[FN-1] There seems to have been something peculiar and special in this commission. In a letter which Colonel Gansevoort wrote jointly to William Duer and Gouverneur Morris, a copy of which is preserved among his papers, he observes:—"Congress have done me the honor of appointing me Colonel Commandant of Fort Schuyler. I should esteem it as a favor if you would inform me whether I am to receive any pay for that commission, other than as Colonel of the third regiment of New-Yorkers; and if not, I should be glad if you would endeavor to get something allowed me, as my present pay will not reimburse my table liquors, which you may well conceive to be something considerable as commanding officer. I am not solicitous to make money by my commission; but I could wish not to sink by it, as I am obliged to do now. The commission which Congress has sent me as commandant of Fort Schuyler, subjects me as much to the command of my superior officers, as any former one. If that was the intention of Congress, the appointment is nugatory. If not, I wish Congress to alter the commission."
[FN-2] The following is a copy of the address referred to in the text:—"Honored Sir: From a just sense of that conduct which has hitherto been so conspicuously shown to advance the third New-York regiment to honor and public notice, we congratulate you that those characteristics which so eminently point out the gentleman and soldier, have by your personal bravery been deservedly noticed by our bleeding country. Although we rejoice at your promotion, yet we cannot but regret the loss of so worthy a patron. That the prosperity which has crowned your conduct with victory may still be continued, is the sincere wish and prayer of, honored Sir, your most obedient and very humble servants." It was signed by twenty-six officers. Colonel Gansevoort replied as follows:—"Gentlemen: Your polite address on my promotion merits my sincerest thanks. Gratitude, I hope, shall never be wanting in me to the third N. Y. regiment, who have, by their firmness and discipline, been the chief authors of my promotion. Therefore, Gentlemen, please to accept my warmest wishes for the prosperity of the corps, that all their virtuous endeavors in the defence of their bleeding country may be crowned with honor and success, which will always be the earnest prayer of, Gentlemen, your most obliged, humble servant."
In October following, when Sir Henry Clinton was ascending the Hudson for the purpose either of succoring, or of co-operating with, Burgoyne, Colonel Gansevoort was ordered to Albany by General Gates, to take command of the large force then concentrating at that place. Happily, as will appear in the succeeding chapters, there was no occasion to test his prowess in his new and temporary command.
[CHAPTER XII.]
Recurrence to the invasion of Burgoyne—General Schuyler again superseded by Gates—Causes of this injustice—Battle of Stillwater—Both armies entrench—Battle and victory of Behmus's Heights—Funeral of General Frazer—Retreat of Burgoyne—Difficulties increasing upon him—His capitulation—Meeting of Burgoyne and Gates—Deportment of Gates toward Gen. Washington—Noble conduct of General Schuyler.
The temporary pacification of the Western part of the State, resulting from the events of which we have just closed the narrative, affords an opportunity for recurring to the invasion of Burgoyne, who was left in the mid career of victory, checked, it is true, by unexpected and increasing difficulties, until brought to a stand by the serious affair of Bennington, heretofore incidentally disposed of. On shifting the scene, however, from the head waters of the Mohawk to the upper districts of the Hudson, General Gates is again found in command of the Northern Department—General Schuyler, to whose wise measures and indefatigable exertions the country was mainly indebted for arresting the progress of Burgoyne, and during whose command the victory of Bennington had been won by General Stark—having been most unjustly superseded by express resolution of Congress. There had, during the present year, been a very unwise, unworthy, and capricious interference, on the part of Congress, with the command of this department. On the 25th of March, without a reason assigned, General Gates had superseded General Schuyler, his superior officer, by order of Congress; and on the 22d of May, without any expressed motive, General Schuyler was restored to the command of that department. [FN-1] Again, on the 1st of August, it was resolved by Congress that General Schuyler should repair to head-quarters, while the Commander-in-chief was, by the same resolution, directed to order such general officer as he should think proper, to assume the command in Schuyler's place. The day after the passage of that resolution, General Washington received a letter from the New England delegation in Congress, suggesting the name of General Gates, as the officer who would be most likely to restore harmony, order, and discipline, and to relieve our affairs in that quarter. [FN-2] We have, in a former chapter, referred to the prejudices existing against General Schuyler, and the causes of them. These had now become so strong, and the Eastern States, in particular, were so hostile to his longer continuance in the command, that even his friends acquiesced in the expediency, though not in the justice, of his removal. [FN-3] General Schuyler himself, however, felt acutely the discredit of being recalled at the most critical and interesting period of the campaign; when the labor and activity of making preparations to repair the disasters of it had been expended by him; and when an opportunity was offered, as he observed, for that resistance and retaliation which might bring glory upon our arms. [FN-4]
[FN-1] Memoirs of General Wilkinson, vol. i. p. 163.
[FN-2] Sparks's Life and Cor. of Washington, vol. v. p. 14. The original of this letter to Washington is in the hand-writing of Samuel Adams, and is signed by the following names, in the order in which they here stand, viz: John Adams, Nathaniel Folsom, Samuel Adams, Henry Marchant, Elbridge Gerry, Eliphalet Dyer, William Williams.
[FN-3] Marshall.