Yes, Larry, You are absolutely correct. I stand guilty as charged, without an “ejectment trial” no less. This article is meant to provoke interest in my book about a topic and an era that most people know little about.

The book and article are written from an American-centric point of view as they were the victors in the American Revolution, which started with taxation without representation, British military occupation of Boston and NYC, confiscation of weapons, etc, which I am sure you know. King George III insisted it was a “rebellion.” A very different perspective indeed.

Some American historians call the Green Mountain Boys “terrorists” since they terrorized New York sheriffs and surveyors and in one case hung a Loyalist after they held a kangaroo court. Fact is, the Green Mountain Boys kept it just restrained enough to keep the redcoats from coming in and devastating a relatively defenseless republic, before it was even a state. Although the Governor of New York did put a bounty on the head of the leaders.

Alas, this is an article about Burgoyne, as the title says. The book actually details the Loyalist point of view after some heavy-handed reactions to Loyalist terrorism that this article portrays. The book also shares some of the British and Hessian officer journal entriesthat reveal their side of things, as well as their diet of salted pork and canned peas for months, holed up for months in Fort Ticonderoga. The Americans weren’t eating much better. The victors tend to write the narrative. We could argue about tarring and feathering versus scalpings, kidnappings and indentured servitude in Quebec for the kidnapped men and boy colonists but I won’t. Fact is, war sucks, and I respect your opinion. If you feel another narrative should be shared please do on your blog or in your book. I will read it with interest.