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John Burgoyne
British Revolutionary War General
BURGOYNE, John, British soldier,
born 24 February, 1723; died in London, 4 August, 1792. He was the eldest son of
John Burgoyne and Anna Maria, daughter of Charles Burneston, of Hackney, in
Middlesex. The popular belief that he was a natural son of Lord Bingley is pure
fiction, and had its rise in the malicious gossip of Horace Walpole.
Burgoyne was educated at Westminster, and entered the army at an early age.
While at Preston with his regiment, he eloped with Lady Charlotte Stanley,
daughter of the eleventh earl of Derby; and the earl, becoming reconciled to the
marriage, obtained for him a captaincy in the 11th dragoons, 14 June, 1756. He
was in the attack on Cherbourg in 1758, and also in the abortive attempt on St.
Malo the same year; was appointed, 10 May, 1758, captain-lieutenant in the
Coldstream guards, and next year was promoted to the command of the 16th
dragoons, called subsequently "Burgoyne's light-horse."
He was elected to parliament in 1762, held his seat in that body continuously
until his death, and took an active part in matters relating to India, hence
incurring the displeasure of Junius, by whom he was severely criticized. He was
made major general, 25 May, 1772, appointed to a command in America, arrived in
Boston, 25 May, 1775, and witnessed the battle
of Bunker Hill, of which he gave a graphic description in a letter to his
brother-in-law, Lord Stanley. He was commissioned, 1 January, 1776,
lieutenant-general in America only, and took part in the operations of that year
for expelling the Americans from Canada; but in November, dissatisfied with his
subordinate position under Carleton, he returned to England.
In December he concerted with the British ministry a plan for the campaign of
1777. A large force under his command was to go to Albany by way of Lakes
Chainplain and George, while another body, under Sir
Henry Clinton, advanced up the Hudson. Simultaneously, Col. Barry St. Leger
was to make a diversion, by way of Oswego, on the Mohawk river. In pursuance of
this plan, Burgoyne, in June, began his advance with one of the best-equipped
armies that had ever left the shores of England. Proceeding up Lake Champlain,
he easily forced the evacuation of Crown Point, Ticonderoga, and Fort Anne. But,
instead of availing himself of the water-carriage of Lake George, at the head of
which there was a direct road to Fort Edward, he advanced upon that work by
land, consuming three weeks in cutting a road through the woods and building
bridges over swamps. This gave time for Schuyler
to gather the yeomanry together, and for Washington
to re-enforce that general with troops, under Morgan, from the southern
department. Burgoyne also lost valuable time and received a fatal check by his
disastrous attack on Bennington. At length, finding his progress stopped by the
entrenchments of Gates at Bemus's heights, nine
miles south of Saratoga (Schuylerville), he endeavored to extricate himself from
his perilous position by fighting. Two battles were fought, on nearly the same
ground, on 19 September and 7 October. The first was indecisive; the second
resulted in so complete a rout for the British that, leaving his sick and
wounded to the compassion of Gates, Burgoyne retreated to Saratoga.
Here, finding that his provisions were giving out, Stark
in his rear, and that there was no chance of escape, he capitulated with his
entire army, 17 October, 1777. This event was the turning-point in the American
revolution. It secured the French alliance, and lifted the clouds of moral and
financial gloom that had settled upon the hearts of the leaders, even the
hopeful Washington.
Burgoyne, until his unfortunate campaign, stood very high in his profession.
He had made a brilliant record on the banks of the Tagus for dash under that
master in the art of war, the famous Count Schaumberg-Lippe. He also added to a
prepossessing exterior the polished manners and keen sagacity of a courtier. He
was likewise witty and brave. But he was hasty and self-willed. Desirous to do
everything himself, he rarely consulted with others; yet he never knew how to
keep a plan secret. While in a subordinate position, he was continually carping
at his military superiors, yet, when given a separate command, he was guilty of
the same faults that he had reprehended in others. His boastful ways drew upon
him the nicknames of "Sir Jack Brag" and "Chrononnotonthologos,"
a character in a burlesque play by Henry Carey. Being a Sybarite, he often
neglected the duties of a general, and while he was enjoying his wines and
choice food, his army suffered the keenest want.
Early in 1778 he returned to England, and justly threw the failure of the
expedition upon the ministry, since, in arranging the campaign, he had insisted
that success depended upon Howe's co-operation.
Had he been properly supported he would, despite mistakes, have reached Albany,
as Gates would not have been at Bemus's heights to oppose him. On his arrival in
England the court and people, the king refusing to see him received him very
coldly. Having in vain demanded a court-martial, he succeeded in obtaining a
hearing on the floor of parliament; and in 1780 published a narrative of the
campaign and a vindication of himself in a work entitled "A State of the
Expedition." Joining the opposition, he resigned, in 1779, all his
offices. Upon a change in the ministry he regained somewhat of his popularity,
and in 1782 was restored to his rank in the army and appointed prize-councilor
and commander-in-chief in Ireland.
In 1784 he retired from public life, and, possessing considerable literary
ability, amused himself in writing numerous comedies and poems, which were
published (2 vols., 1808). He was one of the managers of the impeachment of
Warren Hastings, but did not live to see the result of that trial. By his wife
he had but one daughter, who died in childhood; but by Miss Susan Caulfield,
after his wife's death, he had four children, of whom the late Sir John
Burgoyne, of Crimean fame, was the eldest. His descendants have filled many
honorable positions in the British army and navy, and several of them are still
(1886) living. For an exhaustive sketch of Burgoyne and an analysis of his
campaigns, see "Hadden's Journal," edited by General Horatio
Rogers.
--His son, Sir John Fox Burgoyne, British soldier, born in London, 24 July,
1782; died 7 October, 1871. He was educated at Eton and Woolwich, and entered
the royal engineers as second lieutenant in 1798. He acted as commanding
engineer under General Frazer at the siege of Rosetta and the assault on
Alexandria, Egypt, in 1807 ; under Sir John Moore in his Portuguese campaign in
1808, and in the peninsular war. He served during the war between the United
States and Great Britain in 1812-'5, and, as commanding engineer under General
Pakenham, was present at the battle of New Orleans, 8 January, 1815, and also at
the capture of Fort Bowers (Mobile Point) on 11 February. In 1845 he was
appointed inspector-general of fortifications. In the Crimean war he rendered
distinguished services at the battles of the Alma, Balaklava, and Inkerman, and
at the siege of Sebastopol. On his recall from the Crimea he received a
baronetcy and was made a general and resumed his position at the war-office as
inspector-general of fortifications, retiring in 1868 with the rank of
field-marshal." The "Military Opinions of Sir John Fox Burgoyne,"
edited by G. Wrottesley, was published in London in 1859. He was also the author
of a "Treatise on the Blasting and Quarrying of Stone " (London,
1852).