USA > New York > The natural, statistical, and civil history of the state of New-York, v. 3 > Part 19
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39
-
203
STATE OF, NEW-YORK.
.
horseback, and accompanied the Indians to the spring, where they were met by other Indians sent on the same errand. A dispute arose between them as to the reward, (which was a bar- rel of rum) and while thus engaged in the dispute, they were at- tacked by some Americans. At the close of the conflict, the unfortunate young lady was found, a short distance from the spring, tommahawked and scalped.
But there were other causes of still greater influence in pro- ducing the events, which afterwards took place. The last re- inforcements of continental troops arrived in camp about this time, and added both courage and strength to the army. The harvest, which had operaied powerfully in detaining the militia upon their farms, was entirely over; and General Schuyler, whose continued and eminent services had not exempted him from the imputation of being a traitor, was succeeded by Gene- ral Gates.
When General Schuyler was directed by Congress to resume the command of the northern department, General Gates had withdrawn himself from it; and now, when General Schuyler had repaired the losses occasioned by the precipitate and badly conducted retreat of General St. Clair, and placed the army in a situation to conquer, General Gates superseded him. This happened on the twenty-first of August. and after the defeat of Colonel Baum, and the day before Colonel St. Leger raised the siege of Fort Stanwix, the two events which led to the defeat and capture of Burgoyne's army. It was at this particular crisis that General Schuyler was deprived of the command. His removal appears to have been unjust and severe, and can- not be justified on any other ground than, perhaps, public poli- cy. A popular clamour had been very unmeritedly raised against him, in consequence of the unfortunate retreat of St. Clair, and by rival candidates for the command of this army ; and it will appear in the sequel, that General Gates had no small share in these rivalships.
General Burgoyne, notwithstanding his disasters at Benning- ton and Fort Stanwix, evinced no disposition to relinquish the
1
1
204
HISTORY OF THE
enterprise. Led on by fate, he still cherished the hope of being able to accomplish the object of the campaign, and resolved to persevere in his endeavours to execute the plan which had been formed by the cabinet of St. James.
But it was now necessary for him to have recourse to his ori- ginal slow and toilsome mode of obtaining supplies from Fort George, and to this object he applied with unremitting indus- try. Having, with great care and with persevering labour, collected in advance, provisions for thirty days, and thrown a bridge of boats over the Hudson, that made of rafts being car- ried away by a swell of the river, he crossed on the thirteenth and fourteenth of September, and encamped on the flats and heights of Saratoga, with the determination of deciding, in a general engagement, the fate of the expedition.
General Gates, who was now joined by all the continental troops destined for the northern department, and reinforced by very strong corps of militia, had left his camp at Halfmoon, and advanced towards the enemy as far as Stillwater.
The bridges between the two armies, which had been broken down by General Schuyler, required to be repaired. The roads were excessively bad, and the country, except along the banks of the river, covered with woods. Hence, the progress of the British army down the river was very slow, and attended with some skirmishing, in which, however, no great loss was sus- tained on either side. On the night of the seventeenth, General Burgoyne encamped within four miles of the American army, and the next day was employed in repairing the bridges between the two camps.
This was effected with some loss, and about noon of the nineteenth, General Gates was informed, that the enemy was advancing in full force on his left, where General Arnold com- manded.
About one o'clock, some of the American scouting parties fell in with those of the British, and began the attack with great animation. The firing was no sooner heard, than the ad- vanced parties of both armies moved on, and being supported
-
1
205
STATE OF NEW-YORK.
and reinforced by their respective commanders, the battle soon became fierce and obstinate ; the Americans aiming not to re- ceive, but to commence the attacks. From the nature of the ground, the American generals were unable to perceive the different combinations of the march of the enemy ; and their first attempt was to turn the right wing of the British army. The strong position of General Frazer prevented their being able to execute this design. They next moved in a very regu- lar order, and made a furious attack upon the right of the left wing. The battle was now become general with the whole of the right wing of the British army, and both armies appeared determined to conquer. Reinforcements were continually brought up, and about four o'clock, General Arnold, with nine continental regiments, and Morgan's rifle corps, was completely engaged with the enemy's right wing. A continued fire was kept for three hours, without any intermission. The Americans and the British were alternately driven, and drove each other. Several pieces of cannon were taken and retaken several times. On both sides the action was maintained with a resolution and steadiness which nothing could exceed, and the approach of darkness alone, put an end to this terrible contest. The Bri- tish remained on the field under arms all night, but the Ameri- cans withdrew to their camp. . ,
Severe and indecisive as the battle had been, the advanta- ges which attended it were wholly on the side of. the Anu :i- cans. The British lost upwards of five hundred men, in killed, wounded and prisoners ; while that on the part of the Ameri- cans, did not exceed three hundred and fifty, or four hundred men. Among the killed, on the side of the Americans, may be enumerated, Colonels Colburn and Adams.
Each army claimed the victory, and each believed itself to have beaten, with only part of its force, nearly the whole of the other side. In a conflict which lasted nearly half of the day, the Americans were fully equal to the enemy. In every quar- ter they had been the assailants, and after the longest and severest conflict which had been fought since the commence- ment of the war, they had not lost a foot of ground. They
.
1
1
.206.
HISTORY OF THE
had not been driven from the field, but withdrew at the close of the day to their camp. Their object, which had been to check the enemy advancing upon them, was accomplished. In the present state of things, to fight without being beaten on their part, was almost equal to victory ; while on the part of the enemy, to fight without gaining, was almost tantamount to a defeat. The Indians, who found themselves vanquished in the woods by Colonel Morgan's riflemen, and restrained by General Bur- 1 goyne in scalping and plundering the unarmed ; and who saw before them the prospect of a great deal of hard fighting, with- out much profit, grew tired of the service, aud deserted in great numbers. The Canadians, who had been dragged out against their inclination, and the provincials who had volunteered their services against their country, were not much more faithful; and it was soon perceived, that the hopes of the British general must rest almost entirely on his European troops.
With much reason, therefore, this action was celebrated throughout the United States as a victory, and considered as the forerunner of the utter ruin of the British army.
Every where the militia were stimulated to arms and to action, in order to finish the work already begun.
The next day intelligence was received from the north, which tended still further to raise the spirits of the army. It has al- ready been mentioned, that General Lincoln had been sent to form the militia, as they came up from the northwestern parts of New England, in the rear of the enemy, and that Mount Inde- pendence and Ticonderoga were comprehended in his plan of operations. He had assembled a considerable force at Man- chester in Vermont, from whence he marched to Pawlet, a small village on a river of that name, which falls into Wood Creek off Lake Champlain.
Here, he divided his troops into three parties, of about five hundred men each, and detached Colonel Brown at the head of one of them to the north end of Lake George, principally to relieve a number of prisoners, who were confined there, but with orders to push his success, if he should be fortunate, as far as prudence would admit. Colonel Johnson, at the head of
₹
-
207
1 STATE OF NEW-YORK.
1
another party, marched' towards Mount Independence ; and Colonel Woodbury, with a third, proceeded to Skeensborough, to cover the retreat of both the others. With the residue of the militia, General Lincoln set out to join General Gates.
1
After marching all night, Colonel Brown arrived about break of day, on the north end of the lake, where he fell in with a small post, which he carried without opposition. The enemy were completely surprised, and he took possession of Mount Defiance, Mount Hope, the old French lines, the landing, and about two hundred batteaux. One hundred American prison- ers were liberated, and two hundred and ninety-three of the enemy were captured, with the loss of only three killed and five wounded.
The attempt on Ticonderoga and Mount Independence fail- ed. The garrisons refused to surrender, and, when attacked, repulsed the assailants. The militia, on their return through Lake George with the vessels which they had captured, made an attack on Diamond Island, which General Burgoyne, on crossing to the Hudson, had made the depot of all the stores col- lected at the south end of the lake, that being a place of greater security than Fort George, but they were driven away with some loss.
The day after the battle near Stillwater, General Burgoyne, who took a position almost within cannon- shot of the American camp, fortified his right and extended his left to the extremity of the river hills, so as to cover the meadow through which the river runs, in which his batteaux and hospital were placed. For greater security, two European regiments, and a corps of provincials, were encamped in the meadow. Immediately after, he received a letter from Sir Henry Clinton, informing him, that about the twentieth of September, he should attack Fort Montgomery. The bearer of the letter was sent back by Ge- neral Burgoyne, to Sir Henry Clinton, with information of, the pressing necessity of the army for aid, and that he should en- deavour to wait for it, until the twelfth of October.
The American army, whose numbers increased daily, con- finued on its old ground. The right, which extended to the
.
208
HISTORY OF THE
river,had been rendered inexpugnable, and the greatest indus. try was used to strengthen the left.
Both armies retained their position until the seventh of Oc- tober-Burgoyne, in the hope of being relieved by Sir Henry Clinton and Gates, in the hope of growing stronger every day, and of rendering the destruction of his enemy more certain .- No foraging parties could be made by the British army, with- out large detachments to cover them.
In the mean time, General Lincoln, on the twenty-ninth of September, joined General Gates, with two thousand militia.
General Burgoyne was now much apprehensive of increasing difficulties and dangers; his own provisions were rapidly de- creasing, and large additions were every day made to the Ame- rican army. In the beginning of October, he ventured on a measure, which could no longer be avoided, a diminution of the soldiers' rations ; disagreeable as such a measure always is to an army, it was submitted to without murmurs. Things remained in this situation, till the seventh of October, and no intelligence arrived of the expected assistance from Sir Henry Clinton ; and the time was nearly expired, in which it was pos- sible for the army to remain in its present camp or situation .- No other expedient appeared, but to make a movement of the British army, to the left of the Americans. This might serve to cover a forage of the army, which was now much distressed by scarcity ; to discover whether it was possible to force a pas- sage if it should be necessary to advance ; or to intimidate the Americans, if it should be judged best to retreat.
On October the seventh, a detachment of the British army," consisting of fifteen hundred men, with two howitzers, two twelve- pounders and six six-pounders, were put in motion. This de- tachment was commanded by General Burgoyne in person, aided by Major-generals Phillips and Reidesel, and Brigadier- general Frazer. No better generals, or troops were at that time to be found in the British service. The defence of the camp, on the high grounds. was assigned to Brigadier-generals Hamilton and Speight ; and that of the redoubts and plain, near the river, to Brigadier general Gall. The force of the
-
1
STATE OF NEW-YORK ..
1 209
Americans, in the front, was supposed to be so much superior that it was not judged safe to augment the detachment to a greater number. The right wing of the British army was form-' ed within three-quarters of a mile of the left of the American camp ; and a corps of rangers, provincials and Indians, was push- ed un through secret paths, to appear as a check on their rear.
General Gates soon received intelligence of the march of the royal army, and immediately put his troops in motion. About four o'clock in the afternoon, the American column approached the royal detachment, and was fired upon by the twelve and six-pounders. Disregarding the fire, they drew up along the skirts of the wood, amidst the trees, about two hundred yards distant from the British artillery. No sooner were they formed than they made a very sudden and rapid attack upon the British grenadiers, who were posted to support the left wing of the line. Major Ackland, at the head of the grenadiers, sustained this impetuous assault with great resolution; but more regiments arriving, the Americans extended their attack along the whole front of the Germans, who were posted immediately on the right of the British grenadiers. In this situation it became impossible to move any part of the German troops, to form a second line, to support the flank ; where the weight of the fire became irresistible.
In the mean time, General Arnold pressed hard on the right, under Burgoyne, which, with great difficulty, and with the loss of the field-pieces, and a great part of the artillery corps, made good its retreat to the camp. The Americans followed close in their rear, and under a tremendous fire of grape-shot and musketry, assaulted the works throughout their whole extent, from right to left. Towards the close, a part of the left forced the intrenchments, and General Arnold, with a few men, actually entered the works; but his horse was killed under him, and he was himself very badly wounded. Those who had entered the lines with him, were forced out of them; and it being now nearly dark, they desisted from the attack.
The left of Arnold's detachment, under the command of Lieutenant-colonel Brooks, was still more successful, for it VOL. III. 27
-
210
HISTORY OF THE
turned the right of the enemy's encampment, and stormed the works occupied by the German reserve. Lieutenant-colonel Breyman, who commanded in them, was killed, and the works were carried with less difficulty than the assailants had expected. 'The orders given by Burgoyne, to recover them, were not ex- ecuted, and Brooks maintained the ground he had gained.
Darkness, as in the engagement of the nineteenth of October, put an end to the action; and the Americans Jay all night with their arms in their hands, about half a mile from the lines, ready to renew the assault next day. The advantage they had now gained was decisive. They had taken several pieces of ar- tillery, killed a great number of the enemy, made upwards of two hundred prisoners, among whom were several officers of distinction ; and penetrated their lines in a part which exposed their rear to considerable danger. In this action, the British general, Frazer, was mortally wounded.
In the course of the night Burgoyne changed his position, and drew his army into the camp, on the heights, extending his rear up the river. This movement extricated him from im- minent danger of being attacked with the return of the day.
General Gates perceiving the strength of Burgoyne's new position, did not deem it advisable to hazard another action, in as much as he plainly foresaw it would be impossible for the enemy to subsist many days without either defeating his army, or effecting their retreat to Lakes George and Champlain, both of which, he considered impossible. In order to prevent the enemy from retreating, and compel him to surrender, he de- tached a large body of troops to operate on the enemy's rear. These crossed the Hudson, and took post on the east side of the river, and at the fords.
This movement compelled Burgoyne again to change his position. To prevent the road in his rear, being entirely clos- ed upon him, it was necessary to retire immediately to Sara- toga. The retreat was commenced about nine o'clock at night, and was effected with the loss of his hospital, containing about three hundred sick, and of several batteaux, laden with pro- visions and baggage.
-
1
1
211
STATE OF NEW-YORK.
A heavy rain retarded the retreat of the enemy so much, that Fish Creek was not crossed until the morning of the tenth. On reaching the ground which he had intended to occupy, he ' found a strong corps of the Americans already intrenched on the opposite side of the river, prepared to dispute the passage.
When the rain ceased, General Gates put his army in motion, and began the pursuit ; but he was retarded considerably in consequence of having to re-build several bridges, while on his .
way, that had been destroyed by the enemy.
From his camp, at Fish Creek, Burgoyne detached a com- pany of artificers, under a strong escort, consisting of a regi- ment of regulars, the marksmen and corps of provincials, to repair the road leading to Fort Edward, and re-build the bridges, to the end, that he might be enabled to continue his re- treat, and thus obviate the alternative of surrendering himself and his army.
The regulars and provincials accompanying the artificers, had proceeded but a short way, when the Americans ap- peared in force, on the heights, on the south side of Fish Creek, and made dispositions which excited the apprehension of an in- tention to cross that stream, and attack them. 'T'he regulars, escorting the artificers, were immediately recalled, and the provincials being attacked, fled on the first fire.
No hope of repairing the road now remained, and of conse- quence, it was impossible to move the baggage and artillery of the army.
About the same time, the boats containing the provisions, were found so much exposed in the river, the opposite shore of which being lined with the Americans, that it was deemed in- dispensible, for the safety of the small stock on hand, to land and convey it into the camp.
The British army was now nearly surrounded by a superior force. No means remained of extricating it from difficulties and dangers which were daily accumulating, other than by fording the river on the opposite bank, of which a formidable body of troops was already posted in order to dispute the pas- sage, and then retreat to the heads of Lakes Champlain and
-
1
1
.
212
HISTORY OF THE
. George, on roads impassable to wagons, with an army flushed with victory, pressing on the rear. The desperate condition of the affairs of the enemy was fully understood by General Gates. He thought it not improbable that Burgoyne, after abandoning all his artillery and baggage, might attempt a re- treat by night. To deprive the enemy of this last resource, a part of the troops, on the east side of the Hudson, was ordered higher up to guard the upper fords, and in the event of their being attempted, to defend their passage, until the arrival of the army. In addition to this precaution, an intrenched camp, fur- nished with artillery, was formed on the high grounds, between Forts Edward and George.
General Gates was not mistaken in supposing that the enemy would resort to this as their last refuge. In a council of gene- ral officers, called to deliberate on their situation, the resolution was taken to abandon every thing but their arms, and a suffi- cient quantity of provisions to support them until they should reach' Fort George, which might be carried on their backs ; and by a forced march in the night, up the Hudson, to extricate themselves from their perilous condition.
This desperate resolution being taken, scouts were sent out to examine the route, who returned with information that those fords were already guarded by strong. bodies of Americans. This plan of retreating was, therefore, abandoned as impracti- cable.
General Burgoyne caused an account to be made of the pro- visions on hand, when it was found that only a supply for three days remained in store. Nothing could be more hopeless than The present condition of the British army.
A treaty was opened by Burgoyne with General Gates, stating a willingness to spare the further effusion of blood, provided a negotiation could be effected on honourable terms.
This proposition was answered, by a demand on the part of General Gates, that the whole army should ground their arms in their encampment, and surrender themselves prisoners of war. This demand was rejected, with a declaration, that if General Gates designed to insist on it, the negotiation must in-
1
-
-
213.
STATE OF NEW-YORK.
mediately break off, and hostilities recommence. On receiving this decided answer, the rigorous terms proposed were rescind- ed, and a convention was signed, by which it was agreed, that the British army, after marching out of their encampment with all the honours of war, should lay down their arms, and not serve against the United States, until exchanged. They were allowed to proceed directly to the sea-coast, where they em- barked for Great Britain.
The following sketch is taken from the memoirs of General Wilkinson, who was then an aid to General Gates. It shows the positions of the American and British armies, and may be read to advantage with the preceding, in as much as it gives ideas and views not elsewhere to be found.
" On the eighteenth of September, General Burgoyne moved his army forward, and encamped in two lines, about two miles from General Gates ; his left on the Hudson, and his right ex- tending at right angles to it, across the low grounds, about six hundred yards, to a range of steep and lofty heights, occupied by his elite, having a creek or gully in his front, made by a rivulet, which issued from a great ravine formed by the hills, which ran in a direction nearly parallel to the river, until within half a mile of the American camp.
. " General Gates' right occupied the brow of the hill near the Hudson, with which it was connected by a deep intrenchment ; his camp, in the form of a sedgement of a great circle, the convex towards the enemy, extended rather obliquely to his rear, about three-fourths of a mile, to a knoll occupied by his left ; his front was covered from the right to the left of the centre by a sharp ravine, running parallel with his line, and closely wooded ; from thence to the knoll at his extreme left, the ground was level and had been partially cleared, some of the trees being felled and others girdled, beyond which, in front of his. left flank, and extending to the cuemy's right, there were several small fields in very jmperfect cultivation, the surface broken and obstructed with stumps and fallen timber, and the whole bounded on the west by a steep eminence. The extremities of this camp were defended by strong batteries, and the interval
.
214
HISTORY OF THE
was strengthened by a breast-work, without intrenchments, con- structed of the bodies of felled trees, logs, and rails, with an additional battery at an opening on the left of the centre. The right was almost impracticable, the left difficult of ap- proach."
Wilkinson describes the defences of this position, as they ap- peared about the fourth of October.
-
" The intermediate space between the adverse armies on the low grounds of the river, was open and in cultivation ; the high land was clothed in its native woods, with the exception of three or four small, newly opened and deserted farms, separated by intervals of woodland, and bordering on the flanks of the two armies most remote from the river ; the principal of these was an oblong field, belonging to a person of the name of Freeman ; there was also, exclusive of the ravines fronting the respective camps, a third ravine, about midway between them, running at right angles to the river. The intervening forest rendered it utterly impracticable to obtain a front view of the American position, or any part of the British, except its left, near the river.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.