_General Fraser_ (Vol. viii., p. 586.).--Simon Fraser, Lieut.-Colonel, 24th
Regiment, and Brigadier-General was second in command under Burgoyne when
he advanced from Canada to New York with 7000 men in 1777. He fell at
Stillwater, a short time before the surrender of Burgoyne at Saratoga. He
was struck by a shot from a tree, as he was advancing at the head of his
troops; and died of his wound October 7, 1777. He was buried, as he had
desired, in the redoubt on the field, in the front of the American army
commanded by General Gates. During his interment, the incessant cannonade
of the enemy covered with dust the chaplain and the officers who assisted
in performing the last duties to his remains, they being within view of the
greatest part of both armies. An impression long prevailed among the
officers of Burgoyne's army, that if Fraser had lived, the issue of the
campaign, and of the whole war, would have been very different from what it
was. Burgoyne is said to have shed tears at his death. General Fraser's
regiment had been employed under Wolfe in ascending the Heights of Abraham,
Sept. 12, 1759; where, both before and after the fall of Wolfe, the
Highlanders rendered very efficient service. His regiment was also engaged
with three others under Murray at the battle of Quebec in 1760. Some
incidental mention of General Fraser will be found in Cannon's _History of
the 31st Regiment_, published by Furnivall, 30. Whitehall; but I am not
aware of any memoirs or life of him having been published.