Decisive Battles of America

by Unknown

A change of circumstances not less remarkable had taken place in the American camp. Gates’ army was increasing every day. The battle of Behmus’ Heights was sounded through the country as a great victory, and, the harvest being now over, the militia marched in from all sides to complete the overthrow of the invaders. Lincoln, with the greater part of his militia, having joined the army on September 22d, he received the command of the right wing. Arnold, on some quarrel or jealousy on the part of Gates, had been deprived, since the late battle, of his command of the left wing, which Gates assumed in person. Gates was neither more able nor more trustworthy than Schuyler; but the soldiers believed him so, and zeal, alacrity, and obedience had succeeded to doubts, distrust, and insubordination. Yet Gates was not without his difficulties. The supply of ammunition was very short, and the late change in the commissariat department, taking place in the midst of the campaign, made the feeding of the troops a matter of no little anxiety.

BEHMUS’ OR BEMIS’ HEIGHTS
Disposition of troops, October 7th

There was still one hope for Burgoyne. A letter in cipher, brought by a trusty messenger from Clinton, at New York, informed him of an intended diversion up the Hudson; and, could he maintain his present position, he might yet be relieved. But his troops, on short allowance of provisions, were already suffering severely, and it was necessary either to retreat or to find relief in another battle. To make a reconnaissance of the American lines, he drew out fifteen hundred picked men on October 7th and formed them less than a mile from the American camp. The two camps, indeed, were hardly cannon-shot apart. As soon as Burgoyne’s position was discovered his left was furiously assailed by Poor’s New Hampshire brigade. The attack extended rapidly to the right, where Morgan’s riflemen manœuvred to cut off the British from their camp. Gates did not appear on the field any more than in the former battle; but Arnold, though without any regular command, took, as usual, a leading part. He seemed under the impulse of some extraordinary excitement, riding at full speed, issuing orders, and cheering on the men. To avoid being cut off from the camp, the British right was already retreating, when the left, pressed and overwhelmed by superior numbers, began to give way. The gallant Fraser was mortally wounded, picked off by the American marksmen; six pieces of artillery were abandoned; and only by the greatest efforts did the British troops regain their camp. The Americans followed close upon them, and, through a shower of grape and musketry, assaulted the right of the British works. Arnold forced an entrance; but he was wounded, his horse was shot under him as he rode into one of the sally-ports, and his column was driven back. Colonel Brooks, at the head of Jackson’s regiment of Massachusetts, was more successful. He turned the intrenchments of a German brigade, forced them from the ground at the point of the bayonet, captured their camp equipage and artillery, and, what was of still more importance, and a great relief to the American army, an ample supply of ammunition. The repeated attempts of the British to dislodge him all failed, and he remained at night in possession of the works. Darkness at length put an end to the fighting; but the Americans slept on their arms, prepared to renew it the next morning. The advantages they had gained were decisive. The British had lost four hundred men in killed, wounded, and prisoners; artillery, ammunition, and tents had been captured; and the possession of a part of the works by the Americans would enable them to renew the attack the next day with every chance of success. For the safety of the British army a change of position was indispensable; and, while the Americans slept, the British general, with skill and intrepidity, order and silence, drew back his discomfited troops to some high grounds in the rear, where the British army appeared the next morning (October 8th) drawn up in order of battle. That day was spent in skirmishes. While attempting to reconnoitre, General Lincoln was severely wounded and disabled from further service. Fraser was buried on a hill he had designated, amid showers of balls from the American lines. The Baroness de Riedesel, who followed the camp with her young children, and whose quarters were turned into a sort of hospital for the wounded officers, has left a pathetic account of the horrors of that day and of the retreat that followed.

To avoid being surrounded, Burgoyne was obliged to abandon his new position, and, with the loss of his hospitals and numerous sick and wounded, to fall back to Saratoga on October 9th. The distance was only six miles; but the rain fell in torrents, the roads were almost impassable, the bridge over the Fishkill had been broken down by the Americans, and this retrograde movement consumed an entire day. The same obstacles prevented, however, any serious annoyance from the American troops. During this retreat, the better to cover the movements of the army, General Schuyler’s house at Saratoga and extensive saw-mills were set on fire and destroyed. A body of artificers, sent forward under a strong escort to repair the bridge toward Fort Edward, found that road and the ford across the Hudson already occupied by the Americans. The fleet of bateaux, loaded with the British supplies and provisions, was assailed from the left bank of the river, and many of the boats were taken. The lading of the others was only saved by a most laborious and difficult transportation, under a sharp American fire, up the steep river-bank to the heights occupied by the British army. Even the camp itself was not safe; grape and rifle balls fell in the midst of it.

Burgoyne’s situation was truly deplorable. He had heard nothing further from New York, and his effective force was now reduced to four thousand men, surrounded by an enemy three times as numerous, flushed with success, and rapidly increasing. All the fords and passes toward Lake George were occupied and covered by intrenchments, and, even should the baggage and artillery be abandoned, there was no hope of forcing a passage. An account of the provisions on hand (October 13th) showed only three days’ supply. The troops, exhausted with hunger and fatigue, and conscious of their hopeless situation, could not be depended on, especially should the camp be attacked. A council of war, to which not field officers only, but all the captains commandant were summoned, advised to open a treaty of capitulation.

Gates demanded, at first, an unconditional surrender; but to that Burgoyne would not submit. The American commander was the less precise about terms, and very eager to hasten matters, lest he too might be attacked in the rear. He knew, though Burgoyne did not, that the intended diversion from New York, delayed for some time to await the arrival of forces from Europe, had at length been successfully made, and that all the American posts in the Highlands had fallen into the hands of the British. Should Burgoyne continue to hold out, this new enemy might even make a push on Albany.

The main defences of the Highlands, Forts Clinton and Montgomery, on the west bank of the Hudson, separated from each other by a small stream, and too high to be battered from the water, were surrounded by steep and rugged hills which made the approach to them on the land side very difficult. To stop the ascent of the enemy’s ships, frames of timber, with projecting beams shod with iron, had been sunk in the channel. A boom, formed of great trees fastened together, extended from bank to bank, and in front of this boom was stretched a huge iron chain. Above these impediments several armed vessels were moored. On an island a few miles higher up, and near the eastern bank of the river, was Fort Constitution, with another boom and chain. Near the entrance of the Highlands, and below the other posts, Fort Independence occupied a high point of land on the east bank of the river. It was at Peekskill, just below Fort Independence, that the commanding officer in the Highlands usually had his headquarters. The two brigades sent to the Northern army, and other detachments which Washington had himself been obliged to draw from the Highlands, had so weakened the regular garrison that Washington became much alarmed for the safety of that important post. The remainder of the New York militia, not under arms in the Northern Department, had been called out by Governor Clinton to supply the place of the detached regulars; other militia had been sent from Connecticut; but, as no signs of immediate attack appeared, and as the harvest demanded their services at home, Putnam allowed most of them to return. Half the New York militia were ordered back again by Clinton, but before they had mustered the posts were lost. Putnam was at Peekskill with the main body of the garrison, which amounted in the whole to not more than two thousand men. While a party of the enemy amused him with the idea that Fort Independence was their object, a stronger party landed lower down, on the other side of the river, and, pushing inland through the defiles of the Highlands, approached Forts Clinton and Montgomery, of which the entire garrison did not exceed six hundred men. Before assistance could be sent by Putnam—indeed, before he knew of the attack—the forts, much too extensive to be defended by so small a force, were both taken on October 5th. Governor Clinton, who commanded, his brother, General James Clinton, and a part of the garrison availed themselves of the knowledge of the ground and escaped across the river, but the Americans suffered a loss of two hundred and fifty in killed and prisoners. Fort Constitution was immediately evacuated by the few troops that held it, and two new Continental frigates, with some other vessels, were set on fire to prevent their falling into the hands of the enemy. Even Peekskill and Fort Independence were abandoned, the stores being conveyed to Fishkill, whither Putnam retired with his forces. The booms and chains were removed, so that ships could pass up; and a British detachment under Tryon burned Continental Village, a new settlement on the east side of the river, where many public stores were deposited.

DISPOSITION OF TROOPS FROM OCTOBER 11TH TILL THE SURRENDER, OCTOBER 17TH