". . . we passed Hudson's river, and encamped in the plains of Saratoga, at which place there is a handsome and commodious dwelling-house . . .", so wrote an officer of British General John Burgoyne's invading army in September, 1777. The "dwelling house" - the country home of wealthy landowner Philip Schuyler - appears in this map, based on one drawn by an English Army engineer.
Less than a month later, his army reeling in defeat, Burgoyne ordered the house burned so that the Americans could not use it for cover. Despite this precaution, the proud Burgoyne was forced to surrender his army on October 17, 1777, in a field not far from the smoldering ruins.
Within weeks, Schuyler was ". . . earnestly engaged in building me a house at this place . . .". By the end of November, 1777, the present building was completed - possibly built, in part, upon the foundation of the old "dwelling-house".
The present Schuyler House has been carefully restored to its 1787-1804 appearance.
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