=Historic Saratoga.=—­But in the midst of this throbbing, gay and delightful Saratoga, we must not forget that it was here the fathers of the Republic achieved their most decisive victory.  The battle was fought in the town of Stillwater, at Bemis Heights, two and a half miles from the Hudson.  The defeat of St. Leger and the triumph of Stark at Bennington filled the American army with hope.  Burgoyne’s army advanced September 19, 1777.  The battle was sharply contested.  At night the Americans retired into their camp, and the British held the field.  From September 20th to October 7th the armies looked each other in the face, each side satisfied from the first day’s struggle that their opponents were worthy foemen.  The Americans had retaken Ticonderoga and Lake George.  Burgoyne had no place to retreat, and the lines were slowly but surely closing in around him.  October 7th Burgoyne commenced the battle, but in half an hour his line was broken.  He attempted to rally his troops in person, but they could not stand before the impetuous charge of the Americans.  He was compelled to order a full retreat, and fell back on the heights above Schuylerville.  The Americans surrounded him, and he surrendered.  It was a decisive victory, and cheered the friends of freedom, not only in America, but in the English House of Commons.

* * *

  The leaves were red with crimson
    And then brave Gates did cry,
  ’Tis diamond now cut diamond,
    We’ll beat them boys or die.

  Ballads of the Revolution.

* * *

=Mount McGregor=, where General Grant died, associates the Saratoga of the Revolution with the story of our Civil War.  Near the monument to the old heroes at Schuylerville, where Burgoyne surrendered, a monument to the Boys in Blue was dedicated in 1904.  It was the privilege of the writer to be the poet of the occasion, and in his lines “The Flag They Bore,” to bind the noble memorials of those who made and those who saved the Republic.

  Two monuments in triumph stand
    To catch with joy the morning sun,
  One chorus joins them hand in hand—­
    Heroes of Grant and Washington.

  And wider yet the chorus leaps! 
    Two famous hills the song unites,
  As Mount MacGregor’s anthem sweeps
    Across the plains to Bemis Heights.

In Nathaniel Bartlett Sylvester’s book, entitled “Historical Sketches of Northern New York and the Adirondack Wilderness,” we learn that the earliest date in which the word Saratoga appears in history is 1684, and was then the name of an old hunting ground on both sides of the Hudson.  Its interpretations have been various.  Some say “The Hillside Country of the Great River;” others, the place of swift waters, while Morgan, in his “League of the Iroquois,” says the signification of Saratoga is lost.

Whatever the origin of the name whether from the old High Rock spring or a “reach of the river,” one thing is sure:  Saratoga is the most attractive point in the country as a gathering place for conventions and large meetings, and, in response to the growing demand for adequate facilities, a splendid convention hall, with a seating capacity for five thousand people, has been erected by the town authorities.  It is a striking architectural addition to Saratoga’s attractions.