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"And now
ensued one of the greatest scenes of war that can be conceived."
Published
copy of a letter, dated June 25, 1775, from General
John Burgoyne at Boston to his nephew Lord Stanley.
A playwright
and gambler, John Burgoyne had entered the military at the
age of 15 and served in Portugal during the Seven Year's War
(1756–1763), which corresponded to the French and Indian
War in America (1754–1760). Having attained the rank
of major general by 1775, he arrived in Boston that May with
Generals William Howe and Henry Clinton. Frustrated by his
lack of authority in Boston, he left America, only to return
to command an expedition from Canada in 1777, an expedition
that ended in disaster with the surrender of his army at Saratoga.
General
Burgoyne's letter was published in London on November 27,
1775, with A
Plan of the Battle of Bunker Hill.
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