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Signer, Negotiator, Escort - "At My Request Appointed Brigadier-General Whipple"

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Why did Major General Horatio Gates choose Brigadier General William Whipple as one of his two delegates to negotiate the surrender at Saratoga, and to escort Lieutenant General John Burgoyne to Cambridge? Lieutenant Colonel James Wilkinson, Gates adjutant, claimed credit for the first of these decisions.  Wilkinson wrote in his memoir that on October 15, 1777, when Burgoyne proposed two officers from each side meet: "... General [Gates] was pleased to name me as one of his representatives, and at my request appointed Brigadier-general Whipple of the militia, to accompany me..." [1]  The key to John Trumbull's painting of the surrender, shown here, identifies all three: Gates, figure 14, at its center; Wilkinson, figure 13, to the left of Gates far back in the distance; and Whipple, figure 25, in profile looking left with his left forearm on the far wheel of the cannon. Gates selection of Wilkinson as one of his two negotiators makes sense.  Wilkinson served as a voluntee...
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Saratoga Connections To The Declaration Of Independence - "We Arrived In The Evening"

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Half a century ago, as the United States prepared to celebrate its two hundredth birthday, New York historian Paul Scudiere began the introduction to his biography of New York's signers of the Declaration of Independence with the statement: "The most important single event in the history of the American nation was the adoption of the Declaration of Independence by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776."  He went on to point out: "Although New York played a key role in the winning of independence and in the establishment of American democratic government, the New York delegates then in Congress did not vote on Richard Henry Lee's resolution 'that these United Colonies are and of right ought to be, free and independent states,' on July 2, 1776, nor on the Declaration itself when it was considered two days later." [1] Historians tell us the Declaration of Independence was not signed on July 4, and the process of signing didn't look anything like ...
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Colonel Henry Knox's Forgotten Mission - "Proceed To New York"

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How well recognized was Henry Knox for his journey to Ticonderoga and return to Cambridge? On November 16, 1775, General George Washington tasked twenty-five-year-old Henry Knox (seen here in a 1778 painting by Charles Wilson Peale, from the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art ), a bookseller from Boston, Massachusetts, to travel to New York and bring back artillery, ammunition and gun flints for the Continental Army which surrounded British occupied Boston.   The story of Knox's return from Fort Ticonderoga with his "Noble Train of Artillery" is fairly well know today.  Two hundred and fifty years ago only a few seemed to have taken note of what he did.  Many still overlook the first two parts of his mission.   Washington's instructions first directed Knox  "... to examine into the state of the artillery of this army, and take an account of the cannon, mortars, shells, lead, and ammunition, that are wanting."   Next, Knox was "... t...
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Colonel Henry Knox: Springfield To Cambridge - "Brought Down From Ticonderoga"

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Where was Henry Knox between January 13 and January 18, 1776? On November 16, 1775, General George Washington tasked twenty-five year old Henry Knox, a bookseller from Boston, to travel to New York and bring back artillery, ammunition and gun flints for the Continental Army which surrounded British occupied Boston.  Knox's  "Noble Train of Artillery" , like the Convention Army, passed through dozens of towns and villages on its way south from Fort Ticonderoga in New York, and then east across Massachusetts. [1]  After crossing Lake George, and reaching Saratoga, it followed the route taken by British Lieutenant-General John Burgoyne after his surrender on October 17, 1777 , and the German column , once it reached Greenbush , for much of the way.  On January 5, 1776, Knox wrote to Washington from Albany that despite his having expected to reach Cambridge by January 2 or 3, he now hoped that:  In eight or nine days after the first severe frost [the artillery des...
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Colonel Henry Knox: Albany to Westfield - "Almost A Miracle"

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On November 16, 1775, General George Washington instructed twenty-five year old Henry Knox, a bookseller from Boston, to travel to New York. [1]  He was tasked to bring back artillery, ammunition and gun flints for the Continental Army, which surrounded British occupied Boston.  Knox's mission took him to Fort Ticonderoga.  There he obtained the guns he needed and started his journey back by way of Lake George. On December 17, 1775, Knox wrote to Washington from Fort George, at the south end of the lake:  "... the rout will be from here to  Kinderhook , from thence into  Great Barrington , Massachusetts Bay & down to  Springfield ..." . [2]  In late December Knox traveled from Saratoga to Albany , and then on across Massachusetts in January of 1776.  He and his men followed much of the same route British Lieutenant General John Burgoyne would take after his surrender at Saratoga in 1777, and the  German column  of the Conv...
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Colonel Henry Knox and Saratoga - "A Noble Train Of Artillery"

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Major General Horatio Gates victory at the Battle of Bemis Heights, and the British surrender at Saratoga, New York, on October 17, 1777, together resulted in the capture and surrender of thirty-five pieces of artillery .  These guns, cannons and howitzers, were likely sent south to Albany initially, to be used in the fight to secure American independence.  [1 ]    It wasn't the first time captured British artillery moved south through Saratoga, and on to Albany.  In late December of 1775, newly commissioned artillery officer Colonel Henry Knox had passed through, on his way to Cambridge, Massachusetts, followed soon after by teamsters hauling thirty-nine cannon, fourteen mortars, and two howitzers.  These artillery pieces, along with a barrel of gun flints and over a ton of lead, most taken at Fort Ticonderoga and Crown Point in the first few weeks of the war, were bound for the Continental Army under General George Washington, which surrounded British occ...
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August 7, 1775 - "The Glory Which The Generals How and Burgoyne Have Acquired"

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Britons at home in 1775 were anxious for news regarding the war in North America.  Official accounts, along with letters from friends and loved ones, took weeks to cross the Atlantic.  Once they arrived, they were read and shared, and if deemed newsworthy, published in one or more of England's many newspapers and magazines.  The September 9, 1775, edition of the "London Chronicle" included several such stories.  In one article, portions of two letters were printed describing "a most glorious victory obtained by the King's troops over the rebel army" on August 7, 1775, at Boston.  Another revealed that "It is reported that the troops will not winter at Boston..." , as they were expected to relocate to either Rhode Island or New York. The two letters describing the engagement on August 7, one from "an officer" dated August 11th, and the other from a "gentleman" dated August 10th, were published anonymously.  British General Thoma...
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