0 lop re vj ma i m ii i sw i w a w y ay iy i ftc 3 te BI IR m t mm 76 1 iw i j i 1 A vh i Kf BiH aw V A JV aw ma ii A X k 3 atud aa xa tv 1 3 X A I 1 S og p A W ex V a A N 1 ay y ivain tf 1 by elmo el MO SCOTT WATSON act T waa a caniga ign which on paper ta had every prospect of 0 success when put H j to the die test of execution it ailed inizer st ably so go american history aided to the roll of the fifteen decisive battles of the world the name of saratoga and it Is at saratoga N Y where the unsuccessful burgoyne campaign culminated that there Is being held on october G 7 and 8 the greatest in the series of sesquicentennial celebrations staged by the state slate of new york this year because of tile the fa far reaching results of the events that took place there MO years ago the saratoga celebration belc has nationwide nation wide significance in the spring of 1777 the british ministry decided to make a supreme effort to crush her rebel alous colonies lord germain Ger maln the lin glish minister conceived the plan ot of separating the colonies into manageable units and more especially cutting olt off the head bead of tile the rebellion new england by sending a force flown down the hudson front from canada another up that aher from new york city and a third through the I valley from oswego all converging on albany nut but no sooner vere lvere the plans laid than several vital mistakes were ere made in the first place gen john burgoyne a pleasure loving man of letters playwright and social lion who had but little military ability was placed in command of the expedition from canada instead of the capable sir guy carleton more than that lie was given positive orders as to exactly what lie he liva wai to do and lie he had bad no authority to alter ills plans to meet changing circumstances cut but the greatest blunder of all was this lord germain gennair wrote out the order tor for general ilowe in new york to cooperate with it aside on oil ills desk forgot about it and vent off to visit a country house without sending the order the result was that inowe ilowe sailed ailed away from new york on a perfectly useless expedition against philadelphia and nur goyne plunged into tile wilderness to meet howe flowe without knowing that the latter was actually running away from himl him i having started burgoyne proceeded to make a few mistakes of ills his own which assured tile the failure of tile campaign lie ile underestimated the ability of the americans who opposed him film under the leadership of gen cen philip schuyler lie he underestimated alio llio lie difficult difficulties les of traveling through the wilderness ahead of him loaded himself down with baggage and tailed failed to provide himself with adequate weans means of transportation for his 1111 supplies and lie deceived himself in the belief that the loyalists would rally to his standard standal A as he be approached pro ached not only did they fall fail to rally but burgoyne soon found thai in employing indian allies river over whom lie he soon fedon lost all control lie he completely alienated any who might have been friends and he won stirred up a veritable hornets nest when his army of some men nearly half ot of them germans under baron Ill edesel embarked on lake champlain Champl aln on juno june 17 1777 it carried with lh it one of tile finest artillery trains ever seen up to that time lime on oil the american continent confluent at first everything seemed to point to the suc cogs cess of the expedition for the british were not the alie only ones who made nil mistakes stakes general st clair made a n serious one when lie tailed failed to fortify the bills oer overlooking looking fort a und and burgoyne captured this fort ant and with it guns crown point had been taken previously and fort independence and a little later fort ann also foil fell before the invader those these successes led tile to believe that within a few days tic he would be in albany and lils ills view was as shared by the home government there lg Is an amusing mory that when nhen the news of the th fall of doroga readied rea lied king george III he dashed into the queens room with the glad cry of 1 I have beat them I 1 have beat tile the americans ile he did not realize that they like jolin john paul jones jonm had not yet begun to fight although burgoyne soon realized it the liNt historic orle fort edward was the next to ml into his hanft hands but by this time his greatest biffl cuttles had just juet begun the prudant and skillful EE A I 1 le A r I 1 gendal schuyler as ao 10 1 retired before the british advance did everything in ills his power to delay tile the enemy the inhabitants of the country withdrew ahil lers army taking with them all of the provisions and stock possible and destroying the remainder bridges were vere broken down rivers and creeks choked up tip and giant trees cut down across such roads as there were through the woods burgoyne was forced to cut liis ills way through the wilderness it took him 30 lays days to cover less than 25 miles and during that time he be was forced to build loftie aulne 40 brid bridges gesl 1 the new englanders were ills his flank but adt ills his instructions forbade min him to turn aside and strike a blow at them the in messengers essec ers which lie tried to send through to ilowe were captured by the americans ond and lie he had no idea of what that general was doing finally the food situation became desperate then burgoyne attempted the ill advised expedition under tinder colonel baum the Il hessian essian leader to bennington vt to capture the american supplies there the result Is history the defeat of baum by glim old general john stark and tile the defeat also of colonel Bro breyman who had been sent to baums assistance in the meantime another disaster to the ambitious british plan had taken place col barry st leger who was 0 o deliver the mohawk alley coup tailed failed to cantue fort schuyler formerly fort stanwix and thu like bennington was another factor which contributed to the final downfall of burgoyne but despite these reverses lie he determined to push on on september 13 he xe took tile the step crossed the illias hudson a and d moved ills his whole foree force to saratoga in do doing t this Is ile he had cut off ills his communications wit with la lake e george and ticonderoga ga all lie he could do now dow was to press forward and trust to luck there was one element clement of 0 luck in the situation in another blunder by the americans polities politics in congress had resulted in the replacement of general ler by gen Il horatio oratio gates a loader leader inferior in every way to schuyler and even to some of ills his subordinates notably daniel morgan and benedict arnold but even that fact was not canough to save burgoyne from the fate which awaited him the american camp was pitched nt at stillwater 12 miles further down the river burgoyne advanced to attack and on september 19 10 the bitter fight at demis heights took place bur coyne had tailed failed to dision dislodge go the Amer americans amerlean lenn a and the attempt had cost him BOO men the predicament of tile the british general at this point la Is well described in wrongs washington and ills comrades in 1 the yale university press chronicles 4 of america as follows Bur DurR goynes condition was now growing desperate ate american forces barred retreat to canada ile ho must m at go eo back and meet both frontal and lank flank attacks attacks or so go forward or surrender to tro go forward now new had most for at last ilowe had instructed clinton left in command nt at new york to move and clinton was making rapid pros cress up the hudson on the seventh of october burgoyne Bure oyne attacked again at stillwater this time he was decisively defeated a result due to the amazing energy in attack ot of benedict arnold who had been stripped ot of his command by an intrigue gates would not even speak to him and hla his lingering in tho the american camp was unwelcome yet as a volunteer arnold cha aged the DrI british line ma madly adly and broke it Bur Burgo goynes ynos best general fraser was killed in the light fight burgoyne Burgo yno retired to saratoga and there at last faced the prospect of getting back to fort edward and to canada it may be that he be could have cut his way through but this Is rather doubtful without risk of 0 destruction he be could not move in any direction ilia his enemies now outnumbered him nearly tour four to one ilia his camp was swept by the american guns and his men were under arms day and night american sharpshooters stationed themselves at daybreak in trees about the british c camp tal and any one who appeared in the open risked his life ills his horses were killed by rifle shots burgoyne Dur goyne had little food for his men and none tor for hla his horses ills indians nad long since pone gone ot oft in dudgeon many of 0 his canadian french slipped oft off homeward and so BO dja did tile loyalists the german troops were natu naturally rally dispirited they died a score at a time ot of no other disease than sickness tor for their homes in the face ot of all t this ills there remained for or burgo on october 8 he goane ne nothing but surrender sent a flag of truce to gates asking hat terms lie give the british general indignantly refused tile first demand for an unconditional surrender and after much argument finally signed the articles called the convention of 0 saratoga under tinder which the british army was allowed to march out with the honors of war pile their arms nt at an appointed place and then be marched to boston from whence they were to be allowed to return to england on the condition that they would not serve again in america although gates was not a particularly admirable figure in this campaign in that he connived to supplant schuyler and basely refused to give the credit due morgan and benedict arnold for their brilliant work against Bur goynes army lie he does deserve credit tor for his treatment of ills his fallen foe when burgoyne handed him his sword with the remark tile the fortune of war general gates has made me your prisoner the american gen cral immediately returned it with a bow and tile the grac gracious remark 1 I will be ready to testify that it was wag through DO fault of your excellency it can also be said to tile the shame of congress that it repudiated the terms ghen the british by gates held field them as prisoners of war in boston and later in virginia and although tile the officers were exchanged from time lime to time the army as a body never got back to england and eventually disla grated te cy by the urne gme peace came in bor bar goines soldiers had bad been merged into tile the amerlean american people and it may be that some iome of their descendants may participate in the celebration this hs month at saratoga where american and briton clashed in deadly conflict and wrote with their blood the name of another history making battle for saratoga led directly to freno french aid and it was the biggest step taken by the american patriot in his march to yorktown Tork town and to vc victory tory