John Burgoyne (1722 - 1792)

Born 24 Feb 1722 in Sutton, Bedfordshire, England

Ancestors

Husband of Charlotte Stanley — married 14 Apr 1751 in London, England

Descendants

Died 4 Aug 1792 at age 70 in Hertford Street, Mayfair, London, England

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Biography

John Burgoyne is Notable.

John 1722-1792, is the only son of Captain John Burgoyne, and grandson of Sir John Burgoyne of Sutton Park, Bedfordshire, England. He was educated at Westminster School. He married Lady Charlotte Stanley, the sister of Lord Strange, in 1743.

In September 1774 Burgoyne was sent out to America to reinforce General Gage. It was with the utmost reluctance that Burgoyne consented to leave his invalid wife. He arrived at Boston in May 1775, and at once heard the news of the skirmish at Lexington. From the moment of his arrival Burgoyne was chafed by his forced inaction. He witnessed the battle of Bunker's Hill, and returned home in disgust in November 1775. Back in England he managed to impress the king and the ministry, and he returned to America in the spring of 1777 with supreme command of a force to make this march. On his arrival he soon found that his army would not consist of the 12,000 soldiers. After protesting loudly he slowly moved forward after too much delay. He failed in his attack on a small American force at Bennington, and then crossed the Hudson. He soon experienced confusion and difficulty. The Americans trapped him and would not allow him to escape; he was harassed every mile of his retreat, and at last he was surrounded at Saratoga. All Burgoyne's provisions and ammunition were expended, and he found himself obliged to surrender to General Gates on 17 Oct. 1777. He was permitted to return to England which received him in disgrace.

Like the mythical Phoenix, he managed to raise his career from the ashes. He embraced the opposition political party which welcomed him openly. He held several important positions during the remainder of his life without incident.

In addition to his Military Career, John Burgoyne was a playwright. Among the plays he wrote were "The Maid of the Oaks" in 1774 and "The Heiress" in 1786.

Sources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Burgoyne

https://archive.org/details/dramaticandpoet00burggoog

Acknowledgements

WikiTree profile Burgoyne-130 created through the import of poshburg.ged on Jun 14, 2011 by Torven Zeffertt. See the [https://www.wikitree.com/index.php?title=Special:NetworkFeed&who=Burgoyne-130.