Epilogue
The following is taken from the diary of Marinus Willet which was printed in the Continental Journal and Weekly Advertiser, September 4, 1777, which is on display at the Library of Congress and at Harvard University Library.
August 12. "This evening indicated something in contemplation by the enemy; the Indians were uncommonly noisy, the most horrid yellings were heard a great part of the evening in the woods hardly a mile from the fort. A few cannon were fired among them. There seems to be some confusion in the ranks of the enemy ... "
The following is taken from Travels: In New-England and New York, by Timothy Dwight, (Published 1822, New Haven), page 144-49.
"When the Indians deserted St. Leger at Fort Stanwix, in a mixture of rage and despair he broke up his encampment with such haste that he left tents, cannon and stores to the besieged. The flight of his once proud army was through a deep forest and spongy soil. One of the men at the fort, a natural wag, engaged several of the younger men to follow the retreating Indians and army and repeat, at proper intervals, "They are coming...." This unwelcome sound ... quickened the march of the fugitives whenever it was heard. The soldiers threw away their packs and the commanders took care not to be in the rear. Mortified beyond measure by so disastrous an issue of an expedition from which they had promised themselves no small reputation and profit, these gentlemen began to speedily accuse each other of folly and misconduct in their respective departments during the enterprise. Accusation begat accusation, and reproach, reproach, until they at length drew their swords upon each other...."
In the east, Burgoyne was meeting defeat at the hands of people he called, "the most uncivilized savages in the world: the Americans." History records that Burgoyne never made it to Albany, nor did Howe ever conquer the upper Hudson River.
The invasion from Canada by the British had cost the Royal crown untold money and hardship. It was a blow from which they never fully recovered during the Revolution. And it is a fact of history, that the "battle" for Fort Stanwix was the turning point.
Robin and Elizabeth Burton are buried in the old Lutheran church cemetery at Charlestown. The begat five sons and three daughters. Their eldest son, Phillip, returned to England to assume the title of Lord Burton upon the older man's death in 1809. Axel was killed by rampaging Indians near Fort Smith, Arkansas, in 1814. And Ethan Burton died of cholera in Naples before the American war ended in 1782. One of his plays still enjoys a current vogue in revival in London.
At her behest, Elizabeth was buried in 1803 with two macaw feathers clutched in her right hand.
Her tombstone reads simply:
ELIZABETH Beloved wife of Robin Burton 1757-1803 In Memoriam.