Informed of these movements, and very anxious to have Burgoyne’s army out of the way, Gates agreed, on October 16th, that the British troops should march out of their camp with the honors of war, should lay down their arms, and be conducted to Boston, there to embark for England, under an engagement not to serve against the United States till exchanged. Having heard from a deserter of the advance of Clinton, Burgoyne hesitated to ratify the treaty; but, on consideration and consultation with his officers, he did not choose to run the risk of breaking it. The prisoners included in this capitulation were five thousand six hundred and forty-two; the previous losses of the army amounted to near four thousand more. The arms, artillery, baggage, and camp equipage became the property of the captors. The German regiments contrived to save their colors by cutting them from the staves, rolling them up, and packing them away with Madame de Riedesel’s baggage.
As soon as the garrison of Ticonderoga heard of the surrender, they hastily destroyed what they could and retired to Canada. Putnam no sooner heard of it than he sent pressing despatches for assistance. The British had proceeded as high up as Esopus, which they burned about the very time that Burgoyne was capitulating. Putnam had been already joined by some three thousand militia, to which a large detachment from Gates’ army was soon added. As it was now too late to succor Burgoyne, having dismantled the forts in the Highlands, the British returned to New York, carrying with them sixty-seven pieces of heavy artillery and a large quantity of provisions and ammunition. Before their departure they burned every house within their reach—a piece of malice ascribed to Tryon and his Tories.
The capture of a whole British army,[91] lately the object of so much terror, produced, especially in New England, an exultation proportionate to the recent alarm. The military reputation of Gates, elevated to a very high pitch, rivalled even the fame of Washington, dimmed as it was by the loss of Philadelphia, which, meanwhile, had fallen into the enemy’s hands. The youthful Wilkinson, who had acted during the campaign as deputy adjutant-general of the American army, and whose Memoirs contain the best account of its movements, being sent to Congress with news of the surrender, was henceforth honored with a brevet commission as brigadier-general; which, however, he speedily resigned when he found a remonstrance against this irregular advancement sent to Congress by forty-seven colonels of the line. The investigation into Schuyler’s conduct resulted, a year afterward, in his acquittal with the highest honor. He insisted, however, on resigning his commission, though strongly urged by Congress to retain it. But he did not relinquish the service of his country, in which he continued as active as ever, being presently chosen a member of Congress.
SYNOPSIS OF THE PRINCIPAL EVENTS, CHIEFLY
MILITARY, BETWEEN THE BATTLE OF
SARATOGA, 1777, AND THE BATTLE
OF YORKTOWN, 1781
1777. Congress adopts the Articles of Confederation. Stars and Stripes adopted. British evacuate New York. British occupy Philadelphia. American winter-quarters at Valley Forge, in December.
1778. France recognizes the independence of the United States. The British evacuate Philadelphia. The battle of Monmouth. France declares war against England. The Wyoming Valley Massacre. Battle of Rhode Island. The British enter Savannah. General George Rogers Clark conquers the “Old Northwest.”
1779. Storming of Stony Point by the Americans. Paul Jones, in the Bon Homme Richard, is victorious over the British frigate Serapis. The British win the engagement of Brier Creek. Spain declares war against Great Britain. Congress guaranties the Floridas to Spain if she takes them from Great Britain, provided the United States should have free navigation on the Mississippi.
1780. Lincoln surrenders to Clinton at Charleston. Defeat of Gates by Cornwallis in the first battle of Camden. Treason of Benedict Arnold. Capture and execution of André. The British are defeated at King’s Mountain.
1781. American victory at Cowpens. The ratification of the Articles of Confederation by the several states completed. Greene is defeated by Cornwallis at Guilford Court-House. The British are victorious at Hobkirk’s Hill (second battle of Camden). New London burned by Arnold. Battle of Eutaw Springs. Washington and Rochambeau, aided by the French fleet under Count de Grasse, besiege Cornwallis in Yorktown. Surrender of Cornwallis.