General Schuyler called a council of war and suggested the sending of reinforcements to the fort but the officers objected to thus weakening the army which would have to oppose Burgoyne. Schuyler was unwilling to leave the brave men to their fate. “Gentlemen,” he said, “I shall take the responsibility upon myself. Where is the brigadier that will take command of the relief? I shall beat up for volunteers to-morrow.”
Arnold, ever ready for a daring deed, offered to take charge of the expedition. On the way he seized two Tories and sent them to the British army to announce that large patriot forces were advancing. The Indian allies were already discontented. At this tidings they deserted, and the British force broke up and retreated without striking a blow.
As affairs were in this favorable condition, General Schuyler was superseded in command. He had been blamed for the surrender of Ticonderoga and the New England delegates, disliking him from the first, lent a ready ear to the charges against him. Congress asked Washington to appoint his successor, but the commander-in-chief refused to countenance the act of injustice, and Congress appointed Gates. Schuyler had borne the heat and burden of the campaign; now he had to look on while the rewards of victory went to Gates.
Schuyler accepted the situation in a noble and patriotic spirit. “I am far from insensible of the indignity of being ordered from the command of the army at a time when an engagement must soon take place,” he wrote to President Hancock. “It, however, gives me great consolation that I shall have an opportunity of evincing that my conduct has been such as deserved the thanks of my country.”
After the two battles of Saratoga the British were forced to retreat. They were hemmed in by the American troops and, October 17, 1777, Burgoyne and his army of five or six thousand men surrendered to Gates. It was this victory, you remember, which led France to declare for the colonists.
After the battle of Saratoga, Schuyler treated the prisoners with great consideration, especially the women and children. He courteously entertained General Burgoyne, who had had his house burned and his estate laid waste.
“Is it to me who have done you so much injury that you show so much kindness?” asked Burgoyne.
“That is the fate of war; let us say no more about it,” was the answer.
Later on, Schuyler insisted upon a court martial to investigate his conduct; it acquitted him, and Congress approved the verdict “with the highest honor.” Washington wished him to resume command but he refused. However, he served his country ably in Congress and in the Senate of his native state. He died in November, 1804.