Grand Masters of Scotland - Onondaga and Oswego Masonic ...

1,200 men included 300 men of Regiment von Riedesel, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel von Speth, in the center, supported by
von Rhetz and Hesse-Hanau regiments.
Marching about ¾ of a mile to the Barber Wheatfield foragers were sent out to harvest grain and the officers climbed up on top of
building in an attempt to observe the Colonial line. General Gates, the American commander, is notified of the expedition and at
around 12:00 PM a simultaneous flanking attack is made by Colonel Morgan and Colonel Poor and sweeps away Acland's British
Grenadiers protecting Colonel von Speth's left flank, and hit Simon Fraser's right flank and rear. As the flanks crumble Benedict
Arnold leads Colonel Learned's 2000 man brigade against von Speth's center that is able to hold Arnold at bay. Simon Fraser
attempts to reestablish the right flank and is mortally wounded. The Brunswick center, now unprotected on both flanks withdraws to
Balcarres Redoubt with the loss of its artillery. Colonel Poor attacks the Balcarres Redoubt and is repulsed with heavy losses but
Arnold with Learned's brigade and Morgan's riflemen split the British line between the center and Breymann's Redoubt and are able
to attack Breymann from behind and capture the redoubt. Colonel von Breymann is killed in this attack and the British right flank has
completely collapsed. By 5:00 PM Burgoyne orders a general retreat of the entire Army to the Great Redoubt behind the Great
Ravine. Burgoyne blames the defeat on the Brunswick Regiments and Riedesel blames the defeat on the British. In the dark of night
Colonel von Speth and 50 Brunswick volunteers attempt to retake Breymann's Redoubt to salvage the honor of the Brunswick but
are captured with all his men.
A general retreat northward toward Saratoga and the Hudson is ordered on October 8th. In a heavy rain the Army slowly moves by
roads that require the rebuilding of destroyed bridges and by bateaux against a strong current. The rearguard doesn't depart the
Great Redoubt until 4:00 AM on October 9th and again destroys the bridges behind them to hinder the advancing Americans. At
5:00 AM Burgoyne halts the entire column for breakfast with less than 5 miles traveled and stalls further retreat for 10 hours in the
hopes that the Americans would attack in the rain allowing cannon and bayonet to decide the day. It was after dark when the
Brunswick Regiments acting as the advance crossed the Fishkill River at Saratoga. The British cross the next morning and
Burgoyne decides to stay at Saratoga and digs in.
On October 11, 1777 General Gates and the Americans, after some morning confusion, are able to surround Burgoyne's Army and
are positioned upon the heights overlooking the British camp enabling artillery and rifle fire into it. Burgoyne, Riedesel, Hamilton and
Phillips meet to discuss possible options for an attack or further retreat. After reconnaissance shows that no clear opening existed
for further retreat and von Riedesel's pledge that the Brunswick regiments could cut a pathway for Burgoyne's Army is denied then
all was indeed lost.
http://www.thehistorynet.com/ah/blbenedictarnold/index2.html
With Arnold apparently out of the picture, Lincoln finally convinced Gates that more men were indeed needed. Poor's brigade would
storm the British left while Morgan flanked Burgoyne. When these two pincers squeezed the trapped enemy, Learned's brigade
would be sent in to overrun the center.
Morgan's 300 riflemen quickly closed in on Fraser's position while Poor's 800 veteran New Hampshire Continentals crept through
the woods toward the British left. Just after 3:00 p.m., Acland's men opened fire from the crest of a hill on Poor's approaching
troops. The British were about to mount a bayonet charge when the Americans raced up the hill in a frenzy, swarming over the
stunned grenadiers and wounding Acland in both legs. With exquisite timing, Morgan's men smashed through the outnumbered
infantry of Major Alexander Lindsay, Earl of Balcarres, on Fraser's far right. Then Dearborn's light infantry suddenly appeared
behind the wavering British, scattering them in all directions.
34. David Stewart Erskine, 11th Earl of Buchan 1782-84 [son of 10th GM of Scotland]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Erskine%2C_11th_Earl_of_Buchan
David Stewart Erskine, 11th Earl of Buchan (1742–1829) was a notable Scottish eccentric.
He was a son of the 10th Earl and a brother of Henry Erskine and Thomas, Lord Erskine. He studied at
St. Andrews University and Edinburgh University. His pertinacity helped in effecting a change in the
method of electing Scottish representative peers, and in 1780 he succeeded in founding the Scottish
Society of Antiquaries. His correspondents included Horace Walpole, and he produced an Essay on the
Lives of Fletcher of Saltoun and the Poet Thomson (1792) and other writings. He died at his residence
at Dryburgh (near Dryburgh Abbey, in the Scottish Borders) in April 1829, leaving no legitimate children,
and the earldom passed to his nephew Henry.
He also commissioned a cable-stayed bridge over the River Tweed at Dryburgh. He opened this bridge
on August 1, 1817 but it collapsed within months. A replacement was built after a redesign, but this too
collapsed in 1838. A more permament bridge did not arrive until 1872, when the suspension system
was used instead.
http://www.thepeerage.com/p3019.htm#i30188
David Steuart Erskine, 11th Earl of Buchan was born on 1 June 1742. He was the son of Henry David Erskine, 10th Earl of
Buchan and Agnes Steuart. He married Margaret Fraser, daughter of William Fraser, on 15 October 1771 in Aberdeen,
Aberdeenshire, Scotland. He died on 19 April 1829 at age 86 in Dryburgh Abbey, Scotland, without legitimate issue. He was buried
in Dryburgh Abbey.
David Steuart Erskine, 11th Earl of Buchan was educated in Foulis Academy, Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland. He graduated
from University of Glasgow, Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland, in 1763 with a Doctor of Law (LL.D.). He was educated in Leiden
University, Leiden, The Netherlands. He was invested as a Fellow, Royal Society (F.R.S.) in 1765. He was invested as a Fellow,
Society of Antiquaries (F.S.A.) in 1766. He was Secretary of the British Embassy between 1766 and 1767 in Madrid, Spain. He
succeeded to the title of 6th Lord Cardross [S., 1610] on 1 December 1767. He succeeded to the title of 11th Earl of Buchan [S.,
1469] on 1 December 1767. He succeeded to the title of 11th Lord Auchterhouse [S., 1469] on 1 December 1767. He was a founder
of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.
Sir Walter Scott wrote that he was "a person whose immense vanity, bordering upon insaity, obscured or rather eclipsed very
considerable talents.”
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