Visit to the Battle Grounds in 1791 by Mrs. Dwight, Mother of the late Dr. Theodore Dwight

My mother, who possessed a most accurate memory, furnished me with the following account of a visit she made to the Saratoga Battle Ground and the Springs in 1791. I give it nearly in the words in which I received it.
-- The late Dr. Theodore Dwight to the editor.

The party originally consisted of five, three gentlemen and two ladies, who travelled with the gigs (then called chairs) and a saddle-horse. Their first plan was to proceed only to 'Lebanon Pool now known as Lebanon Springs and after a short visit there to return ; some of their friends, who had spent a little time there in preceding years, having made a pleasing report of the place. The grandmother of one of them, it was recollected, had returned from 'the Pool' one pleasant day before the Revolution, and dismounted from her side saddle, in a dark colored jersey and petticoat, with the dignity proverbial of those old times, yet told of her cooking for dinner the pease picked by the gentlemen at that ancient watering place.

"From Hartford the party proceeded westward; and some idea may be formed of the fashions from the dress of one of the ladies, who wore a black beaver with a sugar-loaf crown, eight or nine inches high, called a steeple crown, wound round with black and red cord and tassels, being less showy than the gold cord sometimes worn. Habits having gone out of fashion, the dress was of 'London smoke' broadcloth buttoned down in front and at the side with twenty-four gilt buttons, about the size of a half dollar. Long waists and stays were in fashion, and the shoes were extremely sharp-toed and high- heeled, ornamented with large paste buckles on the instep.

At a tavern where we spent the first night, the ladies were obliged to surround themselves with a barrier of bean- leaves to keep off the bugs which infested the place; but this afforded only temporary benefit, as the vermin soon crept to the ceiling and fell upon them from above. The Green Woods, through which the road lay for many miles, were very rough, and in many places could not be traveled in carriages without danger. We scarcely met anybody on this part of the way, except an old man with a long white beard, who looked like a palmer on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land; and his wife -- who rode a horse on a saddle with a projecting pummel, then called a pannel, and a single iron chain for a bridle -- was as ugly as one of Shakspeare's old crones.

The few habitations to be seen were so uninviting, that we usually took our meals in the open air, in some pleasant spot under the trees, and often by the side of a brook, the recollection of which is pleasant even to this day. After three days we reached Hudson, where we were introduced to a very pleasant circle by a friend who resided in the place, and after sufficient repose we proceeded.

A gentleman, who had come to attend a ball, here joined the party, sending a messenger home for clothes ; and although he did not receive them, and had only his dancing dress, persisted in proceeding with us. He mounted his horse, therefore, in a suit of white broadcloth, with powdered hair, small-clothes, and white silk stockings, While at Hudson, it had been determined that we would go directly to Saratoga, where several of the inhabitants of Hudson then were; the efficacy of the water in restoring health being much celebrated, as well as the curious round and hollow rock from which it flowed. Hudson was a flourishing village, although it had been settled but about seven years, by people from Nantucket and Rhode Island.

"In the afternoon the prospect of a storm made us hasten our gait, and we stopped for the night at an old Dutch house, which, notwithstanding the uncouth aspect of a fireplace without jams, was a welcome retreat from the weather. The thunder, lightning and rain soon came on, and prevailed for some hours, but left a clear sky in the morning, when our party proceeded and reached Albany at breakfast-time. Some of our party were greatly alarmed at the sight of an old woman at a door in one of the streets, with her face shockingly disfigured by the small-pox, in a state of activity, for one of the ladies had never had that disease, and was near enough to be exposed to the contagion.

By the presence of mind of her companions, however, she was prevented from observing the painful object, and from such apprehension as they felt for her, until the time for the appearance of the disease had passed. The old Dutch church, with its pointed roof and great window of painted glass, stood at that time, at the foot of State street.

"At Troy, where we took tea, there were only about a dozen houses; the place having been settled only three years by people from Killingworth, Saybrook, and other towns in Connecticut. Lansingburgh was an older and more considerable town ; containing apparently more than a hundred houses, and inhabited principally by emigrants from the same state. The tavern was a very good one; but the inhabitants were so hospitable to the party, who were known through mutual friends, that the time was spent almost entirely at private houses.

After a delay of two nights and a day, we proceeded on our journey. Crossing the Hudson to Waterford by a ferry, we went back as far as the Mohawk to see the Cohoes Falls, of which we had a fine view from the northern bank, riding along the brow of the precipice in going and returning.

"On the road to the Mohawk we met a party of some of the most respectable citizens of Albany in a common country wagon, without a cover, with straw tinder feet, and with wooden chairs for seats ; their family coach being too heavy for short excursions. Two gentlemen on horseback, in their company, finding that we were going to Saratoga, offered to accompany us to the scene of the Battle of Behmus Heights, and thither we proceeded after visiting, Cohoes.

We dined at the house which was General Burgoyne's headquarters in 1777.

(* A mistake which Lossing and Neilson both fall into. Burgoyne's headquarters were on high ground -the farm (1894) Of Mr. Wilbur. The Brunswick journal " is very explicit in stating that Burgoyne camped between the English and German troops on the heights at the left wing." This statement, moreover, receives additional confirmation by the following incident, viz.: On one of my visits to the battle- ground, I pointed out to Mr. Wilbur (on whose land we were then standing) the place designated by the "Brunswick journal" and Burgoyne's map -which I then held in my hand - as Burgoyne's headquarters.

"That," exclaimed Mr. Wilbur, "explains what I have often wondered at." He then stated that when he first plowed up that particular spot he was accustomed to 'find great quantities of old gin and wine bottles; and that until my explanation he had often been puzzled to know "how on earth those bottles came there!" See map in my Burgoyne's Campaign."

The house mentioned by Mrs. Dwight, and which was formerly known as the " Taylor House," and since as the "Smith House," stood in tolerable preservation until 1864. The site is now (1894) marked by a few of the foundation stoiies and a small poplar tree. At the time of the battles it stood under the knoll where Fraser was buried, but was afterward moved down to the bank of the Hudson, on the right hand of the river road, going south. Also, in this connection, see, in advance, Professor Silliman's visit to the battle-ground for his reflections on the death of Fraser, while tarrying all night at this house.)

One of the females who attended us was there during the battle. She informed us of many particulars, and showed us a spot upon the floor which was stained with the blood of General Fraser, who, she added, when brought in mortally wounded from the field, was laid upon the very table at which we were seated.

During the funeral, she also stated, the American troops, who had got into the rear of the British on the opposite side of the river, and had been firing on the house, on discovering the cause of the procession up the steep hill, where Fraser had requested to be interred, not only ceased firing, but played a dead march in compliment to his memory.

On leaving the battle-ground for Saratoga Lake*

(While Burgoyne, with his army, was at Saratoga, the Indians were in the habit of supplying his table with delicious trout, caught in Saratoga Lake. Indeed, a few of these fish continued to be caught in that beautiful sheet of water as late as 1843. See Col. W. L. Stone's letter to the Commercial Advertiser. The last trout was caught through the ice in the winter of 1860, by the late Daniel Shepherd, of Saratoga Springs.)

our party was reduced to four by the loss of the four gentlemen, two of whom, however, intended to overtake us, if possible, before night. The country we had to pass over, after leaving the Hudson, was very uninteresting and uninhabited. The road lay through a forest, and was formed of logs. [This was undoubtedly the road cut through from the present village of Schuylerville, by General Schuyler, in 1783.]

We traveled till late in the afternoon before we reached a house, to which we had been directed for our lodging. It stood in a solitary place, in an opening of the dark forest, and had so comfortless an appearance that without approaching to take a near view or alighting, we determined to proceed further. [Probably the site of the present "old Potter Tavern," now "Birch's," a mile from Stafford's Bridge.]

It was a wretched log hut, with only one door, which had never been on hinges, was to be lifted by every person coming in or going out, and had no fastening except a few nails. We halted at the right of it, and one of the gentlemen rode up to take a nearer view. Standing up in his saddle, he peeped into a square hole which served as a window, but had no glass nor shutter, and found the floor the bare earth, with scarcely any furniture to be seen.

Nothing remained for us but to proceed and make our way to the Springs as fast as possible; for we knew of no human habitation nearer, and when or how we might hope to reach there we could not tell. We were for a time extremely dispirited, until the gentleman who had joined us at Hudson came forward (still in his ball dress) and endeavored to encourage us, saying that if we would trust to his guidance he doubted not that he should be able to conduct us safely and speedily to a more comfortable habitation.

This raised our hopes, and we followed him cheerfully, though the day was now at its close, and the forest seemed thicker and darker than before. When the last light at length had disappeared, and we found ourselves in deeper gloom, our guide confessed that he had encouraged Lis to keep us from despair, and as to any knowledge of the road, he had never been there before in his life.

He, however, dismounted tied his horse behind our chair, and taking the bridle of our own, began to lead him on, groping his way as well as he was able, stepping into one mud-hole after another without regard to his silk stockings, sometimes up to his beauish knee-buckles. It seemed as if we were going for a long time down a steep hill into some bottomless pit; and every few minutes one wheel would pass over a log or a stump so high as almost to overset us.

At length we insisted on stopping, and spent a quarter of an hour in anxiety and doubt, being unable to determine what we had better do. We heard the voices of animals in the woods, which some of us feared might attack us. At length one of the gentlemen declared that a sound which we had heard for some time at a distance could not be the howl of a wolf, for which we had taken it, but must be the barking of a wolf-dog, and indicated that the habitation of its master was not very far off, proposing to go in search of it. The gentlemen were unwilling to leave us alone; but we insisted that they might need each other's assistance, and made them go together. But it was a long time before we heard from them again.

How long they were gone I do not know, for we soon became impatient and alarmed; but at length we discovered a light among the trees, which, shining upon the trunks and boughs, made a beautiful vista, like an endless Gothic arch, and showed a thousand tall columns on both sides. We discovered them returning, accompanied by two men, who led us off the road, and stuck up lighted pine knots to guide our friends.

"Under their guidance we found our way to a loghouse, containing but one room, and destitute of every thing except hospitable inhabitants ; so that, although we were admitted, we found we should be obliged to make such arrangements as we could for sleeping. There was no lamp nor candle, light being supplied by pine knots stuck in the crevices of the walls. The conversation of the family proved that wild beasts were very numerous and bold in the surrounding forest, and that they sometimes, when hungry, approached the house; and there was a large aperture left at the bottom of the door to admit the dogs when in danger from wolves.*

(* The vicinity of Saratoga Lake seems in early Revolutionary times to have been a great place for wolves. The late Amos Stafford-one of the survivors of the Wyoming Massacre-who settled on the banks of Fish Creek, paid for his farm by the bounties he received from the wolves he killed.)

The floor extended on one side but to within the distance of several feet of the wall, a space being left to kindle the fire upon the bare ground, and when we wanted tea made, the mistress of the house could produce only a single kettle, in which water was boiled for washing and every other purpose. She had heard of tea kettles, but had never seen one, and was impressed with an idea of the usefulness of such a utensil. When we had spread the table, out of our own stores, and divided tea-cups and saucers, a porringer, etc., among us, we seated ourselves, partly on the bedstead and partly on a kind of arm-chair, which was formed by an old round table when raised perpendicularly, and thus partook of a meal.

"We were, however, suddenly alarmed by cries or screams at a little distance in the forest, which some of us supposed to be those of wolves or bears. Our host, after listening a while, declared his belief that they were the cries of some travelers who had lost their way, and proceeded with the gentlemen to search for them. They found our two expected friends, who had followed the path lighted by the torches, but unfortunately wandered from it a little, and soon found before them a wall too high to reach from their stirrups. They attempted to retreat, but found it also behind them, and though they rode round and round, feeling for a place of exit, could find none, and then began to call for assistance, hoping that some dwelling might be within the reach of their voices.

Being happily relieved and restored to us, the adventures of the evening served as a subject of pleasantry. They had unconsciously entered a pound or pen for bears, by a very narrow entrance, which, in the darkness they could not find again, and thus their embarrassment was fully explained.*

(* The impenetrable wood, here so graphically described, was what is even, at the present day, known among the farmers of the vicinity as " Bear Swamp." This letter shows how correctly it is named - it having been in early times a favorite resort for bears.-- S.)

We slept that night on our luggage and saddles, but our hospitable hosts refused all reward in the morning.

"On reaching the springs at Saratoga, we found but three habitations, and those poor log-houses, on the high bank of the meadow, where is now the western side of the street, near the Round Rock.*

(*Since known as the "High-Rock.")

This was the only spring then visited. The houses were almost full of strangers, among whom were several ladies and gentlemen from Albany, and we found it almost impossible to obtain accommodations, even for two nights. We found the Round Rock at that time entire, the large tree which some years since fell and cracked a fissure in it being then standing near and the water, which occasionally overflowed, and increased the rock by its deposits, keeping the general level three or four inches below the top.

The neighborhood of the spring, like all the country we had seen for many miles, was a perfect forest, and there were no habitations to be seen in all the vicinity, except the three log- houses, which afforded us little more than a shelter. We arrived on Saturday, and left there on Monday morning for Ballston, which we reached after a short ride. But there the accommodations for visitors were still less inviting.

The springs, of which there were several, were entirely unprotected, on the borders of a woody swamp, and near the brook, in which we saw bubbles rising in several places, which indicated other springs. There were two or three miserable habitations, but none in which a shelter could be obtained. There was a small hovel, into which some of the water was conducted for bathing, but as there was nothing like comfort to be found, we proceeded homeward after spending a short time at the place."