Horatio Gates
Horatio Gates who was born in England in 1728. In his early life he rose to the rank of Major and was the aid of the British commander at the capture of Martinico in 1747. In 1748 he was stationed at Halifax where he continued for a considerable time. He was relieved from the monotony of a garrison in time of peace by the French war which resulted in the conquest of Canada.The French and Indian War
Gates served as a captain of Infantry under General Braddock as was severely wounded which caused him to be unfit for duty for a long while.In 1763 he visited England with a high military reputation. He returned and located on a plantation in Virginia.
He was recommended to Congress by George Washington and appointed Adjutant General with the rank of Brigadier in 1775. The following year he was given command of the troops who fought at Ticonderoga and Crown Point.
In the spring of 1777 he and General Schuyler were appointed to the command of the Army in the Northern Campaign of the Revolutionary War while General Burgoyne was advancing his victorious Army. The Americans were driven from Ticonderoga, Fort Ann and Skeensborough. From that point on, obstacles were thrown in his way by British commanders Sinclair, Schuyler, Stark and their companions in arms. The bridges were demolished, the navigation of Wood Creek was obstructed as the roads were filled with fallen trees and the cattle and other supplies removed which caused the British Army a delay of twenty-five days before reaching Fort Edward on the Hudson. General Burgoyne then supposed his embarrassments at an end. His reckoning was wrong. St. Leger failed in capturing Fort Schuyler; many of the Indians and Canadian militia took their back track making the acquiring of supplies difficult while his Army decreased in size.
At this fortunate juncture for him, General Gates superceded the indefatigable Schuyler and took the command on the 21st of August 1777. Anticipating aid from Sir Henry Clinton at New York, General Burgoyne passed the Hudson and encamped at Saratoga while Gates advanced to Stillwater for the purpose of preventing the progress of the enemy. The British General resolved to open a passage with the sword and bayonet and on the 17th of September while the Armies were only four miles from each other. On the 19th a pretty general engagement occurred, which resulted in a drawn battle. Seeing no prospect of assistance from New York and the impossibility of then retreating with his cannon, General Burgoyne resolved to fortify his position. On the 8th of October the Americans made a vigorous attack and repulsed the British in every charge, occupying a part of their lines. Burgoyne hastened to his former camp at Saratoga in the night and meditated a retreat without artillery or baggage. He found every avenue securely guarded but he could not know that the British Army had a short supply of provions. While General Gates anticipated an attack on the British Army, General Burgoyne surrendered.
The spoils of the victory was over 5000 prisoners, 7000 mskets, clothing, camp equipage and military stores.
Although Gen. Gates had escaped the hard service of that campaign, he was lauded as the conquering hero. That was when he was put in command of the Southern Army.
The Embarrassing Defeat of Lt. General Gates
While the conquering troops of Cornwallis were swept across the Carolinas, the few Amerian soldiers were running ahead of them. The British were burning towns and everything in his path.General Gates consented to go to the field with 15,000 men and supplies, concentrating on the Carolinas and Virginia. However, upon his arriving at headquarters he found about 1500 undisciplined troops, poorly armed, and with little food. But he was anxious to meet the enemy and strike an effective blow. He was advised by the countrymen to take a circuitous route, but ignored that advice and instead selected a shorter road through pine thickets and swamps where his army would starve.
When he finally arrived in Clermont, many of his men had perished along the way, or were sick and unfit for duty. Lord Rawdon had withdrawn from Clermont, and Gates was joined by a few North Carolina Militia and a small company under Capt. Potterfield. Troops continued to arrive from Virginia and other points until the army of General Gates amounted to about 4000 undisciplined militia, instead of the anticipated 15,000!
Defeat of General Gates
Rawdon and Cornwallis concentrated their troops at Camden with less than 2000 men but all of the highest order of soldiers. General Gates resolved on an attack. On the 16th of August the two armies met in mortal combat. The militia under General Gates were quickly thrown into confusion; the regulars were overwhelmed, and the whole routed. The fame of hero of Saratoga sank to zero. The result of his decision was that he was subjected to a court of inquiry, honarably acquitted and re-instated in 1782. But the damage to his career was done!Thereafter, General Gates retired to his plantation in Virginia where he remained seven years when he liberated his slaves and removed to the vicinity of the city of New York where he died on the 10th of April 1806.
Horatio Gates died April 10, 1806 in New York, aged 78 years.A notice of his death was printed in the Savannah Republican, stating that he was a Lieutenant-General in the Revolutionary War, a Whig in England, and a Republican in America.