He was greeted with deafening hurrahs, and the men,
leaping with exultation at sight of their beloved commander, rushed upon
Fraser's half-formed line. At the same moment, while Morgan was still
pressing on the British right, one of his marksmen shot General Fraser,
who fell, mortally wounded, just as Arnold charged with mad fury upon
his line. The British, thus assailed in front and flank, were soon
pushed off the field. Arnold next attacked Lord Balcarras, who had
retired behind intrenchments at the north of Freeman's Farm; but finding
the resistance here too strong, he swept by, and charged upon the
Canadian auxiliaries, who occupied a position just north of Balcarras,
and covered the left wing of Breymann's forces at the extreme right of
the British camp. The Canadians soon fled, leaving Breymann uncovered;
and Arnold forthwith rushed against Breymann on the left, just as
Morgan, who had prolonged his flanking march, assailed him on the right.
Breymann was slain and his force routed; the British right wing was
crushed, and their whole position taken in reverse and made untenable.
Just at this moment, a wounded German soldier, lying on the ground, took
aim at Arnold, and slew his horse, while the ball passed through the
general's left leg, that had been wounded at Quebec, and fractured the
bone a little above the knee. As Arnold fell, one of his men rushed up
to bayonet the wounded soldier who had shot him, when the prostrate
general cried, "For God's sake, don't hurt him; he's a fine fellow!" The
poor German was saved, and this was the hour when Benedict Arnold should
have died. His fall and the gathering twilight stopped the progress of
the battle, but the American victory was complete and decisive. Nothing
was left for Burgoyne but to get the wreck of his army out of the way as
quickly as possible, and the next day he did so, making a slow retreat
upon Saratoga, in the course of which his soldiers burned General
Schuyler's princely country-house, with its barns and granaries.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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