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 U^ I 
 
 
 
 iSaratot/tt Daily ./ournal, Hth Auj^UHt, 1883. 
 
 ' GATES vs. BUKGOYNE. 
 
 A Plka in behalf of Gatks — "Anchor" draws out an Answer. 
 
 To TiiK Editor of tiik Journai, : 
 
 I see that "Anchor" (Gen«ral J. Watts tje Pcyster) uses a hirgn 
 portion of one page of the Journal this morning to convince himself, 
 and possibly others, that the sole credit of the victory of Saratoga and 
 the surrender of IJurgoync belonged to General Philip Schuyler, the 
 waiting McClellan of the Revolutionary war, and to write down Gene- 
 ral Horatio Gates as a mere accident of fortune and a blunderer. 
 
 Now, I agree with General de Peyster, that the monument at 
 Schuylerville is mislocated, and that Burgoyne was responsible for 
 his own defeat in not obeying his orders in going up Lake George to 
 Fort William Henry, there leave his artillery and baggage, and follow 
 down the Loudon military road direct from there to Albany, that was 
 constructed in 1758, and over which Abercrombie's and Amherst's 
 armies had marched in that and the following years. In the latter 
 army General Horatio Gates and General Phillips, chief of Burgoyne's 
 artillery, had held subaltern positions in the same regiment. 
 
 But I think he confesses judgment against Schuyler when he tells 
 how easily Phillips drove St. Clair from Fort Ti by planting a battery 
 on the unguarded but commanding Mount Defiance. For he forgets 
 to state that when Gates superseded Schuyler the latter had retreated 
 to the Sprouts of the Mohawk, and was throwing \i\) those earthworks 
 that yet remain on the islands opposite Waterford, totally unmindful 
 that Burgoyne would probably cross the Mohawk at the Loudon ford, 
 about a mile above the Cdhoes falls, and could easily shell him out of 
 his pits from batteries to be placed on the heights where the mansion 
 of ex-Mayor Johnston of Cohoes now stands. 
 
 Then he attributes to Schuyler the impeding of Burgoyne's ascent 
 of Wood creek from Skenesboro. The historical truth is that it was 
 done by Colonel Long in his retreat, who wisely used his powder in 
 blasting rooks from the bluffs above Fort Ann, in the narrow gorge 
 through which the creek flows, and effectually destroyed its navigation. 
 Whatever may have been the merits of Gates' defeat at Camden 
 with his raw militia against Cornwallis' veterans, at Saratoga he was 
 on ground familiar to his early manhood when serving in the English 
 army. He correctly moved his army as far north as he could to re- 
 trieve the blunder of Schuyler's retreat, and if he had been defeated at 
 Bemis Heights, intended to fall back behind Anthony's kill at Me- 
 chanicville, i\iu\ if needs be across the Mohawk, and thus have three lines 
 of vantage to depend upon, or fair grounds, instead of being "bottled" — 
 
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Siirii/(i(/a liiiilij ,li:Uiii(U. 'I'liiirHliiy. .'ilKli AujjiikI. IW.'i. 
 
 WHO "BUKGOYNED" BURGOYNE. 
 
 AN AN8WKU TO A "PLEA ON lilCUALB' OF GATES." 
 
 "Anciiok nitAws out an Answer" — wiikii is answeuku. 
 
 " The most fortimate. and at tliu same time unfortunate, of the generals of the 
 Hevohilion, Iloraiio Gates, was, like Lee, St. Clair, Conway [Montgomery, La 
 Fayette, tic Couiiray, do Kalb, Howe, Stcuheii, Duportail, de Woedtke, Mereer, 
 Melntosh, de Fermoy, de 15orre, and Pulaski, de La Neuville, Lviiie, Armand, 
 de Laltoucrie, Kuseiusko,] a foreigner by birth [and initiatory serviee], lie was 
 one of those individuals whom fortune rather than ability makes famous. With 
 little original talent, Imt great .self-.-unicieii('y ; more of the line .soldier than the 
 true general; elegant, but shallow; ehivalrous in manner rather than in fael ; caii- 
 tious, unjust, slooi)ing to low arts to rise; yet courteous, dignified, honorable 
 according to ordinary standards ; a fair tactician and a brave nuui, a soldier who 
 bore misfortune belter than success, his I'haracler presents itself to the analyst as 
 merely that of a coninion-place conmiander, without one atom of the hero in his 
 composition. A train of fortunate circumstances presented victory before him, and 
 though he had the genius [V] to secure it, he had none beyond that. Ilail he been 
 more self-poised he might have proved a greater man. JJut, unlike Wa.shington 
 [and(!rant[, success destroyed his cfiuiiibrium of mind, and precii)itate(l liim into 
 acts of presumptuous folly." — "reler.son's Military History of the Hevohition." 
 
 WhiU' " nist()ri(^;il JuHticc," in tin; Dnilj/ JoiiriKil of tlic Wtli, treats 
 my articlo in tho issnc of tlii' 7lli with so imicli courtesy — whidi is ao- 
 knowlodgcd in like spirit — the very modulated tone of his paragraphs 
 made the more dangerous as a vindication oi" Gates^ who never did 
 anything to merit so chivalric a champion. It is now my intention to 
 endeavor to answer this knightly opponent clause hy clause. 
 
 tftV 
 
 -fc-t \ 
 
 2 
 
 liUIiGOYNE. 
 
 ',^{ 
 
 as Grant expressively said of Ben. BuMer when he placed himself in a 
 like erroneous position — on the islands in the delta of the Mohawk. 
 
 I do not question the patriotism of (-'eneral Philip Schuyler. It was 
 as pure as the virgin gold. But his military capacity, like that of some 
 generals on both sides in the late rebellion, who leaped to the saddle from 
 tlicir seats in Congress, is o^en to criticism that his friends must admit 
 of. At Gettysburg!! the impetuous Dan. Sickles, ignorant of the arts 
 of war but brave to a fault, moved his corps from the line established 
 by Gen. Meade, in a moment when he thought the exigencies of war 
 required it. Longstreet poured his legions through that gap and thou- 
 sands of brave Union soldiers had fallen before the gallant Hancock 
 had retrieved the day and Sickk's himself had received the wound that 
 makes him a maimed veteran on the streets of Saratoga to-day. So 
 Schuyler. Gates retrieved his error before it reached the strait that 
 happened at Gettysburgh, and the surrender of Burgoyne at Saratoga 
 followed from the wisdom of that movement of Gen. Gates. 
 
 IIlSrOUlCAI, Ju.STIOE. 
 
 SAIIATCXIA Sl'IllNdS, All^UBt 7. 
 
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 liiriiGOYNK 
 
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 ^ As " Historical Justice" gives up Biirgoyne, all that remains to be 
 
 ^ done here is to pay due attention to the case of Gates. 
 A^- (Tibhon, who stands indisputably at the head of liistorians — let 
 
 ^- whoever attempt to criticise liis master-piece of English literature on 
 
 ^; !^ny tcrounds whatever— in a note remarks that Dr. Adam Smith, in 
 
 N his " Wealth of Nations,"" proves, [jerhaps too severely, tlmt the most 
 
 - salutary cfTects have flowed from the meanest and most selfish causes." 
 Whoever will examine into the interior history and correspondence of 
 the American Revolution will find how truly this remark applies to 
 tli(> many developments of that event. With tlu! exception of Wash- 
 intrton, Sdniyler and certain other noble spirits — among whom Gates 
 has no place — tlic men of foreign extraction who shot up into ])romi- 
 nenc(! wen; actuated altogetlier by interested motives. With the excep- 
 tion, perhaps, of LaFayette, there was really no disinterested individual 
 of ability who came from abroad to the assistance of the struggling col- 
 onies (Chastellux, .1 , 304-.5). Rank, glory, high pay— which, by the way, 
 tliey did not get — were the lures, and de Kalb, who displayed gallantry 
 enough at Camden to redeem a lifetime, was the paid agent of the Frencli 
 Ministry " fishing in troubled waters" for the benefit ratlier of France 
 tlian of America (Graham III., iv., 459, &c.) What good the English 
 Lee or the English Gates did lor this country, it would be difficult to 
 sliow. 
 
 It is said that a dissection of character made according to the un- 
 failing rules of physiology, pliysio^nomy and phrenology has never 
 failed to reveal tlie secrets of any man's character. Take the ])est 
 likenesses, pen, pem-il or medalic, of Gates, study the face and figure, 
 and the gauntlet can safely be thrown down to any one wlio will at- 
 tempt the examination, defying him to prove l)y any rule of judgment, 
 admitted as trustworthy, that Gates can be sliown to have had in liim 
 any of the elements of a great comtnander or of an able man ; while 
 on the other hand there are plenty of tlie indications of a cliaracter 
 which oidy rises by tortuous methods, the inevitable recourse of lower 
 minds — minds too ofteii destitute of any of the higher gifts. "Ills 
 portrait," writes Peterson, as seen on the Burgoyne medal, "is emi- 
 nently characteristic. The finely chiseled profile, and graceful flow 
 of the hair, contrasted witli the low and retreatmg forehead, conjure 
 up vividly before the mind the idea of elegant mediocrity.'''' 
 
 This rule of judging may be styled idealism. Sir Humphrey Davy 
 wrote to Dr. Kingsley, '■'■ Nothing c.rititu hut 77iovf/htt>" and the 
 
 • " Science of Man " declares " we must either say all is Mind, with the 
 idealist, or all is Matter Avith the materialist." The writer i)elieve8 
 with the advocates of Mind, which, in any grand sense, Gates did not 
 have, and by mind must the Hriton be judged. 
 
 Now let us see if the indications of the Science of Lavater are not 
 borne out by incontestable facts. Leaving out for another article, if ne- 
 cessary, any detailed investigation of " Historittal Justice's" accusation 
 against Sc^huyler, it would be unjust not to repel the parallel b(«tween 
 New York's representative man and New Jersey's political idol. 
 
nURdOYNE. 
 
 To institute a comparison between a commander who, with l;Jt,28r) 
 men, was held at bay by r)r),()()() m\A jthnninxnix at first ; then by 1(),()()() 
 (Maijnider says 5,000) ; and who when, still at the head of '115,000, 
 was hustled around jreneraily by inferior numbers, is pretty hanl 
 upon another who did do nomcthbuj with a few poor troops aj^ainst 
 double the number of excellent ones and planned and carried out two 
 hi,<,'hly successful flank operations. Much as the writer dislikes (rates 
 — and lest the dead should know of what passes here, and have their 
 feel in{,'s hurt in consequence — he would not couple names nor institute 
 parallels, as "Historical Justice" has done since. Gates dul \\oV\ the 
 <,'round he assumed, and did not chanj^e his base, nor w.as A/x IVIalvern 
 IJemis Heights, aided by a sister service ; neither was his first fij,'ht. 
 Freeman's Farm, simply defensive, like Malvern Hill, and although a 
 victory followed by a retreat. The success, however, in very truth, 
 was not his, since Arnold did pretty much all that was done, notwith- 
 standing Gates then tried, and his friends have ever since endeavored, 
 to deprive the American of any credit whatever and the latter, the ad- 
 mire.vs of Gates, to give it to the Britisher. 
 
 Gates did nothing but talk, and he was great at that. Gates was 
 actually arguing with a dying p:nglish officer and aggravating hinf, 
 a mortally wounded i)risoner, while Arnold was winning for him the 
 final battle of Saratoga, an exploit which must have chagrined Gates 
 to the uttermost, since nothing was farther from his mind than to 
 afTord Arnold an opportunity to win any glory whatever. 'J'hc Ameri- 
 can people accepted Gates as a hero through ignorance, just as an \in- 
 tutored flegro accejjts a bone with a feather stuck in it for a god. 
 
 The writer has never talked with an individual whose aiux'stors 
 served at Saratoga, except one, whose father was a ))ersonal friend of 
 Gates, who ever gave any credit to Gates aiul did not, on the other 
 hand, give all the credit to Schuyler. 
 
 Oh, that a fellow trustee of the Saratoga [IJattlefieldJ Monument 
 Association — who had forefathers and a number of their friends at 
 Saratoga, in 1777 — would conn- out in print aiul express what he has 
 forcibly said in conversation in regard to the recent statenu-nts depre- 
 ciating the pretensions of Gates and endorsing the nu'rits of S(^huyler. 
 
 Lt.-Col. Kingston, IJurgoyne's adjutant general, testified : " I re- 
 member our scouts giving information that a bridge was laid over the 
 Hudson river, very near the em-my's camp ; and it was the opinion of 
 some very confidential men that were employed in that arn\y in that 
 capacity, and were much under the direction of General Frascr, that • 
 on the api»roacli of Sir Keiiry Clinton's army, the army of Mr. (Jates 
 could not stand us, but would cross the river and go towards New 
 Kngland." 
 
 If it is true that Gates refused to send regular troo^)s, or those ho 
 <leemed trustworthy, to defend Albany, was it, not a proof, if of no- 
 thing else, that he was afraid that IJurgoyne wouM irct the better of 
 him anyway V Is it not true that he would not weaken himself by a 
 single efficient man ? If worsted, did he not intend to step off across 
 
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nvncoYNE. 
 
 ith l;5.t,28r) 
 II by 1 (),()()() 
 
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 rctty lianl 
 ps against 
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 liki's Gates 
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 )!■ institute 
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 ideavored, 
 er, tlio ad- 
 Gates was 
 itiiig liiiif, 
 or Iiiiii the 
 ned Gates 
 d llian to 
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 ancestors 
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 his bridge into New England ? Siicli wonhl have boon an elegant 
 nianu'iivre inde.'d with militia. Gates might have got off, l.nt^tiie 
 British artillery from the Ileiglils woidd soon liave knocked ilie liridge 
 into "pi," and the Ifudson would have been filhd with Yankees as the 
 Potomac was with ITnionists after Kali's I'.luff ; and .is on the 20th of 
 Scptend)er, after Anfietam, when a part of Fit/, John Porter's divis- 
 ion were pushed over, and according to a bitter Rebel writer, tliat 
 river was soon ''blue witli drowning Yankees," "tilled with (b'ad and 
 wounded attempting to escape." This woidd have realized the allusion 
 (.f "Historical Justice" to tlie effect of Biirgoyne's batteries on the 
 heights of Colioe.s, upon Schuyler's " pits" or "earthWuiks among the 
 Sprouts of the IVfohawk. 
 
 "Historical Justice" s.ays that "Anchor" "confesses judgment 
 against Schuyler when he tells how easily Phillips drove Strciair 
 from Fort 'Ti' by jdanting a battery on the unguarded but com- 
 manding Mount Defiance." 
 
 Spirit of justice ! If Schuyler was to blame for St. Clair, or the 
 latter for himself, in connection Avith Ticonderoga, has Gates a leg 
 left to stand on? Why did Gates himself neglect to fortify iMminT 
 Deliance, the key to Ty, when this great genius was in coni'm:ind in 
 the previous year, and the capabilities and tJie perils of that height were 
 indicated and demonstrated by palpable proofs by Trumbull and others. 
 Genius loves to grajiple with such ])robIems, ;ind true genius solves 
 them, (iates had no genius for war, however much for intrigue. 
 
 With regard to Gates' "defeat at Camden," "Anchor" and "His- 
 torical Justice" are at direct issue. Gates called his force " The (ir.-ind 
 Army." Now,even if he was a fool, which is not charged— a boaster or 
 worse to call it so— he would not have presumed to make himself a com- 
 plete laiighing-sto.k by giving to it such a pompous title, as "The 
 (irand Army," (?!) if it had been eompo.sed entirely of "raw militia," 
 or if even those wre good for nothing against the Uritish. In the 
 honest sense of "raw militi;i," is that term applicable to men who had 
 been eng.iged all their life in continued warfare, of one kind or another; 
 to men perfectly accustomed to the use of firo-arms, and who, on more 
 than one occasion, had been in action. The same (piality of Iroops 
 conquered the jticked "Provincial l{rigade"of the "distinguished par- 
 tisan " Ferguson, by the weight and accuracy of their fire. 
 
 As to preparation, he did nothing. It is conceded that Gates "did 
 not even know the strength of the force that was to be handled." 
 He expected to surprise Cornwallis. He himself was surprised. " It 
 was still within the power of General (iates to fall back to a strong 
 position; but he lacked Tierve and decision for such an hour." He 
 called his generals— he had plenty of them— asking what is to be 
 done? The gallant Stevens answered: " Is it not too lat«> now to do 
 anything but fight." 
 
 The New Kiiglanders charged Schuyler with h;iughtiness. These 
 people would not brook discipline. Gates was supercilious and over- 
 bearing in the extreme when he had no point to gain by an opposite 
 
 .«!? 
 
v 
 
 
 
 liURaOYXK 
 
 (loiirso. Just as Leake tells us in his "Life of Lamb," tliat he treated 
 Captain Mott in 1777, he repulsed Marion jiisthefore Camden in 17H(). 
 It is said that no regularly edueated or experienced ofh(H'r of his rank 
 in tlie colonial army had seen so little actual or active service consist- 
 ent with that rank as (iates. Uaiu^roft, wlio was no friend to Schuy- 
 ler, stitcmati/.es (4ates as "an intriguer and no soldier." His inarch to 
 the field of Camden was disgraceful to him as a general ; how much 
 more so his ahandonment of the fiehL 
 
 Cleiu'ral Carrington, one of the ablest and most careful of the 
 writers on the American Revolution, says : "Gates had ito poinr in ac- 
 tion, and there is not a i-edeeming (M'.t during his connection witli the 
 Southern army to show his fitness to command troo])s." (r»l.'*», B. A. R.) 
 " It has been seen that he participated actively in one part of the 
 operations near Saratoga until the morning of August 1 1th, 1777. 
 Confiding in numbers, and neglecting reconnoissances, he then im- 
 periled his army by forcing several brigades across Fishkill creek, 
 while remaining in th.e rear himself." Just as he plunged like a reck- 
 less incapable into the chmnp-rlos, or lists of Camden. 
 
 " Historical Justice" makes a great point of the veterans of Corn- 
 wallis. His army were not all " veterans." Does " Historical Justice" 
 knows that out of these nominal veterans (C. 23(5), Lord Rawdon, who 
 commanded the British left, had no " veterans." It consisted of the 
 Royal Volunteers of Irelaiul, raised in America since 1770 ; the Legion 
 Infantry, to whom a similar remark applies ; Colonel Hamilton's Corps 
 of North Carolina liOyal Volunteers, recently recruited ; and Colomd 
 Bryan's North Carolina Loyal Volunteers, organized in 1780. There- 
 is no doubt tliat they were better stuff than the militia opposed to 
 them, but especially so because they were commanded by men of more 
 sterling (lualities, since it was admitted that the loyalist or tory — most 
 honorable title, in his case — Hamilton, was a man of distinguished 
 ability. 
 
 Wc now come to the last paragraph of "Historical Justice's" 
 article, in which he compares the military capacity of Schuyler with 
 that of Sickles, and puts a bead on the latter for his action at Gettys- 
 burgh. 
 
 On this subject "Anchor" has much to say, for he knows all about 
 it and would snap his fingers at the opinions of the whole world if they 
 were against his own. Fortunately, he does not stand alone in his 
 judgment, but has backers of the highest authority. Grant, to whom 
 the question was submitted on the ground, after listening to arguments 
 unfavorable to Sickles, said: "Sickles was right." 
 
 That Longstreet poured his legions through "that gap" is one of 
 the greatest fallacies that ever got into print. "That gap" never ex- 
 isted. If any unmilitary writer chooses to style the interval or space 
 between the right flaiik of a force thrown forward in echelon ami the 
 left tlank of the next force more to the right and rear, there was a 
 '"gap," but not a rebel soldier ever got through it. Longstreet broke 
 through the left of the Third Corps where there was no "gap," simply 
 
:r^ r,,.-^ ' ^fsr j(»rr,> 
 
 ^ 
 
 i 
 
 because the Tliird C<>r[)S was breaclied or punclied and was not ade- 
 • juately supported. Hancock came in to retrieve Meade's I'rror, not 
 the fault of Sickles, because Sickles had coniinitted no error. Hancock 
 saved Meade from the effects of his own want of prevision, and not 
 from any act either of oniissUm or of vomniissiun on the part of Sickles, 
 sinii)ly because Sickles did not expose himself to either charije. 
 
 Finally, Gates at Saratoga did nothing and retrieved nothing. He 
 jeopardized everything on the morning of the 11th of August, 1777, 
 (Carrington, 514,) and then, like the conventional stage father, bene- 
 factor or chief — who had done scarcely anything throughout the piece, 
 but show himself — came to the front at the last moment, with " Hless 
 you, my children;" stej)pcd elegantly to the footlights and ]ironoun<rcd 
 a few words of Epilogue. Then the prompter rang down the curtain 
 and the pseudo concjueror walked off, like Time conducted by Destiny, 
 in the opera bovjf'e of "Orpheo aux Enfers," to reappear as Alexander 
 at the head of his " CTrand Army" in his next performance at Camdi-n, 
 which was a tragedy indeo<l for tlu; country, and one of the worst 
 failures on record of a general for himself. Anchok (J. W. i)E P.) 
 
 SaratiHja A'liiiiiifi ./minni/. Friday, Till S<'i)l('iiilnT, KH'i. 
 
 COL. LONG AT WOOD CHEEK. 
 
 We publish a brief article to-day from (General de I'eyster ("An- 
 chor"), in reply to a criticism on his former article on General Schuy- 
 ler, by "Historical Justice." IJoth these writers are gentlemen who 
 know pretty well whereof they speak, and the topic is one of real in- 
 terest to students of the lievolutionary history of Saratoga. 
 
 Col. LoNti and Wood Ckkek, 0-7 Ji i.v, 1777. 
 To TiiK Ediior ok riiK JouuNAi, : 
 
 " Historical Justice" goes on to say, "Tiien he jGen. de I*. | attrib- 
 utes to Schuyler "the impeding of JJurgoyne's ascent of Wooil Creek" 
 uj) from Skenesborough. "The historical truth is that it was done by 
 Colonel Ijong in his n^t.reat, who wisely used his jiowtler in blasting 
 rocks from tiie bluffs above Fort Ann, in the narrow gorge through 
 which tile creek Hows, and effectually destroyed its navigation." What 
 proofs can be produced for this claim on behalf of Colonel Long V 
 
 The Ibitish ])roke through the boom barrier, or bridge, at Ticon- 
 deroga before 9 a. m., Gth July, and reached Skenesborough (now 
 Whitehall) only two hours later than the Americans — early in the 
 afternoon of the same day. Colonel TiOiig landed his battalion at 
 about 3 V. M.,* (>th July, and marched directly to Fort Ann, eleven or 
 
 * "Tlic fAnicriran] lioats rcaclii'd 8k(nicsl)orou,u:li about tlirce o'clock on the 
 afternoon of the same day [dtli .July], wlicii the fiigilivcs landed to enjoy, as tlicy 
 fancied, a temporary rejjose; Iiut in less than two liours they were startled l)y the 
 
8 
 
 li in a o YNK 
 
 twi'lvf iiiilt'S furtlitT soiitli. Ill' must liavi- roiisniiii'W llic wliolc <l:iy- 
 liirlit gottiiii,' over tliat diHtaiico llii()Ui,'li llii- wouils ami Hwainps. Early 
 next (lay, 7th July, Loni,' ivtraccd his sli-ps tlin-e inik's, luul a lianl 
 lit,'ht with the ISritisli ('oloiiol Hill, aii«l that aflcnioon, IiaviiiuM-eliiriiiMl 
 to Fort Aim and Ituruoii it, retired to Fort Edward, .mi the Ilinlsoii. 
 'IMiMt Ih to say, this Cohjiiel Loni,', wlio is represented as usin<f liis pow- 
 der in l)lastiii,i,' roekw on tlie (>th, still had i)owder enoiiirh to ti^'ht next 
 <hiy a smart little battle wliieh lasted a niiniher of hours. How did 
 tlie soldi<'rs under Lonj,' oht. in or carry with them any siiper-al)undant 
 powder on this exhaustinij mareii, and where did he j,'et tools to drill 
 and apiiliances lor Mast iiit,''::' He did march eleven or tw»'Ive miles, 
 we know, I'ntni Skeiiesl>orou,-,di (Whiteliall) to Fort Ann, after '.\ \: m. 
 on the (itli .Inly, conse<|uently he had no time to obstruct Wood Creek 
 .,n that day. Next <lay he fou<,'ht an en<ragenient three miles in 
 advance of Fort Ann— i. e., in the direction of Skeneshorough— re- 
 treated to Fort Ann, hurned the post, and fell back nine miles larllier 
 to Fort Edward— liaving marched lifteen miles, besides lighting des- 
 jierately for a number of hours on the 7th. Conseiiuently he could 
 have had no time on tlie 7th. When and liow did he perform the en- 
 gineering feats attributed to him? Anciiok (J. W. dk I'.) 
 
 reports of tlic (•(iiuioii of the I'.rilisli giiiil)o.its, wliicli were firinj: :it lliii irallcys 
 wliicli were lying at the wharf/ IJy uiicuininoii elTorl and iiuluRliy, liurgoyne had 
 lirokcii tlirouirh tlic chain, boom, ami Inidge, al Ticonderogu, aiul had followcil in 
 pursuit with llic ' IJoyal George' and ' Inliexiblc ' and a detaciiinent of tlio gun 
 lioals under Captain Carter. The pursuit had l)ecii piessetl witii sucli vigor that, 
 at the n-vy moment ir/icii tlic Ami-rkaiin ircre liuulimj at Hkt'iiiKhoniiKjIt, t/nve /Iritin/i 
 reijimenlx diiumhnrhd at tlui head of Houth ISay, viiWi tlie iiileution of occupying 
 ll'ie road to Fort Edward. Had Hurgoyiie delayed the attack upon the galleys 
 until tiiesc rcgiinenls had reached the Fort Edward road, the whole parly at 
 Skeneshorough would have been taken [irisoners. Alarmed, however, liy the a))- 
 proach of the gunboat.s, the latter bkw up three of the galleys, set fire to the fort, 
 mill, mid xtorelioiixe, and retired in (jreat eonfu»u>a toward Fort Ann. Occimonallji 
 the orerbiirilened party would falter on their retreat, when the startling cry of 
 ' ]\Iarch on, the Indians are at oin- heels,' would revive their drooping energies and 
 give strength to their weakened limbs. At live o'clock in the morning L^Hi -li'lyj. 
 Ihcy reai'hed Fort Ann, where they wc u joined by many of the invalids who had 
 been carried up Wood Creek in boiii- A number of the sick, with the cannon, 
 provisions, and nu)st, of the baggage, were left behind at Skeneshorough. 
 
 On the ith, a small reinforcement, sent from Fori Edward by Schuyler, arrived 
 at Fort Ann. About the same time a detachment of British troops approached 
 within sight of the fin't. This detachmenl was attacked from the fort, and re- 
 pulsed with some loss; a surgeon, a wounded captain, and twelve privates were 
 taken prisoners by the Americans. The next day Fort Ann was burned, and the 
 garrison retreated to Fort Edward, which was then occui)ied by (Jen. Schuyler."— 
 " History of Saratoga County, New York," by Nathaniel Barllell Sylvester. Phila- 
 delphia ; Evarls and Ensign, 1878, page 51. 
 
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