This point occasioned a great debate in congress. Upon the question whether, in regard to this particular article, the capitulation should be strictly adhered to, the votes were divided; and it was only owing to the influence and insinuations of General Lafayette-at that time with the Americans—that' the affair, as already mentioned, was decided to the detriment of the English and German troops; for he, easily foreseeing an impending rupture between England and France, wished to guard against the king of England having the use of this army elsewhere. To overcome all the scruples of congress, Lafayette cited the case of Kloster Seven, in the Seven Years' war, when the English allowed themselves to break the capitulation.

When General Burgoyne brought forward the first rough draft of the capitulation, General Riedesel advised him to propose rather to General Gates, that the troops should return to Canada without arms, and on the condition, that they should not serve during this war against the Americans unless exchanged. But General Burgoyne was of the opinion it would be useless to think of it, as such a proposition would not be entertained by the enemy for a moment; and, therefore, proposed that the troops should be transported to Boston, and from there shipped to England. Afterwards, however, when this thing was talked over during the march, the adjutant general of General Gates, gave it as his opinion, that this stipulation would probably have been agreed to, as, on account of the great scarcity of provisions, they had been at their wits' ends to know how they should support the troops on the march to Boston. If, therefore, General Burgoyne had followed the advice of General Riedesel, this army would have been saved to England; could have been employed elsewhere; and thus been spared the many hardships which it afterward experienced.

CONTINUATION OF MRS. GENERAL RIEDE

SEL'S ADVENTURES.

When the army again moved, on the 11th of September, 1777, it was at first intended to leave me behind; but upon my urgent entreaties, and as other ladies were to follow the army, I received, finally, the same permission. We made only small day's marches, and were very often sick; yet always contented at being allowed to follow. I had still the satisfaction of daily seeing my husband. A great part of my baggage I had sent back, and had kept only a small summer wardrobe. In the beginning all went well. We cherished the sweet hope of a sure victory, and of coming into the "promised land;" and when we passed the Hudson river, and General Burgoyne said, "The English never lose ground," our spirits were greatly exhilarated. But that which displeased me was, that the wives of all the officers belonging to the expedition, knew beforehand every thing that was to happen; and this seemed the more singular to me, as I had observed, when in the armies of the Duke Ferdinand, during the Seven Years' war, with how much secrecy every thing was conducted.* But here, on the contrary,

* Lieutenant Anburey made a similar remark, when the army was yet in Canada: "We have more dangerous enemies at home, than any we have to encounter abroad for all the transactions that are to take place, are publicly known, long before they are officially given out in orders; and I make no doubt, but you will be as much surprised as the general [Burgoyne] was, when I tell you, that the whole operations of the ensuing campaign were canvassed for several days before he arrived, who no

the Americans were apprised beforehand of all our intentions; so that at every place where we came they already awaited us; a circumstance which hurt us exceedingly. On the 19th of September, there was an affair between the two armies, which, it is true, ended to our advantage; although we were, nevertheless, obliged to make a halt at a place called Freeman's farm. I was an eye witness of the whole affair; and as I knew that my husband was in the midst of it, I was full of care and anguish, and shivered at every shot, for I could hear every thing. I saw a great number of wounded, and what was still more harrowing, they even brought three of them into the house where I was. One of these was Major Harnage, the husband of a lady of our company; another, a lieutenant, whose wife, also, was of our acquaintance; and the third, a young English officer of the name of Young. Major Harnage, with his wife, lived in a room next to mine. He had received a shot through the lower part of the bowels, from which he suffered exceedingly. A few days after our arrival, I heard plaintive moans in another room near me, and learned that they came from Young, the young English officer just mentioned, who was lying very low.

I was the more interested in him, since a family of that name had shown me much courtesy during my sojourn in England. I tendered him my services, and sent him provisions and re

*

doubt supposed that in giving out his orders, he was communicating an entire secret. * Great secrecy, on the contrary, was observed in the American army."- Montreal, May 20, 1777, vol. I, p. 203. The work from which this extract is taken, is in the State Library, at Albany, N. Y.

A passage, also, from the History of the German Auxiliaries in America· an invaluable work, by the way, as it is made up of the manuscript journals of those officers and privates who served in the war-explains the reason of this want of secrecy more fully. "The country people, whom Burgoyne met on his march, pretended to be good royalists, which he implicitly believed; so that he allowed them not only to bear their arms as hitherto, but to walk about the whole camp at their option, and without any restraint. These men, however, were anything but royalists. They, consequently, improved the opportunity, gaining intelligence of all the occurrences in the army by appearances, and forthwith communicated to the commanders of the enemy's forces, that which they had seen and heard."

freshments. He expressed a great desire to see his benefactress, as he called me. I went to him, and found him lying on a little straw, for he had lost his camp equipage. He was a young man, probably eighteen or nineteen years old; and, actually, the own nephew of the Mr. Young, whom I had known, and the only son of his parents. It was only for this reason that he grieved; on account of his own sufferings he uttered no complaint. He had bled considerably, and they wished to take off his leg, but he could not bring his mind to it, and now mortification had set in. I sent him pillows and coverings, and my women servants a mattress. I redoubled my care of him, and visited him every day, for which I received from the sufferer a thousand blessings. Finally, they attempted the amputation of the limb, but it was too late, and he died a few days afterward. As he occupied an apartment close to mine, and the walls were very thin, I could hear his last groans through the partition of my room.

I lived in a pretty well built house, in which I had a large room. The doors and the wainscot were of solid cedar, a wood that is very common in this vicinity. They burn it frequently, especially when there are many midges around, as these insects. cannot stand the odor of it. It is said, however, that its smoke is very injurious to the nerves, so much so, indeed, as to cause women with child to bring forth prematurely. As we were to march farther, I had a large calash made for me, in which I, my children, and both my women servants had seats; and in this manner I followed the army, in the midst of the soldiers, who were merry, singing songs, and burning with a desire for victory. We passed through boundless forests and magnificent tracts of country, which, however, were abandoned by all the inhabitants, who fled before us, and reinforced the army of the American general, Gates. In the sequel this cost us dearly, for every one of them was a soldier by nature, and could shoot very well; besides, the thought of fighting for their fatherland and their freedom, inspired them with still greater courage.

During this time, my husband was obliged to encamp with the
main body of the army. I remained about an hour's march
behind the army, and visited my husband every morning in the
camp. Very often I took my noon meal with him, but most of
the time he came over to my quarters and eat with me. The
army were engaged daily in small skirmishes, but all of them
of little consequence. My poor husband, however, during the
whole time, could not get a chance either to go to bed or
undress. As the season had now become more inclement, a
Colonel Williams of the artillery, observing that our mutual
visits were very fatiguing, offered to have a house built for me,
with a chimney, that should not cost more than five or six gui-
neas, and which I could steadily occupy. I took him up,* and,
the house, which was twenty feet square, and had a good fire-
place, was begun. They called it the block-house. For such
a structure, large trees of equal thickness are selected, which
are joined together, making it very durable and warm, espe-
cially if covered with clay. I was to remove into it the follow-
ing day, and was the more rejoiced at it, as the nights were
already damp and cold, and my husband could live in it with
me, as he would then be very near his camp. Suddenly, how-
ever, on the 7th of October, my husband, with the whole general
staff, decamped. Our misfortunes may be said to date from this
moment. I had just sat down with my husband at his quarters
to breakfast. General Frazer, and, I believe, Generals Burgoyne
and Phillips, also, were to have dined with me on that same
day. I observed considerable movement among the troops.
My husband thereupon informed me, that there was to be a
reconnoissance, which, however, did not surprise me, as this
often happened. On my way homeward, I met many savages
in their war-dress, armed with guns. To my question where
they were going, they cried out to me, "War! war!" which
meant that they were going to fight. This completely over-

* A genuine Yankee expression, but, nevertheless, literally so in the original.