Authors: Steve Sheinkin
King George (11 page)
T
he Americans knew that Burgoyne was coming. It was time to pick a spot and get ready for the showdown.
he Americans knew that Burgoyne was coming. It was time to pick a spot and get ready for the showdown.
Benedict Arnold and a Polish military engineer named Thaddeus
Kosciusko got on their horses and started looking for the perfect place to fight. Kosciusko, or “Kos,” as the Americans called him, was a new addition to the Continental army. Back in Poland, he had tried to elope (or run off to be married) with his girlfriend. But the woman's father caught the young couple and gave Kosciusko two choices: fight him in a duel or get out of Poland. Kos didn't want to kill the old guy, so he decided to leave his country. And as so many people have done since, he traveled to the United States in search of new opportunities. He met George Washington, and their conversation went like this:
Kosciusko got on their horses and started looking for the perfect place to fight. Kosciusko, or “Kos,” as the Americans called him, was a new addition to the Continental army. Back in Poland, he had tried to elope (or run off to be married) with his girlfriend. But the woman's father caught the young couple and gave Kosciusko two choices: fight him in a duel or get out of Poland. Kos didn't want to kill the old guy, so he decided to leave his country. And as so many people have done since, he traveled to the United States in search of new opportunities. He met George Washington, and their conversation went like this:
Washington:
What do you seek here?
What do you seek here?
Kos:
I come to fight as a volunteer for American independence.
Washington:
What can you do?
I come to fight as a volunteer for American independence.
Washington:
What can you do?
Kos:
Try me.
Try me.
Washington liked this guy's attitude (though he had terrible trouble spelling the name “Kosciusko”âhe spelled it eleven different ways during the war). Washington sent Kos north to join the Northern Army.
An expert at designing and building forts near rivers, Kos was exactly what the Americans needed in September 1777. Kos and Arnold found a hill above the Hudson River near the town of Saratoga. This looked like a good place to try to stop Burgoyne. Kos took out his notebook and started sketching ideas for forts. They would have to be simple fortsâthe British army would be there in just a few days.
B
ack in France, Franklin eagerly opened every letter from home, hoping to read about a great American victory. But there had
been no great victories yet. And to make things worse for poor Ben, he had to decode the letters before reading them. One letter began like this: “I am very glad that 105 is going to 156, and I am sure it will please 38 of 68.”
ack in France, Franklin eagerly opened every letter from home, hoping to read about a great American victory. But there had
been no great victories yet. And to make things worse for poor Ben, he had to decode the letters before reading them. One letter began like this: “I am very glad that 105 is going to 156, and I am sure it will please 38 of 68.”
This was a simple code, using numbers to stand for important people and places. Codes were necessary because Franklin was absolutely surrounded by British spies. He didn't know it at the time, but even his own personal secretary was selling information to the British! Still, Franklin hated working with codes. He found it boring.
Why were the British so interested in Ben Franklin's secrets? They were worried Franklin might be in France to do more than just work out a treaty. Franklin was world famous for his experiments with lightning and electricity, and there were wild rumors that Franklin was now in France to build some secret electrical machine that could destroy all of Britain. One British secret agent actually described Franklin's plan like this:
“He proposes to have a chain carried from Calais [France] to Dover [England].
He, standing in Calais, with a prodigious electrical machine of his own invention, will convey such a shock as will entirely overturn our whole island.”
The truth is, Franklin was spending most of his time eating and drinking. The fancy people of Paris invited Franklin to parties every night, and he was too polite (and hungry) to refuse.
Everyone in France, it seemed, wanted to get a close-up look at Franklin's simple American clothes and his beaver-fur hat. Artists and sculptors gathered around to paint and sculpt his famous face. Young women lined up to kiss his cheek and call him “Pa-pa Franklin.” Then they rushed to their wig makers and asked for wigs shaped like Franklin's fur hat. (This was called wearing your hair “Ã la Franklin.”)
Franklin knew that most of this stuff was pretty silly. But he also knew that he wasn't wasting his time. Franklin's fame and popularity were actually powerful tools. One dinner party at a time, he was winning the French people over to the American cause.
If only the American army could help him out a little.
N
ow back to New York.
ow back to New York.
After a week of sweaty work under a killer summer sun, the Americans completed a fort at Saratoga. And just in time, tooâBurgoyne's army attacked the American fort on September 19, 1777. The battle of Saratoga was on.
Just before the attack began, a general named Horatio Gates arrived at Saratoga to take command of the Northern Army. Gates was a careful commander, a guy who didn't like to take chances. (Soldiers nicknamed him “Granny Gates” because the way he wore his glasses on the end of his nose made him look like an elderly woman.) Gates wanted to keep his army inside the fort and fight from behind the walls of earth and logs.
General Benedict Arnold disagreed. Arnold, who was second in command, wanted to charge out of the fort and fight in the woods and
fields. As always, Arnold made his opinions known to everyone. So he and Gates argued for a while. Finally, Gates got so annoyed that he gave Arnold permission to take some soldiers out to fight.
fields. As always, Arnold made his opinions known to everyone. So he and Gates argued for a while. Finally, Gates got so annoyed that he gave Arnold permission to take some soldiers out to fight.
This turned out to be a very important decision, because it ruined the British battle plan. Burgoyne had been planning to roll his cannons right up to the American fort. Instead, the two armies crashed into each other in a field surrounded by forests. The Americans used the trees to their advantage, climbing up to high branches and firing their rifles down on the British with deadly accuracy.
The deafening blasts of guns and cannons continued all afternoon, making soldiers on both sides feel like they were stuck in the center of a nonstop thunderstorm. “Such an explosion of fire I never had any idea of before,” said a young British lieutenant named William Digby. An American officer named Roger Lamb agreed: “Both armies seemed to be determined on death or victory.”
As usual, Benedict Arnold was out in front of his men, charging right at the enemy guns. “Arnold rushed into the thickest of the fight with his usual recklessness, and at times acted like a madman,” reported an American general named Enoch Poor. Arnold's fellow soldiers weren't sure if Arnold was very brave or very insane. Some thought he must be drunk. (There's no evidence that he was.)
Back in the British camp, Baroness von Riedesel listened to the battle with horror. “I shivered at every shot,” she said, “for I could hear everything.” She watched as the wounded men were carried back to camp, terrified that her husband would be among them. He wasn't.
Only darkness ended the fighting that day. Though more than one thousand men had been shot, neither side had won the battle. The exhausted armies collapsed and rested.
T
his battle left Burgoyne in serious trouble. He lost many of his best officers, and his army was nearly out of food. He wanted to try attacking the Americans one more time, but his soldiers were too tired. Still, he absolutely refused to retreat.
his battle left Burgoyne in serious trouble. He lost many of his best officers, and his army was nearly out of food. He wanted to try attacking the Americans one more time, but his soldiers were too tired. Still, he absolutely refused to retreat.
Meanwhile, in the American camp, the uneasy relationship between generals Gates and Arnold exploded. Gates wrote his official report to Congress on the battle of September 19. Even though Benedict Arnold had led much of the fighting that day, Gates didn't bother mentioning Arnold's name in the report.
Arnold stormed into Gates's tent, accusing Gates of jealousy and disrespect. Gates calmly responded by removing Arnold from command. Gates ordered Arnold to go to his tent and stay there.
Now a series of tense days and nights followed. By day, the Americans kept a constant watch for the attack they knew must be coming. By night, they were haunted by the barks and cries of hungry wolves that gathered in packs to scratch up the shallow battlefield graves. Wolves dragged out the bodies and ⦠. well, you can imagine. It was a rough three weeks.
Then, on October 7, the British attacked again. The top American officers raced to General Gates to get his battle orders. When Gates started naming the soldiers he wanted to send into battle, Benedict Arnold (who was supposed to be in his tent) interrupted with his opinion:
Arnold:
That is nothing. You must send a stronger force.
That is nothing. You must send a stronger force.
Gates:
General Arnold, I have nothing for you to do. You have no business here.
General Arnold, I have nothing for you to do. You have no business here.
Arnold spat out a series of unprintable curses as he walked back to his tent. He paced back and forth for a while, listening to the sounds of the gunfire. Then he just couldn't take it anymore. He jumped on his horse and rode toward the battle, shouting,
“Victory or death!”
Gates ordered him to come back. But Arnold was already gone.
Out on the battlefield, American soldiers cheered when they saw Arnold coming. Arnold rode all over the battlefield, leading charges and driving British and German soldiers backward. During one charge, he was shot in the leg and fell from his horse. “Rush on, my brave boys!” he called from the ground.
And the Americans did rush on. This time they won a clear victory over the British.
Benedict Arnold
N
ow Burgoyne's only hope was to try to escape before the Americans attacked again.
ow Burgoyne's only hope was to try to escape before the Americans attacked again.
Baroness von Riedesel and her daughters climbed into a wagon and headed north. “We had been warned to keep extremely quiet,” she remembered. “Thus we drove on all through the night. Little Frederika was very much frightened, often starting to cry, and I had to hold my handkerchief over her mouth to prevent our being discovered.”
While all this was happening, a second British army finally got around to helping Burgoyne. General Henry Clinton led British soldiers north up the Hudson River, capturing some American forts.
A British messenger named Daniel Taylor hurried toward Burgoyne with the good news. Taylor was spotted by the Americans while traveling north, however, and just before he was captured he was seen to pull something out of his pocket and swallow it. The Americans forced Taylor to drink a nasty potion, which caused him to throw upâand out shot a silver bullet. Taylor tried to grab the bullet and swallow it again, but the Americans snatched it first. They unscrewed the hollow bullet, and inside was a note from General Clinton.
Obviously, Burgoyne never saw that note. And by October 17, Burgoyne's army was out of food. They could go no further. Gentleman Johnny took off the uniform he had been wearing for the past sixteen days and put on a clean one. He wanted to look nice when he surrendered to the Americans.
More than 5,700 British and German soldiers marched out to surrender. Trailing behind them were the pets they had picked up during their stay in the forests of New York, including foxes, raccoons,
deer, and one black bear. “Thus ended all our hopes of victory, honor, glory,” said the British lieutenant William Digby. Digby said that if he had been alone, he would have burst out crying.
deer, and one black bear. “Thus ended all our hopes of victory, honor, glory,” said the British lieutenant William Digby. Digby said that if he had been alone, he would have burst out crying.
Some of the British felt even worse when they got a close look at the army that had just whipped them. “Not one of them was properly uniformed,” said a British soldier of the Americans, “but each man had on the clothes in which he goes to the field, the church or to the tavern.”
No, the American soldiers didn't have fancy uniforms. But at Saratoga they gained something much more valuable: their first major victory over the British.
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