The British Invasion from the North. The campaigns of Generals Carleton and Burgoyne from Canada, 1776-1777, with the Journal of Lieut. William Digby ... Illustrated with historical notes by James Phinney Baxter

Front matter

/Ifcunsell's Historical Series, IRa 16, LT GEN BUROOYNE. JaxAAj nyz^AAA^i^- THE BRITISH INVASION FROM THE NORTH. THE CAMPAIGNS OF GENERALS CARLETON AND BURGOYNE FROM CANADA, 1776-1777, WITH THE JOURNAL OF LIEUT. WILLIAM DIGBY, OF THE 53D, OR SHROPSHIRE REGIMENT OF FOOT. ILLUSTRATED WITH HISTORICAL NOTES, BY JAMES PHINNEY BAXTER, A. M. ALBANY, N. Y.: JOEL MUNSELL'S SONS, 82 STATE STREET. 1887. TABLE OF CONTENTS. PAGE. Dedication, ---------- iii Introduction, --___„__-- v The Campaigns of Carleton and Burgoyne from Canada, - i Preface to Digby's Journal, --.----79 The Campaign of 1776, -------- 81 The Campaign of 1777, -------- 185 Return of killed, wounded and prisoners during the Campaign of 1777, 324 Return of the Army of the United States under the command of General Gates, October 17, 1777, - 354 Return of the British Troops under the command of General Burgoyne, 355 Return ofthe German Troops under the command of General Riedesel, 355 General Burgoyne's Speech to the Indians in Congress, June 21, 1777, 356 Reply of the Old Chief of the Iroquois, ----- 360 Illustrations.

Portrait of General John Burgoyne, ... Frontispiece. Portrait of General Horatio Gates, ------ 46 Grave of Adams and Culbertson, ------ 136 Burial of General Fraser. DEDICATED tn thB Memory □i My RBVBTBd Father, Dr, ELIHU BAXTER, to whom the Men Df thB Ravohition wara the mast Heroic, the mDst devoted tD duty. and thB mast pure In haart of all men, anciBnt or modern,

Introduction

. In offering to the public a new addendum to that stirring theme, the British invasion from Canada in the War of the Revolution, a few explanatory words seem proper. While engaged during the fall and winter of 1885-6, in examining manuscripts in English archives relative to America, a Jour nal in the British Museum, written by William Digby, an officer in the army of invasion, and containing interesting particulars relative to the two campaigns of 1776 and 1777, attracted my attention, and I obtained permission from the Museum authorities to have it copied. Having familiarized myself with the Journal, I became so interested in it, that I laid aside other work in which I was engaged and began collecting materials for annotating it. This work led to a study of the subject, of which the Journal treats but partially, and to complete my task properly, a succinct account of the two campaigns and of questions growing out of them con nected with the hero ofthe final and more important one — General Burgoyne — seemed necessary as introductory to Digby's work ; hence my account of the campaigns of Carle ton and Burgoyne.

In my work I have received favors from many sources, notably from the officials of the British Museum, especially from Mr. Henry Kensington ; from the Introductioji. VI British War and Admiralty Offices, which have generously furnished me with particulars relative to officers engaged in the two campaigns, and from Douglas Brymner, Esq., of Ottawa, Canadian archivist. Mr. William L. Stone, so well known to all historical students as an authority in matters relating to the Revolutionary period, has been untiring in giving me valuable aid and encouragement ; Mr. F. D. Stone, librarian of the Pennsylvania Historical Society, and particularly Mr. John W. Jordan, his able assistant, have rendered me valuable aid, and the same may be said of Mr. A. R. Spofford of the National Library at Washington ; Mr. F. Saunders of the Astor Library, New York, and William H. Egle, M. D., of the State Library of Pennsylvania at Harrisburg.

Last and not least, I must refer to the admirable, I may say unequaled work of Colonel Horatio Rogers, embodied in Hadden's Journal and Orderly Books, from which I have derived much information. Of the author of the Journal, William Digby, but little can be said. I have been baffled thus far in obtaining particulars concerning his family-and early history. He entered the British military service as an ensign in the Fifty-third Regiment of Foot, on Febru ary 10, 1770, at which date the regiment was doing garri son duty in Ireland under the command of Colonel John Toovey, an officer of distinction in the British army. In this capacity he served until April 1, 1773, when he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant, which was his rank when hostilities commenced between Great Britain and her North American colonies.

On the 4th of April, 1776, Digby embarked from Ireland with his regiment under Major- General Burgoyne for the relief of Quebec, and shared in the perils attendant upon the expulsion of the Americans from Canada during that year; and through the winter which followed was stationed at Chambly. In the spring Introduction. VII °f 1777^ the four flank companies of the Fifty-third Regi ment were selected to accompany Burgoyne's expedition to reduce the colonists into submission to the British crown, the eight battalion companies being left behind to protect Canada against another invasion. These companies were sub sequently employed by Burgoyne to garrison Ticonderoga ; but Digby followed the fortunes $>f his general through that trying campaign, which ended in the surrender of the Brit ish army of invasion to the Americans at Saratoga.

Digby was among the paroled officers, but unfortunately has left us no account of his experiences after the surrender. From the time when he signed the parole at Cambridge, he dis appears from view until the ioth of August, 1785, — some time after the acknowledgment by Great Britain of Ameri can independence — at which date his regiment was still doing garrison duty in Canada, when we find him retiring on half pay, " by exchange receiving the difference," and, on March 1, 1786, he appears, by record of the War Office, under the title of lieutenant, " by exchange, repaying the difference." On the twenty-second of the same month he is recorded as having retired. This is the last glimpse we have of our journalist. Of the Journal itself, I can say but little. It is not an original kept during the campaign, but a compilation made by the author, undoubtedly, as he says, for the partial eye of a friend.

My copy was made by a scribe recommended to me at the Museum, and was com pared with the original by Mr. Kensington, who pronounced it correct. It has been printed verbatim et literatim, except that I have introduced capitals in some instances where they seemed necessary, and have corrected the spelling of two or three words, which I believe have been errors of the scribe growing out of obscure writing, as Livingstone for Levestoe, and Ticonderoga for Ticonderago. I have also added to the punctuation and have placed a few words in Introduction. VIII brackets to clear up apparent ambiguities of meaning. I regret having been unable to correct proof by the original manuscript, as this is the only proper way to secure verbal accuracy, but I trust that no material errors will be found in the work. 61 Deering St., Portland, Maine, November I, 1887.

FROM CANADA. I776 AND 1777. HE author of the following journal, William Digby, lieutenant of the 53rd Regiment of British Grenadiers, had passed into oblivion and the stream of memory would never have brought us any tidings of him, had not this waif, surviving the vicissitudes and perils to which it must have been exposed for more than a century, brought to hand enough to enable us to mentally outline the man and partially estimate his character. That his was a manly spirit guided by an unswerving instinct of justice ; devoted to duty and singularly free from that undue proneness to criticism of those above him so common to men in conditions similar to those in which he found himself during the disastrous campaign of General Burgoyne, all will be ready to admit after perusing his journal, and though we may know nothing of his family tree, of the time or place of his coming or going, or indeed of any sub sequent events of his life, we shall regard him with confidence and respect.

The regiment of which Digby was lieutenant was organized in 1755,1 at a time when the French with their savage Indian allies were attacking the American frontier settlements, rendering a war between the mother country and France unavoidable. At the time of its formation it was called the 55th, but Governor Shirley2 of Massachusetts, and Sir William Pepperell3 had each formed a regiment called respectively the 50th and 51st, which after the war were disbanded, and the gap was closed by lowering the numbers of the regiments above them, by which the 55th became the 53rd. At the time when the English colonies in America were demand ing from the home government what they conceived to be their rights, the 53rd was garrisoned in Ire land, from whence it was ordered to Canada to take 1 Vide Historical Record of the 53rd Regiment (Cannon), London, 1834.

The uniform ofthe regiment was: "Cocked hats ; red coats faced with red, lined with yellow and orna mented with yellow lace ; red waistcoats and breeches and white gaiters." 2 William Shirley was governor of Massachusetts from 1 741 to 1756, and was prominent in the war with the French. 3 Sir William Pepperell was a colonel of militia, and dis tinguished himself at the siege of Louisburg in 1745, for which he received the order of Knighthood. He died in 1759. Vide Life of, by Parsons, London, 1856. The Campaigns of Carleton and Btirgoyne. 3 part in that momentous drama, the first scene of which had opened in the quiet rural village of Lexington. The troops sailed from Ireland with a knowledge of the successes which the American arms had achieved in Canada, expecting indeed to learn on their arrival that Quebec had fallen into the possession of Montgomery, but with antici pation of a speedy subjugation of their despised antagonists, whose commander the aristocratic supporters of royalty designated as Mister,4 declining to recognize his title of general, and regarding those who had taken up arms in defense of their rights a lawless rabble, ignorant of civilized warfare.5 The 4 Lord George Germaine, the British minister, persisted in his correspondence with Howe and others in designating General Washington as " Mr.," and this example of his superior the British commander felt bound to follow.

He therefore addressed his first letter to Mr. Washington, which the latter declined to receive, and Howe returned it by Colonel Patterson, one of his officers, addressed to George Washington, etc., etc., etc. Washington took no notice of the insult, but stated that he declined to receive "any letter directed to him as a private person when it related to his public station." Colonel Patterson pointed out that "etc., etc., etc." implied all the titles which he might choose to claim, and ended by verbally conveying to him the contents of Howe's letter. This folly was not long persisted in by General Howe, who although he had declared that he would acknowledge " no rank but that conferred by the king," found himself obliged to recognize Washington by his appropriate title if he would hold com munication with him.

Vide Sparks' Life, Appendix No. i, Vol. IV. 5 Not only were they characterized as lawless and igno rant, but as full of all iniquity. General Gage wrote on aud Burgoyne. 4 expedition, consisting of fifty-four transport ships and convoyed by two men of war, sailed from Cork in April, 1776, the troops being under the charge of Lieutenant-Colonel Fraser, who ended his career in the campaign of the next year with so many others of his brave companions. Leaving these troops to pursue their voyage across the Atlantic, we will glance retrospectively at the progress of events during the preceding year. The battles of Lexing ton and Bunker Hill had disclosed to the king and his ministers the unpleasant fact, that they had been at fault in supposing that Englishmen in America would give way at once upon the appearance of regular troops, a fallacy which they had hitherto indulged, and they began to awaken to the unpleas ant prospect of a prolonged conflict, concerning the outcome of which, there was among thoughtful men a diversity of opinion.

What made it the more embarrassing to the British government was the opposition of its peo ple at home to the war. The principle for which July 24, 1775 : "A Pamphlet published by the Continental Congress, called a Declaration of the United Colonies, has been sent in from the Rebel Camp, copies of which will no doubt be sent to England from Philadelphia. They pay little regard to facts, for the Contents of it is as replete with Deceit and Falsehood as most of their Publications;" and, again, " Mr. Washington, who commands the Rebel Army, has written to me on the subject of the treatment of the Rebel Prisoners in our custody. I understand they make war like Savages, capitivating women and children." Vide Correspondence in Public Records' Office, London. the colonists had taken arms was a popular one, and a powerful party in England warmly espoused it.

When the determination of the government to subjugate v,the colonists by force of arms became known, the ministry was bombarded with petitions from every part of the kingdom. These petitions set forth all the arguments against the course deter mined upon which ingenuity could devise. Many even of the first officers in the army threw up their commissions, declaring that they would not serve in such a war against their own countrymen. But the sluggish spirit of George the Third was thoroughly aroused against his unruly subjects, and he was stubbornly deaf to arguments in their favor how ever reasonable they might be. He was fully bent upon chastising them into submission, and was hotly seconded by his ministers. But the conditions exist ing in the two countries were quite dissimilar. In the colonies the people freely offered their lives and fortunes to the common cause, and multitudes gathered under the new flag, animated with hope and with a fixed determination never to yield their rights, while in England on the contrary, the un popularity of the war rendered enlistments on a large scale impossible.

Though unusual bounties were offered, enlistments proceeded so slowly that the king found it necessary to look across the channel for aid. He applied to Catherine of Russia to lend him some of her battalions, but was met with a tart refusal;6 to Holland, which turned an indifferent ear to his appeal, and finally to Germany with better success. The petty sovereigns of this country to their eternal disgrace, loaned for hire seventeen thousand of their people to the British king, as they doubtless would have loaned them to the colonists had they sought them with a larger price. When it became known in England that the king had hired German troops in order to subjugate their countrymen in America, a considerable portion of the English peo ple raised their voices against the act. They saw in it perhaps, the possibility of an abridgment of their own liberties by similar means.

But the king was delighted with the new acquisitions to his forces ; indeed, he regarded them with greater com placency than he regarded his own more thoughtful subjects. Their stolid minds were not agitated with "George the Third, when he applied to Catherine of Rus sia for twenty thousand of her subjects to employ against the colonies, gallantly left her to fix her own compensation ; but she refused his application with so much spirit, that the king in a letter to Lord North said, that some of her expressions might " be civil to a Russian ear, but certainly not to more civilized ones." Horace Walpole took delight in ridiculing the king for his correspondence with " Sister Kitty." Schiller thus holds up the German sovereign to public view. After speaking of the objections which some of the soldiers made to being sold for the American war, he continues : " Our gracious sovereign paraded the troops and had the chatter ing fools shot then and there.

We heard the crack of the muskets, we saw their brains sprinkled against the wall, and then the rest shouted, ' Hurrah for America!' " theories of human rights, and their sympathies would not be with a people whose manners were to them an offense, and whose language a mystery ; hence there could be no fear that they would desert to the Americans as some of the English levies might. The employment of these hirelings against the colonists was abhorrent to many of the English people;7 but the employment of the savage Indian tribes against them was still more so, and this feeling was shared even by the British commanders themselves. But England possessed a monarch incapable of listening to reason where his prejudices were opposed, and a ministry whose incapacity has perhaps never been equaled.

The harshest meas ures were blindly resolved upon, and it was deter mined to crush out the rebellion before it could gather more strength, or engage the sympathy of France, who was watching the struggle with keen satisfaction, not a satisfaction in which sympathy for the oppressed colonists found a place, as it was but the preposterous struggle of the canaille against the noblesse ; but a satisfaction which would be intensified if, peradventure, both combatants should be so weakened as to make it possible 'Chatham, Burke and others denounced the employment of the savages in the most ardent manner. We are told that the vehemence of the latter caused tears of laughter to roll " down the fat cheeks of Lord North at hearing an absent man denounced for measures for which he himself was mainly and directly responsible."

Vide Fonblanque's Life of Bur goyne, London, 1856, p. 243, n. for her to again found her imperium in the new world. How was it with the Americans? Hopeful of suc cess they had assumed the offensive and had made their triumphant way into Canada: Montgomery pushing through the lake region of northern New York, and Arnold through the wilderness of Maine, finally joined their forces together in the heart of the enemy's country. Stronghold after stronghold fell before the invaders, until at last, the British General Carleton fleeing to escape capture in the habiliments of a peasant, took refuge in the fortress of Quebec, under whose walls the victorious Americans encamped, confident of conquering the last remnant of King George's troops left on the soil of Canada. This was the condition of affairs in December, 1775, while the king was drumming up reluctant recruits in England, and negotiating for others with his brother despots on the continent, as before stated.

But a Canadian winter was upon Montgomery ; disease and exposure were wasting his army, and something had to be done. The darkest and shortest days of winter came, and an attack, one of the most daring in the annals of arms, was made upon Quebec. Montgomery, whose intrepid spirit had never forecast failure, and whose presence alone gave animation to the enterprise, fell with many of his no less brave compatriots, and beaten back, shattered but not disheartened, the Americans sullenly sat down before the walls of the city, repaired as well as they could their sore damage, and laid out new schemes for the discomfiture of their enemies. Arnold was in command, a man perhaps no less daring nor less fruitful in expedients than Montgomery, and as spring advanced, he prepared for a final attack upon Carleton.

His batteries commanded the river, his red-hot shot were thrown into the city, but disease was at work in his army to which few recruits found their way. In the beginning of May, Thomas,8 who had been assigned to the chief command, arrived, and while he was considering the question of raising the siege, the advance ships of the fleet which had sailed from Ireland in April came in sight, and leaving behind every thing which could incumber his retreat, he at once hastened to abandon his position, followed by Carleton with reinforcements from the fleet. Although the Americans stubbornly contested their ground, as may be seen by a perusal of this journal penned by 8 General John Thomas was from Plymouth, Massachu setts, where his descendants still reside. He, like Mont gomery, had seen service in the French and Indian wars.

At the beginning of the war, he was one of the first to raise a regiment, with which he joined the Continental army at Roxbury in 1775. He was appointed one ofthe first briga dier-generals, and commanded a division at the siege of Boston. He was appointed a major-general in March, 1776, and in the following May joined the army before Quebec, but was attacked by the small-pox, which prevailed among the troops, shortly after his arrival in camp, and died at Chambly on the 2d of June. He was a man of ability and greatly esteemed by his soldiers. Washington placed con fidence in him, and believed that he would accomplish much for the American cause. io The Campaigns of Carleton and Burgoyne. an unfriendly but just spirit, they were forced back by the superior strength of the British with their German and Indian allies.

These divided into two parts, one under Carleton, who followed the St. Lawrence to Montreal to attack Arnold, who held that place, and the other under Burgoyne, who pressed on toward Fort St. Johns, forcing back Sul livan9 to that point. • Here however, Arnold, who had retreated before Carleton, was enabled to form a junction with Sul livan ; but the two generals seeing how useless it 9 John Sullivan was of Irish parentage and a native of Berwick, Maine. He was born February 17, 1 740, and was reared on a farm, but upon reaching maturity studied law and began the practice of his profession at Durham, New Hampshire. He was a delegate to the first Continental Congress. When the Continental army was organized in 1775, he was appointed a brigadier-general, and the following year was made a major-general.

He was assigned to the command left vacant by the death of General Thomas, and shortly after took the place of General Greene on Long Island. In the battle which took place there in August of the same year (1776) he was taken prisoner, but was soon exchanged, when he was assigned to the command of General Charles Lee's division in New Jersey, Lee having been taken prisoner. He participated in the battles of Brandywine and Germantown, and soon after was assigned to the command ofthe Rhode Island troops. He was engaged, in the summer of 1778, in the unsuccessful siege of Newport, and the next year ended his military career in an expedition against the Indians. Owing to some difficulty with the board of war, he resigned his commission in 1779. He was after this, a member of Congress and president of New Hamp shire, and in 1789, received the appointment of district judge, an office which he retained until his death, January 23.

I79Swas to attempt to withstand the onset of forces so much superior to their own, determined to fall back upon Crown Point and there make a final stand. This determination they acted upon, leaving the enemy to pursue them as best they might — a problem difficult of solution. In order to make an attack upon the Americans likely to be attended with success, vessels were requisite, and these must be provided. With commendable energy, Carleton at once set about improvising a navy, and by the 5th of October had constructed and equipped a fleet of one ship, two schooners, one radeau,10 one gondola," and twenty-two gunboats with eighty-seven guns. Some of these vessels had been transported in pieces from Chambly to Fort St. Johns and there put together. Being now ready, Carleton proceeded with his fleet up the Sorel to Isle aux Noix at the entrance to the lake.

He was now in a condition to attack the Americans with a good prospect of success, as he knew the force which they possessed was inferior to his. The fleet to be opposed to him had three more guns but of much lighter caliber 10 The word radeau is equivalent to the English raft. The radeau was the prototype of the modern floating battery, having low but strong bulwarks to protect the men handling the guns, which were usually of heavy caliber. It was a cumbersome craft to manage, but, at the same time, effective. 11 A gondola was quite unlike its Venetian namesake, being a large flat-bottomed affair with square ends, and having a large capacity for carrying. and was inferior in other respects. On the morn ing of the nth of October, accompanied by a large number of savages in their birchen canoes, some of which were of immense size, capable of carrying thirty men, Carleton moved upon the American fleet which, in command of Benedict Arnold, was drawn up in the form of a crescent between Valcour island and the mainland.

A battle ensued, which was con tested with spirit on both sides, but the tide of affairs with the Americans was at ebb, and when night fell they found themselves in no condition to continue the fight on the following day; hence in the darkness of the night, they passed unperceived through the British fleet and made all the speed possible to reach Crown Point, hoping that with the guns of that fortress joined with those of the fleet, they might counterbalance the superior force of the enemy. When in the morning, Carleton found that Arnold had eluded him, he followed in pursuit, and succeeded after a fierce battle in destroying and dis persing the American fleet. Nothing now remained for him to do but to push on to Crown Point. This he did as quickly as possible, but the Americans had evacuated their works there and fallen back upon Ticonderoga, which they put into a good condition for defense before he was able to make an attack upon them in their new position.

The season was advancing, and perhaps yielding a too-ready ear to the dictates of prudence, instead of following up his advantage and risking an attack upon Ticonderoga, which if successful might have changed the issue of the war,'2 he resolved to proceed no farther, but to withdraw his army to winter quarters. Thus closed the campaign of '76, disastrous and disheart ening to the American patriots. General Carleton, having withdrawn his army from Crown Point, and stationed portions of it at Isle aux Noix, St. Johns, Montreal, and other points in the prov ince, went himself to Quebec where his family was domiciled, while General Burgoyne sailed for England to make preparations for the campaign of '77, which would, it was confidently believed by the British generals, terminate the war. The winter passed pleasantly enough with the British troops, who found plenty to amuse them, but with the Americans quite differ ently.

The latter looked forward with anxiety to the coming campaign, and labored to put themselves in a condition to meet it successfully. They suffered privations and hardships innumerable, but having put hand to plow thought not to look back. Doubtless they often longed for the comforts which 12 " Lord George Germaine sought in this delay an excuse for venting his rancor against General Carleton, but the king, in spite of the powerful influence which the minister exercised over his mind, defended his officer, for on the 17th November he writes to Lord North, ' Sir Guy Carleton gives sufficient reasons for not earlier attempting to pass the lakes.' " He has been, however, severely criticised by writers for abandoning Crown Point, which would have afforded him an advanced starting point for the next campaign.

Vide Fonblanque's Life of Burgoyne, n. p. 217 et seq., and General Phillips' Letter, ibid. they had once enjoyed — the leeks and garlics which they had forsaken to attain freedom — but they had in Washington a Moses in whom they confided, and they repined not over much. So the winter passed. Burgoyne in England with the ministers of the irate king, laid out an elaborate plan for the coming campaign. The New England provinces were to be violently dissevered from the western and southern by two armies, which were to serve as opposite wedges ; the northern wedge to be directed by Bur goyne, the southern by Howe, and the two lines of fracture to meet at Albany in the State of New York. It was an excellent plan, and to any but an omniscient eye would have appeared to be almost certain of success.

General Burgoyne arrived at Quebec on the 6th of May, and on the ioth, Gene ral Carleton, who was to remain in Canada as com mander-in-chief of the Canadian department, for which reinforcements were on the way, passed over to him in accordance with orders from England, the command of about seven thousand troops. Germaine had written him under date of Whitehall, the 26th of the preceding March : " With a view of quelling the rebellion as soon as possible, it is become highly necessary that the most speedy juncture of " the two armies should be effected ; and, therefore, " as the security and good government of Canada " absolutely require your command for the defense " and duties of that province, you are to employ the " remainder of your army upon two expeditions ; the " one under the command of Lieutenant-General Bur "goyne, who is to force his way to Albany, and the " other under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel St. " Leger, who is to make a diversion on the Mohawk " river."13 Upon receiving his command, Burgoyne at once proceeded to Montreal and began putting things in readiness to carry out this plan, so far as it related to the movement from the north which had been intrusted to him, writing to Germaine on the 19th of May : " The only delay in putting the troops in motion is occasioned by the impracticability of the roads, owing to late extraordinary heavy rains, and this difficulty will be speedily removed by exert ing the services of the parishes as soon as the weather clears.