General John Burgoyne (24 February 1722 – 4 August 1792) was a British Army officer, playwright and politician who was a member of the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1761 to 1792. He first saw action during the Seven Years' War when he participated in several battles, most notably during the Spanish invasion of Portugal in 1762.
Burgoyne is best known for his role in the American Revolutionary War. He designed an invasion scheme and was appointed to command a force moving south from Canada to split away New England and end the rebellion. Burgoyne advanced from Canada but his slow movement allowed the Americans to concentrate their forces. Instead of coming to his aid according to the overall plan, the British Army in New York City moved south to capture Philadelphia. Burgoyne fought two small battles near Saratoga but was surrounded by American forces and, with no relief in sight, surrendered his entire army of 6,200 men on 17 October 1777. His surrender, according to the historian Edmund Morgan, "was a great turning point of the war, because it won for Americans the foreign assistance which was the last element needed for victory". France had been supplying the North American colonists since the spring of 1776. Burgoyne and his officers returned to England; the enlisted men became prisoners of war. He came under sharp criticism when he returned to London.
The rise of the politically friendly Shelburne ministry in 1782 saw a brief revival of his military career. He was appointed commander-in-chief of crown forces in Ireland and appointed colonel of the 4th Regiment of Foot. However the return to power of the Tories in 1784 marked the end of Burgoyne's active service. Burgoyne was also an accomplished playwright, known for his works such as The Maid of the Oaks and The Heiress, but his plays never reached the fame of his military career. He served as a member of the House of Commons for many years, sitting for the seats of Midhurst and Preston.
Early life
Family and education John Burgoyne was born in Sutton, Bedfordshire on 24 February 1722, son of Army officer Captain John Burgoyne (died 1768; son of Sir John Burgoyne, 3rd Baronet), of Sherbourne, Warwickshire,Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 28th edition, Sir Bernard Burke, Harrison & Sons, 1866, p. 154 and Anna Maria, daughter of Charles Burneston, a wealthy Hackney merchant.London marriage licences 1521–1869, ed. Joseph Foster, Bernard Quaritch (Piccadilly), 1887, p. 219 There were rumours that Burgoyne was in fact the illegitimate son of Lord Bingley, who was his godfather. When Bingley died in 1730, his will specified that Burgoyne was to inherit his estate if his daughters had no male offspring.
From the age of 10, Burgoyne attended the prestigious Westminster School, as did many British army officers of the time such as Thomas Gage, with whom Burgoyne would later serve. Burgoyne was athletic and outgoing and enjoyed life at the school where he made numerous important friends, in particular Lord James Strange. In August 1737, Burgoyne purchased a commission in the Horse Guards, a fashionable cavalry regiment. They were stationed in London and his duties were light, allowing him to cut a figure in high society. He soon acquired the nickname "Gentleman Johnny" and became well known for his stylish uniforms and general high living which saw him run up large debts. In 1741 Burgoyne sold his commission, possibly to settle gambling debts.
The outbreak of the War of the Austrian Succession led to an expansion in the size of the British Army. In April 1745, Burgoyne joined the newly raised 1st Royal Dragoons as a cornet, a commission he did not have to pay for as it was newly created. In April 1745, he was promoted to lieutenant. In 1747, Burgoyne managed to scrape the money together to purchase a captaincy. The end of the war in 1748 cut off any prospect of further active service.
Elopement
Through his friendship with Lord Strange, Burgoyne came to know Strange's sister, Lady Charlotte Stanley, the daughter of Lord Derby, one of Britain's leading politicians. After Derby refused permission for Burgoyne to marry Charlotte, they eloped together and married without his permission in April 1751. An outraged Derby cut his daughter off without a penny. Unable to support his wife otherwise, Burgoyne again sold his commission, raising £2,600, which they lived off for the next few years.In October 1751, Burgoyne and his new wife went to live in continental Europe travelling through France and Italy. While in France, Burgoyne met and befriended the Duc de Choiseul who would later become the Foreign Minister and directed French policy during the Seven Years War. While in Rome, Burgoyne had his portrait painted by the British artist Allan Ramsay. In late 1754, Burgoyne's wife gave birth to a daughter, Charlotte Elizabeth, the couple's only child. In the hope that a granddaughter would soften Derby's opposition to their marriage, the Burgoynes returned to Britain in 1755. Lord Strange interceded on their behalf with Derby, who soon changed his mind and accepted them back into the family. Burgoyne soon became a favorite of Derby, who used his influence to boost Burgoyne's prospects.
As biographer Norman S. Poser states: 'In eighteenth-century England, an ambitious man without great wealth or a high position in society needed the help of a person or family as patron or sponsor. Burgoyne found his in the Stanley family.' Burgoyne’s personal life and professional trajectory remained inextricably bound with the Stanleys throughout his life.From the Battlefield to the Stage, The Many Lives of General John Burgoyne, Norman S. Poser, McGill-Queens University Press 2022, pages 19, 20, and 70,
Even the deaths of Lord Strange in 1771 and Lady Charlotte (Stanley) Burgoyne in 1776 did not loosen Burgoyne's ties to the Stanley family. Burgoyne acted as mentor and friend to Strange's son, Edward Smith-Stanley (later 12th Earl of Derby). Another cousin of his wife, Captain John Stanley, was made Burgoyne's aide-de-camp during the American Revolutionary War-including the Saratoga campaign-and when he was appointed Commander-in-Chief in Ireland. Poser argues this 'was also a way to repay the Stanley family for making his military and political career possible.'
Seven Years War
A month after the outbreak of the Seven Years' War, Burgoyne bought a commission in the 11th Dragoons. In 1758, he became captain and lieutenant-colonel in the Coldstream Guards.
Raids on French coast and capture of Belle Île
In 1758, he participated in several expeditions against the French coast. During this period he was instrumental in introducing light cavalry into the British Army. The two regiments then formed were commanded by George Augustus Eliott (afterwards Lord Heathfield) and Burgoyne. This was a revolutionary step, and Burgoyne was a pioneer in the early development of British light cavalry. Burgoyne admired independent thought amongst common soldiers, and encouraged his men to use their own initiative, in stark contrast to the established system employed at the time by the British army.
In 1761, Burgoyne, as lieutenant-colonel-commandant of the sixteenth light dragoons, participated in the a British amphibious expedition to capture the French island of Belle Île off the Brittany coast. During the siege of the island's main citadel Le Palais, Burgoyne was entrusted with a negotiation for an exchange of prisoners.
Portuguese campaign
In 1761, he sat in parliament for Midhurst, and in the following year he served as a brigadier-general in Portugal which had just entered the war. Burgoyne won particular distinction by leading his cavalry in the capture of Valencia de Alcántara and of Vila Velha de Ródão following the Battle of Valencia de Alcántara, compensating for the Portuguese loss of Almeida. This played a major part in repulsing a large Spanish force bent on invading Portugal. Burgoyne's conduct during the invasion greatly impressed his superior; the Field Marshal Count La Lippe. La Lippe commissioned the 1766 portrait of Burgoyne by Joshua Reynolds and the painting was held by Lippe's descendants until 1943.
Politics
In 1768, he was elected to the House of Commons for Preston as a Whig. For the next few years he occupied himself chiefly with his parliamentary duties, in which he was remarkable for his general outspokenness and, in particular, for his attacks on Lord Clive, known as Clive of India, who was at the time considered the nation's leading soldier. Burgoyne achieved prominence in 1772 by demanding an investigation of the East India Company, alleging widespread corruption by its officials and much later in life Burgoyne would take an active part in the Impeachment of Warren Hastings.
During the interwar years Burgoyne devoted much attention to art and drama (his first play, The Maid of the Oaks, was produced by David Garrick in 1775).
American War of Independence Early campaigns
In the army, he had been promoted to major-general and made Governor of Fort William (commander of the major British Army garrison in Scotland). At the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, he was appointed to command British reinforcements, and arrived in Boston in May 1775, a few weeks after the first shots of the war had been fired. He participated as part of the garrison during the Siege of Boston, although he did not see action at the Battle of Bunker Hill, in which the British forces, led by William Howe and Henry Clinton, won a pyrrhic victory against the Americans, with many British casualties. Frustrated by the lack of opportunities, he returned to England long before the rest of the garrison, which evacuated the city in March 1776.
In 1776, he was at the head of the British reinforcements that sailed up the Saint Lawrence River and relieved Quebec City, which was under siege by the American forces of Continental Army, seeking to bring Canada into the revolutionary cause. Under British General Guy Carleton Burgoyne led forces that expelled the Continental Army from the province of Quebec. Carleton then led the British forces onto Lake Champlain, but was, in Burgoyne's opinion, insufficiently bold when he failed to attempt the capture of Fort Ticonderoga after winning the naval Battle of Valcour Island in October.
Saratoga campaign
The following year, having convinced King George III and his government of Carleton's faults, Burgoyne was given command of the British forces charged with gaining control of Lake Champlain and the Hudson River valley. The plan, largely of his own creation, was for Burgoyne and his force to cross Lake Champlain from Quebec and capture Ticonderoga before advancing on Albany, New York, where they would rendezvous with another British army under General Howe coming north from New York City, and a smaller force that would come down the Mohawk River valley under Barry St. Leger. This would divide New England from the southern colonies, and, it was believed, make it easier to end the rebellion.
From the beginning, Burgoyne was vastly overconfident. Leading what he believed was an overwhelming force, he saw the campaign largely as a stroll that would make him a national hero who had saved the rebel colonies for the crown. Before leaving London, he had wagered Charles James Fox 10 pounds that he would return victorious within a year. He refused to heed more cautious voices, both British and American, that suggested a successful campaign using the route he proposed was impossible, as the failed attempt the previous year had shown.