Following the brilliant charge of Arnold on October 7, 1777, Burgoyne fell back upon Saratoga. Here the British were surrounded upon all sides; and on the 17th, the entire army of nearly 6,000 men, though allowed to march out of their camp with all the honors of war, were compelled to lay down their arms and leave their artillery. " General Burgoyne," writes Wilkinson in his Memoirs, " proposed to be introduced to General Gates, and we crossed the Fishkill, and proceeded to headquarters on horseback. General Gates, advised of Burgoyne's approach, met him at the head of his camp. Burgoyne, in a rich royal uniform, and Gates, in a plain blue frock. When they approached nearly within sword's length, they reined up and halted. I then named the gentlemen, and General Burgoyne, raising his hat most gracefully, said, 1 The fortune of war, General Gates, has made me your prisoner' ; to which the conqueror, returning a courtly salute, promptly replied, ' I shall always be ready to bear testimony, that it has not been through any fault of your excellency.' 11

" The painting," says Trumbull, {' represents General Burgoyne, attended by General Phillips, and followed by other officers, arriving near the marquee of General Gates. General Gates has advanced a few steps from the entrance, to meet his prisoner, who, with General Phillips, has dismounted, and is in the act of offering his sword, which General Gates declines to receive, and invites them to enter".