the British officers were astonished at hearing the fire of the American musketry kept up with such vigor and constancy, after undergoing so heavy a fire of artillery.* One of the bravest of themt is ready to declare, that whenever he has been opposed to the Americans, they have fought with courage and obstinacy. He found it so in the above action. General Arnold was next to military mad. He appeared, in the heat of the engagement, so beside himself as scarce to know what he did: He struck several of the officers with his sword, without any ap parent reason; and when they told him of it the next day, meaning to remonstrate and require satisfaction, he declared he recollected nothing at all of it, and was sorry if it was so. Some of his orders were exceedingly rash and injudicious, and argued thoughtlessness rather than courage. His attack upon the British varied so from established military maxims, that the royal of ficers inferred from it, that gen. Gates did not personally command in the action. Gates remained for the most part in the camp, as on the 19th of September, that he might the better guide the general operations, and give the necessary directions as they were wanted. Arnold's left-handed variation might however contribute greatly toward obtaining the victory. The Bri tish have been at length taught by experience, that neither Ame rican attacks nor resistance, are to be despised.

Nothing could easily exceed the distress and calamity of the royal army when the day was closed. The Americans halted half a mile in the rear of them; and between twelve and one o'clock at night, gen. Lincoln (who during the action, was in the centre of the encampment, commanding within the works) marched with his division to relieve the troops that had been engaged, and to possess the ground they had gained. The situation of the British made a total change of position necessary to secure them from certain destruction. It was executed during the night with a great degree of coolness, silence, order and intrepidity. It was a general remove of the whole army, of the camp and artillery, from its late ground to the heights above the hospital; with the design, by an entire change of the front, of reducing the Americans, if possible, to the necessity of forming a new disposi tion. This remove was accomplished without any loss whate ver. The day of action proved fatal to numbers. The officers suffered exceedingly. Several who had been grievously wounded in the former action, and disdained absence from danger, were again wo unded. Beside general Frazer, Sir James Clark, Bor

*Idem + Earl of Balcarras.

Lieut. Col. Brooks was my informer.

goyne's

goyne's aid-de-camp, was mortally wounded and takeń prisoner. Major Williams of the artillery, and major Ackland were also taken, the latter being wounded. Lieut. col. Breyman was killed when the intrenchment where he commanded was forced. The lists of killed and wounded, though avowedly imperfect, and not including the Germans are very considerable. The loss of the Americans was trifling both in men and officers. They took officers and privates, to the amount of rather more than 200: beside 9 pieces of brass artillery, and the encampment of a Greman brigade with all their equipage. But what was of the ut most-consequence, they obtained a large supply of ammunition from among the spoils of the field, under an excessive scarcity of which they had long laboured. The same troops were engaged as on the 19th of September, with detached regiments, from generals Glover and Paterson's brigades, together with a strong brigade of New-Hampshire militia, and Green Mountain boys, alias Vermont militia.

The royal troops were under arms the whole day of the sth of October, in continual expectation of an action, and were connonaded during the greatest part of it; but all that happened was a succession of skirmishes, which occasioned loss on both sides. Gen. Lincoln was wounded in his leg by a random shot of the enemy, as riding in company with gen. Gates. About sun set, the corpse of gen. Frazer was brought up the hill, attended only by the officers who had lived in his family, for he desired it. might be carried, without parade, by the soldiers of his corps to the great redoubt, and there buried. It necessarily passed within view of both armies; generals Philips, Reidesel and Burgoyne, standing together, were struck with the humility of the procession. Their conforming to that privacy which had been requested, might be construed into neglect. They could neither endure that reflection, nor restrain their natural propensity to pay their last attention to his remains. They followed the corpse to the grave. The incessent cannonade during the solemnity:--the steady attitude, and unaltered voice with which the chaplain officia. ted, though frequently covered with dust, thrown up on all sides of him by the shot:---the mute but expressive mixture of sensibility and indignation upon every countenance:-together with the growing duskiness of the evining, may be hereafter described by the pen of the British commander, as marking a character of that juncture, which makes one of the finest objects for the pencil of a master, that the field ever exhibited.* But had gen. Burgoyne acquainted the American commander with the intended proces

* Burgoyne's State.

:

sion, the serenity would have been varied; for Gates instead of admitting the cannonade, would rather have ordered minue guns. to have been fired in honor to the deceased; and could he have: gained in time the knowledge of what was going forward, would undoubtedly have silenced the former.

The

General Gates previous to the action, posted 1400 Ameri cans on the heights opposite the ford of Saratoga, and 2000 in the rear to prevent a retreat to Fort Edward; afterward on the 8th, he posted 1500 at the ford higher up. Gen. Burgoyne, having received intelligence of it, and apprehending that Gates meant to turn his right, which when effected would have enclosed him completely resolved on an immediate retreat to Saratoga. army began to move at nine o'clock at night and the movement was made without loss; but the hospital with the sick and wound ed, was necessarily abandoned. In this instance, as well as in every other which occured in the course of these transactions, Gates behaved with such attention and humanity, to all whom the fortune of war threw into his hands, as does honor to his character. The badness of the roads, and the starving condition of the cattle for want of forage, together with oneincessent rain, like a continued thunder shower from about eight in the morning of the 9th till long after the day closed, and other difficulties, prevented the army's reaching Saratoga though no more than about six miles distant, before night, and then worn down with excessive fatigue. During the rain a body of militia continued their march, and got in above Gates' army, but some way below Fort Edward. Gates being informed of their arrival ordered them immediately to the fort. They arrived there the next morning early, about two or three hours before a detachment sent off by Burgoyne to possess that post could get up to it.. The detachment finding it occupied by the Americans, returned much dispirited.

When the royal artillery and army had passed the fords of the Fish-kill creek, a little to the northward of Saratoga on the morn ing of the 10th, they found a body of Americans already arrived, who retired at their approach over a ford of Hudson's-River, and there joined agreater force stationed to prevent the passage of the British. No hope remained, but that of effecting a retreat at last to Fort George. Artificers were sent forward to repair the bridges: butthey were not long departed from the camp with a strong escort, when the sudden appearance of the Americans, on the opposite heights, with an apparent preparation to pass the Fishkill, and bring on an engagement, rendered it necessary to re call the 47th regiment, and Frazers's marksmen-these with M'koy's provincials formed the escort. The workmen had only

commenced the repair of the first bridge, when they were aban" doned by their provincial guard, who ran away and left them to shift for themselves, upon a slight attack of an inconsiderable party of Americans.

:

On the morning of the 11th of October, gen. Gates called the general officers together, and informed them of his having received certain intelligence, which might be depended upon, that the main body of Burgoyne's army was marched off for Fort Edward with what they could take, and that a rear guard only was left in the camp, who after a while were to push off as fast as possible, leaving the heavy baggage behind. On this it was concluded to advance and attack the camp in half an hour. The officers repaired immediately to their respective commands. Gen. Nixon's, being the eldest brigade, crossed the Saratoga creek first. Unknown to the Americans, Burgoyne had a line formed behind a parcel of brush wood, to support the post of artillery, where the others meant to make their attack. Gen. Glover was upon the point of following Nixon. Just as he entered the water, he saw a British soldier making across, whom he called and examined. The soldier said he had deserted, that he belonged to the bullock guard (the guard placed over the cattle) and that he was going to the Americans. Glover asked him about Burgoyne's army. The soldier answered, It is encamped the same as days past. Glover told him-" If you are found attempting to deceive me, you shall be hung in half an hour; but if you speak nothing but the truth, you shall be protected, and meet with good usage." He then asked him-" Have not numbers been sent off to Fort Edward? The deserter replied " A small detachment was sent off a

22

day or two ago, but are returned on finding the passes occupied by the Americans, and the whole army is now in camp. Glover, though the junior officer to Nixon, sent off immediately to him, to desist and recross the creck; and at the same time dispatched his aid-de-camp, with the deserter behind him on horse-back to Gates; who having examined the soldier, hurried away the aid-de-camp, the adjutant general and others, to countermand the former orders and prevent the attack. Gen. Nixon upon Glover's message retreated; but before he had recrossed, the fog cleared off, and the rear of the brigade was galled by the enemy's cannon, which killed several of his men. Before the orders from gen. Gates arrived, the British deserter's information was confirmed by like intelligence from a German deserter.* Glover's message was received by Nixon in the critical moment, a quarter of an hour later would probably have proved fatal to his

*General Glover's information given me at Boston, March 18, 1785. whole

whole brigade, and given a turn to affairs in favor of the royal army. On incidents of this kind may depend the rise and fall of mighty kingdoms, and the far distant future transfer of power. glory, and riches, of arts and sciences, from Europe to America Are they blind unmeaning casualties? Or are they the directo derings of a Divine Being, for the establishment of his own pur pose, by a superintending Providence, and the jarring devices of mortals ?

Gates after a victory acknowledged in general orders a Prot vidence, but did not presume upon it, so as to neglect the dictates of human prudence. That he might secure all the advantages of the successful action on the 7th, he applied to the New-Hampshire assembly for more troops. The speaker, John Langdon, esq. upon receiving the application, immediately proposed that the assembly should adjourn, and that as many of the members as could, should set off directly as volunteers for the camp, taking with them all the men they could collect: which was agreed to and done by himself and others.

In the course of the above transactions, large quantities of baggage, provision, boats, &c. were taken by both the conti nentals and milita. The latter were extremely eager after plun der; and even robbed the former, as opportunity offered, of what they had secured, and made sale of it for their own advan tage. The irregularities in this business were so gross, that the American commander, on the 12th, gave out in general orders --"The generalsees so many scandalous and mean transactions, committed by persons who seek more after plunder than the ho nor of doing their duty in a becoming and soldier-like manner that he is obliged to declare his unalterable resolution, to have the first person who shall hereafter be detected pillaging the bag gage and stores taken from the enemy, tried and punished with the utmost severity of the military law. Officers, who know their duty and have virtue to practise it, will not be seeking plunder, when they ought to be doing their best service in the field; it is only the worthless and the pilfering that are so truly infamous. For the future, all plunder taken from the enemy is to be delivered to lieut. col. Hay, deputy-quarter-master general who is to give a receipt for the same, and after three days public notice in general orders, it shall be sold by auction in the most central place in the rear of the army and the money for which the plunder is sold, shall be properly and fairly divided, to such persons as in the impartial judgment of the general, have a right to receive a share: when there is a sum sufficient to divide among the non-commissioned officers and soldiers of the whole army, they may be assured of such having their just quota."

It