Military officer; born in
England, Feb. 24, 1723; was liberally educated, and entered the army at an early age. While a subaltern he clandestinely married a daughter of the
Earl of
Derby, who subsequently aided him in acquiring military promotion and settled $1,500 a year upon him. He served with distinction in
Portugal in 1762.
The year before, he was elected to Parliament, and gained his seat as representative of another borough, in 1768, at an expense of about $50,000. In the famous
Letters of Junius he was severely handled.
Being appointed to command in
America, he arrived at
Boston May 25, 1775; and to Lord Stanley he wrote a letter, giving a graphic
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account of the battle on
Bunker (
Breed's)
Hill.
In December, 1776, he returned to
England, and was commissioned lieutenant-general.
Placed in command of the
British forces in
Canada, he arrived there early in 1777, and in June he began an invasion of the province of New York by way of
Lake Champlain and the
Hudson Valley.
He left
St. Johns on the
Sorel (June, 1777) with a brilliant and well-appointed army of 8,000 men, and ascended
Lake Champlain in boats.
At the falls of the
Bouquet River, near the western shore of the lake, he met about 400 Indians in council, and after a feast (June 21, 1777) he made a stirring speech to them.
On July 1 he appeared before
Ticonderoga, which was inadequately garrisoned.
General St. Clair, in command there, was compelled to evacuate the post, with
Mount Independence opposite (July 5 and 6), and fly towards
Fort Edward, on the upper
Hudson, through a portion of
Vermont.
In a battle at
Hubbardton (q. v.) the
Americans were beaten and dispersed by the pursuing
British and
Germans.
St. Clair had sent stores in boats to Skenesboro (afterwards
Whitehall), at the head of the lake.
These were overtaken and destroyed by the pursuing
British.
Burgoyne pressed forward almost unopposed, for the
American forces were very weak.
The latter retreated first to
Fort Edward, and then gradually down the
Hudson almost to
Albany.
The
British advanced but slowly, for the
Americans, under the command of
Gen. Philip Schuyler, harassed them at every step.
An expedition sent by
Burgoyne to capture stores and cattle, and procure horses in this region and at
Bennington, Vt., was defeated in a battle at
Hoosick, N. Y. (Aug. 16), by a force hastily gathered under
General Stark.
Already another invading force of British regulars, Canadians, Tories, and
Indians, under
Colonel St. Leger, which was sent by
Burgoyne, by way of
Oswego, to march down the
Mohawk Valley and meet the latter at
Albany, had been defeated in a
battle at Oriskany (Aug. 6).
Schuyler was superseded by
Gates in command of the northern army.
Gates formed a fortified camp on Bemis's Heights to oppose the
onward march of
Burgoyne down the
Hudson Valley.
There he was attacked (Sept.
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View of the encampment of the convention troops. |
19) by the
British; and, after a severe battle, the latter retired to their camp on the heights of
Saratoga (afterwards Schuylerville) to await the approach of
Sir Henry Clinton from New York.
The latter captured forts on the
Hudson Highlands, and sent marauding expeditions up the river that burned
Kingston.
Again
Burgoyne advanced to attack
Gates.
He was defeated (Oct. 7), and again retired to his camp.
Finding it impossible to retreat, go forward, or remain quiet, he surrendered his whole army, Oct. 17, 1777.
The vanquished troops made prisoners to the
Americans by a convention for the surrender of them, made by
Gates and
Burgoyne, were marched through
New England to
Cambridge, near
Boston, to be embarked for
Europe.
The Congress had ratified the agreement of
Gates that they should depart, on giving their parole not to serve again in arms against the
Americans.
Circumstances soon occurred that convinced
Washington that
Burgoyne and his troops intended to violate the agreement at the first opportunity, and it was resolved by the
Congress not to allow them to leave the country until the
British government should ratify the terms of the capitulation.
Here was a dilemma.
That government would not recognize the authority of the
Congress as a lawful body; so the troops were allowed to remain in idleness in
America four or five years.
Burgoyne, alone, was allowed to go home on his parole.
The British ministry charged the
Congress with absolute perfidy; the latter retorted, and justified their acts by charging the ministry with
meditated perfidy.
Owing to the difficulty of finding an adequate supply of food for the captive troops in
New England, the
Congress finally determined to send them to
Virginia.
Commissioners sent over, in the spring of 1778, to tender a scheme of reconciliation, offered a ratification of the convention, signed by themselves; but Congress would recognize no authority inferior to the
British ministry for such an act. Finally, in pursuance of a resolution of Congress (Oct. 15, 1778), the whole body of the captives (4.000 in number), English and German, after the officers had signed a parole of honor respecting their conduct on the way, took up their line of march, early in November, for
Charlottesville, Va., under the command of
Major-General Phillips.
Col. Theodoric Bland was appointed by
Washington to superintend the march.
It was a dreary winter's journey of 700 miles through
New England, New York,
New Jersey,
Pennsylvania, Marlyland and
Virginia.
The routes of the two nationalities were sometimes distant from each other, and sometimes the same, until they reached
Valley Forge, when they went in the same line until they had crossed the
Potomac River.
They remained in
Virginia until October, 1780, when the danger that the captives might rise upon and overpower
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their guard caused the
British to be removed to Fort Frederick, in
Maryland, and the Germans to
Winchester, in the Shenandoah Valley.
Deaths, desertion, and partial exchanges had then reduced their number to about 2,100.
Afterwards they were removed to
Lancaster, Pa., and some to East Windsor, Conn.
In the course of 1782 they were all dispersed, either by exchange or desertion.
Many of the Germans remained in
America.
The disaster to
Burgoyne's army produced a profound sensation in
England.
This was intensified by indications that
France was disposed to acknowledge the independence of the colonies.
Efforts were made to supply the place of the lost troops by fresh recruits.
Liverpool and
Manchester undertook to raise each 1,000 men, and efforts were made to induce
London to follow the example.
The new lord mayor worked zealously for that purpose, but failed, and the ministry had to be content with a subscription of $100,000 raised among their adherents.
Nor did the plan succeed in the
English counties.
In Scotland it was more successful;
Glasgow and
Edinburgh both raised a regiment, and several more were enlisted in the
Scotch Highlands by the great landholders of that region, to whom the appointment of the officers was conceded.
The surrender created despondency among the
English Tories, and Lord North, the
Prime Minister, was alarmed.
Burgoyne returned to
England, on his parole, May, 1778.
Being blamed, he solicited in vain for a court-martial to try his case, but he ably vindicated himself on the floor of Parliament, and published (1780) a narrative of his campaign in
America for the same purpose.
He joined the opposition, and an ineffectual attempt was made in 1779 to exclude him from Parliament.
Then he resigned all his appointments but in 1782 he was restored to his rank in the army, and appointed privy councillor and commander-in-chief in
Ireland.
He retired from public life in 1784, and died in
London, Aug. 4, 1792.
Burgoyne acquired a literary reputation as a dramatist.
His plays and poems were published in a collection, in 2 volumes, in 1808.
