“LET ALL NEW ENGLAND RISE AND CRUSH BURGOYNE” (WASHINGTON): RARE VOLUME CONTAINING FIRST EDITION BURGOYNE’S ACCOUNT OF HIS SURRENDER TO AMERICAN FORCES AT SARATOGA, “ONE OF THE BEST SOURCES OF THE CAMPAIGN” (STREETER), BOUND WITH THE FIRST EDITION OF WILLIAM HOWE’S NARRATIVE, JUSTIFYING HIS DEFIANCE OF BRITISH PLANS TO COORDINATE WITH BURGOYNE, LEADING MANY TO BLAME HOWE FOR BURGOYNE’S FATE—“A TURNING POINT IN THE REVOLUTION”

(AMERICAN REVOLUTION) BURGOYNE, John. A State of the Expedition from Canada, as Laid Before the House of Commons by Lieutenant-General Burgoyne, and Verified by Evidence; with a Collection of Authentic Documents… BOUND WITH: Howe, William. The Narrative of Lieut. Gen. Sir William Howe, In the Committee of the House of Commons, On the 29th of April, 1779, Relative to His Conduct, During His Late Command of the King's Troops in North America… London: Printed for J. Almon, 1780. London: Printed by H. Baldwin, 1780. Two volumes bound in one. Quarto, contemporary full speckled brown calf rebacked in calf-gilt, raised bands, red morocco spine label; pp. viii, 1-140, i-lxii, [2]; pp. (2), (1)-110. $13,000.

First edition of Burgoyne’s State of the Expedition, dramatically justifying his 1777 defeat by American forces at Saratoga, together in one rare volume with the same year’s first edition of Howe’s Narrative, defending his defiance of British plans to coordinate with Burgoyne, sparking Howe’s resignation and leading many to blame him for Burgoyne’s—and ultimately Britain's—defeat. Burgoyne’s State with six large engraved folding maps and plans with hand-colored details, two with hinged overslips illustrating changes in troop positions and movements, together bound in contemporary calf boards.

This rare volume contains two seminal works at the core of Britain's defeat in the American Revolution—the very scarce first editions of Burgoyne's State of the Expedition and Sir William Howe's Narrative, both published in London in 1780. Howe, in 1777, was key in a planned British campaign "to isolate New England and break the back of the rebellion" with Burgoyne, who was to move south from Canada and coordinate with Howe, intended to move north from New York City. "It was assumed in Britain that Howe would cooperate with Burgoyne. But Howe… decided to capture Philadelphia, the seat of the congressional government" (Wood, American Revolution, 80). Howe's determination to defy British expectations is evident in his July 17, 1777 letter to Burgoyne, included in State of the Expedition. There Howe states: "My intention is for Pennsylvania, where I expect to meet Washington, but if he goes to the northward contrary to my expectations… be assured I shall soon be after him to relive you" (xxvii). While Washington would be defeated by Howe at Brandywine and Germantown, those setbacks only "proved that the American army was capable of organized combat. And they prevented Howe from moving north to help Burgoyne" (Wood, 80). Soon afterward Howe submitted his resignation and became focused on "preparing his defense for the almost certain parliamentary inquiry into his failure to suppress the American rebellion. He knew, too, that many blamed him for Burgoyne's fate" (Freling, Almost a Miracle).

Both Burgoyne and Howe arrived in the rebellious colonies in 1775, after Lexington and Concord. "Burgoyne was soon taken aback by the Americans' fighting spirit in the siege of Boston" (Weintraub, 38-47). When Burgoyne was attached to the Canadian command of Carleton, he grew frustrated with Carleton's inaction and returned to Britain, where, "at the request of the prime minister he drew up a plan of campaign for the next year." He proposed to "advance from Canada, take Ticonderoga, and then advance for 200 miles through the forests to Albany… His energy impressed the king… and he returned to America in the spring of 1777 with supreme command of a force to make this march" (DNB). That same year, on "the second anniversary of the Declaration of Independence," Burgoyne's forces surrounded the Americans at Fort Ticonderoga and pursued the colonial army in its flight up river. Burgoyne's success seemed certain, until, in August, he wrote of "sinister events" (Weintraub, 114). It was at this point that Washington "saw his opportunity. 'Now,' he said, 'let all New England rise and crush Burgoyne" (Hibbert, 182). When Burgoyne's army was forced to surrender, his defeat at "Saratoga was the turning point." Not only had an American force been victorious in the field, but an American army had defeated a British army. This "brought France openly into the struggle. And it led to a change in the British command and a fundamental alteration in strategy" (Wood, 81). Recognizing that his reputation had been severely damaged, in 1780 Burgoyne published A State of the Expedition, in which his strategy. "The work is one of the best sources on the campaign" (Streeter).

Like Burgoyne, Howe also reached Boston after Lexington and Concord, but with hope of conciliation and pacification. "Instead he found himself attacking entrenched rebel forces in the battle of Bunker Hill. That costly battle persuaded the British government to recall Gage and forced Howe to put aside temporarily any thought of negotiating an end to the imperial crisis." When Howe moved on to New York, forcing America's retreat from Long Island, Manhattan and much of New Jersey, he was made Sir William Howe in recognition of his victories. But, surprised by American victories at Trenton in December 1776 and in Princeton in January 1777, Howe "deliberately ignored the government's plans for the campaign" to coordinate with Burgoyne. "Knowing that the government was dissatisfied with his conduct of the war and feeling vulnerable to criticism, he asked to resign" and on returning to England in 1778, he and his brother, Admiral Richard, Lord Howe, "asked for an inquiry into their commands. They had little chance of persuading the House of Commons to thank them or to censure the ministry; but for two months (April-June 1779) they presented their case and examined witnesses. In these parliamentary hearings and in more than two dozen pamphlets—including William Howe's Narrative (1780), the Howes and the government sought to justify themselves and blame one another for the continuation of the American rebellion" (ODNB). By the time Howe resigned, "Burgoyne had surrendered the wilderness and… the North ministry had lost its best prospect for ending the rebellion" (Gruber, Howe Brothers). Burgoyne: with six large hand-colored folding maps: "part of a series of the battles of the American Revolution engraved and issued by William Faden" (two with hinged overrslips) (Adams 80-12a). Containing an extensive appendix. Bound without rear advertisement leaf. Howe: first edition, first printing with footnote on page 25 containing lines 10-12 intact; bound without half title. "Observations" containing Howe's reply to Joseph Galloway's Letters to a Nobleman (1779). Burgoyne: Howes B968. Sabin 9255. ESTC T117437. Streeter II:794. Stevens 27. Staton & Tremaine 503. Howe: Adams 80-43a. ESTC T39562. Sabin 33342. Burgoyne's State with early owner signature of George Bloom above title page, together with his engraved armorial bookplate. Occasional early marginalia.

Text and folding maps fresh with only lightest scattered foxing. light expert restoration to extremities of contemporary calf boards.