The Pictorial Field-Book of the Revolution, Vol. 1 (of 2): or, Illustrations, by Pen And Pencil, of the History, Biography, Scenery, Relics, and Traditions of the War for IndependenceLossing, Benson John
History
The Pictorial Field-Book of the Revolution, Vol. 1 (of 2): or, Illustrations, by Pen And Pencil, of the History, Biography, Scenery, Relics, and Traditions of the War for Independence
Lossing, Benson John
United States -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783
** Fort Hardy was situated at the junction of the Fish Creek with the
Hudson River, on the north side of the former. It was built of earth and
logs, and was thrown up by the French, under Baron Dieskau, in 1755,
when Sir William Johnson was making preparations at Albany to march
against the French on Lakes Champlain and George. It was abandoned by
the French, and named by the English Fort Hardy, in honor of Sir Charles
Hardy, who was that year appointed Governor of New York. The lines of
the intrenchments of the fort inclosed about fifteen acres, bounded
south by the Fish Creek and east by the Hudson River. This fort was a
ruin at the time of the Revolution; yet, when I visited it (July, 1848),
many traces of its outworks were still visible. Its form may be seen by
reference to the map, page 77. Many military relics have been found near
the fort, and I was told that, in excavating for the Champlain Canal, a
great number of human skeletons were found. The workmen had, doubtless,
struck upon the burial-place of the garrison.
Courtesy of General Gates. The Place of Surrender. First personal
Meeting of Gates and Burgoyne
080
nimity of feeling which drew forth the expressed admiration of Burgoyne
and his officers, had ordered all his army within his camp, out of sight
of the vanquished Britons. * Colonel Wilkinson, who had been sent to the
British camp, and, in company with Burgoyne, selected the place where
the troops were to lay down their arms, was the only American officer
present at the scene. **
The sketch here presented, of the place where the British army
surrendered, was made from one of the canal bridges at Schuylerville,
looking east-northeast. The stream of water in the fore-ground is Fish
Creek, and the level ground seen between it and the distant hills on the
left is the place where the humiliation of the Britons occurred. The
tree by the fence, in the center of the picture, designates the north-st
angle of Fort Hardy, and the other three trees on the right stand nearly
on the line of the northern breast-works. The row of small trees,
apparently at the foot of the distant hills, marks the course of the
Hudson, and the hills that bound the view are those on which the
Americans were posted. This plain is directly in front of Schuylerville,
between that village and the Hudson. General Fellows was stationed upon
the high ground seen over the barn on the right, and the eminence on the
extreme left is the place whence the American cannon played upon the
house wherein the Baroness Reidesel and other ladies sought refuge.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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