Gen. Epaphras Hoyt's Visit to the Battle Ground in 1825

Gen. Epaphras Hoyt, historian, was born in Deerfield, Mass., December 31, 1765 ; died there February 8, 1850. He held many civil and military offices, was major-general of the Massachusetts militia and devoted his life to perfecting the volunteer militia system of the country. He had a commission sent him by the secretary of war of the United States by Gen. Knox, dated June 5, 1794, but circumstances prevented his acceptance of it. Soon after his death, the late Luther B. Lincoln, an intimate friend of Gen. Hoyt, and principal of the Deerfield academy (of which Gen. Hoyt was a trustee), delivered an address upon his life and character before the lyceum of that village, which was published March 10, 1851. His published works are: "Discipline for the Cavalry" (1798); "Practical Illustrations for Military Officers, with Plates and Military Dictionary" (1811); "Cavalry Discipline and Rules and Regulations for Drill and Saber Exercise, etc., Illustrated with Plates" (1813); and "Antiquarian Researches, or Indian Wars" (1824). At his death he left completed, with maps, a work for publication entitled, " Burgoyne's, Campaigns," and had partly finished a history of the French and Indian wars.

The following is an extract from Prof. Lincoln's address: "The spirit of generous philanthropy, which was a distinguished trait in Gen. Hoyt's character, was accompanied by a delicate sense of honor, not that foolish passion which sometimes creeps into the weak mind under an assumed name and makes such havoc of the inflamed soul, as ridiculous as it is void of principle, but that sense of true honor which demands from the world acknowledgment of its inalienable rights, the defense due to its birthright as a child of God, and a corresponding readiness to pay the same full, generous overflowing measure of respect into the bosom of every object in the form of humanity. This trait, I think, must have been eminently marked by all of you who knew him. For myself I can as well conceive of the truth of a mathematical absurdity as of the soul of Gen. Hoyt conceiving of a base action.

"During a journey which I took with Gen. Hoyt some years ago, after visiting Lake George, with its Fort William Henry and its 1000 graves, Williams' Rock and Bloody Pond, Fort Edward, with the melancholy resting-place of the innocent Jane McCrea, and other scenes thick set with the memories of dark and foul deed for which thou, O, spirit of injustice, thou awful genius of unholy war, thou art responsible; with the departure of the morning hours we were leaving behind us the immediate vicinities of those bloody deeds, and the soul seemed to breathe in again the sweet influences of unpolluted nature. Around us universal tranquility reigned; when suddenly we came within sight of an humble tenement in the town of Saratoga.

'There,' said the general, 'is a dwelling memorable for events of darker days. In the times of the Revolution it was a house of one story only; a second within a few years has been added, but the lower part remains unaltered, and the arrangements of the rooms, the floors, etc., remain the same as in days of yore.'"

Hoyt's Tour

The following is from a tour of the late Gen. Hoyt, of Deerfield, Massachusetts, made to the battle ground 48 years after the surrender of Burgoyne:

From Troy we proceeded up the Hudson in an extra stage, through Waterford, Mechanicville and Stillwater village to Ketchum's tavern at Bemis' Heights, the position taken up by Gen. Gates' army September 12, 1777, where we found good accommodations. At this place there are now several houses, and among others the handsome residence of Dr. Willard, of Albany, standing near the site of Bemis' house, which gave the name to Gates' camp.

Resolving to give the battle grounds a thorough reconnaisance, in the morning we set out on foot and traversed the fields in various directions. My companion, one of the heroes of the October 7th battle, appeared alive to the many associations connected with that important event. We first traced the lines of Gates' camp, which in some places still furrow the ground, particularly on the extreme left, where the curtains and bastions are distinctly to be seen. The old red house, not far from the centre of the camp, now fast going to decay, where Gates had his headquarters, was not passed without notice.

This my companion well recollected, and he pointed to the spot where he had been planted as a sentinel. A small distance east of the house, at the time of the battles, stood a barn in which many of the wounded were deposited; but the foundation only remains to mark the spot. The fields adjacent, once the scene of bustle and military preparation, now present a calm and solitary aspect; and here the bones of many a patriot who died of wounds received in the two actions of the 19th of September and October 7th, rest in obscurity.

My companion pointed out the spot where twenty-eight of these heroes were interred in one grave; and near this spot the veteran Col. Breyman and Sir Francis Clark, Burgoyne's aid- de-camp, mortally wounded and taken prisoners in the second action, mixed their remains with their brave conquerors.

After noticing the ground occupied by the different regiments and brigades, and listening to the many anecdotes of my companion, we continued our route across Nelson's farm on an eminence, in advance of Gates' camp, the frequent post of Morgan's riflemen, and passing a ravine and an open field beyond, we reached a wood where his regiment was drawn up, on the right of Gates' line, where they hove up a slight work of logs in the battle of the October 7th.

From this point, crossing other fields westerly, and a bridge over a rill, we rose to higher ground, Burgoyne's point of appui oinl of appui in the same battle, and a little further north formed en potence, and crowning a height stood Major Acland's British grenadiers, the most sanguinary point of the contest.

The British line extended from this point westerly about a third of a mile, crossing two open fields and an intervening copse of wood, to some high grounds within view; the right occupied by Brigadier-General Fraser's elite, consisting of the Twenty-Fourth Regiment and Lord Balcarras' light infantry; the centre and left of the British and German troops of the line, under Generals Phillips and Riedesel. Eight pieces of cannon, two of which were twelve pounders, were posted along the line, besides two howitzers in front of Fraser's elite.

On the south, in front of the line, the ground falls off to a rill, then covered with brush, from which the American columns debouched, as they advanced to the attack, under a heavy fire from the British artillery.

The battle at this place commenced on the British left, by General Poor's brigade, and soon after on the right by Colonel Morgan's and Major Dearborn's corps, and the whole line was soon engaged.*

(* The effective usefulness of the famous body of experienced riflemen under Morgan, in checking the aggressive and savage bands of Indians which Gen. Burgoyne had connected with his army, was soon apparent to Gen. Gates to whom Washington had sent it in August.

The corps, as soon as it reached the northern army, not only worsted the Indians in the various encounters in which they became confronted, but it also created such a panic among the redmen that they at once lost all interest in fighting and scouting for Burgoyne, and hastily departed to their homes. Gates then employed the corps as sharp-shooters and skirmishers, in which line of duty it did splendid service. After Washington's army had been compelled, after the battle of. Brandywine, to retire before the larger force of Sir William Howe, the commanding general's situation was such as to induce him to ask for it's return to him.

His letter to Major-General Gates, embodying the request, is as follows:

"CAMP NEAR POTTSGROVE, Sept. 24, 1777

"SIR -This army has not been able to oppose General Howe with the success that was wished, and needs a reinforcement. I therefore request, if you have been so fortunate as to oblige General Burgoyne to retreat to Ticonderoga, and if you have not, and circumstances will admit, that you will order Colonel Morgan to join me again with his corps. I sent him up when I thought you materially wanted him, and if his services can be dispensed with now, you will direct him to return immediately. You will perceive I do not mention this in way of command, but leave you to determine upon it according to your situation; if they come they should proceed by way of water from Albany as low down as Peekskill; in such case you will give Colonel Morgan the necessary orders to join me with dispatch.

I am Sir, your most obedient servant
Go. WASHINGTON
MAJOR-GENERAL GATES.)

Morgan and Dearborn having turned and broken the right flank of Balcarras' infantry, and Acland's grenadiers on the left, being hard pressed by Poor, Burgoyne despatched orders for Fraser's elile to retire from the right, and form a second line to support the left. In executing this order, Fraser having arrived in the rear of the left, followed by Morgan, received a mortal wound and was carried off the field.

Mr. Walker, who resides a little distance in the rear of the ground occupied by the British line, pointed out to us the site of two huts which stood near the centre of the left, and here my companion recollected 'to have seen the ground covered with dead the morning after the action. Near this spot Major Williams, of the artillery, and Captain Money, D. Q. M. General, and several other officers, were captured by Americans, and eight pieces of cannon were taken.

The ground occupied by the left of the British line may be known by a solitary poplar tree standing on the side of the road marked with the initials of some person's name, near which the ground falls off to the east.

After viewing this sanguinary spot, and analyzing the movements of the different corps, we passed along the road northerly to the point where General Fraser received his wound. Walker's blacksmith shop is about twenty rods north of the place, and not far from the same, Sir Francis Clark, Burgoyne's aid-de-camp, also received his wound as he was conveying orders from Burgoyne to Phillips and Riedesel.

Proceeding northerly, forty or fifty rods, we arrived at the house of the younger Walker, situated on an eminence, which, with several others, extending northerly, were occupied by Fraser's elite during most of the battle of the 19th of September.

Here General Larnerd's brigade and Marshall's regiment were engaged toward the close of the battle of that day, and near Walker's barn, situated a little east of the house, stood the British grenadiers opposed to Marshall's regiment, as darkness commenced. Near the barn Walker had just discovered and disinterred the skeleton of a man killed in the action by a ball which perforated the back of the skull, and a circular piece, cut out by the ball, was found, exactly fitting the perforation. The bones indicated a man of a large size, from which, and knowing the ground to have been the position of the British grenadiers in the first action, we concluded he must have been one of that corps.

Further to the right, and westward of Walker's house, we noticed the spot where the late Governor Brooks, of Massachusetts, then lieutenant-colonel of Jackson's regiment, sustained his nocturnal attack from Breyman's German grenadiers. (See Gordon, VOL 2. letter 8th.)

Continuing our route northerly along Fraser's heights, we turned to the right, across lower ground, and rose a gentle hill covered with trees of recent growth, the fortified position of Colonel Breyton in the action of the October 7th . This fortification was a temporary work of logs and rails, and has disappeared. Every inch of this ground presents interesting associations, and with eager steps we traversed the hill to find some relic or trace of the gallantry of the men who fought on this spot, but all marks are obliterated.

With deep sensations we now surveyed the open field, over which Lieutenant-Colonel Brooks led on Jackson's regiment, under a heavy fire, in his gallant charge on these works in the battle of the October 7th , and penetrated them a few moments before General Arnold galloped in through a sally port and received his wound. Other regiments then advancing, the post was carried at every point, and about two hundred of the enemy made prisoners, while the remainder made their escape into the woods in the rear, leaving two pieces of cannon in the hands of the Americans.

Passing over the hill we descended to a beautiful opening on the east side, the camp of Breyman's German brigade, back of which is a ravine and rill where Breyman was found by the victors mortally wounded, taken up and sent to Gates' camp, where he died. This. post formed the right flank of the British fortified camp, and its capture exposed other points to an attack in the rear. Sensible of its importance, Burgoyne, on first hearing that it was carried, gave orders for its recovery, but though they were positive, they were not obeyed, and Larnerd's brigade held the post unmolested through the night.

General Wilkinson states, in his memoirs, that Arnold, during the attack on Breyman's post, turned its right, 'at the head of a few riflemen, and threw himself into the rear, where his leg was broken and his horse killed under him. The general was not an eye witness to the event, and, probably, through misinformation has given it erroneously. That Arnold was wounded within the works, after passing the sally port, has been repeatedly asserted by Governor Brooks, as well as others who saw the whole.

Quitting this interesting spot we passed on southerly over the ground where stood the two block houses so gallantly stormed by detachments from Brooks' regiment, in the same action, and the commanders, Lieutenants Wiley and Goodrich, and many of their men, killed ; and turning easterly through a copse of wood, reached a road in the rear of Freeman's field.

Along this road, still flanked by woods, Burgoyne formed the 9th, 21st, 62d and 20th regiments (this was the order from right to left), and Captain Jones' brigade of grenadiers, previous to the sanguinary contest on the 19th of September, while Major Forbes, with the British van, pressed into the field, was attacked by Morgan near Freeman's hut, and driven back to the British line in the woods, and Morgan, in turn, broken and forced back in the woods south of the field.

Continuing southerly in the road, and crossing a small ravine, we entered Freeman's bloody field, and a few rods south, the house of Mr. Leggett, who now resides on the farm embracing the field of battle. At the time of the battle the field was an oblong of from seventy to eighty rods in length, east and west, by about thirty in breadth, inclosed by a worm fence, and surrounded by woods.

Near the centre is an elevation extending from Leggett's house nearly at right angles across the field, upon which a hut and small barn were situated, and near the latter the elevation terminated at a narrow ravine extending parallel to the field. South of this ravine are other elevations sloping off gently to level ground south, the whole then covered with woods in which the Americans were drawn up in the first part of the battle of the 19th of September.

No part of the ground we had traversed presents more interesting associations than this field. Here British valor and veteran skill were successfully opposed by native bravery and patriotic ardor, and here it was that the proud Briton was compelled to acknowledge the fallacy of his boasted declaration, "that the Americans would fight only under cover of woods and intrenchments, and that they were incapable of sustaining a fair and equal conflict in the open field."

While at Leggett's we were presented with balls and several fractured implements of muskets found on the field, among which was part of a brass guard numbered XX, supposed to belong to that regiment.

We were now upon the ground occupied by the 62d British regiment, commanded by Colonel Anstruther during most of the battle of the 19th, flanked on the right by the 21st, and on the left by the 20th regiments, the whole under Brigadier-General Hamilton, the 9th of the same brigade being drawn off and posted in the rear of the field as a corps de reserve, and here this brigade, with the artillery under Captain Jones, bore the brunt of the battle for about four hours, hand-to-hand, with the Americans, and human life was profusely expended.

A few rods southerly of Leggett's barn we noticed the ground where Morgan and Dearborn attacked the British when under Major Forbes; and here the regiments of Cilley* and Scammel, of Poor's brigade, a battalion under Major Hull, Morgan's and Dearborn's corps, renewed the battle on Hamilton's brigade, which was vigorously maintained on both sides, each alternatively giving and gaining the ground.

(* Col. Cilley, who served throughout the war with reputation, was a man of temperance, economy, great industry, decision of character and sound judgment. The following anecdote, among many others (see "Life of Caleb Stark"), is related of him:

During the armistice prior to the peace of 1783, several American officers visited New York. Rivington, the king's printer, kept a book store which was a lounging place for British officers. At this time an American officer entered the store, purchased several books which he directed to be sent to his lodgings, and, calling for a pen, wrote his name and address.

"What," said a British colonel, half reclining on a sofa, "an American write his name!"

"If I cannot," was the prompt answer of Col. Cilley, " I can make my mark," and, suiting the action to the word, drew his sword and applied the flat of it to the British officer's face. The latter departed saying that he "would hear from him."

The intrepid Colonel, however, heard no more from him. This anecdote is but one, of many, showing the contemptible feeling of the English, not only at that time, but at the present (1894) ; and yet our "British cousins" think it strange that the people of the United States have more sympathy with autocratic Russia than with their hypocritical monarchy! And with Gladstone at their head -- a man who, had he had his way, would have, during our late Civil war, been glad to have seen our republic dismembered! )

Also here, about three o'clock in the afternoon, the remainder of Poor's brigade, with some other regiments, came up on the left and pressed into action, and the fire was continued with alternate advantage on both sides until smoke and nightfall rendered objects undiscernible, when the action terminated precisely on the ground where it commenced.

Among the officers who fell at this place, on the part of the Americans, were Lieutenant-Colonel Colburn, of Cilley's, and Lieutenant-Colonel Adams, of Hale's New Hampshire regiments. The 62d British regiment was literally cut to pieces; after the action it did not exceed sixty men and five or six officers fit for duty. Colonel Anstruther, and his major, Harmage, were wounded. During the contest the field presented a scene of horror appalling even to veteran troops; the British officers were constantly falling under the fatal fire, or carried off the field wounded; the ranks thinned and the artillery men nearly annihilated. Out of forty-eight men stationed at the guns under Captain Jones, who fell, thirty-six were killed or badly wounded, and among the officers only one lieutenant escaped, and lie with a shot through his hat.

Passing the small ravine south of Leggett's barn we rose an elevation, the post with another on a knoll a little further west, strongly fortified, and the woods cleared off by Burgoyne after the battle of the 19th. These elevations were occupied by Lord Balcarras' light infantry after their retreat from the first position, south of the elder Walker's, in the battle of the October 7th , and here, towards the close of the day, Arnold, with Poor's and Patterson's brigades, made his desperate attack, and was repulsed, and he, with his horse, entangled in the surrounding abattis, from which, with the utmost difficulty, he extracted himself while under a heavy fire of grape and cannister from the British batteries.

"A more determined perseverance," says the British commander, " than the Americans showed in this attack upon the lines, though they were finally repulsed by the corps under Lord Balcarras, I believe is not in any officer's experience." Had the assailants been less embarassed with the abattis, probably they would have covered the works, though manned with Burgoyne's best troops.

From this elevation we had a fair view of the greatest part of the battle grounds and the line of Burgoyne's camp, taken up subsequently to the battle of the 19th, and in which the principal part of the army continued until that Of the October 7th . North and east of Leggett's house was the camp of Fraser's elite, flanked on the left by Hamilton's brigade, and further on the left, extending to the river hills, that of the German troops under Riedesel, excepting Breyman's command, which was to the right of Fraser, formed en potence to the main line; the whole covered by temporary works which are now nearly obliterated. In the meadow in the rear of the left of Riedesel's German corps was the British hospital camp, protected by several batteries, and three redoubts, on the projecting points of as many hills, overlooking the meadow.

The grounds adjacent, at the time of the battles, were covered with woods, but now present, in some parts, fields under cultivation. North of Freeman's field the woods are still standing, exhibiting the exact features of 1777, and the road through them, where Burgoyne first formed the four regiments of Hamilton's brigade, is still distinctly seen.

In passing over these sanguinary fields my companion appeared to be highly excited by the many recollections which rushed upon his mind, and the circumstance of our visit happening on the 48th anniversary of the battle of the 7th of October presented the various scenes in a most striking point of view. Nor did my my own feelings remain "indifferent and unmoved."

To walk with callous indifference over ground once the scene of blood and carnage, of occasional fear and triumph, and these heightened by the recollection that many of our acquaintance shared in them, may comport with minds steeled to sensibility; but those of a different stamp, in which are included a majority of the reflecting part of mankind, will be differently affected. Nor are lessons drawn from such scenes destitute of utility. They fix the mind on the characters of the heroes who perished in the cause of our country, stimulate to noble exploits, and fill the mind with just reflections on the value of our dear bought liberties. With a portion of these feelings we returned to Ketchum's tavern, passing again over part of Gates' camp.

On our route to our quarters we fell in with a Quaker gentleman who resides in the vicinity, with whom we had some conversation on the scenes that had been exhibited in these fields, and, notwithstanding his aversion to military exploits, he appeared to be interested on hearing that my companion was one of the men who had fought for his country. And in traversing over the battle grounds, we were welcomed to the hospitable mansions of several of these people, who evinced an interest in our researches, and gave us their aid in pointing out the most remarkable places on the battle fields. An elderly lady remarked, that she resided on a farm in the vicinity of Saratoga lake at the time of the battle, and heard the terrible roar of the dreadful cannon, and that British reconnoitering parties frequently visited her house, from whom she received very civil treatment, and gave them, in return, such refreshments as her mansion furnished.

Before we left Ketchum's we reconnoitered the banks of the Hudson, and my companion pointed out the spot where Gates threw over a bridge to connect with the left bank, and the ground where he recollected to have seen a tribe of American Indians encamped.

The freight boats constantly passing along the canal, within a few yards of our traverse, afforded us a passage about two and one-half miles, up to Smith's tavern, the cottage in which the unfortunate General Fraser died of his wounds the morning after the battle of the October 7th , where we arrived at dark after making half a dozen very submissive bows to the bridges stretching across the canal, an embarrassment we had not anticipated, and which requires some caution to avoid a broken head.

On this route we passed the left flank of the British camp, on the west of the eminence, and the ravine from which the British sharp- shooters wounded General Lincoln the day succeeding the last battle on the heights.

Smith's house, which stood at the foot of the hill at the period of the battles, and has been drawn forward to the road on the bank of the river, is situated in a handsome meadow bordering on the Hudson, the same embraced by Burgoyne's hospital camp, and taken up by his whole army in the night succeeding the second battle. In the morning we traversed over ground, noticing the places most remarkable for interesting events, and, among others, the elevated hill on which General Fraser was buried under the fire of American artillery posted in a meadow below, so eloquently described by Burgoyne in his account of his expedition.

A few yards below the great ravine, so called by the British officers, we noticed the point where Burgoyne's bridge of boats was thrown across the Hudson, at the head of which, on the left bank, are the remains of his tete depont. The bed of the great ravine, through which a road formerly led from the hospital camp to that on the height, is now flowed by the water of the canal. South of the ravine are the heights on which Balcarras' light infantry was posted during the 8th of October, and here several skirmishes took place between the British and American sharp-shooters, in one of which General Lincoln was wounded, as has been noted.

Of the three redoubts on the hills adjoining the meadow, little or no remains are to be seen, excepting that in the center, where Fraser was buried, which is still distinct. The remains of another work may be traced in the meadow a short distance south of Smith's, near which was posted the park of artillery. In the bar room of Smith's tavern General Fraser breathed his last, and there, says Madame Riedesell who quartered at the same place,

"I often heard him exclaim with a sigh, 'Oh, fatal ambition! Poor General Burgoyne! Oh, my poor wife!'"

Several late tourists, through a very natural mistake, have called Smith's house, Sword's house; the latter, it appears by Burgoyne's plans, was situated about a mile above at his camp, taken up on the 17th of September; the house is now demolished.*

(* The site of "Sword's house" is on the south side of a spring brook about fifty yards west of the Hudson river, a few rods north of the south line of the town of Old Saratoga, and is, as Gen. Hoyt says, about a mile north of where the "Smith house" formerly stood. It may be readily found from its being about thirty rods north of a highway leading from the Hudson river road westerly, which highway is the first one north of Wilbur's basin. This highway was nearly the same at the time of Burgoyne's visit, in 1777, as now. All traces of the house are now (1894) obliterated save a few bricks and a slight depression in the soil where was the cellar.

A son of the owner of this house, Thos. Sword, who was born at Fort George, on Lake George, Jan. 5, 1764, was for fifty years a publisher and bookseller in the city of New York, and for twenty years vestryman in Trinity church in that city. He died in New York, June 27, 1843. A white marble tablet in Trinity church, New York, in the alcove of Astor memorial, south side, marks his last resting place. The tablet was erected to his memory by Trinity church corporation.)

In the early part of the day we left the hospital camp, and in a stage proceeded up the river six miles to Schuylerville, at Fish Creek, in Saratoga, the scene of Burgoyne's last struggles, passing on the route the British camp at Sword's house, and the elevated ground on which the British army halted on its retreat on the morning of the 9th of October, at what was then called Davocole, or Van Vechtin's Creek.

This spot is rendered memorable from the interesting relation Burgoyne has given of Lady Harriet Acland, who here embarked in a boat, and descended to Gates' camp, attended by Mr. Brudenel, chaplain of the artillery. A short distance south of the site of the old church at Schuylerville we noticed the place where the right of Gates' camp rested on the ioth of October.

The retreat of the British army from the hospital camp to Fish Greek was attended with many embarrassments. It commenced about nine o'clock in the evening, and, as it was apprehended that the Americans would pass upon the rear, a strong body of the best troops under General Phillips was ordered to cover the march; General Riedesel commanded the van. From the nature of the country, and the darkness of the night, the movement was difficult as well as critical ; the artillery and such baggage as could not be embarked in boats were to be dragged along a narrow road composed of argillaceous soil, over which the stoutest horses could, with difficulty, draw an ordinary load, and with the emaciated and jaded animals of the army an empty carriage was a burden almost beyond their power. Besides, the army was liable to an attack at every step, from the woods on the left; nor were the boats less exposed in stemming the river from the attacks of the militia posted along the left bank, who were secure during the darkness from annoyance from the artillery.

To add to these difficulties a heavy rain commenced which converted the road into perfect quagmire, and rendered the march of the baggage next to impossible, and their total loss was apprehended. General Phillips was ordered to bend his whole attention to the covering of the army by taking a position that would enable it to form in order of battle without regarding the column of baggage, and to rely exclusively on the bayonet. Under such embarrassments the loss of several provision boats and baggage wagons is not surprising.

After a short respite at the stage-house in Schuylerville we prepared for a reconnaisance of Burgoyne's camp, which extended along the heights from Lemson's, now Bushett's house, the same occupied by Madame Riedesel (see her narrative), nearly opposite the mouth of the Battenkill, to an eminence about three-fourths of a mile south-west of our tavern, and here Was Burgoyne's headquarters, the strongest point of his position.

On an elevation in the meadow northeast of the village the park of artillery was posted under the cover of some temporary works. Excepting two or three open fields, the position of the army was principally covered with Woods, but the meadow was open, cultivated ground. At the mouth of Fish creek, on the north side, are the ruins of Fort Hardy, built in the French war, by many erroneously supposed to be the work of Burgoyne, and through the meadow now passes the northern canal, presenting an extensive triangular basin on the north of Fish creek, and over this is an aqueduct.

South of the creek is Schuyler's house, standing nearly on the site of General Schuyler's, burnt by Burgoyne. The old church which stood on the height south-west of this house, in 1777, is demolished, and a handsome new one is now pleasantly situated in a recess of a grove on the height west of the village.

Arriving at the works on the elevation, at the extreme right of Burgoyne's camp, the lines, encompassing several acres, were easily traced, presenting saliant and rentrant angles, and here were posted the 9th, 21st, and 24th regiments, the British grenadiers, Balearras' light infantry, Captain Fraser's rangers, and the American volunteers, The left of the camp, on a ridge, north of the village, nearly parallel to the river, was occupied by Riedesel's Germans; and the central ground, by the 20th, 47th, and 62d British regiments, the German grenadiers, and Barnes' corps, partially covered by entrenchments.

Farther west, in the margin of the woods, were the Yagers and Canadians. Their out-posts extended along the north side of Fish Creek, from its mouth to the right of the camp. The position here described is that held at the time of the convention, The right of Gates' camp was about a mile south of Fish Creek, and the line extended into the woods over elevated ground, opposite to Burgoyne's right, and the advanced posts were near the creek opposite those of the British.

In passing over the right of the British camp my companion found himself on interesting ground, and with hasty steps we proceeded to the spot where his regiment, commanded by Colonel. Woodbridge, of Massachusetts, was drawn up in the woods, within a few yards of the British entrenchment, prepared for an assault on the morning of the 11th October, 1777. To comprehend this movement it is necessary to recur to details.

On the night of the 10th Gates was led to believe that Burgoyne, leaving his fires burning under the care of a few pickets, had left his camp and retreated up the Hudson, on which he gave orders for a forward movement to seize the, abandoned camp. At daybreak the next morning, being very foggy, Patterson's and Larnerd's brigades, with Morgan's corps and Woodbridge's regiment, were put in motion towards the British right; and Nixon's and Glover's brigades, at the same time, moved up the meadow and the former crossed Fish creek, and surprised a British picket in old Fort Hardy.

The fog at this time dispersing the British army was found in their position, ready for an attack, and the park of artillery immediately opened fire upon the American column, threw it into some disorder, and compelled it to recross the creek; the two brigades then returned to camp. Finding that Gates had ordered the movement under a misapprehension of the position of the British army, Adjutant-General Wilkinson, who had attended the movement of Nixon and Glover,* immediately put spurs to his horse.

(*In this connection, and to show how vivid the early Colonial and Revolutionary days are brought before the mind, making them seem as of yesterday, the following clipping from the New York Sun of February 20, 1894, is of supreme interest:

Biograpical glimpses of two of the Revolutionary heroes are given in a pension bill recently reported to the House by Mr. Beauchamp Clark, of Missouri. The beneficiary of the bill is Mrs. Hannah Lyons, ninety-one years of age. She is the daughter of John Russell, a private in Glover's famous marine regiment, which rendered such conspicuous services during the revolutionary war, notably at Princeton, Saratoga, and in Valley Forge, and in transporting the army of Washington across the ice-bound Delaware on the night before the battle of Trenton. This battle has recently been commemorated by the erection of a monument at Trenton, N.J., and the statue of a private soldier on guard at the door of the monument is that of her father, John Russell, of Marblehead.

Mrs. Lyons is also a niece of the naval Revolutionary hero, James Mugford, whose successful capture of the British transport Hope, laden with munitions of war in May, 1776, in full view of the British fleet anchored in Nantucket Roads, supplied Washington and his army with arms and ammunition at a critical time in the affairs of the colonies. Such is the patriotic record of the family from which this aged lady descended in whose behalf this bill is favorably reported."

To the same purport: Rev. Marinus Willett, a son of Col. Marinus Willett, the hero of Fort Stanwix and an Indian fighter of the Old French War, 1744-50 is yet, 1894, living on Jersey City Heights, N.J,

My son, Mr. Arthur D. Stone, who called on him in January of this year, 1894, found him still remarkably hale and hearty, and in full enjoyment of his physical and mental powers. He it was who, as a labor of filial piety, edited and published his father's Narrative.

Rev. Mr. Willett has long been favorably known as the author of The Life of Summerfield, The Life of the Messiah, and other works of a religious nature. Indeed, to see and converse, in the year of our Lord 1894, with the son of an Indian fighter of the old French war and a distinguished soldier of the Revolution is not only a very great privilege, but, as above remarked, makes the old Colonial days seem as of yesterday.

In this connection one cannot but recall another similar instance of a lady who died in 1893. She was the wife of the late Ransom Cook, of Saratoga Springs (nee Ayers), whose father, Robert Ayers, was the person who conveyed to Jane McCrea the message of her lover, David Jones, requesting her to submit herself to an Indian escort, who would convey her into Burgoyne's camp, where they were to be immediately married. Mrs. Mary Cook Millard, wife of the late Ira Millard, died at her home in Beach street, Ballston, N.Y., on June 4, 1894. Mrs. Millard was born in Vermont in 1800, and was in her ninety-fourth year. She was a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Cook, of Saratoga. In her early childhood she went to the town of Malta and later came to this village. Her entire life had been spent within two miles of this place. In 1818 she was u n ited in marriage to Ira Millard, who died in 1891. She is survived by two sons, Eleazar Millard, of Malta, and Nelson Millard, of East Orange, N. Y., and one sister, Mrs. Henry Loomis.)

Wilkinson pushed up the creek, and crossing over at a mill about three-quarters of a mile above Schuyler's,* found Morgan's, Patterson's, and Larnerd's brigades, with Woodbridge's regiment on the right, advancing through the woods and approximating the British lines.

(* The present dam on Fish Creek at Victory Mills, Saratoga County, N. Y., marks the precise spot here referred to.)

In front, for about twenty yards, the trees had been felled and sharpened to a strong abattis, and Woodbridge's regiment had laid down their packs and approached within ten yards of the opening; the British, lying close under the intrenchment, ready to open their fire as soon as their assailants were uncovered by the woods.

At this moment Wilkinson rode up and directed the colonel to fall back, on which the reciment came about and retired about thirty yards to a depression in the ground, where the men were covered from the direct fire of the enemy. With a temerity truly characteristic of young troops, individuals then advanced, and posting themselves behind trees, opened a scattering fire upon the enemy, who were now indistinctly seen through the fog, and received theirs in return. My companion pointed me to a large pine, not exceeding thirty yards from the British works, behind which he, with several others, covered themselves while eagerly popping at the enemy's heads, seen over the parapet; while here he barely escaped a shot aimed at an uncovered part of his body, and having expended several cartridges the party fell back to the regiment, and soon after the whole retired to Fish Creek, opposite to the mills, where they were ordered to throw up defensive lines.

In the meantime, Patterson's and Larnerd's brigades, with Morgan's corps on the left, approached the British lines, and were on the point of opening their fire when Wilkinson rode up and informed Larnerd, who commanded in the absence of Patterson, of the result of the movement in the meadow, and advised an immediate retreat, on which the line came about and retired ; but before they were masked by the woods the enemy opened a fire of artillery and musketry, and several were killed. The two brigades continued their retreat to an open field, where they hove up lines and remained until Burgoyne surrendered; Morgan at the same time took a position in the woods in the rear of the British right.

As a striking illustration of the indifference with which soldiers regard danger, and soon become callous to the tender feelings common to a life of domestic tranquility, I cannot omit to notice a fact given by my companion. The men composing the regiment had been in service but a few months, but in general they had been habituated to hardships and were strangers to the delicacies of affluent life. When the regiment had retired the short distance of sixty yards from the British intrenchments, to lower ground, where the men were covered from the fire of the enemy, they sat down at their ease and entered into familiar conversation ; in one instance he noticed a soldier leisurely combing the head of his messmate, while the bullets of the enemy were whistling over their heads and cutting the limbs of the trees.

Passing from the British right to the mill on Fish creek my companion noticed the spot where one of their advanced sentinels shot a woman who had left the British camp to procure water from a brook winding through a little ravine, on the bank of which the sentinel was posted. She had been challenged but refused to comply with the strict orders of the sentinel, on which he fired and gave her a fatal shot.*

(* This incident should not be confounded with the woman of whom Madame Riedesel speaks, as this spot was some mile and a half south of Mrs. Riedesel's heroine, who, by the way, instead of being killed, lived and was rewarded.)

Reaching the creek, we passed it on floating timber, resting against the mill dam, and my companion remembered that his regiment passed the mill pond in the same manner and at the same place as they advanced to attack the British lines as had been related; and continuing our route along a road on the right bank of the creek we came to the salient point of a hill near Schuyler's house, where a picket, of which he was one, was attacked by a party of the British in the night of the 10th of October, but after a little random firing and a few discharges of a fieldpiece which advanced to the spot, the enemy fell back.

Proceeding thence to the meadow near Fort Hardy and looking over the ground where Burgoyne piled his arms on October 17th, we returned to our quarters, where we were shown several cannon balls taken from the ground in excavating the canal.

Bushett's house, (Now known as the "Marshall house.") near the left of the German camp, in which Madame Riedesel had her quarters while the British army lay at this place, has been repaired by its present owner, and he informed me that the marks of the cannon balls mentioned in the narrative of that lady were to be seen when first occupied by him.

The American battery from which the house was cannonaded was planted on the opposite bank of the Hudson above the mouth of the Battenkill. It is justly due to the officer who directed the fire, the Hon. Maj.-Gen. Ebenezer Mattoon, and since adjutant-general of the militia of Massachusetts, then a lieutenant in the artillery, to state that the unfortunate condition of the people in the house was unknown, and that it was supposed to be the quarters of some of the enemy's general officers.

The country embracing the operation of the armies under Generals Gates and Burgoyne is daily becoming more interesting to travelers, and many resort there for the gratification of a laudable curiosity. As time elapses it will be sought with more avidity, and future generations may in vain seek for the scenes of these important events, unless they are marked by some durable memorial. As a taste for monuments is now increasing in our country it is to be hoped that the events connected with the capture of the British army, the pivot on which our revolutionary struggle turned, will not be neglected.

The elevation on the Freeman farm presents a favorable site for a monument, on which should be engraved the names of the principal patriots who fell in the two actions with an appropriate inscription. Another to mark the ground of surrender at Schuylerville would be highly gratifying to future generations.*

(* Were Gen. Hoyt now living he would be highly gratified to see how his ideas in this matter have been carried out in the magnificent monument at Schuylerville commemorating Burgoyne's surrender. See note ante regarding the Saratoga monument under the Duc de Liancourt's visit.)