illwater,
September 17, 1777, and received his surrender at Saratoga on the 17th
of October following, for which most important achievement Congress
gave him a vote of thanks and a gold medal.[31] He was appointed
commander-in-chief of the southern department in June, 1780, but,
being defeated shortly afterward at Camden, on the 16th of August, he
was superseded by General Greene. During the remainder of the war he
played no prominent part, and, at the conclusion of peace, retired to
his estate, in Virginia. In 1790 he removed to New York city, where he
died, April 10, 1806.

[Footnote 31: The victory at Saratoga is also
commemorated in the Libertas Americana medal, No.
14, page 86, which was struck in Paris in 1783,
under the direction of Dr. Franklin.]

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ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS. (p. 010)

_Resolution of Congress Voting a Medal to General Gates._

IN CONGRESS.

_Resolved_, That the thanks of Congress, in their own name, and
in behalf of the inhabitants of the thirteen United States, be
presented to Major-General Gates, commander-in-chief in the
northern department, and to Major-Generals Lincoln and Arnold,
and the rest of the officers and troops under his command, for
their brave and successful efforts in support of the independence
of their country, whereby an army of the enemy, of ten thousand
men, has been totally defeated; one large detachment of it,
strongly posted and intrenched, having been conquered at
Bennington; another repulsed with loss and disgrace from Fort
Schuyler; and the main army of six thousand men, under
Lieutenant-General Burgoyne, after being beaten in different
actions, and driven from a formidable post and strong
intrenchments, reduced to the necessity of surrendering
themselves upon terms honourable and advantageous to these
States, on the 17th day of October last, to Major-General Gates;
and that a medal of gold be struck, under the direction of the
Board of War, in commemoration of this great event, and in the
name of these United States presented by the President to
Major-General Gates.

Tuesday, November 4, 1777.

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_General Gates to the President of Congress._

To His Excellency