George Washington and Saratoga - "A Matter Of Such Magnitude"

February 22, 2023, marks the 291st anniversary of the birth of George Washington, pictured here in a Library of Congress print published in Germany in 1777 or 1778.  For more than two centuries Washington's birth has been widely noted, and was a federally recognized holiday from 1885 to 1971.  For the last five decades an all encompassing "Presidents' Day" has supplanted not only a holiday observance on the date of Washington's birth, but the February 12th celebration of the birthday of another truly great American President, Abraham Lincoln.

In the fall of 1777 Washington hands were full as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army.  While Major-General Horatio Gates defended the upper Hudson River Valley, Washington was responding to British General Sir William Howe's expedition moving not north to support Burgoyne, but south by ship into the Chesapeake Bay and then north by land to Philadelphia.  On September 11th British forces maneuvered to flank Washington's army deployed in a defensive position along the Brandywine Creek in Pennsylvania, inflicting over 1,000 casualties.  On September 26th Howe took Philadelphia, the first capitol of the newly formed United States.  Gates success at Saratoga was good news at a time when good news was needed by the United States - both at home and abroad.

Washington heard of a victory at Saratoga, prematurely it would turn out, in a letter sent to him from New York Governor George Clinton dated October 15th that stated "... Genl. Burgoyne and whole Army surrendered themselves Prisoners of War" and they would begin a march to Massachusetts on the 16th.  Washington issued general orders to his army on October 18th to "Let every face brighten, and every heart expand with grateful Joy and praise... Chaplains of the army are to prepare short discourses, suited to the occasion... immediately after which Thirteen pieces of cannon are to be discharged... followed by a feu-de-joy with blank cartridges, or powder, by every brigade and corps of the army..." [1]  

Washington received confirmation of Burgoyne's surrender and a copy of the Articles of Convention on the morning of October 25th from Major-General Israel Putnam.  A day later he replied in thanks, noting Putnam's letter "... was the first authentic intelligence I received of the affair, indeed I began to grow uneasy and almost to suspect that the first accounts you transmitted me were premature.  As I have not received a single line from Gen. Gates, I do not know what steps he is taking with the Army under his Command..."

News of Burgoyne's surrender had spread across the New England in days.  Future First Lady Abagail Adams in Braintree, Massachusetts wrote to her husband John on October 22nd "Tis reported to day from many ways that he [Burgoyne] has with his whole Army fallen into our hands and tis said the post brings the same inteligance." [2]  Major-General William Heath, who as commander of the Eastern Department would be responsible for the quartering and supervision of the Convention Army, noted also on the 22nd: "Highly important and interesting intelligence received that on the 17th inst. Gen. Burgoyne and his whole army surrendered, under Convention." and that upon receipt of this news in Boston cannons were fired on Fort Hill, and again the following day from Dorchester Heights and ships in the harbor, and in the evening his headquarters were illuminated with candles. [3]

News of the surrender was soon followed by the publication of the Articles of Convention. A broadside copy was printed in Boston on October 23rd, under the heading of a letter Gates sent to the Massachusetts Council dated October 19th, stating that what had become the Convention Army was on its way towards Boston, escorted by "... General Glover, and General Whipple, with a proper Guard of Militia...".  Likewise, the Articles were published in Connecticut on October 28th in the Hartford Courant with Gates' letter of October 19th, and countless other newspapers in the United States and abroad. 

Initial joy over the surrender soon turned to frustration.  John Adams received a second letter written on the 22nd, this from Samuel Cooper who had begun reading each of the Articles.  "[M]y Joy is damp'd by the Concessions G[ates] had made, considering how totally Burgoyne was in our Power.  He and his Army are restor'd to Gt. Britain... upon the Condition of not serving in America in the present War.  They may then by this unaccountable Treaty, take the Place of Regiments in Britain, who may come to America... In my present Opinion, Infatuation of something worse, dictated the Concession made..." [4]

Neither side was happy with the Convention.  Susan Livingston in Pennsylvania wrote to her sister in Connecticut on November 1st: "The Articles of Capitulation ... are not relished this way, neither by Whigs, nor Tories, the latter say if Mr. Burgoyne was in a Situation to obtain such Terms he ought to have fought, the Former say if Burgoyne was obliged to surrender at all, Gates might have brought him to what Terms he pleased, so that it looks as if the two Generals wished to avoid fighting."  [5]  The Pennsylvania Ledger, a Loyalist newspaper, published a farcical story on November 26th of a lost "Rebel" newspaper, which they said contained "... a pompous Congress account of the number of prisoners taken by Gen. Gates, ... but they have very cautiously avoided giving one word of the Convention obtained by General Burgoyne."

Washington commented little in writing on the Articles of Convention, initially at least.  On October 26th, he wrote to Major-General Benjamin Lincoln, who had been wounded in the ankle in a skirmish after the Battle of Bemis Heights, and congratulated him on the victory, hoping it would bring an end to British aggression, and that an exchange of prisoners might take place as a result of Burgoyne's surrender.  On the 27th he wrote to Samuel Washington on a number of personal business matters and commented that Burgoyne's surrender was glorious and fortunate, but did not express any frustration with the Convention.  Shortly after though, on November 5th, Washington expressed his concern with the terms of the Convention to Major-General William Heath, who would soon be reasonable for the troops marching to Cambridge, saying: "I do not think it to our interest, to expedite the passage of the prisoners to England, for you may depend upon it that they will, immediately upon their arrival there, throw them into different Garrisons, and bring out an equal number."

On October 24th, Washington had found himself in the awkward position of updating Congress on the status of the war, with no direct communication from Gates regarding the outcome at Saratoga.  He closed his letter to John Hancock with a request that if he had any information on Burgoyne's surrender that he share it.  On October 30, 1777, Washington wrote directly to Gates, first congratulating him on Burgoyne's surrender, but then going on to say "At the same time, I cannot but regret, that a matter of such magnitude or so interesting to our General Operations, should have reached me by report only, or through the channel of Letters not bearing that authenticity, which the importance of it required, and which it would have received by a line under your signature, stating the simple fact."  

A day later, Washington received a letter from Congress informing him of the victory and that Lieutenant-Colonel James Wilkinson, Gates' adjutant, was preparing a report on what had been captured at Saratoga and the state of the Northern Army.  Gates, it turned out, had sent Wilkinson directly to Congress with the news, by-passing Washington completely.  

That letter, and Gates brief reply to Washington on November 2, 1777, that he had released Morgan's riflemen (which Washington asked him to consider doing on September 24th), and was confident Washington had "... long ago received all the Good News from this Quarter" directly from Congress, undoubtedly frustrated Washington.  Likely the only thing that would have frustrated Washington more than not hearing from Gates of his victory, would have been hearing news of a defeat.  Unfortunately for Gates and his reputation, that would come later, in 1780 at Camden, South Carolina.

Long term, the American victory at Saratoga, won by an army under Gates, was recognized as instrumental in obtaining foreign recognition and continued material support for the United States.  The new nation would note February for not only Washington's birth, but its alliance with France in 1778 on the 6th, and the cessation of hostilities in 1783, as shown here two decades later in Isaiah Thomas's 1798 "Almanack".  

[1] Washington quoted Clinton's letter in a letter of his own to Colonel Christopher Greene on October 18th.  I began my search for Washington's letters in the hard-bound series published to commemorate the bi-centennial of his birth, the Writings of George Washington.  My internet research quickly led me to the on-line versions that I've hyper-linked above, as a likely more accessible source for readers.

[2] Accessed on the National Archives website, Abagail Adams to John Adams, Oct. 20, 1777.

[3] Heath, Memoirs, pp. 143-144.

[4] Accessed on the National Archives website, Samuel Cooper to John Adams, Oct. 22, 1777.

[5] Morris, Richard B. ed., John Jay: The Making of a Revolutionary, Harper and Row, New York, NY, 1975, pp. 445-447.

Next week: The Convention Army Arrives - "The Barracks At Cambridge Near Boston"

For more on the Convention Army's 1777 march from Saratoga to Boston, see:

1777 March Blog Home          Overnight Stopping Points          Towns and Villages Along the Way

 Annotated Bibliography