DEATH OF FRASER; BURGOYNE RETREATS.

begun the next morning, but during the night Burgoyne shifted his army from the untenable position he was then occupying and established a strong camp on the heights, extending his right up the river. While this movement was taking place, General Fraser was fast sinking; he had been carried to the house occupied by Baroness Riedesel, arriving there at the time when the Baroness was preparing to receive Generals Burgoyne, Phillips and Fraser at luncheon. Hardly had Fraser been brought in when other wounded officers began to arrive, until the house was almost filled with the wounded and dying. Fraser died the next morning, after having expressed a desire to be buried, at six o'clock in the evening in the great redoubt.* Although Burgoyne had decided to retreat and delay was dangerous, yet he determined to comply with the request of his fellow officer. The day was occupied with skirmishing between the two armies and in preparations on the part of the British for retreating. At the hour set by Fraser for his burial, the departed general was brought out and buried in full sight of both armies, after impressive burial services had been read.†

Immediately after this duty had been discharged, the British army was in motion. The sick and wounded were abandoned to the mercy of the

+ Thacher, Military Journal, pp. 352–353; Lossing, Field-Book of the Revolution, vol. i., p. 65. Thacher, Military Journal, pp. 347-349. VOL. III-4

45

Americans, and all through the night, in spite of the rain, mud and poor condition of the roads, the British troops trudged along.* At six in the morning the army came to a halt, when the soldiers fell asleep in their wet clothes. Such were the general conditions that Saratoga, only six miles away, was not reached until evening of the following day. In the meanwhile, to cover the retreat, Burgoyne had ordered General Schuyler's house and mills to be set on fire.t Realizing it would be impossible to undertake further offensive operations, Burgoyne put forth all his efforts to make good his retreat to Fort George, sending forward the artificers connected with the army to repair bridges and open roads so as to make the passage of the army much easier, but this advance party was compelled to make a hasty retreat.

At this time the Americans themselves very nearly put their own heads in a noose. Gates had received what was supposed to be trustworthy information that a body of Burgoyne's army had marched off toward Fort Edward, leaving only a small rear-guard in the camp. This rearguard was also to push on as fast as possible, leaving the heavy baggage behind. Gates therefore determined

Baroness Riedesel's Letters and Journals, pp. 102-103; Clinton Papers, vol. ii., p. 384.

† Lossing, Field-Book of the Revolution, vol. i., pp. 72-73; Trevelyan, American Revolution, vol. iv., pp. 185-186.

46

CRITICAL SITUATION OF BRITISH; BARONESS VON RIEDESEL.

to send a portion of the American army to drive out this portion of the army and take possession of the camp. General John Nixon's brigade, being the eldest, was the first to cross Saratoga Creek. Unknown to the Americans, General Burgoyne had formed a line in the nearby woods to support the artillery where it was supposed the Americans would attack. General Glover with his brigade was on the point of joining Nixon, but as he entered the water he captured a British officer who told him that the whole British army was still in camp and had not departed. Expresses were immediately sent forward to Nixon to stop his further advance, and the information was also conveyed to Gates, who thereupon countermanded his orders for the assault and called back his troops. The loss was small.*

Burgoyne's situation was becoming more critical every hour, and he decided to retreat by night to Fort Edward, but the information regarding his intentions was somehow conveyed to the American army, who established a strong battery of artillery there. Thus Burgoyne was left without a single avenue of escape. His troops were worn out by continuous fighting, his supplies were almost

*See Thacher, Military Journal, p. 103, note; Carrington, Battles of the Revolution, p. 351; Lossing, Field-Book of the Revolution, vol. i., pp. 75-76; Trevelyan, American Revolution, vol. iv., p. 188.

† Drake, Burgoyne's Invasion, pp. 130-133; Lossing, p. 74.

exhausted, and there was no means of replenishing his stock. The soldiers bore their reverses with great fortitude, and the women with the army were equally brave.* According to Baroness Frederika von Riedesel,

"A terrible cannonade was commenced by the enemy against the house in which I sought to obtain shelter for myself and children, under the mistaken idea that all the generals were in it. Alas! it contained none but wounded and women. We were at last obliged to resort to the cellar for refuge, and in one corner of this I remained the whole day, my children sleeping on the earth with their heads in my lap, and in the same situation I passed a sleepless night. Eleven cannon balls passed through the house, and we could distinctly hear them roll away. One poor soldier, who was lying on a table, for the purpose of having his leg amputated, was struck by a shot, which carried away his other; his comrades had left him, and when we went to his assistance, we found him in a corner of the room, into which he had crept, more dead than alive, scarcely breathing. My reflections on the danger to which my husband was exposed, now agonized me exceedingly, and the thoughts of my children, and the necessity of struggling for their preservation, alone sustained me." †

The cellar was filled with wounded officers and terrified women, whom the Baroness tried in every way to relieve, and such was the condition in the house that General Phillips said, "I would not for ten thousand guineas come again to this place, my heart is almost broken." Conditions continued in this same state for several days longer, and finally a cessation of hostilities was agreed upon and the sufferings of the British re

BURGOYNE SURRENDERS.