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��NEW HAMPSHIRE AT SARATOGA.
��NEW HAMPSHIBE AT SABATOGA.
��BY HON. GEORGE W. NESMITH.
��In this centennial period it becomes our duty to put in our claim in behalf of the brave men of New Hampshire who par- ticipated in the two memorable struggles under General Gates of September 19th and October 7th. preliminary to the im- portant surrender of General Burgoyne and his army on the 17th of the same Oc- tober, 1777. The truth of history will allow us to claim for our men, who then fought, a m'ore prominent place than has generally been assigned to them. A brief statement of the recorded facts as they occurred on those eventful days, we think, will justify our position, without reflecting any injustice upon those dis- tinguished men from other States who so bravely and successfully co-operated with us. As safe authority, we rely much upon the historical record of Gen- eral James Wilkinson, as published in the second volume of his " Memoirs of his own Times." He acted under Gen- eral Gates as Deputy Adjutant General of the Northern Army, and was an eye witness to many of the events described by him, had good means of knowing the truth, commuuicated the orders of the Commanding General, and has left for our guidance a faithful official record of the troops ordered into each battle, and especially a full return under his hand of the killed, wounded and missing of each Corps engaged in the battle of Septem- ber 19th. From the evidence furnished from such sources, confirmed by other original documents, we are enabled to gather a correct comparative estimate of the achievements and sacrifices of the New Hampshire men who participated in this engagement.
This battle of September was fought almost entirely by the left wing of the American army. Wilkinson says that only about 3000 of our troops were en- gaged, and they were opposed by 3500
��of the best men of Burgoyne's army. The battle was obstinately fought, and without immediate decisive advantages or results to either side. The ground on which they contended was broken, or un- even, and much of it covered with trees. The Americans used no cannon. The British employed a battery of about six pieces, which were taken and retaken several times, but were finally left in the possession of the enemy. Each party took and lost some prisoners. The Brit- ish loss was reported to exceed 600, while the American loss in killed, wounded and missing, as returned by Wilkinson, amounted to 321. Of this number, 80 were killed, 218 wounded, and 23 miss- ing. Of the Americans engaged, we first mention Col. Morgan's Regimentof Rifle- men, not exceeding in number 400 men; second, Maj. Dearborn's Battalion of In- fantry, partly made up from Whitcomb's Rangers, Col. Long's Regiment and some new volunteers, supposed to not exceed 300; third, Gen. Poor's Brigade of Infan- try, which was reported on the 4th of October subsequent to the battle then to embrace 1466 men, and probably must have numbered at least 1600 in its ranks at the time of the bafftle. It lost 217 men in killed, wounded, etc., on that day. The balance of the troops, who took a part in the contest, was made up from Gen. Larnard's Brigade of Massachusetts troops and a detachment commanded by Col. Marshall of Patterson's Brigade. The analysis of Gen. Poor's Brigade would show about the following result : First, the three New Hampshire Conti- nental Regiments. These Regiments had been enlisted for three years, or during the war, and organized under their sev- eral commanders early in the year 1777. Most of them had seen service in some previous campaign. The first Regiment was commanded at this time by Col. Cil-
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