Auction Name: 2026 June 19 The John H. Freund Americana Collection Signature® Auction

Lot Number: 42007

Shortcut to Lot: HA.com/6331*42007

Horatio Gates Autograph Letter Signed ("Horatio Gates"). One page of a bifolium with integral address leaf, 7 3/4 x 12 1/4 inches; "Camp, Heights above Behmus's" [Bemis Heights, New York]; September 19, 1777.

An excellent war-date letter written by General Horatio Gates to General Benjamin Lincoln, whose militia was then advancing to reinforce the Continental Army opposing General John Burgoyne. Composed on the very day of the First Battle of Saratoga, the letter directs Lincoln to move his men to Stillwater, New York, and take up a defensive position. Gates pens, in full:

"Dear General

It is the opinion of all the Generals that I have consulted with, that in the present Position and Circumstances of General Burgoyne's Army, considered with his apparent views-Your Army ought to be posted at Stillwater, and that not one Moment should be lost, in your marching them thither: upon your Arrival there, you will take Possession of the Heights upon the East Side, and fix five or six hundred Men thereupon-the rest you will encamp at the old Station-General Burgoyne has not left, the smallest Article, at any of the Posts in his Rear; this I informed you of in my last-You will march by the shortest Route to Stillwater-Provisions &c. shall be provided for you there.

I am Dear General,
your most Obedient,
Humble Servant
Horatio Gates."

Gates wrote this letter in the early morning hours of September 19, only hours before the armies engaged. By midday, Burgoyne advanced in three columns against the American positions. Fighting centered around Freeman's Farm, where Benedict Arnold and Daniel Morgan's riflemen played a crucial role in checking the British advance. Though technically inconclusive, the engagement inflicted heavy casualties on Burgoyne's forces and halted his progress.

Lincoln's militia, ordered forward in this letter, did not arrive in time for the first engagement but reached the army on September 27. They would play a role in the Second Battle of Saratoga on October 7, which resulted in a decisive American victory. Burgoyne's eventual surrender on October 17 marked the collapse of his campaign and a turning point in the Revolutionary War.

Condition: Very good, with even age-toning and flattened mailing folds. A few light, scattered instances of foxing. Remnants of red sealing wax on the verso; minor loss where letter was opened, filled with later paper. An attractive and well-preserved war-date letter.

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