USA > New York > Saratoga County > History of Saratoga County, New York : with historical notes on its various towns > Part 16
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" XIII. These articles are to be mutually signed and exchanged to-morrow morning at nine o'clock, and the troops under Lieutenant General Burgoyne are to march out of their entrenchments at three o'clock in the after- noon.
(Signed) "HORATIO GATES, Maj. Gen. (Signed) "J. BURGOYNE, Lieut. Gen.
"Saratoga, October 16, 1777."
CHAPTER XX.
THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION (Contin- ued -THE BRITISH LAY DOWN THEIR ARMS-WHAT BECAME OF BUR- GOYNE'S ARMY AFTER THE SURREN- DER AT SARATOGA.
I. - THE SURRENDER OF BURGOYNE AND HIS ARMY.
The morning of the 17th of October, 1777, dawned in the old wilderness of the Upper Hudson amid full but fading forest splendors. To the British soldiers at Saratoga, lying on their beds of already fallen leaves, the em- blems of their withered hopes, it was the sad- dest morning of the year. To the Americans it was full of the brightness of their country's opening glory, typified by the crimson and purple tints which were still blazing over all the forest tops.
At nine o'clock General Wilkinson rode over to the British camp and accompanied General Burgoyne to the green in front of old Fort
Hardy, where his army was to lay down their arms. From thence they rode to the margin of the river, which Burgoyne surveyed with attention, and asked if it was fordable. " Cer- tainly, sir," said Wilkinson. "But, do you V observe the people on the opposite shore?" "Yes," replied Burgoyne, " I have seen them too long." "Burgoyne then proposed," con- tinues General Wilkinson, "to be introduced to General Gates, and we crossed the Fishkill and proceeded to headquarters, General Bur- goyne in front, with his adjutant general, Kingston,, and his aides-de-camp, Captain Lord Petersham and Lieutenant Wilford, be- hind him. Then followed Major General Phil- lips, the Baron Riedesel, and the other general officers and their suites, according to rank. Gen- eral Gates, advised of Burgoyne's approach, met him at the head of his camp- Burgoyne in rich royal uniform, and Gates in a plain blue frock coat. When they had approached nearly within sword's length, they reined up and halted. I then," continues Wilkinson, "named the gentlemen, and General Bur- goyne, raising his hat most gracefully, said, ' The fortune of war, General Gates, has made me your prisoner,' to which the conqueror, re- turning a courtly salute, promptly replied, ' I shall always be ready to bear testimony that it has not been through any fault of your ex- cellency.' Major General Phillips then ad- vanced, and he and General Gates saluted and shook hands with the familiarity of old ac- quaintances. The Baron Riedesel and the other officers were introduced in their turn."
The general officers then proceeded to the marqueé of General Gates, where dinner was served. The dinner consisted of only three or four simple dishes of the plain fare common in those days, and was laid upon a table of rough boards stretched across some empty barrels. The marqueé of General Gates was situated near the road leading to Albany, about three- fourths of a mile south of the Fishkill. While the officers were at dinner the whole American army were marched out of their camp, with
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drums beating, and stationed along this road for miles, to view the passage of the now dis- armed British troops on their way to Boston.
Before this conquering army on the field of old Saratoga our own country's flag, the stars and stripes, was first flung to the breeze. The glorious old flag has never waved over a prouder scene than that.
While the American army was forming its victorious lines along the Albany road, another and a different scene was about to be enacted on the green at the verge of the river side, near the ruins of old Fort Hardy.
After the dinner was over in the marquee of General Gates, the two commanding generals walked out of it together. "The American commander faced front," says General Wilkin- son, "and Burgoyne did the same, standing on his left. Not a word was spoken, and for some minutes they stood silently gazing on the scene before them - the one, no doubt, in all the pride of honest success, the other the victim of regret and sensibility. Burgoyne was a large and stoutly framed man ; his coun- tenance was rough and harsh, but he had a handsome figure and a noble air. Gates was a smaller man, with much less of manner and none of the air which distinguished Burgoyne. Presently, as by a previous understanding, General Burgoyne stepped back, drew his sword, and, in the face of the two armies, as it were, presented it to General Gates, who re- ceived it and instantly returned it in the most courteous manner."
By this time three o'clock in the afternoon had come, and what was left of the British army was marched to the green on the verge of the river, where, out of view of the Ameri- can lines, at the command of their own officers, they piled their arms. "Many a voice, " says De Fonblanque, "that had rung in tones of authority and encouragement above the din of battle, now faltered ; many an eye that had unflinchingly met the hostile ranks, now filled with tears. Young soldiers, who had borne
privation and suffering without a murmur, stood abashed and overcome with sorrow and shame; bearded veterans, for whom danger and death had no terrors, sobbed like children, as for the last time they grasped the weapons they had borne with honor on many a battle- field."
But this was but a remnant of the once proud army which, so full of hope in the early summer, had crossed the Canadian frontier. In killed and wounded they had lost eleven hundred and sixty, of whom seventy-three were officers. The number who now laid down their arms did not exceed three thous- sand five hundred, officers and men, of whom sixteen hundred were Germans.
In this procession of conquered men the poor Hessians cut a sorry figure. They were extremely dirty in their persons, their ponder- ous caps being heavier than the whole accoutre- ment of a British soldier. They had with them a large number of women, who to the Ameri- cans appeared oddly dressed and gipsy fea- tured. They had with them a large collection of wild animals which they had caught on their way through the wilderness. Young foxes peered slyly out from the top of a baggage wagon, and young raccoons from the arms of riflemen. A grenadier was here seen leading a lightly-tripping deer, and a stout artilleryman playing with a black bear.
After the army of Burgoyne had piled their arms they were again formed into line, the light infantry in front, and escorted by a com- pany of American light dragoons, headed by two mounted officers bearing the stars and stripes, they marched across the Fishkill, and through the long lines of American soldiers posted along the road to Albany, the band playing "Yankee Doodle."
The long agony was over; the British sol- diers were on their way to Boston, prisoners of war, bivouacking the first night of their captivity on their old camping ground at Wil- bur's Basin, near the grave of General Frasier.
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THE RESULT OF THE BATTLES.
Of the result of the battles of Freeman's farm, at Bemus Heights, and the surrender of Burgoyne and his army at old Saratoga, enough has already been written, and they are sufficiently familiar to the American reader. The last was the closing scene of the last act of one of the world's great dramas which change forever the destinies of nations.
The defeat of Burgoyne and the surrender of his army assured the independence of the American colonies and changed the destinies of the world. Henry Hallan, author of the celebrated work entitled, "View of the State of Europe During the Middle Ages," defines decisive battles as " those battles of which a contrary event would have essentially varied the drama of the world in all of its subsequent scenes." Following this idea, E. S. Creasy, professor of history in the University college of. London, has selected fifteen battles, begin- ning with Marathan and ending with Water- loo, as the only ones coming within the defin- ition of Mr. Hallan. Among the fifteen he names Saratoga.
The scenes of this great encounter remained until the hundredth anniversary of the surren- der without a slab or stone to mark the spot: On that day, the 17th of October, 1877, the corner-stone of a monument was laid, amid a vast concourse of people, of which some ac- count is given elsewhere in this volume. This monument has since been erected and nearly completed, and now rears its tall shaft, in gran- deur and beauty, upon the heights of old Sar- atoga. Its summit overlooks the whole valley of the upper Hudson, in its broadly undulating sweep of low wooded hills and shining waters, surrounded by lofty mountain ranges, the fair- est land in all the world.
To this monument there are entrances on four sides, flanked by poli hed granite pillars, with carved capitals. Over each entrance is an arched niche. Three of these niches con- tain bronze statues respectively of Schuyler,.
Gates and Morgan. The fourth niche is in- scribed " Arnold," but is to be forever empty.
Alas ! that the hero of the battles of Sara- toga should have become infamous as the arch- traitor to his country.
II .- THE "CONVENTION TROOPS " AFTER THE SURRENDER.
Historical students have complained that our local histories, almost without exception, stop short in their narrative with the surren- der of the British army at Saratoga, and thus leave the reader in the dark as to what befell the "convention troops," as they were called, while prisoners of war. This omission we shall here attempt to supply.
It has been stated above that the convention troops, as prisoners of war, encamped the first night of their captivity at Wilbur's Basin, near where, a few days before, they had halted in their retreat to bury General Frasier. Two miles below Wilbur's Basin, at the foot of Bemus Heights, the Americans had built a bridge across the Hudson to be used for their own retreat into New England in case of dis- aster. The Americans now had the satisfac- tion of leading the British across this bridge as prisoners to the east side of the river. Then, under guard of General Clover, they took up their long march over the Berkshire hills, across the valley of the Connecticut river, and thence over the further mountain ranges to Boston, where they arrived about the 6th day of November.
The British were put in barracks on Pros- pect Hill and the Hessians on Winter Hill. The officers were quartered at Cambridge.
Complaint was soon made by the prisoners in regard to the character and insufficiency of the accommodations. General Heath, the commander of the Eastern division of the American army, applied to the council of Mas- sachusetts for leave for them to occupy one of the college buildings, but was refused.
It may truthfully be said that the British
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prisoners at Boston had better accommoda- tions than the American army had the same winter at Valley Forge.
According to Article II. of the Convention of Saratoga, a free passage to Great Britain was granted to the army under Lieutenant General Burgoyne on condition of not serving again in the armies in America during the pre- vailing contest, and the port of Boston was designated as the place where transports might be permitted to land and receive them when ordered by General Howe.
This article was never carried out by the American Congress, and much bitter feeling and controversy ensued in consequence of this act of what the British called bad faith on the part of the Americans.
"Shortly after the arrival of the Convention troops in Boston, General Burgoyne urged the fulfillment of this article. The American authorities delayed action, and General Bur- goyne became more urgent.
The American Congress justified its action in the matter by the adoption of the following resolutions on the 8th day of January, 1778, the same having been reported by a commit- tee appointed to consider the matter, of which Francis Lightfoot Lee was chairman:
" Resolved, That as many of the cartouch boxes, and several other articles of military accoutrements, annexed to the persons of the non-commissioned officers and soldiers included in the Convention of Saratoga have not been delivered up, the Convention on the part of the British army has not been strictly complied with.
" Resolved, That the refusal of Lieutenant General Burgoyne to give descriptive lists of non-commissioned officers and privates belonging to his army subsequent to his declaration that the 'public faith was broke' is considered by Congress in an alarming point of view; since a compliance with the resolution of congress could only have been prejudicial to the army in case of an in- fraction of the convention on their part.
" Resolved, That the charge made by Lieutenant Gen- eral Burgoyne in his letter to Major General Gates, of the 14th of November, of a breach of the public faith on the part of these States is not warranted by the just construction of any article of the Convention of Sara- toga; that it is a strong indication of his intention and affords just grounds of fear that he will avail himself of 8
such pretended breach of the convention in order to dis- engage himself and the army with him of the obligations they are under to these United States, and that the se- curity which these States have laid in his personal honor is thereby destroyed.
" Resolved, therefore, That the embarkation of Lieu- . tenant General Burgoyne and the troops under his command be suspended till a distinct and explicit ratifi- cation of the Convention of Saratoga shall be properly notified by the Court of Great Britain to Congress."
In pursuance of this action of Congress the embarkation of the Convention troops was forbidden, and the transports ordered away.
Finally the Convention troops were ordered to Charlottesville, Virginia, where they arrived in January, 1779, and where they remained as prisoners until after the war. The officers were mostly paroled or exchanged and went to England.
CHAPTER XXI.
THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION (Con- cluded )-THE RAID UPON BALLSTON IN 1780-JOE BETTYS, THE SARATOGA COUNTY SPY.
I .- THE BALLSTON RAID.
During all the spring and summer months, and late into the autumn of the year 1780, the exposed frontier settlements of the northern valley of the Hudson were kept, by the threat- ening aspect of the enemy, in a state of con- tinued anxiety and alarm. Nor were their apprehensions groundless. Yet the operations of the British during the spring and summer were mostly confined to the valley of the Mo- hawk. But in the autumn the blow fell upon the valley of the Upper Hudson, and Saratoga county was again invaded by the enemy in force, in what is known in history as the "Northern Invasion " of that year.
This invasion was intended by the British authorities to be of considerable import. It was hoped that with some aid from Canadian militia, assisted by the Indians, the many dis- affected persons still left in the valleys of the
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Hudson and Mohawk would join the royal cause, and, in the absence of so many fighting men in other fields remote from their homes, much might be done toward bringing back the country to its allegiance. At this time also negotiations were going on between the British authorities in Canada and some dis- affected persons in the Hampshire grants, now Vermont, with the view of their returning to their allegiance to the royal cause, and it was thought that the display of a large mili- tary force on Lake Champlain by the British would aid that enterprise.
With these objects in view, in the early part of October, of 1780, an expedition numbering about one thousand men was sent from Can- ada, by way of Lake Champlain, under com- mand of Major Carleton. Arriving at Bul- wagga bay, which forms the west shore of Crown Point, they landed the two hundred men there which formed the Ballston party. This detachment was made up in part of Sir John Johnson's corps, partly of some rangers, among whom were some refugees from the Ballston settlement, and partly of some Mo- hawk Indians, headed by their war-chief, " Cap- tain John." This motley company was under the command of Captain Monro, who had, before the war, been a trader at Schenectady, and had had much to do with the early settle- ment of Saratoga county.
The object of this part of the expedition was to attack Schenectady, but if that experi- ment, upon reconnoitering, should be deemed hazardous, then to make a descent upon the Ballston settlement. The orders to Monro were to plunder, destroy property and take prisoners, but not to kill unless attacked or resisted, or to prevent escapes.
After landing at Bulwagga bay, the party under Monro took the old Indian trail which led down through the eastern part of the old Adirondack wilderness, in the valley of the Schroon river, past the foot of Crane's moun- tain, and crossing the Sacondaga, passed through Greenfield into the northwest corner
of what is now the town of Milton, where they encamped and remained several days. While here they remained concealed in the forest, no one in the neighborhood dreaming of their presence except some tories, to whom they made themselves known, and who sup- plied them with provisions. Having learned through their scouts that it would be unsafe to make an attempt on Schenectady, and that the "fort" in Ballston had just been garri- soned by about two hundred militiamen, chiefly from the former place, they concluded to advance no farther than Colonel Gordon's.
The "fort," as it was called, stood on the southwest corner of the square, at the red meeting-house, which was then nearly com- pleted. The fort was constructed of oak logs, with loop-holes for musketry, and surrounded with pickets.
The massacre at Cherry Valley, and the more recent barbarities in the Mohawk valley, had excited the worst apprehensions of the Ballston inhabitants, who had for two or three months previous been expecting an invasion of the enemy. Some of them had frequently abandoned their dwellings at night, taking with them their most valuable effects, and lodged in the woods; but as no danger ap- peared their vigilance relaxed, and they slept in their dwellings.
Col. James Gordon, then the commanding officer of a regiment of militia, arrived home October 13th from Poughkeepsie, where he had attended, as a member of the Legislature, at an extra session convened by Governor Clin- ton, which adjourned October 10th. His resi- dence was on the Middle Line road, upon the farm now owned by Henry Wiswall, jr., and his capture was deemed of considerable im- portance. Some of the escaped Tories who had been brought back by him three years provious, had not forgiven him, and one of them in communication with Monro, in- formed him of Gordon's arrival. In the even- ing of October 16th the enemy came to a halt at the dwelling of one James McDonald, a
.
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Tory living at the first four corners west of what has since been known as the Courthouse hill. McDonald piloted the party through the woods to the rear of Gordon's house. Gordon was awakened by the breaking of the windows of his sleeping room by bayonets thrust through them. He sprang from his bed, in which were his wife and little daugh- ter, and partly dressing himself went into the hall, which was by this time filled with the enemy. As he opened the door a gigantic savage raised his tomahawk, and as the blow was descending upon Gordon's head the arm of the savage was caught by an officer. At this moment the brass clock, which stood in the corner of the hall, struck twelve, where- upon an Indian shattered it into pieces with his tomahawk, exclaiming, " You never speak again!" A scene of indiscriminate plunder then ensued, which was chiefly carried on by the squaws who accompanied the party, and were the most heavily laden with the spoils. The Indians attempted to fire the house and barn, but were prevented. Beside Gordon, Jack Galbraith and John Parlow, servants, and Nero, Jacob and Ann, three negro slaves, were carried off as prisoners.
As they proceeded toward the main road, where Gordon's miller, Isaac Stow, lived, he came running towards them, exclaiming "Col- onel Gordon, save yourself ! the Indians ! " He turned and ran a short distance, when he was intercepted by an Indian, who pierced h'm in the side with his spontoon, and Stow fell. The Indian then dispatched him with his tomahawk and took off his scalp.
In the meantime a party had proceeded to the house of Captain Collins, across the Mourning Kill .. They broke open his door and captured him and his female slave. His son, Manasseh, escaped through an upper windo .v, and ran to the fort a mile and a half distant, and gave the alarm. The enemy then proceeded up the Middle Line road and made prisoners of Thomas Barnum, John Davis, Elisha Benedict and his three sons - Caleb,
Elias, and Felix,- and Dublin, his slave,- Edward A. Watrous, Paul Pierson and his son John, a boy, John Higby and his son Lewis, George Kennedy, Jabez Patchen, Jo- siah Hollister, Ebenezer Sprague and his sons John and Elijah, Thomas Kennedy, Enoch Wood, and one Pelmetier, living near what is now known as Milton Centre, and who was the last one taken. But one man lived north of Pelmetier. Being a Tory he was not molested. Several houses and barns were burned.
Between Higby's and George Kennedy's, about fifty under the command of Lieutenant Frazer, a refugee from the vicinity of Burnt Hills, left the main body and advanced to the dwelling of Gcorge Scott. Aroused from sleep by the violent barking of his watch dog, he, with his musket in his hand, opened the door and saw the column advancing in the moonlight. He heard some one exclaim, "Scott, throw down your gun, or you are a dead man!" Not hastening to obey, he was felled to the floor by three tomahawks simulta- neously thrown at him by Indians of the party, who rushed up to take his scalp. They were prevented by Frazer and Sergeant Spring- steed, another refugee, and formerly Scott's hired man, who, with their swords, kept the savages at bay. The party pillaged the house, and left Scott, as they believed, in a dying condition,-so they informed Colonel Gor- don, his brother-in-law, but he recovered.
The enemy crossed the Kayadrossera, at what is now Milton Centre, about daylight, and soon made a halt. Each prisoner was placed between two of the enemy in Indian file. Their hands were tied, some of them were barefooted, and most of them but partly dressed. George Kennedy was lame from a cut in his foot, and had no clothing but a sheet. Munro thereupon addressed his men. He said he expected they would be pursued, and that on discovering the first sign of pur- suit, even the firing of a gun, each man must kill his prisoner. In this order the march was resumed; the prisoners expecting that the
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troops from the fort would overtake them, and that each moment would be their last. Another source of apprehension was that some Indian would fall back and fire his gun for the purpose of having the order carried into exe- cution,-a reward for scalps having been offered. For this inhuman order, Munro was afterward dismissed from the service.
The first man in front of Gordon was a Brit- ish regular, a German, who was next behind Captain Collins and had charge of him. Gor- don was the prisoner of a ferocious savage immediately in his rear. He heard the soldier say to Captain Collins, "I have been through the late war in Europe, and in many battles, but I never before have heard such a bloody order as this. I can kill in the heat of bat- tle, but not in cold blood. You need not fear me, for I will not obey the order. But the Indian in charge of Gordon is thirsting for his blood, and the moment a gun is fired Gordon is a dead man."
On arriving at the foot of the Kayaderossera mountain they halted for breakfast, and slaugh- tered the sheep and cattle which they had driven along on their retreat. In the after- noon they struck the trail up the mountain by which they had descended, and halted for the night about two miles beyond Lake Desolation. Monro here discharged Ebenezer Sprague and Paul Pierson, both old men, together with John Pierson and George Kennedy. Gordon had privately, by some means, sent back a message, advising that all attempts at a rescue should be abandoned. The messenger met Capt. Stephen Ball with a detachment of mili- tia from the fort, at what since has been known as Milton meeting house, and they returned. The enemy with their prisoners, on the 24th day of October, arrived at Bulwagga bay, and there joining Carleton's party they all pro- ceeded down the lake to St. John's and thence to Montreal. The prisoners were lodged in the Recollet convent, and afterwards confined in a jail. Gordon was bailed in the sum of three thousand pounds by James Ellice, with
whom he had formerly been connected in busi- ness in Schenectady. After a few months, for what reason he never knew, he, alone of all the prisoners, was removed to Quebec and kept there in prison for about two years, when he was transferred to the Isle of Orleans.
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