Who is burgoyne

A second battle was fought nearby at Bemis Heights on 7 October. The British were defeated and fell back on Saratoga. The Americans surrounded them on the 12th, and on the 17th Burgoyne and his army surrendered. After a winter in Boston with his men, Burgoyne was paroled and returned to Britain. Dropped by the government, he joined the Whigs and in published his State of the expedition from Canada , an ably argued defence of his campaign and conduct.

He regained some of his offices when the Whigs returned to power in , but he lost them again when they fell in Most of his last decade was spent in literary efforts. He wrote the librettos for two comic operas and in produced his best comedy, The heiress , popular both in Britain and on the continent. Burgoyne was almost an archetypal example of the 18th-century Englishman of public affairs.

As a soldier, writer, and politician, he had some ability but not genius. In a society where connections were everything, his were effective but carried him beyond his depth. Scholars still dispute his merits, or lack of them, but because Saratoga is generally accepted as the turning point of the American revolution, Burgoyne remains best known as the general who lost that campaign.

James Stokesbury. Burgoyne ; to which is prefixed , memoirs of the author. London, ; repr. New York, Boatner, Encyclopedia of American revolution. The Oxford companion to English literature , comp. Paul Harvey 4th ed. In , the young gentleman eloped with Lady Charlotte; sister of a close friend from Westminster and daughter to the Earl of Derby. Her father was not pleased and gave them a small amount of money as a dismissal from the family.

With this, Burgoyne purchased a captaincy in the 13th Dragoons. However, after a short while, their money was gone and the commission had to be sold. The couple moved to France just to get by.

After seven years in financial exile Burgoyne had mastered the French language and literature. His father-in-law had also come to see family in a different light and worked to get John a captaincy in the 11th Dragoons. In , Burgoyne trade that for a commission as a captain and Lt. He was also the key figure in the formation of the first two British light horse regiments, one of which he was given command in For the rest of the war he lead these men in a brilliant and just manor earning the nickname "Gentleman Johnny" from his soldiers for his leadership.

During this time he also served in the Parliament and was considered a true politician, helping to bring about reform in the East India Company with the Regulating Act.

He was also considered a reckless gambler, an amateur actor, a playwright, but still true to the Tory cause. Howe and Henry Clinton to help British Gen. Burgoyne belatedly realized that he was surrounded and outnumbered, unable either to advance or retreat.

He surrendered at Saratoga on Oct. Burgoyne's defeat was followed by his apostasy from Lord North's ministry. Greeted with criticism at home, he replied by blaming others. Finding new friends among the supporters of Charles James Fox, he became a kind of opposition martyr, and his fate rose or fell along with the fortunes of Fox.

He gained some position in but remained on the fringes of real power. Though a frequent speaker on military matters in Parliament, he made little impact on political life of the s. Instead, Burgoyne turned increasingly to literary and social pursuits. He mingled with theater friends and took as his mistress a popular singer. A series of stage successes culminated in The Heiress, a popular triumph after its first performance in More successful as an author than he had been as a soldier, Burgoyne died in London on June 4, The standard, older biography of Burgoyne is E.

A less substantial biography is Francis J. Hudleston, Gentleman Johnny Burgoyne