueville,
and in the conclusion of the first part. They are (with others)
collected and translated by Mr. Alison, in his "Essays," vol. iii. p.
374.]
Let us turn from the French statesman writing in 1835, to an English
statesman, who is justly regarded as the highest authority on all
statistical subjects, and who described the United States only seven
years ago. Macgregor [Macgregor's Commercial Statistics.] tells us--
"The States which, on the ratification of independence, formed the
American Republican Union, were thirteen, viz.:--
"Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York,
New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina,
South Carolina, and Georgia." The foregoing thirteen states (THE
WHOLE INHABITED TERRITORY OF WHICH, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF A FEW SMALL
SETTLEMENTS, WAS CONFINED TO THE REGION EXTENDING BETWEEN THE ALLEGHANY
MOUNTAINS AND THE ATLANTIC) were those which existed at the period when
they became an acknowledged separate and independent federal sovereign
power. The thirteen stripes of the standard or flag of the United
States, continue to represent the original number, The stars have
multiplied to twenty-six, [Fresh stars have dawned since this was
written.] according as the number of States have increased.
"The territory of the thirteen original States of the Union, including
Maine and Vermont, comprehended a superficies of 371,124 English square
miles; that of the whole United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
120,354; that of France, including Corsica, 214,910; that of the
Austrian Empire, including Hungary and all the Imperial States, 257,540
English square miles.
"The present superficies of the twenty-six constitutional States of the
Anglo-American Union, and the district of Columbia, and territories
of Florida, include 1,029,025 square miles; to which if we add the
north-west, or Wisconsin territory, east of the Mississippi, and bounded
by Lake Superior on the north, and Michigan on the east, and occupying
at least 100,000 square miles, and then add the great western region,
not yet well-defined territories, but at the most limited calculation
comprehending 700,000 square miles, the whole unbroken in its vast
length and breadth by foreign nations, comprehends a portion of the
earth's surface equal to 1,729,025 English, or 1,296,770 geographical
square miles."
We may add that the population of the States, when they declared their
independence, was about two millions and a half; it is now twenty-three
millions.
I have quoted Macgregor, not only on account of the clear and full view
which he gives of the progress of America to the date when he wrote, but
because his description may be contrasted with what the United States
have become even since his book appeared. Only three years after the
time when Macgregor thus wrote, the American President truly stated:--
"Within less than four years the annexation of Texas to the Union has
been consummated; all conflicting title to the Oregon territory, south
of the 49th degree of north latitude, adjusted; and New Mexico and
Upper California have been acquired by treaty. The area of these several
territories contains 1,193,061 square miles, or 763,559,040 acres; while
the area of the remaining twenty-nine States, and the territory not yet
organized into States east of the Rocky Mountains, contains 2,059,513
square miles, or 1,318,126,058 acres. These estimates show that the
territories recently acquired, and over which our exclusive jurisdiction
and dominion have been extended, constitute a country more than half
as large as all that which was held by the United States before their
acquisition. If Oregon be excluded from the estimate, there will still
remain within the limits of Texas, New Mexico, and California, 851,598
square miles, or 545,012,720 acres; being an addition equal to more than
one-third of all the territory owned by the United States before
their acquisition; and, including Oregon, nearly as great an extent of
territory as the whole of Europe, Russia only excepted. THE MISSISSIPPI,
SO LATELY THE FRONTIER OF OUR COUNTRY, IS NOW ONLY ITS CENTRE. With the
addition of the late acquisitions, the United States are now estimated
to be nearly as large as the whole of Europe. The extent of the
sea-coast of Texas, on the Gulf of Mexico, is upwards of 400 miles;
of the coast of Upper California, on the Pacific, of 970 miles; and of
Oregon, including the Straits of Fuca, of 650 miles; MAKING THE WHOLE
EXTENT OF SEA-COAST ON THE PACIFIC 1,620 MILES; and the whole extent on
both the Pacific and the Gulf of Mexico, 2,020 miles. The length of the
coast on the Atlantic, from the northern limits of the United States,
round the Capes of Florida to the Sabine on the eastern boundary
of Texas, is estimated to be 3,100 miles, so that the addition of
sea-coast, including Oregon, is very nearly two-thirds as great as all
we possessed before; and, excluding Oregon, is an addition of 1,370
miles; being nearly equal to one-half of the extent of coast which we
possessed before these acquisitions. We have now three great maritime
fronts--on the Atlantic, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Pacific; making,
in the whole, an extent of sea-coast exceeding 5,000 miles. This is
the extent of the sea-coast of the United States, not including bays,
sounds, and small irregularities of the main shore, and of the sea
islands. If these be included, the length of the shore line of coast,
as estimated by the superintendent of the Coast Survey, in his report,
would be 33,063 miles."
The importance of the power of the United States being then firmly
planted along the Pacific applies not only to the New World, but to
the Old. Opposite to San Francisco, on the coast of that ocean, lie
the wealthy but decrepit empires of China and Japan. Numerous groups of
islets stud the larger part of the intervening sea, and form convenient
stepping-stones for the progress of commerce or ambition. The
intercourse of traffic between these ancient Asiatic monarchies, and the
young Anglo-American Republic, must be rapid and extensive. Any attempt
of the Chinese or Japanese rulers to check it, will only accelerate an
armed collision. The American will either buy or force his way. Between
such populations as that of China and Japan on the one side, and that
of the United States on the other--the former haughty, formal, and
insolent, the latter bold, intrusive, and unscrupulous--causes of
quarrel must, sooner or later, arise, The results of such a quarrel
cannot be doubted. America will scarcely imitate the forbearance shown
by England at the end of our late war with the Celestial Empire; and
the conquests of China and Japan by the fleets and armies of the United
States, are events which many now living are likely to witness. Compared
with the magnitude of such changes in the dominion of the Old World,
the certain ascendancy of the Anglo-Americans over Central and Southern
America, seems a matter of secondary importance. Well may we repeat De
Tocqueville's words, that the growing power of this commonwealth is, "Un
fait entierement nouveau dans le monde, et dont l'imagination ellememe
ne saurait saisir la portee." [These remarks were written in May 1851,
and now, in May 1852, a powerful squadron of American war-steamers has
been sent to Japan, for the ostensible purpose of securing protection
for the crews of American vessels shipwrecked on the Japanese coasts,
but also evidently for important ulterior purposes.]
An Englishman may look, and ought to look, on the growing grandeur
of the Americans with no small degree of generous sympathy and
satisfaction. They, like ourselves, are members of the great Anglo-Saxon
nation "whose race and language are now overrunning the world from one
end of it to the other." [Arnold.] and whatever differences of form of
government may exist between us and them; whatever reminiscences of the
days when, though brethren, we strove together, may rankle in the
minds of us, the defeated party; we should cherish the bonds of common
nationality that still exist between us. We should remember, as the
Athenians remembered of the Spartans at a season of jealousy and
temptation, that our race is one, being of the same blood, speaking the
same language, having an essential resemblance in our institutions and
usages, and worshipping in the temples of the same God. [HERODOTUS,
viii. 144.] All this may and should be borne in mind. And yet an
Englishman can hardly watch the progress of America, without the
regretful thought that America once was English, and that, but for the
folly of our rulers, she might be English still. It is true that
the commerce between the two countries has largely and beneficially
increased; but this is no proof that the increase would not have been
still greater, had the States remained integral portions of the same
great empire. By giving a fair and just participation in political
rights, these, "the fairest possessions" of the British crown, might
have been preserved to it. "This ancient and most noble monarchy" [Lord
Chatham.] would not have been dismembered; nor should we see that which
ought to be the right arm of our strength, now menacing us in every
political crisis, as the most formidable rival of our commercial and
maritime ascendancy.
The war which rent away the North American colonies of England is, of
all subjects in history, the most painful for an Englishman to dwell on.
It was commenced and carried on by the British ministry in iniquity and
folly, and it was concluded in disaster and shame. But the contemplation
of it cannot be evaded by the historian, however much it may be
abhorred. Nor can any military event be said to have exercised more
important influence on the future fortunes of mankind, than the complete
defeat of Burgoyne's expedition in 1777; a defeat which rescued the
revolted colonists from certain subjection; and which, by inducing the
courts of France and Spain to attack England in their behalf, ensured
the independence of the United States, and the formation of that
trans-Atlantic power which, not only America, but both Europe and Asia,
now see and feel.
Still, in proceeding to describe this "decisive battle of the world,"
a very brief recapitulation of the earlier events of the war may be
sufficient; nor shall I linger unnecessarily on a painful theme.
The five northern colonies of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island,
New Hampshire, and Vermont, usually classed together as the New
England colonies, were the strongholds of the insurrection against the
mother-country. The feeling of resistance was less vehement and
general in the central settlement of New York; and still less so in
Pennsylvania, Maryland, and the other colonies of the south, although
everywhere it was formidably active. Virginia should, perhaps, be
particularised for the zeal which its leading men displayed in the
American cause; but it was among the descendants of the stern Puritans
that the spirit of Cromwell and Vane breathed in all its fervour; it was
from the New Englanders that the first armed opposition to the British
crown had been offered; and it was by them that the most stubborn
determination to fight to the last, rather than waive a single right or
privilege, had been displayed. In 1775, they had succeeded in forcing
the British troops to evacuate Boston; and the events of 1776 had made
New York (which the royalists captured in that year) the principal basis
of operations for the armies of the mother-country.
A glance at the map will show that the Hudson river, which falls into
the Atlantic at New York, runs down from the north at the back of the
New England States, forming an angle of about forty-five degrees with
the line of the coast of the Atlantic, along which the New England
states are situate. Northward of the Hudson, we see a small chain of
lakes communicating with the Canadian frontier. It is necessary to
attend closely to these geographical points, in order to understand the
plan of the operations which the English attempted in 1777, and which
the battle of Saratoga defeated.
The English had a considerable force in Canada; and in 1776 had
completely repulsed an attack which the Americans had made upon that
province. The British ministry resolved to avail themselves, in the next
year, of the advantage which the occupation of Canada gave them, not
merely for the purpose of defence, but for the purpose of striking a
vigorous and crushing blow against the revolted colonies. With this
view, the army in Canada was largely reinforced. Seven thousand veteran
troops were sent out from England, with a corps of artillery abundantly
supplied, and led by select and experienced officers. Large quantities
of military stores were also furnished for the equipment of the Canadian
volunteers, who were expected to join the expedition. It was intended
that the force thus collected should march southward by the line of the
lakes, and thence along the banks of the Hudson river. The British army
in New York (or a large detachment of it) was to make a simultaneous
movement northward, up the line of the Hudson, and the two expeditions
were to unite at Albany, a town on that river. By these operations all
communication between the northern colonies and those of the centre and
south would be cut off. An irresistible force would be concentrated,
so as to crush all further opposition in New England; and when this was
done, it was believed that the other colonies would speedily submit. The
Americans had no troops in the field that seemed able to baffle these
movements. Their principal army, under Washington, was occupied in
watching over Pennsylvania and the south. At any rate it was believed
that, in order to oppose the plan intended for the new campaign, the
insurgents must risk a pitched battle, in which the superiority of
the royalists, in numbers, in discipline, and in equipment, seemed to
promise to the latter a crowning victory. Without question the plan
was ably formed; and had the success of the execution been equal to the
ingenuity of the design, the re-conquest or submission of the thirteen
United States must, in all human probability, have followed; and the
independence which they proclaimed in 1776 would have been extinguished
before it existed a second year. No European power had as yet come
forward to aid America. It is true that England was generally regarded
with jealousy and ill-will, and was thought to have acquired, at the
treaty of Paris, a preponderance of dominion which was perilous to the
balance of power; but though many were willing to wound, none had yet
ventured to strike; and America, if defeated in 1777, would have been
suffered to fall unaided.
[In Lord Albemarle's "Memoirs of the Marquis of Rockingham." is
contained the following remarkable state paper, drawn up by King George
III himself respecting the plan of Burgoyne's expedition. The original
is in the king's own hand.
"REMARKS ON THE CONDUCT OF THE WAR FROM CANADA.
"The outlines of the plan seem to be on a proper foundation. The rank
and file of the army now in Canada (including the 11th Regiment of
British, M'Clean's corps, the Brunswicks and Hanover), amount to 10,527;
add the eleven additional companies and four hundred Hanover Chasseurs,
the total will be 11,443.
"As sickness and other contingencies must be expected, I should think
not above 7,000 effectives can be spared over Lake Champlain; for it
would be highly imprudent to run any risk in Canada.
"The fixing the stations of those left in the province may not be quite
right, though the plan proposed may be recommended. Indians must be
employed, and this measure must be avowedly directed, and Carleton must
be in the strongest manner directed that the Apollo shall be ready by
that day, to receive Burgoyne.
"The magazines must be formed with the greatest expedition, at Crown
Point.
"If possible, possession must be taken of Lake George, and nothing but
an absolute impossibility of succeeding in this, can be an excuse for
proceeding by South Bay and Skeenborough.
"As Sir W. Howe does not think of acting from Rhode island into the
Massachusets, the force from Canada must join him in Albany.
"The diversion on the Mohawk River ought at least to be strengthened by
the addition of the four hundred Hanover Chasseurs.
"The Ordnance ought to furnish a complete proportion of intrenching
tools.
"The provisions ought to be calculated for a third more than the
effective soldiery, and the General ordered to avoid delivering these
when the army can be subsisted by the country. Burgoyne certainly
greatly undervalues the German recruits.
"The idea of carrying the army by sea to Sir W. Howe, would certainly
require the leaving a much larger part of it in Canada, as in that case
the rebel army would divide that province from the immense one under Sir
W. Howe. I greatly dislike this last idea."]
Burgoyne had gained celebrity by some bold and dashing exploits in
Portugal during the last war; he was personally as brave an officer as
ever headed British troops; he had considerable skill as a tactician;
and his general intellectual abilities and acquirements were of a high
order. He had several very able and experienced officers under him,
among whom were Major-General Phillips and Brigadier-General Fraser. His
regular troops amounted, exclusively of the corps of artillery, to about
seven thousand two hundred men, rank and file. Nearly half of these were
Germans. He had also an auxiliary force of from two to three thousand
Canadians. He summoned the warriors of several tribes of the Red Indians
near the western lakes to join his army. Much eloquence was poured
forth, both in America and in England, in denouncing the use of these
savage auxiliaries. Yet Burgoyne seems to have done no more than
Montcalm, Wolfe, and other French, American, and English generals had
done before him. But, in truth, the lawless ferocity of the Indians,
their unskilfulness in regular action, and the utter impossibility of
bringing them under any discipline, made their services of little or no
value in times of difficulty: while the indignation which their
outrages inspired, went far to rouse the whole population of the invaded
districts into active hostilities against Burgoyne's force.
Burgoyne assembled his troops and confederates near the river Bouquet,
on the west side of Lake Champlain. He then, on the 21st of June, 1777,
gave his Red Allies a war-feast, and harangued them on the necessity of
abstaining from their usual cruel practices against unarmed people and
prisoners. At the same time he published a pompous manifesto to the
Americans, in which he threatened the refractory with all the horrors
of war, Indian as well as European. The army proceeded by water to
Crown Point, a fortification which the Americans held at the northern
extremity of the inlet by which the water from Lake George is conveyed
to Lake Champlain. He landed here without opposition; but the reduction
of Ticonderoga, a fortification about twelve miles to the south of Crown
Point, was a more serious matter, and was supposed to be the critical
part of the expedition. Ticonderoga commanded the passage along the
lakes, and was considered to be the key to the route which Burgoyne
wished to follow. The English had been repulsed in an attack on it
in the war with the French in 1768 with severe loss. But Burgoyne now
invested it with great skill; and the American general, St. Clair, who
had only an ill-equipped army of about three thousand men, evacuated it
on the 5th of July. It seems evident that a different course would have
caused the destruction or capture of his whole army; which, weak as it
was, was the chief force then in the field for the protection of the New
England states. When censured by some of his countrymen for abandoning
Ticonderoga, St. Clair truly replied, "that he had lost a post, but
saved a province." Burgoyne's troops pursued the retiring Americans,
gained several advantages over them, and took a large part of their
artillery and military stores.
The loss of the British in these engagements was trifling. The army
moved southward along Lake George to Skenesborough; and thence slowly,
and with great difficulty, across a broken country, full of creeks and
marshes, and clogged by the enemy with felled trees and other obstacles,
to Fort Edward, on the Hudson river, the American troops continuing to
retire before them.
Burgoyne reached the left bank of the Hudson river on the 30th of July.
Hitherto he had overcome every difficulty which the enemy and the nature
of the country had placed in his way. His army was in excellent order
and in the highest spirits; and the peril of the expedition seemed over,
when they were once on the bank of the river which was to be the channel
of communication between them and the British army in the south. But
their feelings, and those of the English nation in general when their
successes were announced, may best be learned from a contemporary
writer. Burke, in the "Annual Register" for 1777, describes them thus:--
"Such was the rapid torrent of success, which swept everything away
before the northern army in its onset. It is not to be wondered at,
if both officers and private men were highly elated with their good
fortune, and deemed that and their prowess to be irresistible; if they
regarded their enemy with the greatest contempt; considered their own
toils to be nearly at an end; Albany to be already in their hands; and
the reduction of the northern provinces to be rather a matter of some
time, than an arduous task full of difficulty and danger.
"At home, the joy and exultation was extreme; not only at court, but
with all those who hoped or wished the unqualified subjugation, and
unconditional submission of the colonies. The loss in reputation was
greater to the Americans, and capable of more fatal consequences,
than even that of ground, of posts, of artillery, or of men. All the
contemptuous and most degrading charges which had been made by their
enemies, of their wanting the resolution and abilities of men, even
in their defence of whatever was dear to them, were now repeated and
believed. Those who still regarded them as men, and who had not yet lost
all affection to them as brethren, who also retained hopes that a happy
reconciliation upon constitutional principles, without sacrificing
the dignity or the just authority of government on the one side, or
a dereliction of the rights of freemen on the other, was not even now
impossible, notwithstanding their favourable dispositions in general,
could not help feeling upon this occasion that the Americans sunk not a
little in their estimation. It was not difficult to diffuse an opinion
that the war in effect was over; and that any further resistance could
serve only to render the terms of their submission the worse. Such were
some of the immediate effects of the loss of those grand keys of North
America, Ticonderoga and the lakes."
The astonishment and alarm which these events produced among the
Americans were naturally great; but in the midst of their disasters none
of the colonists showed any disposition to submit. The local governments
of the New England States, as well as the Congress, acted with vigour
and firmness in their efforts to repel the enemy. General Gates was sent
to take command of the army at Saratoga; and Arnold, a favourite leader
of the Americans, was despatched by Washington to act under him,
with reinforcements of troops and guns from the main American army.
Burgoyne's employment of the Indians now produced the worst possible
effects. Though he laboured hard to check the atrocities which they
were accustomed to commit, he could not prevent the occurrence of many
barbarous outrages, repugnant both to the feelings of humanity and to
the laws of civilized warfare. The American commanders took care that
the reports of these excesses should be circulated far and wide, well
knowing that they would make the stern New Englanders not droop, but
rage. Such was their effect; and though, when each man looked upon his
wife, his children, his sisters, or his aged parents, the thought of the
merciless Indian "thirsting for the blood of man, woman, and child,"
of "the cannibal savage torturing, murdering, roasting, and eating the
mangled victims of his barbarous battles," [Lord Chatham's speech on
the employment of Indians in the war.] "might raise terror in the bravest
breasts; this very terror produced a directly contrary effect to causing
submission to the royal army. It was seen that the few friends of the
royal cause, as well as its enemies, were liable to be the victims of
the indiscriminate rage of the savages;" [See in the "Annual Register"
for 1777, p.117, the "Narrative of the Murder of Miss M'Crea, the
daughter of an American loyalist."] and thus "the inhabitants of the
open and frontier countries had no choice of acting: they had no means
of security left, but by abandoning their habitations and taking up
arms. Every man saw the necessity of becoming a temporary soldier, not
only for his own security, but for the protection and defence of those
connexions which are dearer than life itself. Thus an army was poured
forth by the woods, mountains, and marshes, which in this part were
thickly sown with plantations and villages. The Americans recalled their
courage; and when their regular army seemed to be entirely wasted,
the spirit of the country produced a much greater and more formidable
force." [Burke.]
While resolute recruits, accustomed to the use of fire-arms, and all
partially trained by service in the provincial militias, were thus
flocking to the standard of Gates and Arnold at Saratoga; and while
Burgoyne was engaged at Port Edward in providing the means for the
further advance of his army through the intricate and hostile country
that still lay before him, two events occurred, in each of which the
British sustained loss, and the Americans obtained advantage, the moral
effects of which were even more important than the immediate result
of the encounters. When Burgoyne left Canada, General St. Leger was
detached from that province with a mixed force of about one thousand
men, and some light field-pieces, across Lake Ontario against Fort
Stanwix, which the Americans held. After capturing this, he was to
march along the Mohawk river to its confluence with the Hudson, between
Saratoga and Albany, where his force and that of Burgoyne were to unite.
But, after some successes, St. Leger was obliged to retreat, and to
abandon his tents and large quantities of stores to the garrison. At the
very time that General Burgoyne heard of this disaster, he experienced
one still more severe in the defeat of Colonel Baum with a large
detachment of German troops at Benington, whither Burgoyne had sent them
for the purpose of capturing some magazines of provisions, of which
the British army stood greatly in need. The Americans, augmented by
continual accessions of strength, succeeded, after many attacks, in
breaking this corps, which fled into the woods, and left its commander
mortally wounded on the field: they then marched against a force of five
hundred grenadiers and light infantry, which was advancing to Colonel
Baum's assistance under Lieutenant-Colonel Breyman; who, after a gallant
resistance, was obliged to retreat on the main army. The British loss
in these two actions exceeded six hundred men: and a party of American
loyalists, on their way to join the army, having attached themselves to
Colonel Baum's corps, were destroyed with it.
Notwithstanding these reverses, which added greatly to the spirit and
numbers of the American forces, Burgoyne determined to advance. It was
impossible any longer to keep up his communications with Canada by
way of the lakes, so as to supply his army on his southward march; but
having by unremitting exertions collected provisions for thirty days, he
crossed the Hudson by means of a bridge of rafts, and, marching a short
distance along its western bank, he encamped on the 14th of September on
the heights of Saratoga, about sixteen miles from Albany. The Americans
had fallen back from Saratoga, and were now strongly posted near
Stillwater, about half way between Saratoga and Albany, and showed a
determination to recede no farther.
Meanwhile Lord Howe, with the bulk of the British army that had lain
at New York, had sailed away to the Delaware, and there commenced
a campaign against Washington, in which the English general took
Philadelphia, and gained other showy, but unprofitable successes,
But Sir Henry Clinton, a brave and skilful officer, was left with a
considerable force at New York; and he undertook the task of moving up
the Hudson to co-operate with Burgoyne. Clinton was obliged for this
purpose to wait for reinforcements which had been promised from England,
and these did not arrive till September. As soon as he received them,
Clinton embarked about 3,000 of his men on a flotilla, convoyed by some
ships of war under Commander Hotham, and proceeded to force his may up
the river, but it was long before he was able to open any communication
with Burgoyne.
The country between Burgoyne's position at Saratoga and that of
the Americans at Stillwater was rugged, and seamed with creeks and
water-courses; but after great labour in making bridges and temporary
causeways, the British army moved forward. About four miles from
Saratoga, on the afternoon of the 19th of September, a sharp encounter
took place between part of the English right wing, under Burgoyne
himself, and a strong body of the enemy, under Gates and Arnold. The
conflict lasted till sunset. The British remained masters of the field;
but the loss on each side was nearly equal (from five hundred to six
hundred men); and the spirits of the Americans were greatly raised by
having withstood the best regular troops of the English army. Burgoyne
now halted again, and strengthened his position by field-works and
redoubts; and the Americans also improved their defences. The two armies
remained nearly within cannon-shot of each other for a considerable
time, during which Burgoyne was anxiously looking for intelligence of
the promised expedition from New York, which, according to the original
plan, ought by this time to have been approaching Albany from the south.
At last, a messenger from Clinton made his way, with great difficulty,
to Burgoyne's camp, and brought the information that Clinton was on his
way up the Hudson to attack the American forts which barred the passage
up that river to Albany. Burgoyne, in reply, on the 30th of September,
urged Clinton to attack the forts as speedily as possible, stating that
the effect of such an attack, or even the semblance of it, would be
to move the American army from its position before his own troops. By
another messenger, who reached Clinton on the 5th of October, Burgoyne
informed his brother general that he had lost his communications with
Canada, but had provisions which would last him till the 20th. Burgoyne
described himself as strongly posted, and stated that though the
Americans in front of him were strongly posted also, he made no doubt
of being able to force them, and making his way to Albany; but that he
doubted whether he could subsist there, as the country was drained of
provisions. He wished Clinton to meet him there, and to keep open a
communication with New York. [See the letters of General Clinton to
General Harvey, published by Lord Albemarle in his "Memoirs of the
Marquis of Rockingham," vol. ii. p. 335, ET SEQ.]
Burgoyne had over-estimated his resources, and in the very beginning of
October found difficulty and distress pressing him hard.
The Indians and Canadians began to desert him; while, on the other hand,
Gates's army was continually reinforced by fresh bodies of the militia.
An expeditionary force was detached by the Americans, which made a bold,
though unsuccessful, attempt to retake Ticonderoga. And finding the
number and spirit of the enemy to increase daily, and his own stores of
provision to diminish, Burgoyne determined on attacking the Americans
in front of him, and by dislodging them from their position, to gain the
means of moving upon Albany, or at least of relieving his troops from
the straitened position in which they were cooped up.
Burgoyne's force was now reduced to less than 6,000 men. The right of
his camp was on some high ground a little to the west of the river;
thence his entrenchments extended along the lower ground to the bank of
the Hudson, the line of their front being nearly at a right angle with
the course of the stream. The lines were fortified with redoubts and
field-works, and on a height on the bank of the extreme right a strong
redoubt was reared, and entrenchments, in a horse-shoe form, thrown
up. The Hessians, under Colonel Breyman, were stationed here, forming
a flank defence to Burgoyne's main army. The numerical force of the
Americans was now greater than the British even in regular troops, and
the numbers of the militia and volunteers which had joined Gates and
Arnold were greater still.
General Lincoln with 2,000 New England troops, had reached the American
camp on the 29th of September. Gates gave him the command of the
right wing, and took in person the command of the left wing, which was
composed of two brigades under Generals Poor and Leonard, of Colonel
Morgan's rifle corps, and part of the fresh New England Militia. The
whole of the American lines had been ably fortified under the direction
of the celebrated Polish general, Kosciusko, who was now serving as a
volunteer in Gates's army. The right of the American position, that
is to say, the part of it nearest to the river, was too strong to be
assailed with any prospect of success: and Burgoyne therefore determined
to endeavour to force their left. For this purpose he formed a column
of 1,500 regular troops, with two twelve-pounders, two howitzers and
six six-pounders. He headed this in person, having Generals Phillips,
Reidesel, and Fraser under him. The enemy's force immediately in front
of his lines was so strong that he dared not weaken the troops who
guarded them, by detaching any more to strengthen his column of attack.
It was on the 7th of October that Burgoyne led his column forward;
and on the preceding day, the 6th, Clinton had successfully executed
a brilliant enterprise against the two American forts which barred his
progress up the Hudson. He had captured them both, with severe loss to
the American forces opposed to him; he had destroyed the fleet which the
Americans had been forming on the Hudson, under the protection of their
forts; and the upward river was laid open to his squadron. He had also,
with admirable skill and industry, collected in small vessels, such
as could float within a few miles of Albany, provisions sufficient to
supply Burgoyne's Army for six months. [See Clinton's letters in Lord
Albemarle, p. 337.] He was now only a hundred and fifty-six miles
distant from Burgoyne; and a detachment of 1,700 men actually advanced
within forty miles of Albany. Unfortunately Burgoyne and Clinton were
each ignorant of the other's movements; but if Burgoyne had won his
battle on the 7th, he must on advancing have soon learned the tidings of
Clinton's success, and Clinton would have heard of his. A junction would
soon have been made of the two victorious armies, and the great objects
of the campaign might yet have been accomplished. All depended on
the fortune of the column with which Burgoyne, on the eventful 7th of
October, 1777, advanced against the American position. There were
brave men, both English and German, in its ranks; and in particular it
comprised one of the best bodies of grenadiers in the British service.
[I am indebted for many of the details of the battle, to Mr Lossing's
"Field-book of the Revolution."]
Burgoyne pushed forward some bodies of irregular troops to distract the
enemy's attention; and led his column to within three-quarters of a mile
from the left of Gates's camp, and then deployed his men into line. The
grenadiers under Major Ackland, and the artillery under Major Williams,
were drawn up on the left; a corps of Germans under General Reidesel,
and some British troops under General Phillips, were in the centre; and
the English light infantry, and the 24th regiment under Lord Balcarres
and General Fraser, were on the right. But Gates did not wait to be
attacked; and directly the British line was formed and began to advance,
the American general, with admirable skill, caused General Poor's
brigade of New York and New Hampshire troops, and part of General
Leonard's brigade, to make a sudden and vehement rush against its left,
and at the same time sent Colonel Morgan, with his rifle corps and
other troops, amounting to 1,500, to turn the right of the English. The
grenadiers under Ackland sustained the charge of superior numbers nobly.
But Gates sent more Americans forward, and in a few minutes the action
became general along the centre, so as to prevent the Germans from
detaching any help to the grenadiers. Morgan, with his riflemen, was now
pressing Lord Balcarres and General Fraser hard, and fresh masses of the
enemy were observed advancing from their extreme left, with the evident
intention of forcing the British right, and cutting off its retreat. The
English light infantry and the 24th now fell back, and formed an oblique
second line, which enabled them to baffle this manoeuvre, and also to
succour their comrades in the left wing, the gallant grenadiers, who
were overpowered by superior numbers, and, but for this aid, must have
been cut to pieces.
The contest now was fiercely maintained on both sides. The English
cannon were repeatedly taken and retaken; but when the grenadiers near
them were forced back by the weight of superior numbers, one of the guns
was permanently captured by the Americans, and turned upon the English.
Major Williams and Major Ackland were both made prisoners, and in
this part of the field the advantage of the Americans was decided. The
British centre still held its ground; but now it was that the American
general Arnold appeared upon the scene, and did more for his countrymen
than whole battalions could have effected. Arnold, when the decisive
engagement of the 7th of October commenced, had been deprived of his
command by Gates, in consequence of a quarrel between them about the
action of the 19th of September. He had listened for a short time in the
American camp to the thunder of the battle, in which he had no military
right to take part, either as commander or as combatant. But his excited
spirit could not long endure such a state of inaction. He called for his
horse, a powerful brown charger, and springing on it, galloped furiously
to where the fight seemed to be the thickest. Gates saw him, and sent
an aide-de-camp to recall him; but Arnold spurred far in advance, and
placed himself at the head of three regiments which had formerly been
under him, and which welcomed their old commander with joyous cheers. He
led them instantly upon the British centre; and then galloping along the
American line, he issued orders for a renewed and a closer attack, which
were obeyed with alacrity, Arnold himself setting the example of the
most daring personal bravery, and charging more than once, sword in
hand, into the English ranks. On the British side the officers did
their duty nobly; but General Fraser was the most eminent of them all,
restoring order wherever the line began to waver, and infusing fresh
courage into his men by voice and example. Mounted on an iron-grey
charger, and dressed in the full uniform of a general officer, he was
conspicuous to foes as well as to friends. The American Colonel Morgan
thought that the fate of the battle rested on this gallant man's life,
and calling several of his best marksman round him, pointed Fraser out,
and said: "That officer is General Fraser; I admire him, but he must
die. Our victory depends on it. Take your stations in that clump of
bushes, and do your duty." Within five minutes Fraser fell mortally
wounded, and was carried to the British camp by two grenadiers. Just
previously to his being struck by the fatal bullet, one rifle-ball had
cut the crupper of his saddle and smother had passed through his horse's
mane close behind the ears. His aide-de-camp had noticed this, and said:
"It is evident that you are marked out for particular aim; would it not
be prudent; for you to retire from this place?" Fraser replied: "My duty
forbids me to fly from danger;" and the next moment he fell. [Lossing.]
Burgoyne's whole force was now compelled to retreat towards their camp;
the left and centre were in complete disorder, but the light infantry
and the 24th checked the fury of the assailants, and the remains of
the column with great difficulty effected their return to their camp;
leaving six of their cannons in the possession of the enemy, and great
numbers of killed and wounded on the field; and especially a large
proportion of the artillerymen, who had stood to their guns until shot
down or bayoneted beside them by the advancing Americans.
Burgoyne's column had been defeated, but the action was not yet over.
The English had scarcely entered the camp, when the Americans,
pursuing their success, assaulted it in several places with remarkable
impetuosity, rushing in upon the intrenchments and redoubts through a
severe fire of grape-shot and musketry. Arnold especially, who on this
day appeared maddened with the thirst of combat and carnage, urged on
the attack against a part of the intrenchments which was occupied by the
light infantry under Lord Balcarres. [Botta's American War, book viii.]
But the English received him with vigour and spirit. The struggle here
was obstinate and sanguinary. At length, as it grew towards evening,
Arnold, having forced all obstacles, entered the works with some of the
most fearless of his followers. But in this critical moment of glory and
danger, he received a painful wound in the same leg which had already
been injured at the assault on Quebec. To his bitter regret he was
obliged to be carried back. His party still continued the attack, but
the English also continued their obstinate resistance, and at last
night fell, and the assailants withdrew from this quarter of the British
intrenchments. But, in another part the attack had been more successful.
A body of the Americans, under Colonel Brooke, forced their way in
through a part of the horse-shoe intrenchments on the extreme right,
which was defended by the Hessian reserve under Colonel Breyman. The
Germans resisted well, and Breyman died in defence of his post; but the
Americans made good the ground which they had won, and captured baggage,
tents, artillery, and a store of ammunition, which they were greatly in
need of. They had by establishing themselves on this point, acquired the
means of completely turning the right flank of the British, and gaining
their rear. To prevent this calamity, Burgoyne effected during the night
an entire change of position. With great skill he removed his whole army
to some heights near the river, a little northward of the former camp,
and he there drew up his men, expecting to be attacked on the following
day. But Gates was resolved not to risk the certain triumph which
his success had already secured for him. He harassed the English with
skirmishes, but attempted no regular attack. Meanwhile he detached
bodies of troops on both sides of the Hudson to prevent the British from
recrossing that river, and to bar their retreat. When night fell,
it became absolutely necessary for Burgoyne to retire again, and,
accordingly, the troops were marched through a stormy and rainy night
towards Saratoga, abandoning their sick and wounded, and the greater
part of their baggage to the enemy.
Before the rear-guard quitted the camp, the last sad honours were paid
to the brave General Fraser, who expired on the day after the action.
He had, almost with his last breath, expressed a wish to be buried in
the redoubt which had formed the part of the British lines where he had
been stationed, but which had now been abandoned by the English, and
was within full range of the cannon which the advancing Americans were
rapidly placing in position to bear upon Burgoyne's force. Burgoyne
resolved, nevertheless, to comply with the dying wish of his comrade;
and the interment took place under circumstances the most affecting
that have ever marked a soldier's funeral. Still more interesting is
the narrative of Lady Ackland's passage from the British to the American
camp, after the battle, to share the captivity and alleviate the
sufferings of her husband who had been severely wounded, and left in the
enemy's power. The American historian, Lossing, has described both these
touching episodes of the campaign, in a spirit that does honour to the
writer as well as to his subject. After narrating the death of General
Fraser on the 8th of October, he says that "It was just at sunset, on
that calm October evening, that the corpse of General Fraser was carried
up the hill to the place of burial within the 'great redoubt.' It was
attended only by the military members of his family and Mr. Brudenell,
the chaplain; yet the eyes of hundreds of both armies followed the
solemn procession, while the Americans, ignorant of its true character,
kept up a constant cannonade upon the redoubt. The chaplain, unawed by
the danger to which he was exposed, as the cannon-balls that struck the
hill threw the loose soil over him, pronounced the impressive funeral
service of the Church of England with an unfaltering voice. The growing
darkness added solemnity to the scene. Suddenly the irregular firing
ceased, and the solemn voice of a single cannon, at measured intervals,
boomed along the valley, and awakened the responses of the hills. It was
a minute gun fired by the Americans in honour of the gallant dead. The
moment the information was given that the gathering at the redoubt was a
funeral company, fulfilling, at imminent peril, the last-breathed wishes
of the noble Fraser, orders were issued to withhold the cannonade with
balls, and to render military homage to the fallen brave.
"The case of Major Ackland and his heroic wife presents kindred
features. He belonged to the grenadiers, and was an accomplished
soldier. His wife accompanied him to Canada in 1776; and during the
whole campaign of that year, and until his return to England after the
surrender of Burgoyne, in the autumn of 1777, endured all the hardships,
dangers, and privations of an active campaign in an enemy's country. At
Chambly, on the Sorel, she attended him in illness, in a miserable
hut; and when he was wounded in the battle of Hubbardton, Vermont
she hastened to him at Henesborough from Montreal, where she had been
persuaded to remain, and resolved to follow the army hereafter. Just
before crossing the Hudson, she and her husband had had a narrow escape
from losing their lives in consequence of their tent accidentally taking
fire.
"During the terrible engagement of the 7th October, she heard all the
tumult and dreadful thunder of the battle in which her husband was
engaged; and when, on the morning of the 8th, the British fell back in
confusion to their new position, she, with the other women, was obliged
to take refuge among the dead and dying; for the tents were all struck,
and hardly a shed was left standing. Her husband was wounded, and a
prisoner in the American camp. That gallant officer was shot through
both legs. When Poor and Learned's troops assaulted the grenadiers and
artillery on the British left, on the afternoon of the 7th, Wilkinson,
Gates's adjutant-general, while pursuing the flying enemy when they
abandoned their battery, heard a feeble voice exclaim 'Protect me,
sir, against that boy.' He turned and saw a lad with a musket taking
deliberate aim at a wounded British officer, lying in a corner of a low
fence. Wilkinson ordered the boy to desist, and discovered the wounded
man to be Major Ackland. He had him conveyed to the quarters of General
Poor (now the residence of Mr. Neilson) on the heights, where every
attention was paid to his wants.
"When the intelligence that he was wounded and a prisoner reached his
wife, she was greatly distressed, and, by the advice of her friend,
Baron Reidesel, resolved to visit the American camp, and implore the
favour of a personal attendance upon her husband. On the 9th she sent
a message to Burgoyne by Lord Petersham, his aide-de-camp, asking
permission to depart. 'Though I was ready to believe,' says Burgoyne,
'that patience and fortitude, in a supreme degree, were to be found,
as well as every other virtue, under the most tender forms, I was
astonished at this proposal. After so long an agitation of spirits,
exhausted not only for want of rest, but absolutely want of food,
drenched in rain for twelve hours together, that a woman should be
capable of such an undertaking as delivering herself to an enemy,
probably in the night, and uncertain of what hands she might fall into,
appeared an effort above human nature. The assistance I was able to give
was small indeed. I had not even a cup of wine to offer her. All I could
furnish her with was an open boat, and a few lines, written upon dirty
wet paper, to General Gates, recommending her to his protection.'
The following is a copy of the note sent by Burgoyne to General
Gates:--'Sir,--Lady Harriet Ackland, a lady of the first distinction of
family, rank, and personal virtues, is under such concern on account of
Major Ackland, her husband, wounded and a prisoner in your hands, that
I cannot refuse her request to commit her to your protection. Whatever
general impropriety there may be in persons of my situation and yours to
solicit favours, I cannot see the uncommon perseverance in every female
grace, and the exaltation of character of this lady, and her very hard
fortune, without testifying that your attentions to her will lay me
under obligations. I am, sir, your obedient servant, J. Burgoyne.' She
set out in an open boat upon the Hudson, accompanied by Mr. Brudenell,
the chaplain, Sarah Pollard, her waiting maid, and her husband's valet,
who had been severely wounded while searching for his master upon the
battle-field. It was about sunset when they started, and a violent
storm of rain and wind, which had been increasing since the morning,
rendered the voyage tedious and perilous in the extreme. It was long
after dark when they reached the American out-posts; the sentinel heard
their oars, and hailed them, Lady Harriet returned the answer herself.
The clear, silvery tones of a woman's voice amid the darkness, filled
the soldier on duty with superstitious fear, and he called a comrade
to accompany him to the river bank. The errand of the voyagers was made
known, but the faithful guard, apprehensive of treachery, would not
allow them to laud until they sent for Major Dearborn. They were invited
by that officer to his quarters, where every attention was paid to them,
and Lady Harriet was comforted by the joyful tidings that her husband
was safe. In the morning she experienced parental tenderness from
General Gates who sent her to her husband, at Poor's quarters, under a
suitable escort. There she remained until he was removed to Albany."
Burgoyne now took up his last position on the heights near Saratoga; and
hemmed in by the enemy, who refused any encounter, and baffled in all
his attempts at finding a path of escape, he there lingered until famine
compelled him to capitulate. The fortitude of the British army during
this melancholy period has been justly eulogised by many native
historians, but I prefer quoting the testimony of a foreign writer, as
free from all possibility of partiality. Botta says: [Botta, book viii.]
"It exceeds the power of words to describe the pitiable condition to
which the British army was now reduced. The troops were worn down by a
series of toil, privation, sickness, and desperate fighting. They were
abandoned by the Indians and Canadians; and the effective force of the
whole army was now diminished by repeated and heavy losses, which had
principally fallen on the best soldiers and the most distinguished
officers, from ten thousand combatants to less than one-half that
number. Of this remnant little more than three thousand were English.
"In these circumstances, and thus weakened, they were invested by an
army of four times their own number, whose position extended three parts
of a circle round them; who refused to fight them, as knowing their
weakness, and who, from the nature of the ground, could not be attacked
in any part. In this helpless condition, obliged to be constantly under
arms, while the enemy's cannon played on every part of their camp, and
even the American rifle-balls whistled in many parts of the lines, the
troops of Burgoyne retained their customary firmness, and, while sinking
under a hard necessity, they showed themselves worthy of a better fate.
They could not be reproached with an action or a word, which betrayed a
want of temper or of fortitude."
At length the 13th of October arrived, and as no prospect of assistance
appeared, and the provisions were nearly exhausted, Burgoyne, by the
unanimous advice of a council of war, sent a messenger to the American
camp to treat of a convention.
General Gates in the first instance demanded that the royal army should
surrender prisoners of war. He also proposed that the British should
ground their arms. Burgoyne replied, "This article is inadmissible in
every extremity; sooner than this army will consent to ground their arms
in their encampment, they will rush on the enemy, determined to take no
quarter." After various messages, a convention for the surrender of the
army was settled, which provided that "The troops under General Burgoyne
were to march out of their camp with the honours of war, and the
artillery of the intrenchments, to the verge of the river, where the
arms and artillery were to be left. The arms to be piled by word of
command from their own officers. A free passage was to be granted to the
army under Lieutenant-General Burgoyne to Great Britain, upon condition
of not serving again in North America during the present contest."
The articles of capitulation were settled on the 15th of October: and
on that very evening a messenger arrived from Clinton with an account
of his successes, and with the tidings that part of his force had
penetrated as far as Esopus, within fifty miles of Burgoyne's camp. But
it was too late. The public faith was pledged; and the army was, indeed,
too debilitated by fatigue and hunger to resist an attack if made; and
Gates certainly would have made it, if the convention had been broken
off. Accordingly, on the 17th, the convention of Saratoga was carried
into effect. By this convention 5,790 men surrendered themselves as
prisoners. The sick and wounded left in the camp when the British
retreated to Saratoga, together with the numbers of the British, German,
and Canadian troops, who were killed, wounded, or taken, and who had
deserted in the preceding part of the expedition, were reckoned to be
4,689.
The British sick and wounded who had fallen into the hands of the
Americans after the battle of the 7th, were treated with exemplary
humanity; and when the convention was executed, General Gates showed a
noble delicacy of feeling which deserves the highest degree of honour.
Every circumstance was avoided which could give the appearance of
triumph. The American troops remained within their lines until the
British had piled their arms; and when this was done, the vanquished
officers and soldiers were received with friendly kindness by their
victors, and their immediate wants were promptly and liberally supplied.
Discussions and disputes afterwards arose as to some of the terms of the
convention; and the American Congress refused for a long time to carry
into effect the article which provided for the return of Burgoyne's men
to Europe; but no blame was imputable to General Gates or his army, who
showed themselves to be generous as they had proved themselves to be
brave.
Gates after the victory, immediately despatched Colonel Wilkinson to
carry the happy tidings to Congress. On being introduced into the hall,
he said, "The whole British army has laid down its arms at Saratoga;
our own, full of vigour and courage, expect your order. It is for
your wisdom to decide where the country may still have need for their
service." Honours and rewards were liberally voted by the Congress to
their conquering general and his men; "and it would be difficult" (says
the Italian historian) "to describe the transports of joy which the
news of this event excited among the Americans. They began to flatter
themselves with a still more happy future. No one any longer felt any
doubt about their achieving their independence. All hoped, and with
good reason, that a success of this importance would at length determine
France, and the other European powers that waited for her example, to
declare themselves in favour of America. THERE COULD NO LONGER BE ANY
QUESTION RESPECTING THE FUTURE; SINCE THERE WAS NO LONGER THE RISK OF
ESPOUSING THE CAUSE OF A PEOPLE TOO FEEBLE TO DEFEND THEMSELVES."
The truth of this was soon displayed in the conduct of France. When
the news arrived at Paris of the capture of Ticonderoga, and of the
victorious march of Burgoyne towards Albany, events which seemed
decisive in favour of the English, instructions had been immediately
despatched to Nantz, and the other ports of the kingdom, that no
American privateers should be suffered to enter them, except from
indispensable necessity, as to repair their vessels, to obtain
provisions, or to escape the perils of the sea. The American
commissioners at Paris, in their disgust and despair, had almost
broken off all negotiations with the French government; and they even
endeavoured to open communications with the British ministry. But the
British government, elated with the first successes of Burgoyne, refused
to listen to any overtures for accommodation. But when the news of
Saratoga reached Paris, the whole scene was changed. Franklin and his
brother commissioners found all their difficulties with the French
government vanish. The time seemed to have arrived for the House of
Bourbon to take a full revenge for all its humiliations and losses in
previous wars. In December a treaty was arranged, and formally signed
in the February following, by which France acknowledged the INDEPENDENT
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. This was, of course, tantamount to a
declaration of war with England. Spain soon followed France; and before
long Holland took the same course. Largely aided by French fleets and
troops, the Americans vigorously maintained the war against the armies
which England, in spite of her European foes, continued to send across
the Atlantic. But the struggle was too unequal to be maintained by this
country for many years: and when the treaties of 1783 restored peace
to the world, the independence of the United States was reluctantly
recognized by their ancient parent and recent enemy, England.
SYNOPSIS OF EVENTS BETWEEN THE DEFEAT OF BURGOYNE AT SARATOGA, 1777, AND
THE BATTLE OF VALMY, 1792.
A.D. 1781. Surrender of Lord Cornwallis and the British army to
Washington.
1782. Rodney's victory over the Spanish fleet. Unsuccessful siege of
Gibraltar by the Spaniards and French.
1783. End of the American war.
1788. The States-General are convened in France:--beginning of the
Revolution.