American Aide to Camp James Wilkinson wrote “It is worthy of remark, that not a single General officer was on the field of battle on the nineteenth of September, until the evening when General Learned was ordered out. About the same time, General Gates and Arnold were in front of the center of the camp, listening to the peal of small arms, when Colonel M. Lewis returned from the field and reported the indecisive progress of the action, at which Arnold exclaimed, ‘By God I will soon put an end to it,’ and clapping spurs to his horse, galloped off at full speed. Colonel Lewis observed to Gates, “You had better order him back; he may, by some rash act, do mischief.’ I was instantly dispatched, overtook, and remanded Arnold to camp.” James Wilkinson was born in 1757 in Maryland to a merchant-planter. At the age of seventeen he moved to Philadelphia to study for a career as a surgeon. . He studied medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and opened a medical practice in Maryland. However in 1775 after the battle of Bunker Hill he rushed to join the patriot cause in the American War of Independence. Wilkinson was very bright and rose quickly to served as aide-de-camp and Lieutenant Colonel to General Horatio Gates. It was this time he met and befriended a young Aaron Burr, a friendship that Burr would probably later regret. In 1777 General Gates won a significant victory over the British at Saratoga, New York. The news of the victory was sent to congress with Wilkinson. Although Wilkinson took eleven days to make a seven day journey Congress was so thrilled with the news they promoted him to the rank of Brigadier General (despite being only 20 years old at the time). This was the luck that followed the General through his entire career, luck he would use to his advantage. A few weeks later Wilkinson got himself involved in conspiracy, a characteristic that would become a pattern for his life. Wilkinson’s indiscreet criticism of General Washington’s authority (Conway Cabal) forced his reassignment to administrative duty as clothier general, in which post he served until 1781. Three years later, he moved to the Virginia frontier, where he promoted the territory’s reorganization as the new state of Kentucky. At that time, he secretly advised the Spanish government on American plans for western development, receiving a sizable annual pension and favored trading status for his cooperation. In 1791, Wilkinson returned to military duty during the Ohio River Territory Indian campaigns, succeeding General Anthony Wayne. As military governor of the southwest territory, Wilkinson participated in the 1803 transfer of the Louisiana Purchase from France to the United States. He served briefly as governor of the vast new territory. He was publicly criticized for his heavy-handed administration and reassigned to frontier military duty. Public concerns about his abuse of authority increased when Wilkinson’s participation in former vice president Aaron Burr’s scheme to establish an independent western nation was revealed. He narrowly escaped indictment during Burr’s treason trial, and was twice investigated by Congress. Following an unsuccessful court-martial, he returned to his military command in New Orleans. With the outbreak of renewed war between America and England in 1812, Wilkinson was posted to Canada. His major offensive against the British in Montreal failed, and he was discharged from active service. Wilkinson died in Mexico on 28 December 1825. After his death, he was discovered to have been a paid agent of the Spanish crown. Wilkinson’s actions have since been severely condemned by a number of historians and politicians such as Theodore Roosevelt, who stated “In all our history, there is no more despicable character.” To learn wish to learn more about the Battles of Saratoga, you can visit the Saratoga National Historical Park in the towns of Saratoga and Stillwater. The park website is at https://ift.tt/Zl4KDzs The Schuylerville Public Library schuylervillelibrary.sals.edu/ and all the libraries in the region have a number of books on the Battles of Saratoga. One of the more popular and well written books is Richard M Ketchum’s Saratoga: Turning Point of America’s Revolutionary War. (1997) New York: Henry Holt. ISBN 978-0-8050-6123-9. OCLC 41397623 Saratoga is known for being the turning point of the American Revolution. In 1777 −− the second year of America’s War for Independence −− the British sought to quell the rebellion with a single decisive military campaign. The British plan depended on using an invading army to divide the colonies along a natural corridor of rivers and lakes stretching from Canada to New York City. The Americans’ determined resistance at Saratoga, coupled with British strategic blunders, resulted in a stunning defeat and surrender for a British army. This timely victory reversed American military fortunes, boosted patriot morale, and gained them international recognition and support, including military assistance. That is why studying the Battles of Saratoga is integral to a good understanding of the American freedoms.
Historian at Saratoga - Town of Saratoga 