ABSTRACT
Defective as was his army in irregular soldiers, General Sir John Burgoyne had no cause to complain about his regular troops, British and German. Burgoyne’s chief officers were men of proven worth and ability. The adjutant-general, Major Robert Kingston, had fought under Burgoyne in Portugal, and Simon Fraser and the young Earl of Balcarres were Burgoyne’s intimate friends. Despite the rigours and uncertainties of their life, the British soldiers were keen and spirited, and they proved themselves excellent troops when they were well led. Burgoyne was highly popular with his men and consequently received the best from them. Brave though they were (as brave on a battlefield as any soldiers that could be found in the world, according to the Duke of Brunswick-Luneburg), the British soldiers were ill-trained to fight men who fired from cover and who refused to stand up and be mown down by volley firing, the tactic in which British soldiers excelled.
