History restored
Battle of Saratoga marker to be unveiled at ceremony
Surrender at Saratoga will be memorialized with a granite monument. /
History has been restored to a once weed-choked hillside.
For decades, the Surrender at Saratoga, considered the turning point in the American Revolution, was only commemorated with blue and gold historic marker reading “Here Gen. Burgoyne surrendered his sword to Gen. Gates. Oct. 17, 1777.”
Now, nearly 242 years later, what historian Richard Ketchum called “the surrender that changed the world” will be memorialized properly with a granite monument that will eventually become part of the U.S. National Park Ser vice’s Saratoga National Historical Park. It will have a ceremonial opening to the public, fittingly, next Thursday, Oct. 17.
“It ’s beyond my imagination,” said park Superintendent Amy Bracewell on Wednesday as she stood at the arched granite monument. “We had great schematic drawings, conceptual drawings. But seeing it in person and seeing what it was ... I don’t have words. ... It ’s such an amazing place for visitors to sit and contemplate the history on this site. I am beyond thrilled.”
While the site of the surrender lay fallow for years, a portrait of the scene was lionized in an 1821 painting by John Trumbull, one of just eight that hangs in the U.S. Capitol rotunda. A bronze cast of the Trumball scene is the centerpiece of the monument. On both sides of the bas-relief are plaques that are inscribed with quotes from the British and the Americans describing the moment when the British handed over their arms.
“Such a thing was never heard of,” Pvt. Ezra Tilden, a Massachusetts militiaman, is quoted. “Such a sight was never seen before I believe in New England or America.”
Lt. William Digby of the British 53rd regiment said the surrender “ended all our hopes of victory.”
While the surrender was significant to American history, the hillside where
it took place was neglected. Joe Finan, director of special projects with the Historic Hudson Hoosic Rivers Partnership and retired superintendent for the Saratoga Battlefield, said that the park service decided to turn that around in 2003 after concluding an analysis of its work.
“We weren’t doing the best job on the surrender and the aftermath of the
battles,” Finan said. “It became a global war at that point. That’s when (Benjamin) Franklin and others engaged the French ... It was extremely inf luential for French support.”
And ultimately, he said, to America’s success.
The Partnership became involved with the project in 2006 with an eye to securing the site, which was then a privately owned former dairy farm with a burnedout house on the lot. With support from former State Sen. Roy Mcdonald and Assemblyman Steve Englebright who secured state funding, the Open Space Institute bought the 16acre site for $297,500. The purchase included development rights to three acres across the road on Route 4, thus preserving the agricultural view shed along the Hudson River.
Katie Petronis, the northern New York program director for OSI, said the purchase aligned with the nonprofit’s mission.
“The acquisition was important to us for a number of reasons,” Petronis said. “It’s an important property for the view shed of the Hudson River, it was important because culturally it’s incredibly significant historically.”
Meanwhile, Friends of the Saratoga Battlefield began its push to raise $600,000 for a monument. President Brian Mumford said one of its first contributors was Thomas Bailey Hagen from Erie, Pa., whose ancestor, Brigadier Gen. Jacob Bayley, fought at Saratoga. He gave a $177,700 matching grant that Mumford said was instrumental in inspiring local donors.
“That gave us the traction,” Mumford said. “When we mentioned that to donors, there was incredible enthusiasm.”
With the money raised, construction began in the spring. The project includes the monument, the walkways, a parking lot, landscaping and sign on Route 4.
Still to come, said Finan, are the replicas of the British canons on carriages like those surrendered as well as a kiosk and more trees to soften the view of the two homes that border the site.
“This is a fairly amazing accomplishment,” Finan said. “It’s a true testimony to collaboration and community support.”
The shrine to the surrender will ultimately be transferred to the National Park Service, which has agreed to maintain it for now.
“America entered onto the world-wide stage on this site,” Bracewell said. “To be able to have that for our visitors and future generations to come here and to say they can stand on that site is incredible. We talk a lot ... about the power of place. ... To stand where generals Burgoyne and Gates stood, there is nothing like it.” ■ ■