Eight years ago my father was invited to attend some events commemorating the 225th anniversary of the Battle of Saratoga, a turning point in the American Revolution. He'd invited me to join him and my mom in making the trip. I was looking forward to the trip, probably for escaping the Pentagon as much as for spending time with my folks and learning more about our nation's history. Unfortunately as the date drew closer my dad wasn't feeling well, so we decided to postpone the trip. We were never able to reschedule. Yesterday would have been his 84th birthday. I decided to commemorate his day with a drive through the Battenkill Valley to the Saratoga National Historic Site.
As so many days this time of year, the weather was perfect - bright blue skies, gently floating white clouds, a light breeze and sunshine bathing everything in a beautiful golden sheen. I'd mapped out a route and used GPS to navigate through the tricky twists and turns outside of Albany, where I'd planned to take a major county road up through the east side of the Hudson. The GPS had a different idea, sending me on a side road, where I came upon this gorgeous view at the Tomhannock Reservoir.
After a loop up through the area on the east side of the Hudson, I crossed the river and then drove down to the western area, arriving at the Saratoga National Historic Site and battlefield in mid-afternoon. A park ranger greeted me at the visitor center and after a brief orientation, invited me to view the short video about the battle. The film opened with a quotation from Major Henry Dearborn, who summed up the spirit that led our rebels to stand tall against the British, achieving a key victory in the road to independence. One of the rangers was nice enough to copy the pages from his journal so I could have his words: "...we who had Something more at stake than six pence per day kept our ground...." Simple words but a depth of meaning behind them.
I headed out to explore the battlefield on the driving tour. Despite having been friends with a lot of infantry officers while stationed in Korea, I've never had a great understanding of ground battles, this flanking motion, that charge. After a great discussion with the rangers in the Visitor Center, I was skeptical about what I'd take away from visiting the ten spots outlined on the map. But it is a one-way route and once I set out, I was committed. Stop One is an overlook at Freeman's Farm, where most of the fighting occurred on 19 September 1777. I looked out over the field and tried to imagine what it was like that day, with smoke and blasts from the artillery and rifles and muskets filling the air. After a few minutes I returned to the car to head to Stop Two.
About halfway down the road a marker on a hill caught my eye, and I backed the car up, parked and walked up the hill to learn more about this short obelisk standing by itself on a hillside.
With the sun's angle and a dying camera battery, I got only this photograph. But I copied the inscription:
Here Morgan, reluctant to destroy so noble a foe, was forced by patriotic necessity to defeat and slay the gentle and gallant Fraser.
To commemorate the magnanimity of Morgan’s heroic nature and his stern sense of duty to his country, this tablet is here inscribed by Virginia Neville Taylor, Great Grand Daughter of Gen. Daniel Morgan.
To commemorate the magnanimity of Morgan’s heroic nature and his stern sense of duty to his country, this tablet is here inscribed by Virginia Neville Taylor, Great Grand Daughter of Gen. Daniel Morgan.
I came upon this simple memorial on a day that I was remembering my father, who was also imbued with a stern sense of duty to his country. I'm not exactly sure when Virginia Neville Taylor lived or exactly why she erected this historical marker to her great grandfather. But I hope to find out.
