New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1877-10-17
THf SIRAIOG4 CENTENNIAL.

viii he to-day pOmpously and circum-
stantially celebrated, while il is impoS-
sible to oyerrate its advantage to the
American cause, did not, nevertheless, fur
pish an entirely agreeable page to American
history 1t was great operation, of which the
dne credit did not go to the originator, and
winch owed its success rather to the valor OF
the troOps and of subordinate officers, than to
the ability and bravery of the Commanding
General Nor does it enhance our cOmplaccncy
t0remenber that BurgOyne was FAR from beng
n frst-rate soldier, and that his discontinue
WAS, in great measure, If no, altogether. due to
a series of plumbers and of inexplicable delays
for which he might well have been court
tialcd and broken. Again, as if fortune were in
a singuarly perverse mood. the glory which I'M
QuestOnably belonged to the excellent Schuy-
Ter, was accorded to Gates, about whose mill
tary ability and even personal courage there
are the gravrst doubts. Another name which
meets us in the story il that OF Arnold, and
still another il that of Wilkinson, Gatcs's
Adiutant- General, who aiterward quarrced
with and challenged his commander, and who
was subsequently involved in tie reasonable
designs of Burr. Upon both sides there were
ieaousies and disaffcctiOns. Burgoyne had
by no means fast hold either upon the a
fcction or the respect of his officers. while
Schuyler had excellent reason for a sense of in
iury and Gates and Burr were almost ut
swords points. His success mt Saratoga brought
the victorious General no happiness, while we
may well believe that it did not awaken
single sentiment of jealousy i'll the bosom of
Washin gton, whose triumphs then seemed to
be only successful retreats.
If the equalization of Saratoga was greatly
advantageous, il was not without certain quail
icati0ns. 1t gave the detract0rs of Washing
ton, and thOre were not a few of thom fresh
opportunity of undertaking his military abili-
ties. Gates, who had merely finished what
Schuyler had begun. aided by superior numbers
and vastly better supplies, WAS the hero of the
hour was eager for the supreme command,
though it is not easy to see how one who owed
all his successes 80 Stark, to Arnold and to
Schuyler, wasfittcd dictatorship. He was hailed
as the savior of the northern hcmisp here,"
and, doubtless, thought himself 50. Conway
wrote to him that Washington was "a weak
" general and, instead Of resenting Tins dcpre
citation Of his old friend and superior officer
Gates thanked him for tins "just idea Of the
cause of our miSfortunes." He was already
in the hands Of faction. This was the be-
ginning of the famous Conway caba', and of
the faction which was formed against Wash
ington Iii the Board of War and in Congress-
That great man, in the midst of a thousand
difficulties could hardly know who were his
friends Gates, Conway, Wilkinson, Rush.
Mifilin--it was not so much that all these wee
plotting against him, as that so many men
in Congress seemed inclined to assist them,
making Conway a major general and Mlfiiln
member of the Board of War, to which Gates
also was subsequently appointed becoming its
president, with Conway for Inspector general.
There were those who thought that Washing
ton might be Disguised enOJSh to resign. He
was too wise and too patriotic thus to crafty
the cabal, aud the end justified his forbear-
ance. The history of that remarkable intrigue
can never be accurately written, for most of
the documents which would have illustrated it
were burned. Nor, with the exception of
Gates, Mliliu, and Conway. do we know accu
rately what partisans il had in the army.
The increased activity of the Conway cabal
was orc of the results of the Saratoga VIC
tory, which, if it had ended in the dcpo-
sition of Washington. would have been "a
fatal one The fate of Gates offers only
another illustration of the transitory ma
ture Of that glory which il sometimes thrust
upon men who are deemed the fsYorites of
fortune. The American people, in chcrishlng
the memory of Washington, have had no rea-
son to be ashamed. He is not merely the
central figure of the Revl luton, but be is al
most the single great man of the period who
went through the war, and the civil events
+. A :. Il
ing himself to personal jealOusies and without
single selfish quarrel. Some time, perhaps.
the personal history OF the Congress and the
camp will be written. IL will be entertaining,
and il will be instructive.