Sacrifice Remembered
241st Surrender Day anniversary event remembers 1777 Battles of Saratoga
SCHUYLERVILLE, N.Y. >> A booming cannon and billowing smoke marked a momentous occasion that turned the world upside down.
The United States was a fledgling, 15-month- old nation whose Founding Fathers’ dreams of independence likely would have been snuffed out if not for American victories in the 1777 Battles of Saratoga.
On Oct. 17 of that year, more than 6,000 British soldiers and their allies laid down their arms at present- day Fort Hardy Park, where ceremonies Wednesday marked the 241st anniversary of this historic event and British General John Burgoyne’s formal surrender to American General Horatio Gates.
“Every day we, the people, have an opportunity to renew and live the spirit of the Battles of Saratoga,” said state Sen. Kathleen Marchione, R-Halfmoon. “The Battles of Saratoga were more than a turning point of the Revolutionary War. It was a pivotal point of history, a history written in the sacrifices of patriots, written in the blood of citizen soldiers, of farmers, militia and those willing to risk and dare to dream.”
“Soldiers came from all walks of life – farmers, carpenters, doctors,” she said. “Fathers, husbands, sons.”
Schuylerville Elementary School chorus members, directed by teacher Chris Tucker, provided rousing patriotic musical selections such as “Yankee Doodle,” while other students read essays about Surrender Day’s importance.
Children were especially fascinated by cannon firings, demonstrated by living history re-enactors portraying Bauman’s Company of the 2nd Continental Artillery Regiment. About a dozen people were needed to handle large cannon, six to move them about and another six for the actual firing, said Peter Hormell, of Cambridge.
He explained how hot debris is removed and the gun is swabbed with water after each firing, to keep powder from accidentally exploding when the cannon is reloaded.
Program emcee Bill Reynolds described the somber 1777 surrender scene as British soldiers marched down the hill to Fort Hardy, to the cadence of a drum, before laying down their arms. From Saratoga, presentday Schuylerville, captured soldiers were marched to Cambridge, Mass., and then spent the duration of the Revolution as prisoners of war in distant places such as Virginia and Maryland.
At the time, Schuyler- ville was a small hamlet of about 30 homes including the country estate of the town’s most prominent resident, General Philip Schuyler.
“This community had long been a staging area for military forces of the British Empire starting in the 1740s, before the French and Indian War,” said Eric Schnitzer, a Saratoga National Historical Park ranger.
Fort Hardy was an enormous structure that housed British regiments during the French and Indian War (1754- 63). But it had fallen into disrepair and wasn’t used during the Revolution, he said.
Douglas Gallant and Heather Mabee, representing the Sons and Daughters of the American Revolution, respectively, laid wreaths during the ceremony as reminders of the sacrifice patriots made many generations ago.
Ceremonies concluded with an apple cider salute, toasting principles such as “complete establishment of American independence” and “freedom to the whole world.”
Living history re-enactor Peter Stillman portrayed Ben Franklin.
“Huzzah!” he cheered.