New-York tribune., 1888-08-23
LIEUT.. DIGBY'S JOURNAL
rryr CAMPAIGNS OF CARLETON AND BUN
GOYNE.

tenant wiih&n rs roo. Illustrated with Historical
NoteS. by JAMES PHINNEY BANinNs, III sons M
40 mn 412 Albany Joel Munsc" ,+ NJ
Mr. Baxtcrs contributions 10 tnc 'ons a,,s of
historical documents relating 70 'i0 i.o~,',oroo
,--c,r-z arc of decided value ana conSeHu'"0N
~. .;.r.;ous detail and patient thorough'iess
-...ou.,, have brought together humoe- "
y,.l.,.o r,po+cd facts and corrected some Vu"- %
-.sa...n1o orrors in the accepted chrohic'es' i'
o,. of the movements OF Oarieton am
-, ,a the succeeding journal oi A'e"'
-. w;I,;om Dirby. Of the SD Foot. or'nG ou' ia
,orhans stronger relief than ever '"e ""''
sre,em,,ic laundering which masNeu 'ir w. ~
~, csovcrn,nent Of George the Ihlrd III
=. ,b. Colories and which contribute
'' -. 49, to 4ba accomplishment OF Amcricah i'-
,.,sonoo In the worlds history there are noO
,r.r,, INSTANCES of this kind. As rule 'nS J"o'
% a cause bears no relation to IT'S I''e ~ '
snd the frequency with which rghV mas ',oH .se.o
"uu - r,;cn- has in all ages been the lustlnc'-
,ior ~ pessimistic theories. In the ""N VI
an,oraence. however it may be said that 'ne S"'-'
oo,,roos fought against England Again
ard acajn the coloniSts seemed on tne W. s.a1
~stirc ao4est Again and again wheh pay s,o''' ~,
80. fo;,od the encmy's own inconeelV"oie 'o''.'
,e,a bis ,lons and gave the weaker siue o'e"'"
ing-space and repricve ,--7 .be
In the campaigns from Canada IN .'o-i ~.
,o+a,tv which overshadowcd the Ehe"s" '' mn.
- 90 ,,.rifcstod in peculiar force me
Vi -" ,,h;ch sct mt from Canada, and before
,t., uyoondorooa fell so inc-tly and ngiorious.|'
oor4ain,, owed it's initial success lar rsS 10
i,borer+ strength than 10 the )neAcuS"''' ~,
e,oo NJ the American commander Wio 'Nr'
~ ,;e on.-oios in STRENGTHENING the Immediate
aofences Of the fort and permitted ''e D." =.
occunv and arm height which cominanocu az '.4S
untcn3Dlc
,ooa 4hie hlund.r of st. Clair, and his evacuation
- tho fort without destroying the magazines u
food and ammunition appear grave mlsior'ur' ~
.rd nc such they felt at the hhe' ~ ~i'uO
4hov nossibly exercised an important ll"U'"''
u,on Subsequent events and they may nav oo'.
,;hr,ea n the shaping of the following campaign
which terminated in the collapse ana sulIen"'l
. of Rurcovue's whole force. Had llco""'Io9
heen properly defended, it is certain tlt l'S SeS
wonld have occupied the EnShsh so loiG 'H''
notbinc moro could have been done durlng tha'
non.,afoo Tbcre is no probability that the fo-'
could have finally repnlsed so strong an eApe"''
+ion 7, would have been taken, but the sies'
could have delayed the British advance. IN on
uov ths delay would have helped NaSnlhE~l
and his lieutenants, but on the other' lO "ou -'
nrobably insured the cooperation oi iio"'
Clinton and Burgoyne in 1777, and no one nov
rcouires TO be told that the convention ol o."
tora WAS primarily due TO the supihenes' u u"
fist of these thee COMMANDERS
Not that Burgoyne failed to commit Whaue'V
errors were possible to him, and of which tn
ono,-ost Was the expedition which resulted IN IL
d.eastcr of Beunincton. Count Tolstoi mas eA
c,eesed the opinion that campaigns depend MANI
nnon the rank and file and that the colnhihue-
have little or no influence upon results /"
campairns of which Mr.. Baxter ana Leu'eh"N
Digby write certainly went counter 10 l"Is '"eoI
Of war The troops employed on the rAisHsn '
wore as effective as the wo:ld al 1ha' ln'o co'''
uroduce Both English and Germans were We
Grams Injured to war, drilled to pe1iecuon' anu
rroved callantry They fought spienodIy Nlr'
eyar tbev were ght on the field. The German
as has long since been demonstrated Were' "our
scrfs. excellent soldiers, and in general wen D
80 ord ouiet But they were ill-commande
and tbcir galantry did not save them from cHuA
,r, defeat bv the poorly disciplined ami arin'
Anarican forces And though il may be sad TN
the cause for which they were hghtihg heENVu l.
Americans, while the absence OF personal ln'efe
in the issue of the war must have wea4'cne" o.
,nercenaries of King GeOrgc,the latter aSsHniP"'
:, haralv permissible The Hessians were decided
not thinking bayoncts' They belonged 10
neople who had been so used 10 bcms the He
fools OF their supegiOrs as to regard lhs a9 J.
norma, condition of things. They were IN eh'
FIGHTING
and pulled their triggers with the same Iegul"1
r1 edo,itv no matter what they were fight
hout They did not indeed relish the pr0sP
of American campaigning, and when II was Il
annapneed TO them something Ike mutin'
snirit was exhibited This was promptly oV
come by the summary shooting OF inc hioS' g
spicuous obiectors. and when the rest sd"
eorrses of their comrades lylng on the Er"u
IL is not surprising that they forthwith shou
Hurrah for America"
The journal Of Lieutenant Ugby was lou
amcng the archives in the British Muscum ID ! G
h Ar BAXTER. and he became so interested III
that he determined, if possible, to procure d "
and 70 print it with annotations. inc jour
docs not appear to have been recorded, as
dosirrotion implies from day 10 day, but 10 Il
been written on the authors return 10 Ehsh
for the benefit of friend. IL vas, however
handed from memoranda taken at the tIhe an"
Statements correspond in the man VITA 'he
cortained facts Digby himself Appeals 40 j
heen well educated for the period. ana a man
rather unusual observation lie was NoV " ia
can bu. a plain soldier, and there Is nothlh9
his iournal suggestive of cXaGgeration or val
nv nreiudice or malice lie never SPEAKS III
ne pcople he is fighting, and often mentions u
vj4h admiration He does not pretend 10 ki
,orch about the headquarters plans. and sonnet
makes iusf such mistakes rs any line ODicef III
noyadars in trying to interpret the campaign
which he is engaged. lie went through both q
paigns having been ordered from Ireland
his regiment, the 5ad SHROPSHIRE for the
madam expedition in 1776 Among other mat
10 which he tcstiies is Bargoynes earnest eU
90 restrain his Indian allies from scalpns.
his strict orders against it. Modern research
fully proved that on this poiht p'"' "9"
Gates did his opponent serious lhlusio0
,bore can dc no doubt that the sad case OF j
ucCrea cmbittered the Americans greatly IN res
80 the Indian behavior. and the most singular
is that the story of Miss McCrea's death as han
down in history and as unQuestiOnably beht