BURGOYNE, John, an English general in the American War of Independence, was born about 1730, and died in 1792. He is generally supposed to have been a natural son of Lord Bingley, but according to his latest biographer this is not the case. He entered the army when young, and made a runaway marriage with a daughter of the earl of Derby. In 1761 he sat in parliament for Midhurst, and in the following year he served as brigadier-general in Portugal. On the outbreak of the American war he was appointed to a command, and in 1777 he was at the head of the British reinforcements designed for the invasion of the colonies from Canada. In this disastrous expedition he gained possession of Ticonderoga and Fort Edward; but, pushing on, was detached from his communications with Canada, and hemmed in by a superior force at Saratoga. On the 17th October his troops, about 3500 in number, laid down their arms. The success was the greatest the colonists had yet had, and it proved the turning point in the war. The indignation in England against Burgoyne was great, but perhaps unjust. The general himself resigned all his appointments, and demanded a trial, but without avail. In 1782, however, he was restored to his rank, and made commander-in-chief in Ireland. His Dramatic and Poetical Works appeared in 2 vols., 1808. One comedy, The Heiress, kept the stage for long. (See De Fonblanque, Political and Military Episodes from the Life and Correspondence of Right Hon. J. Burgoyne, 1876.)...