Saratoga Beyond the Battlefield 

Aidan Cahill 

While the most notable contribution of Saratoga County to the American story may be the battles that took place here, it’s not where our contributions end. 

Saratoga County has been home to some of the most influential Americans to ever live, people who contributed to our shared success in numerous wars, and blazed trails that have been followed by millions of Americans.  

While the battle may have ended on October 7, 1777, our story didn’t. Here are some events, people and innovations that shaped the history of this nation from Sea to Shining Sea. 

1780 – Saratoga I is Launched Less than three years after the Battle of Saratoga, Saratoga’s name would be placed on a U.S. Navy warship for the first time. The Saratoga I was a 68 ft, 150-ton sloop armed with 16 nine-pound cannons and two four-pound cannons. It had a crew of 86 personnel and was launched from Philadelphia on April 10, 1780. During its career the ship was responsible for capturing or recapturing 12 British or American ships. She was lost on March 18,1781 and was the first of six ships to bear her name.  

These ships include a Corvette launched in 1814 which saw action in the Battle of Plattsburgh, a sloop of war which saw constant decommissioning and recommissioning from the time it was launched in 1842 to when it was sold for scrap in 1907, a cruiser which was renamed three times, and two aircraft carriers — the first of which deserves its own entry on this timeline.   

The First ship to bear Saratoga’s name served for only a year but managed to capture 12 ships (Courtesy of US Navy Heritage Command) 

1802- Gideon Putnam Builds what becomes Grand Union Hotel- One of the most prominent features of Saratoga County is the mineral springs. World renowned for their health benefits, the springs brought thousands of visitors, including prominent aristocrats and world leaders, to Saratoga County — specifically Saratoga Springs and Ballston Spa. While it’s true that Ballston Spa was the first to take advantage of this, building two hotels in 1792, Saratoga Springs would have more staying power.  

The first to take advantage of this was Gideon Putnam who built what would become the Grand Union Hotel in 1802 in the vicinity of the Congress Spring. Putnam would lay out much of what would become Saratoga Springs, tubing and connecting its springs. Putnam was in the process of building Congress Hall when he died in 1812.  

While the opening of a hotel may seem like a trivial event in the broad story of the American mosaic, its impact can be seen both in what Saratoga became and the places it inspired. The list of famous figures to visit Saratoga Springs and their significance on American history could go on for pages, and the legacy of Saratoga Springs can be seen in the places named for it in Utah, Nebraska, California and Disney World. And, yes, the paper does regularly get calls from people thinking we are in Utah or California. 

1819- Abner Doubleday is Born in Ballston Spa- As legend goes, baseball was created by Abner Doubleday in Cooperstown, New York in 1839. This story is based on the 1907 Mills Commission report which was largely influenced by Abner Graves’ testimony.  

While the story has been refuted due to the fact that Doubleday’s diaries make no mention of baseball, he never claimed to invent baseball and would have been in his plebe year at West Point when the story is supposed to have happened, what is true is that Doubleday had a pretty remarkable life, even without inventing baseball.  

Doubleday was the second-in-command at Fort Sumpter at the very start of the Civil War and fired the first shots of the Union Army. Doubleday commanded troops throughout the conflict in many notable battles. His most famous moment came in the Battle of Gettysburg when he took command of I Corpe and repelled a numerically superior force. Throughout his career, Doubleday is reported to have ordered baseball bats and balls for his troops because he believed sports were a good way to build unit cohesion.  

While Cooperstown may be the birthplace of Doubleday’s myth, the man himself was born in Ballston Spa. 

Baseball or no baseball, Abner Doubleday’s story is still worth telling, and that story began in Ballston Spa. (Courtesy of Library of Congress) 

1825- Erie Canal Completed- The Second of the two Canals in Saratoga County, the Erie Canal was completed in 1925 with the ceremonial dumping of water from Lake Erie into New York Harbor on November 4, 1825. The canal’s completion would fundamentally shape New York and connect New York City to Midwest markets in Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio. It drastically reduced the cost of transporting goods, meaning that agricultural products made in those Midwest states could be shipped to New York.  

The cost of transporting a ton of goods from Lake Erie to New York City went from $100 to $9, and freight traffic surpassed that of the Mississippi River. This prosperity propelled New York to become the largest port in the country within five years and led to the boom in cities such as Syracuse, Utica, and Rochester.  

Saratoga’s connection to this route can be seen in the southern part of the county in Halfmoon and Waterford. Originally the Erie Canal bypassed the Cohoes Falls through a series of locks in Cohoes before crossing the Mohawk River at the Lower Mohawk Aqueduct in Halfmoon — today the site of the Crecent Bridge. In 1918, new locks to facilitate barge traffic were completed which bypassed the Cohoes Falls to the north in Waterford.  

Canal Boats transit the Lower Mohawk Aqueduct in the Town of Halfmoon (Courtesy of CPH Library Local History).  

1841- Saratoga Springs Resident Solomon Northup is Kidnapped into Slavery – In April 1841, Solomon Northup, a free Black man living in Saratoga Springs and working various jobs was enticed by two circus men to travel with them to Washington, DC as a traveling musician.  

In Washington, Northup was drugged and kidnapped into slavery beginning a 12-year ordeal. Northrup was held in slavery in Louisiana under the name Platt Hamilton. In 1842 Northup was sold to plantation owner Edwin Epps for $1,500, where he would remain in bondage until 1853. Northup’s ordeal ended after Epps hired a Canadian Carpenter by the name of Samuel Bass. Bass in June 1852 managed to get two letters to William Perry and Cephas Parker who were friends of Northup in Saratoga. The two men contacted Northup’s wife and an attorney named Henry Bliss Northup whose relatives had at one point owned his father.  

Henry Northup soon gathered documents to show that Solomon Northup was a free man and in bondage in Louisiana and received permission from New York Governor Washington Hunt to travel to Louisiana and rescue Northup in accordance with New York law. Henry Northup first went to DC to receive the backing of the Secretary of War and one of Louisiana’s senators. He contacted Bass in Louisiana who instructed him on where to find Solomon Northup and successfully freed him on January 3, 1853. That year Solomon Northrup and David Wilson would publish a book “Twelve Years a Slave,” which recounted his time in bondage. In 2013, the book was adapted into a movie which was nominated for 315 awards and won 145 of them — including three Academy Awards. 

12 years a Slave Solomon Northup, as depicted in Twelve Years a Slave 

1861- Malta Man is First Union Officer Killed in Civil War- The first officer to give his life in support of the Union cause was a man from Malta — Elmer Ellsworth. Ellsworth was born in Malta in 1837, grew up in Mechanicville and made his way to Illinois in 1854. Ellsworth, who had a fascination with all things military history, formed a militia company based on the French Zouave Regiment. The Company was known for its discipline and soon grabbed the attention of a Springfield lawyer by the name of Abraham Lincoln. The two became close friends with Ellsworth working in Lincoln’s law office as a clerk and participating in his 1860 presidential campaign.  

When war broke out, Ellsworth returned to New York and recruited a 1,100-man unit, the 11^th New York Infantry Regiment. Known as the “Fire Zouaves” due to its heavy recruitment of New York City firefighters, this unit was tasked on May 24, 1861, with crossing the Potomac River to seize Alexandria, VA. After the city was secure, Ellsworth went to a hotel to take down a Confederate flag that flew over it. While he was carrying down the captured flag, Ellsworth was shot and killed by the hotel owner, James Jackson. Jackson was then immediately killed by one of Ellsworth’s men who later received the Medal of Honor for this action.  

Ellsworth’s death became an early rallying cry for the Union cause. His body lay in State in the White House before being buried in Mechanicville. Spurred by his death, another regiment, the 44^th New York, was formed with the nickname “Ellsworth’s Avengers.”  

1863- Thoroughbred Racing Begins at Saratoga-   The so-called “Mecca of American horse racing” got its start mere weeks after the battle of Gettysburg. At the time, horseracing wasn’t new in Saratoga Springs as harness racing had been going on since 1847 at the Saratoga Trotting Course. In August 1863, the track would see something new to the Spa City and put its place on the map for the next 166 years: thoroughbred racing.  

On August 3, 1863 — a month to the day after the Civil War’s turning point — the Irish born bare-knuckle boxer John “Old Smoke” Morrissey held the first thoroughbred race in Saratoga Springs at the Trotting Course. While the number of horses was limited, the crowd wasn’t, with 15,000 people attending. The next year Morrissey along with Leonard Jerome, John Hunter and William Travers would build the Saratoga Race Course as the Trotting Course was deemed to be too small for their operations. 

Morrissey’s race paid off for the city. Already a resort town with its spas and springs, Saratoga Springs became a hub of gambling and horse racing for years to come. In 2024 with its normal home down for maintenance, the Belmont Stakes were held in Saratoga Springs, adding a jewel to the Saratoga Race Course’s history of excellence. 

1885- Ulysses S. Grant Dies in Moreau – While Ellsworth and Doubleday may have commanded troops when the Civil War began, it was Ulysses S. Grant who commanded its conclusion. And as the two Saratoga County born officers started their stories Upstate, Grant would end his here — both literally and figuratively.  

Dying of throat cancer, the former 18^th president and General of the Army made his way to a cottage on Mt. McGregor in the Town of Moreau in June 1885. The cottage was owned by a friend of his who offered it as a quiet respite to spend his finals days. It was here where Grant finished his memoirs on July 18, 1885, and died on July 23. His body would be transported to New York City where it lies in a grand tomb in Upper Manhattan. 

1925- USS Saratoga (CV-3) Launched- The fifth ship to carry the name Saratoga, the USS Saratoga (CV-3) had arguably the most interesting service run of the six “Saras.” She was originally designed and laid down to be a battle cruiser, but post-World War 1 naval limitations forced Navy planners to find a new role for her. That new role was to become one of the Navy’s first fast aircraft carriers. Launched in 1925 and commissioned in 1927, the Saratoga helped the Navy develop its tactics and train aircrews in the leadup to World War 2. She was in San Diego when Pearl Harbor was attacked and sortied to Pearl Harbor shortly after. In January 1942, she was struck by a torpedo and missed the Battle of Midway due to subsequent repairs.  

The ship would take part in the invasion of Guadalcanal and the subsequent Battle of the Eastern Solomons, sinking a light carrier in the process. Throughout 1943 and 44, she would take part in several campaigns throughout the Central and South Pacific, striking targets and providing air cover to invasions. In February 1945, Saratoga was providing air cover for the invasion of Iwo Jima when she was struck by five bombs and three aircraft. After repairs in Washington, she spent the rest of the war as a training ship.  

At war’s end, Saratoga was used to ferry troops home from the Pacific theater as part of Operation Magic Carpet. She ended up transporting 29,204 personnel, the most of any ship. When she retired from service, aircraft had completed 98,549 carrier landings on her deck, the most of any ship at the time. Her end would come in 1946 when she was sunk by the second of two atomic bombs during Operation Crossroads. 

The USS Saratoga served for nearly 20 years and was one of the US Navy’s first modern carriers

1945- Malta Test Site Begins Operations-  

In order to test rocket rockets seized from the Germans in World War II and develop our own capabilities, the nation turned to Saratoga. In 1945, General Electric established the Malta Rocket Test Station to test rocket engines, fuels and other weapons for the military. At the site, rockets would be held in the gantries and tested prior to flight tests elsewhere the United States. Rockets tested at the site included the Bumper, Vanguard Vega, Discoverer, Centaur, Polaris and Skybolt rockets. In 1964, GE sold the site to the New York State Energy Research Authority and later the Wright-Malta Company.  

The site continued to test ordinance for the US Army when Global Foundries took over the site as part of their technology campus making semi-conductors. 

1955- Kesselring Site begins Operations. It’s not just the USS Saratoga that ties Saratoga County to nukes and the navy. While initially built as a test site for nuclear reactors, it was quickly transformed into a training center and research facility to assist sailors and officers training for duty on-board nuclear-powered Navy ships. Over 50,000 sailors have trained at the site, including future President Jimmy Carter. The site is still in operation today, training sailors on the S8G nuclear reactor in use on Ohio Class Submarines.  

This Independence Day, it is worth reflecting on what the Founding Fathers meant when they used the term “independence.” On one level, July 4th is about our national independence, securing for America the “separate and equal station” befitting of a sovereign country. On another level, the founders sought to recognize and promote the political and economic independence of the American people, setting forth the continuous project of maintaining an independent American mind. 

For a first glance at what the Founders meant by “independence, it may actually be helpful to consider Noah Webster’s 70,000-word American dictionary from 1828, which is often cited by the Supreme Court to evidence the original meaning of the Constitution and is credit with, “capturing the language of the new nation.” That dictionary offers these varying definitions of independence:

1. A state of being not dependent; complete exemption from control, or the power of others; as the independence of the Supreme Being.

2. A state in which a person does not rely on others for subsistence; ability to support one’s self.

3. A state of mind in which a person acts without bias or influence from others; exemption from undue influence; self-direction. independence of mind is an important qualification in a judge.

These versions of independence are related, interact in important ways, are grounded in nature, and have limits, as can be discovered by examining the writings of the Founders further. Exemption from control is the right of self-government, which is accompanied by corresponding duties. Economic independence is freedom to use one’s talents and abilities to obtain property and support one’s self, but also to secure the good life. Independence of mind, which enables one to direct the will toward justice, is the culminating freedom of an economically independent, self-governing citizen. 

While Founders like Thomas Jefferson, James Wilson, and Mercy Otis Warren used “independence” in varying ways, none of their definitions is synonymous with the radical autonomy that progressives push today. When considering the conditions of the time and place that the Founders found themselves in—that is, putting their ideas in the proper context—this becomes obvious. Individual independence for the Founders is always situated within a transcendent moral order, human nature, and an understanding of what enables human flourishing.

The first usage of the term “independence” refers to the right of self-government. In Thomas Jefferson’s original draft of the Declaration of Independence, he wrote that, “all men are created free and independent,” reflecting the language of the Declaration of Rights in his home state of Virginia. “Equal,” which was the word used in Jefferson’s final draft, is related to this understanding of  “independence.” Both carry with them the connotation of self-ownership or self-government. As James Wilson explained, “All men are, by nature, equal and free: no one has a right to any authority over another without his consent: all lawful government is founded on the consent of those who are subject to it: such consent was given with a view to ensure and to increase the happiness of the governed, above what they could enjoy in an independent and unconnected state of nature.” The Founders considered that mankind’s independence exempted him from the arbitrary rule of fellow human beings and that his nature fortified him with the dignity of self-government.

But exemption from undue human rule does not elevate mankind above the dictates of nature. As Wilson further explained, “Justice, I tell him, is a part of the law of nature; give me a reason drawn from human authority… Humanity is a duty; generosity is a virtue; but neither is to be referred to human authority.” In other words, citizens are obliged to fulfill the obligations they have consented to undertake through the social compact. However, certain virtues and duties are not derivative of consent but rather ingrained in the nature of human beings, meaning that men and women can never will themselves to become independent of a higher order. As Jefferson succinctly articulated, the people “are inherently independent of all but moral law.” While each individual is free to govern his or herself, he or she is also obliged to aim towards virtue and strive for reason to govern passions, impulses, and desires.

This understanding of man’s nature forms the basis of another kind of independence the Founders believed characteristic of republican citizens: economic independence. Per the Declaration of Independence, all citizens, being naturally equal, have the right to pursue happiness. That is, they have the right to pursue “something like occupying one’s life with the activities that provide for overall wellbeing,” as professor of political science James R. Rogers put it. What it doesn’t constitute, though it is often taken to mean as much, is a prescription to a licentious or morally relativistic pursuit of economic success at all costs.

Of course, economic freedom includes a right to “material things,” but—as always with the Founders—this freedom is imbued with an ethical dimension and thus goes beyond the material to touch on “humanity’s spiritual and moral conditions.” Individuals’ talents and abilities are justly utilized in securing temporal prosperity and security, but also in fostering virtues within themselves so they are more capable of fulfilling the obligations of self-government. The Founders’ understanding of what individuals can and cannot do was always placed in the broader context of a moral order consistent with the life well lived. In short, the pursuit of happiness is both a right, and prescription to live the good life.

This understanding of the pursuit of happiness, and American natural rights more broadly, is especially clear in James Madison’s view of property. As he put it, property is not just physical land. An individual also has “equal property in the free use of his faculties and free choice of the objects on which to employ them. In a word, as a man is said to have a right to his property, he may be equally said to have a property in his rights.” As noted in Federalist 10, the primary object of government is to protect the faculties of men, which are diverse and naturally give rise to differences in property. Which is to say, because men and women are equal, they own their unique talents and abilities, and should be able to utilize those gifts without any hinderance by arbitrary barriers.

This definition of economic independence is brought into clearer focus when we place it in context by contrasting the American regime with the British aristocratic system the Founders were seeking to replace. In aristocratic societies, gentlemen rely on those under their auspices to work; having leisure time is a mark of status and labor is looked down upon. Republics, in contrast, elevate the dignity of honest work and merit-based achievement. The many are independent and free to rely on their own talents and abilities rather than being dependent on the patronage and whims of a few aristocrats whose rule results from an accident of birth. Consequently, individuals in the American system were far more economically independent and upwardly mobile than was possible or permissible in the United Kingdom. 

This emphasis on individual talents, however, did not lead to radical autonomy. The absence of aristocratic hierarchies in America demanded interdependence within families and communities. French political philosopher Alexis de Tocqueville observed that:

In aristocratic societies men have no need to unite to act because they are kept very much together. Each wealthy and powerful citizen in them forms as it were the head of a permanent and obligatory association that is composed of all those he holds in dependence to him, whom he makes cooperate in the execution of his designs. In democratic peoples, on the contrary, all citizens are independent and weak; they can do almost nothing by themselves… They therefore all fall into impotence if they do not learn to aid each other freely.

Clearly, being an independent American is not equivalent to being an autonomous individual, but rather a competent and industrious one who labors to take responsibility for him or herself, family, and community. With the severing of feudal ties and the rise of nuclear families over intergenerational ones, the republican citizen is, in a sense, even more dependent on those closest to him. 

The third definition of independence invoked by the Founders was independence of will, which is a mind directed towards justice and supported by the moral qualities fostered by self-government and economic independence. The first two definitions of independence are prerequisites for independence of will, the culmination of their interaction. 

Historian and Founder Mercy Otis Warren provided a robust description of people who achieved this independence of will. Writing approvingly of a Boston assembly, she noted that it was “composed of the principal gentlemen and landholders in the province; men of education and ability, of fortune and family, of integrity and honor; jealous of the infringement of their rights, and the faithful guardians of a free people. Their independency of mind was soon put to the test.” Individuals with independent minds know what they are about. Their self-direction (a qualifier in Webster’s third definition) can survive being tested by others because it is fortified by and directed towards a justice  superior to human will. Such citizens have upstanding characters, are committed to republican principles, and put the common good above their own self-interest. By pursuing a liberal education and being well-informed about public affairs, they can be elevated above the deception of conniving, self-interested individuals. 

As economic independence and political self-government inculcate and reinforce one another, independence of will gradually forms. Equal citizens, for example, are free to use their talents to secure their stability and advance prosperity to better fulfill the obligations of self-rule. In turn, those who are economically free tend to develop the spiritedness characteristic of republican citizens. As Warren (and John Adams) argued, “both public and private virtue sink with the loss of liberty, and that the nobler emulations which are drawn out and adorn the soul of man, when not fettered by servility, frequently hide themselves in the shade, or shrink into littleness at the frown of a despot.” Living under tyranny enfeebles men and women whose behavior and spoken opinions are influenced by those upon whom their livelihoods depend. Individuals who cannot freely set their opinion against others can be deprived of a deliberative mind. Being economically free helps guard citizens against political tyranny and supports the development of an independent will.

Independence of will had serious implications for voting regulations, but many such regulations were matters of condition. To be clear, the Founders did not believe any human being is naturally inferior, but they did believe that some people were more likely to be subject to undue influence. As Alexander Hamilton, wrote: 

If it were probable that every man would give his vote freely, and without influence of any kind, then, upon the true theory and genuine principles of liberty, every member of the community, however poor, should have a vote… some who are suspected to have no will of their own, are excluded from voting; in order to set other individuals, whose wills may be supposed independent, more thoroughly upon a level with each other.

Hamilton felt, in other words, that the circumstances necessary to insulate the everyday individual from undue influence had not been realized and remained infeasible prior to America’s founding. Indeed, without the Revolution—not to mention America’s expansive territory, which Madison and Jefferson suggested introduced the possibility of everyday citizens becoming landowners—aristocratic societies might have remained the norm. But that’s what makes the American story so remarkable, and the Fourth of July worth celebrating. Declaring that “all men are created equal” (and by “men” they meant “mankind”) at the nation’s birth provided the philosophical reasoning to extend full citizenship to all. 

Today, we enjoy the fruits of that founding vision. Despite our nation’s problems, America’s core principles remain true. Suggesting otherwise, and reading radical autonomy into the founding, is to read the story out of context. Forming and maintaining an independent country composed of an independent people was never an easy task and always a continuous and impermanent one. America has been secured as a sovereign nation, a nation that respects economic freedom and enjoys unprecedented prosperity. Citizens’ political rights of self-government have been recognized. The work of fostering a people replete with the moral resolve, spiritedness, and character of an independent will perpetually remains unfinished. For its ever-invoking realization is dependent on the choices and conduct of each generation of Americans.  

This piece originally appeared in Law & LIberty on July 4, 2023

As we celebrate the 250th anniversary of our country, it’s a perfect time to reflect on some of the events that led to America’s Independence from British rule.

The Saratoga area played an important role and was considered ground zero as the “Turning Point of the Revolutionary War.” The clash of arms that took place here in Stillwater during 1777 changed the trajectory of the war in the favor of the thirteen newly christened states.

The Battle of Saratoga is considered one of the most important battles of world history.

Although not on the massive scale of Waterloo or Stalingrad, it had similar repercussions that were felt around the globe. Let’s take a look at the events that led up to the battle, the combatants, the battle itself and the aftermath that helped shape our great country.

Independence Day 

It was on the Fourth of July in the year 1776 that the thirteen colonies declared their independence from British rule. The Declaration of Independence formalized the breaking of all political ties with Great Britain. From that day forward the colonies would be free and independent states. Two months later the country was formally named The United States of America.

The document had been a long time coming. It was a culmination of the many years of harsh and unfair laws and tariffs that the British had placed on their subjects here in the colonies. “Taxation without Representation” empowered the revolutionists and became their rallying cry for freedom.

The most famous phrase in the document are the words of Thomas Jefferson, “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.” The American patriots would shed blood, sweat and tears over the next 7 years to achieve that ultimate goal.

The conflict..It’s beginnings 

From the colonies’ viewpoint the Declaration formalized the break from British rule. The actual hostilities began a year earlier with the battle of Lexington and Concord. In the Spring of 1775, the battle was fought outside of Boston. Using guerrilla style tactics, the colonists were able to push the enemy back to Boston Harbor.

The battle of Bunker Hill later that year was a victory for the patriots. They inflicted heavy casualties on the redcoats while suffering much fewer of their own losses. The two battles gave the colonists the confidence that they needed early in the war. It simultaneously galvanized the British to put a military end to any thoughts concerning a sovereign nation here in America.

The Battles of 1776 

It was two months after the Declaration of Independence was adopted that the adversaries clashed in the Battle of Brooklyn. In terms of numbers, it was one of the largest battles of the entire war.19,000 British troops faced off against George Washington’s much smaller force numbering approximately 10,000.

Washington’s forces were thoroughly beaten by the British. It gave the redcoats control of New York City and its gateway to the high seas for the rest of the war. There was one saving grace. 

In a stroke of genius, Washington maneuvered his army out of harm’s way. It saved it from complete destruction and a war ending catastrophe.

The British victory at Brooklyn brought a time of low confidence to America’s cause. General Washington needed a victory for the army to regain much needed morale. On the day after Christmas of 1776, the general with a small portion of his army crossed the Delaware River and attacked the German mercenary post at Trenton, New Jersey. The surprise attack was a complete success. Although a minor victory by military standards, it gave the demoralized patriots the jolt it needed to continue the war. A week later Washington’s army soundly defeated a British garrison at Princeton. The victory there brought further encouragement to the patriots. 

The best laid plans of mice and men 

The British plans looked simple enough. Their goal in the Summer of 1777 was to seize the city of Albany. Its location made it a prime objective for control of the Hudson River while isolating New England from participating in the war. A plan was set in place to have three British armies converge on the city. The three-pronged assault appeared to be a brilliant plan. In reality, it was ill conceived. The British High Command located in London gave vague orders to their generals thousands of miles from home. In addition, communications between the British commanders involved with the plan moved at a snail’s pace. The only army that made it close to its objective was that of General John Burgoyne consisting of 8,000 combatants. He was put in the unenviable position of having to take on an American army that would swell to approximately 15,000 soldiers at the culmination of the battle of Saratoga.

Saratoga.. The Turning Point 

The American forces were commanded by Major General Horatio Gates. He had taken command of the army when Phillip Schuyler was relieved prior to the battle. Schuyler’s dismissal was unfair. He had been wrongfully blamed for losing battles in Quebec and at Fort Ticonderoga. He would be exonerated in 1778 from any fault in the two defeats. Schuyler deserves credit for slowing down the enemy’s advance, burning bridges, destroying food crops and blocking roadways hindering the British advance towards Albany.

The confusion as to the naming of the battle stems from the fact that in 1777 the village of Schuylerville was known as Saratoga. The battle actually took place in Stillwater. Since Old Saratoga was the nearest population center, the battle took on its name. In 1831, the village was renamed Schuylerville to honor Phillip Schuyler.

Gates, the newly appointed army commander, was a seasoned veteran having served as a general in both the British and American armies. It was his good fortune to have some of the best brigade commanders in the Continental Army at his disposal. The most important and senior in rank of Gates’ generals was Benedict Arnold. Later a traitor to the American cause, at the onset of the Battle of Saratoga he was in command of the left wing of Gates’ army. 

The first battle of the campaign commenced on September 19th. General Burgoyne led the British attack near Freeman’s Farm, located in Stillwater, approximately 8 miles from Schuylerville. He was met by Benedict Arnold’s command. The adversaries clashed in 4 hours of up-close combat. Arnold was sure that he could destroy Burgoyne’s army that day. He pleaded with Gates for reinforcements. They were denied. Arnold was forced to make an orderly retreat back to Bemis Heights. Gates, the more cautious of the two, had decided to place his entire army behind the fortified area at the Heights. There he could await any British attack in a strong defensive position. The British, although nominally the victor that day, suffered twice the casualties of the Americans. More importantly, many of the more capable officers of Burgoyne’s army were killed in the battle.

The refusal of reinforcements led to a serious rift between the two generals. Arnold was furious that he was denied the support to win the battle. Shouting matches between he and Gates over the correct approach to the battle brought about the dismissal of Arnold. Although relieved of his command, he refused to leave the camp. This would have a profound effect on the second battle of Saratoga less than a month later.

Who was right? In this case, both viewpoints were valid. Arnold most likely would have taken the day with more support. On the other hand, Gates’ plan placed the entire army in a strong defensive position. There, on the higher ground he could wait out any attack by the weakened British forces.

The Battle of Bemis Heights

After the Battle at Freeman’s Farm, both armies dug into their previous positions. Burgoyne was still hopeful that help from New York City would arrive to reinforce his army. He was building castles in the air. No such thing would happen. For three weeks the lull in the fighting continued. The demoralized redcoats, with a lack of food, ammunition and supplies, found themselves in a very precarious situation.

The realization crystallized in Burgoyne’s mind that he had no alternative other than to storm the stronghold at Bemis Heights. His original plan was to attack with his entire army. Hours before the battle Burgoyne met with his brigade commanders. They all had serious doubts that it would succeed. They feared that a flanking maneuver by Gates’ troops to their unguarded rear would put the entire army in great danger. Burgoyne agreed and left camp with a lesser force of his best troops. He decided to probe the left flank of the Heights. Gates, aware of his movements, sent out detachments of his army to meet the redcoats’ advance.

On October 7, 1777 the battle commenced. It quickly turned into a chaotic state. The British General, Simon Fraser led a bayonet charge against the Americans. He was mortally wounded, leaving his command in total disarray. At the same time sharpshooting riflemen were picking off many of the redcoat officers. The word got back to Arnold that Gates would not pursue the enemy, allowing the British to escape. General Arnold saw an opportunity to destroy Burgoyne’s detachment before they could reach their defensive position. His actions would cover him with glory. With no command and in Gates’ doghouse he mounted a horse and joined the fray. He rode into the teeth of the enemy. The men on the field cheered as he led them into pitched battle. In one heroic moment after another his tenacity drove the British into a frantic retreat. In the final moments of the battle Arnold was shot in the leg. Refusing doctors’ advice, he would not allow the leg to be amputated. Inept surgery left Arnold with one leg two inches shorter than the other. For the rest of his life, he walked with a painful limp.

In 1867 a stone monument was erected displaying a boot with no other markings on the exact ground of his injury. It symbolized recognition for the wound Arnold suffered at Saratoga. At the same time, it did not allow his name or any markings of honor on the stone. The betrayal of his country later in the war stripped Arnold of any heroics that preceded the disgrace of being branded a traitor.

After the disaster at Bemis Heights the British retreated to a defensive position at Schuylerville. 

For eight days Burgoyne contemplated his next move. For him, the only exit was the complete capitulation of his army. On October 17, 1777, he met Gates on an open field in the village of Schuylerville and formally surrendered his army. The battle of Saratoga was over. Its repercussions were about to be felt around the world.

Victory has many fathers..Defeat is an orphan

The prying eyes of the European powers closely watched the events that took place at Saratoga. The patriots had proved beyond a doubt that they could win the war against their British counterparts. France decided to join the fray with a military presence. This was a major development to the cause. Spain and the Netherlands soon followed. America was now allied with three European powers against the British. The alliances would prove vital in gaining complete freedom from their long time masters. 

As we celebrate the 250th anniversary of America’s Independence it can also be a time to contemplate the world changing events that took place here in 1777. Because of the fortitude and bravery of the men that fought for America’s freedom in those dark hours, we as citizens have reaped the rewards. To be born here is a blessing. We live in the country that Thomas Jefferson envisioned 250 years ago, a home of  “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.”

$20,000 in 1968; estimated worth in today’s world- $190,000.  Would you pass that up if it were offered to you, and it was legitimately yours? Clint Wescott would—and did. Missing from his hometown of Burnt Hills, NY for 15 years, when he was finally found and told of his windfall, he was dressed in rags and had 44 cents in his pocket. But his response to the windfall was “I’d rather stay at the bottom of the barrel.  I’m not ready to go over to the other side.  Not yet.  Hand me a dollar. I’ll take it and buy a little drink, a little smoke. But I don’t want a wad of money like that.” How did it come to this?  Why did he feel this way? Not sure we have all the answers to the story of Clint Wescott.

Wescott was born in 1916 in Burnt Hills, New York. Besides his mother and father, he had four siblings. The family lived near the corner of Church and Thomas Streets in Ballston Spa and, before 1939, Clint owned land in Burnt Hills, on the east side of South Street, now Kingsley Road.  However, he lost part of that land due to unpaid taxes.  

By 1943, he left the area and was off to Arizona because the weather there was better for his asthma.  He worked in the copper mines there but shortly afterwards came back to Burnt Hills and built a gas station at the southwest corner of Route 50 and Lakehill Road on land he had purchased 20 years previously. But the gas station part of his life did not last long, and he was off again in 1953, travelling to Salt Lake City.  This time, he was never to return to his hometown again.  

For about 12 years, no one in his family heard anything from him- nothing, no mail, no calls. The gas station was leased and then closed. There was about $20,000 owed to Clint upon the sale of that property. But where was he?

Coincidentally, Charles Hillinger, a reporter for the Los Angeles Times, did a story about this odd, homeless man who was living in the weeds at the base of a cliff of Bunker Hill, under the 4th Street Bridge, in Los Angeles, California. It turned out to be Wescott and, when interviewed in the late 1960s, he had been there 10 years, longer than anyone else in the area and perfectly content to stay there forever. He got his clothes from trash barrels, read discarded newspapers, lived on donations of food, and had taken to drinking and smoking for entertainment.  The police all knew him and let him be.  Little did he know that the New York Supreme Court had hired a legal firm to find him and give him his legally-constituted $20,000—plus another $4000 that he had inherited upon his father’s death in 1967. 

This LA Times news story about Wescott was syndicated and carried to newspapers all over the country. One paper that picked it up and printed it was the “Schenectady Gazette” which covered the Burnt Hills area.  Attorney John Brown of Burnt Hills, who had been involved in the search for the missing Wescott, saw the report. At that point, Brown had been searching for Wescott for seven years and wanted to contact Wescott to tell him that he was now rich!  $20,000 rich! Of course, the IRS came into the picture, too, and wanted a piece of the action.  They inquired of Brown about this money. Brown responded to their questions about Wescott’s tax liability with: “I assume everything he received since he became a bum could be called a gift and not taxable.”

Hillinger went out in search of Wescott to give him the good news.  And that’s when Wescott made it very clear he was not at all interested in the money and wanted to stay just right where he was.  He wasn’t going back to Burnt Hills; and he wanted no money!

After using every possible strategy he could imagine to convince Wescott to accept the money, Hillinger gave up but others who had heard the story, which was in newspapers nationwide, did not.  They bothered and badgered Wescott for a long time.  Long lost “friends” volunteered to take his money and do various and sundry things with it.  Others shamelessly said they could use the money to feed their kids.  Others wanted to use it to create clubs for disadvantaged kids.  Still others promised to marry him! Thousands of letters came to Wescott, some of the letters addressed to “The Man in the Weeds, Los Angeles California” or to “Clint Wescott, Under the Bridge at Flower Street.”  Wescott’s peace and quiet had been broken by the news reports and people’s desire to “help” him spend his money.  

Not all the requests were from people wishing to help themselves secure a better life.  One man, awaiting a plane at San Francisco International Airport, wrote that he had “no requests, just admiration for sticking to your beliefs.  I’m making $20,000 a year, working three jobs, keeping a family of four, a wife, and also a friend. I envy you. I may join you some day.”

An editorial in the Times Record of September, 1970, entitled “What is Happiness,” copied by other newspapers in the country, gave quite a bit of credit to Wescott: “There is no better illustration [of happiness] than Clint Wescott, who, up to 17 years ago, was an enterprising gas station owner in nearby Burnt Hills. Today he is a bum in Los Angeles. And he is happy to an extent that some of us might term idiocy…And yet, even though he has attained the state of happiness, he is different from others. He will remain so till the day he crosses over the Great Beyond. Nothing can ever take away from him one outstanding factor. He is happy, which is important.  He is different, which is unusual. But above all he is a bum with a bank account.”

The Oswego Palladium Times in 1968 voiced much of the same sentiment when it posed the question about Wescott.  “Clearly, Clint Wescott lacks a certain sense of values. Or does he?”

His sister, Minnie Gately, whom locals knew as the lady who worked at FoCastle Farms in Burnt Hills, NY for 46 years, expected that she and her family would hear from him because of all the hoopla. But she never did. The area he lived in was bulldozed and high-rise buildings were built there. Where did he go?

Wescott died in 1992 at the age of 76 and is buried in Los Angeles, where he spent so much of his life.  Hillinger later wrote a book entitled “California Characters” and devoted one chapter to Wescott, the man who refused $20,000 and the man who stuck to his principles no matter what: I want no money!

Sources

-“California Characters,” Charles Hillinger, c 2000

Citizen Advertiser, Auburn NY, February 12, 1968

-Daily Times, Salisbury, MD, February 12, 1968 

-Knickerbocker News/Union Star, November     

-Los Angeles Times, November 20, 1970

-Nashua New Hampshire Telegraph, February 20, 1968 

-Oswego Palladium Times, February 22, 1968 

-Schenectady Gazette, January 31, 1968, February 15, 1968 

-Times Record, February 13, 1968, February 22, 1968, November 13, 1970

-Watertown Daily Times, February 22, 1968

Contact The Saratoga County History Center at: saratogacohistoryroundtable@gmail.com

The National WW II Museum in New Orleans is home to about 250,000 artifacts, including more than 100,000 photographs ranging from battlefield pictures captured by military and press photographers to individual albums full of wartime snapshots donated by veterans and their families.

The New York State Military Museum and Veterans Research Center located at the former National Guard armory on Lake Avenue in Saratoga Springs, is the repository of more than 16,000 photographs and photographic collections from multiple wars.

However, nowhere in those vast collection of images is there anything comparable to what currently resides in the local history room at the Mechanicville District Public Library: 600-plus photos of individual local World War II veterans in uniform, all of them taken by the same photographer in the same spot inside the same location — Siciliano’s Restaurant.

“The photographs are beautiful. This is a stunning collection,” Kimberly Guise, senior curator and director for curatorial affairs at The National WWII Museum, said in a recent phone interview.

“The faces of the men and women of Mechanicville and nearby towns and cities who went to war is a touching reminder of the service and sacrifice of all our New York communities,” said Richard Goldenberg, Director of Military History for the New York State Division of Military & Naval Affairs, which operates the Saratoga Springs museum. “As the Second World War and Korean War pass into written history with fewer and fewer living voices, these images give us context and perspective of the many young faces of service.”

The approximately 700 original black-and-white photographs that make up the Charles Siciliano Sr. WWII and Korean War Veterans Photo Collection are currently housed in eight large, handmade frames fashioned more than 40 years ago out of paneling and a backing material not conducive to preservation. Each 3-inch-by-3-inch photo and the accompanying name, typewritten by Siciliano on slips of paper, were glued to the matting.

After 60-plus years of being displayed at several local restaurants and more than 20 years in the library’s Col. Elmer E. Elsworth history room, the Siciliano collection is in need of attention. Some of the photos have taken on a sepia tone, others have become brittle. A couple of the frames are falling apart, and the glass on one is broken.

The library is planning to launch a campaign to raise the funds needed to properly remount the photos in museum-quality frames with glass that will protect the images from further light damage. While the final cost hasn’t been estimated, the campaign is a vital first step toward preserving a collection the National WWII Museum’s Guide referred to as “completely unique” in a story I wrote about the Siciliano photographs for The Associated Press in August 2015.

The collection started out as a hobby for Charles Siciliano, Sr., a photography buff known to everyone as Charlie, soon after the U.S. entered WWII following Japan’s surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. As more local residents went into military service, Siciliano would ask the ones in uniform who came into his restaurant at 30 Warsaw Ave. to sit in the well-lit corner of the bar to have their photo taken.

Siciliano developed and printed his own photos, typically giving a copy to the servicemember or their family, then framing the pictures in groups of 25 that he hung inside the restaurant.

The majority of the approximately 700 photos in the collection were taken during WWII, which formally ended with Japan’s surrender on Sept. 2, 1945. Some were taken in 1946 as veterans continued to return from overseas.

All the U.S. military branches during WWII are represented in the collection: Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and Air Force (then part of the Army). Some of the men fought in the biggest and bloodiest battles of the war, from D-Day in Normandy to Iwo Jima in the Pacific. 

Most of the men in the photographs hailed from Mechanicville, and about half of those identified have Italian American last names, a reflection of the influx of Italian immigrants to the city starting in the late 19th century and continuing into the early 1900s, including Siciliano’s parents. Men from nearby communities in Saratoga County – Stillwater, Waterford, Saratoga Springs, Ballston Spa – also were photographed, as were several from Schaghticoke and Troy in neighboring Rensselaer County.

The collection includes the photos of four women WWII veterans from Mechanicville: Lucille Ennello Marcelle, Doris Lazott Noonan, Mary DiBello West and Anna Cefalo. West and Cefalo were in the Women’s Army Corps (WACs), while Marcelle (Pacific Theater) and Noonan (Pacific and European Theaters) served in the Army Nurses Corps.

At least three men whose photos are in the collection are known to have died during WWII, including Army Pfc. Henry A. “Rocky” Marcelle, of Mechanicville, who died of wounds suffered in combat in Europe in March 1945. 

Charlie Sr., who died in 1982, kept the framed photos on the walls of his tavern until he sold the business in the late 1970s to Frank Costanzo, who had the snapshots rearranged alphabetically in eight large frames. The collection went with Costanzo when he relocated his business to the town of Waterford. The photographs and negatives were eventually donated to the Mechanicville library. 

Siciliano’s Restaurant was torn down years ago to make way for new apartments.

Starting in 2001, through an effort led by the late Michael Sullvian of Mechanicville, names were attached to more than 500 of the photographs when the collection was digitized on the library’s website (https://meclib.sals.edu/).

It’s not known if any of the WWII veterans in the Siciliano collection are still living. Anthony “Tony” Fortune, an Air Force veteran who died in December 2024, two weeks shy of his 101st birthday, may have been the last.

As part of the fundraising effort, at 7 p.m. on Thursday, May 7, at the Arts Center on the Hudson in Mechanicville, I’ll be doing the first in a series of free presentations on the Siciliano photo collection. Others are planned for 7 p.m. Thursday, June 18, at the Saratoga County History Center at Brookside Museum in Ballston Spa, and at the Saratoga Springs Public Library at 12 p.m. Sept. 10.

The talks are free. Registration is recommended to reserve a seat. For the Mechanicville talk, register here: https://forms.gle/8BAPY3J5dgo3Nwzx9. For the Saratoga County History Center talk, register at Charlie’s Heroes – Saratoga County History Center. Registration information for the Saratoga Springs library talk will be posted on its website.