Not Everyone Retreated North

While British forces pulled out, Lady Harriet Acland chose to go downriver to her husband, Major John Dyke Acland, a wounded prisoner of war. His American captors received her with great admiration and respect as “a lady of the first distinction of family rank and personal virtues.” A severe thunderstorm and plodding supply boats delayed General Burgoyne’s retreat, and the hungry, drenched men, women, and children finally reached Saratoga, seven miles north, almost a full day later. On October 20, 1777, General Horatio Gates wrote to his wife Elizabeth that “Lady Acland is the most amiable, delicate piece of quality you ever beheld. Her husband is one of the prettiest fellows I have seen - learned, sensible, and an Englishman to all intents and purposes...”

Stillwater, New York · United States