| Show ito I 1 t OT e aw P W ak 01 ar 07 A a 9 A 4 4 t fit 4 P 4 41 ar ariz 0 av I 1 w 1 ak nl V V 4 by ELMO SCOTT WATSON HERE I 1 geue Is an all axiom known to all which reads read nothing succeeds like success itis also axiomatic althou although gh not phrased in such familiar terms that americans americana love nothing so much as a winner it if you believe in the essential truth ot of the above statements consider for a moment iio ment the cases of two generals horatio gates and john burgone and figure out it you can whether their careers either individually or in relation to each other will prove those statements to be truel true in 1777 these two generals were commanding cimics which ware were fighting what was destined to beane be one of tile the fifteen decisive battles of 0 the world that was the battle of saratoga unit and when it was over Ce general burgoyne the vanquished qui quis shed tied was handing banding ills his sword to general gates gales th the evIctor victor and this surrender meant that ting eng lands greatest effort lo 10 crash cruski her rebellious colonies had failed and the cause of american independence p pen dence had been saved saied that was more than a century and a link half ago but I 1 by all the rules of the success axioms the name of horatio gates should have come thundering down tire years as one of the greatest heroes of the new republic and the name of john burgone should have long ago been lost in obscurity ity for was not gates a success and bur fqy a failure put but what has happened how many statues have ever been erected to the memory of bf general gates by a grateful nation so far althe fi present resent chronicler knows none ne I 1 how many Amer americans leans can tell you anything about horatio gates except that their remembrance of their school histories makes his name sound vaguely familiar how many biographies liae have ever fee been n written written about him it Is impossible to recall a single arkel one As for general burgoyne of course it would not be reasonable to expect americans to erect statues to bohls memry memory although it must be admit ted that there mere might be as much reason tor for till im mortal izing lits ills name in bronze or stone as there lias bas been for some come men it has thus honored hono redL As forthe average american of 0 burgoyne possibly next to cornwallis Cornwall ls lie ike of 0 all the generals of af 11 tire revolution Is best known put but most interesting of till all is the fact baet that within the last few months elre have appeared two books whose wide sale indicates that americans American sare are gen gani interested in gen epho burgone they are Gerlt Gen lIeman leman johnny burgoyne misad misadventures adventures Mis ventures of hn an english general of the revolution Nr written itten by F J and published by the dobbs bobbs Merrl ll company tad this turning point of the or burgoyne in america written by hoffman olTman Il Nl kerson eherson and published by Bliff lin company although both authors are military men mr air hudleston Hudi eston Is 19 librarian of the british war office ondi lr nickerson served hefted on the general stall staff of th alie e A E V t world war their books bonks aro are nut not essentially military studies of nn an important and history making campaign read together the two volumes do give a complete complete picture of that campaign but they do much more they give a comprehensive diew view of the political an and social life of that hint period in history iut but most of all they raint an unforgettable portrait of a lovable but syam picture of the surrender courtesy glens falls N Y insurance rince company portraits of burgoyne and gates from tile the turning point of the revolution courtesy houghton mifflin company i buckless Juc kless commander who among the many varied fl apes 0 of U s adfer ld fer ili hi fought ori oai side in the y conflict was the lie un soldier of them all just why this Ial failure lurell should be so appealing to americans who a ito tire are supposed to be only inter ested in those who mho WIT win success Is difficult to say the answer may be found in some of the names that were applied to him gentleman johnny ile he was called in george bernard shaws the devils disciple and handsome jack lie was called by ills troops because lie he was physically physical afy the most attractive min man ln in the british army ne he was a general only because of political pull and 0 through the influence ot of ills his cifes family and as a military leader lie was a strange mixture of sagacity and blundering incompetence but it if lie made blunders his superiors by courtesy made even worse ones it if lie he had bad brought disaster upon aimse t by his big own nit mistakes stales alone perhaps lie would not win our sympathy and regard hut but since he was the victim ot of circumstances and of a greater bungler than perhaps it Is tile proverbial american attitude toward the under dog and the boac that causes us its to think kindly though somewhat pityingly pit jingly of him born of a good family burgo burgone ne at the outbreak of the revolution was in ills his early fifties aw e had bad taken part in tile the se seen en years tears war serving rv in the Chei bourg st atcas cas and belle isle expeditions during whIch he sonic some prominence by lis hs capture of valentin Val entla dAl cantara one important result of this military service was that here lie learned the strategy of dividing ills his force lit in the face of the enemy as a diversion which lie he tried to apply in the campaign which was doomed to failure at the outbreak bf abe be war lie was ordered to america and had a minor part in the battle of bunker banker hill ile he won his advancement in the army by intrigue and family support and lie was proud of the latter for as lie frankly salt said on any other ground I 1 should blush to ask preferment for he had bad already admitted that lie he considered himself absolutely a elli cipher fier in a military yet lie had the pre llon upon ills his return to england to seek the command of the expedition from canada which was to cut the colonies in two and he pulled tile the wires successfully enough to get gent it ills his plan was simple and in most respects en feasible it was ford for his army to proceed from quebec via lake champlain down the hud son to albany where it was to form a junction with sir william howe wild who come up the hudson from new kew york city and with col harry st leger who was to start from oswego and through ilie alie mohawk valley tile the granary of the revolution one mistake lie he made was his plan to include in ills his army a force of german mercenaries and a force of Ind indians lans ile he did not realize how bitterly the residents of the invaded region would resent the use of these hirelings from europe and how dini difficult cult it ll would be to restrain the savages from atrocities against tories its as well as patriots ile he soon to be disillusioned ned on both scores but even with lilt the handicaps under tinder which lie he labored fro inthe start ills ids expedition might inight have hake been successful had it not been for the lie fatal and unforgivable blunder made by ilk bis superior perlor lord Cerni germain alli who ho as secretary of state stale for the american can colo colonies illes was directing fit alip american andrican war that incompetent ilin ho incidents Inc incidentally identa lly had once been tried liy by court martial and found guilty of cowardice ivr wrote out ont tile order for sir Will william fArn flowe to proceed north along the hudson and meet general burgoyne but in its haste to leave for a I melvion t weekend week end in the country went away from ills ollice without xit hout sending the order the result was that lord howe instead of marching north 1 I to meet gentleman johnny Jo linny marched south against philadelphia so gentleman johnny knowing not nothing bling of germains ns bungling plunged on into the wilderness andall and all the troubles which awaited film gentleman johnny may not have thought that the pen Is mightier th than anthe the sword but lie he evidently considered it a valuable adjunct for or he was given to highfalutin high writing of pro clama eions which brought down upon him much derl der slon sion not only from liis his enemies but from ills his sup up posed friends at the outset of ills campaign lie he addressed a proclamation to tile rebels which lie si signed ned by john burgoyne esq lieutenant general of 0 ills his majesties armies in america col of 0 the queens regiment of light I 1 dragoons governor ot of fort william in north britain Crl tain one of 0 the representatives of the commons of 0 great britain in parliament and commanding an army and fleet employed lit in an expedition front from canada which not only brought a gale ot of raucous laughter from the rebels but caused walpole to call him film general next lie he addressed a procla mitlon to ills his indian allies forbidding them to kill aged men women children cli ildren and arid prisoners which led Idin admund und burke to make an ironic fronle speech in the lie house of commons ji which he aniag imagined ined a riot on tower hill and the keeper of ills his Maje lions addressing the anim animals als in ills his charge thus 1 my gentle lions my illy humane bears my sentimental wolves my ten der hearted hyenas go forth but I 1 exhort ye as ye are christians and members of fl civilized society not to hurt man woman or child Alt although bough burgoyne scored what appeared to be a great success at first in tile capture ot of ticonderoga it was ivas hailed balled as the capture of an american gibraltar and kill king george offered to mate make him a knight of the order of the bath his troubles increased as ag lie he proceeded further south the indians became more and more unruly and their atrocities culminating in the ya ita mo m 0 us uw murder of jane mccrea soon showed that they were more of a liability than an asset to the british commander when he sent a force of hessians under baune and breymann Cr eymann to capture Amet american ican i supplies at bennington B enn ington vt tile green mountain boys maddened ut at thi this invasion by the foreigners rose up under old general john stark and inflicted indicted a cru crushing bIng defeat upon tills force st leger was hold held up before tile the walls of fort stanwix ond and ilie hie grand expedition was already tottering lottering to tb its ruin i abt on oil september il 14 1777 burgoyne Burg pyne crossed i tile the rubyleon nu Ru lIcon bleon athe the hudson and there fit the r forces ot of general gates assisted by arnold morgan forgan and Sc Sch lnier liler to whom aiom belong tile credit for the victory fell upon him and ills his doomed army the end came on october 17 when burgoyne ills his supplies ties cut olt off all hope of aid from crom ilowe howe or sir william lain clinton gone and ills dream of cong conquest gest shattered was forced to surrender sur reader the surrender scene aas as dramatic As burgoyne Bure oyne handed liis its sword to gates lie he said tile fortune of war general gates lias has made uie me bour out prisoner gates with a courtly salute replied 1 I shall always lie be ready to bear testimony that it has not been through liny any fault of your excellency ano anc in s aing saing that tile victor paid a tribute to 0 which aich americans nave ec echoed I 1 load sailor that time and which lias has resulted in the lil hll 1 l esteem Si teem lit in aich which gentleman Johi johnnye Johnny iny 1 tile st soldier of thern till Is held t this day |
