Located just West of that bend in the Hudson River, beneath those trees, are the remains of Fort Montgomery.
On October 6, 1777, 2,100 British soldiers attacked the 700 men who
were stationed in Fort Montgomery and Fort Clinton to impede British
reinforcements from joining the battle of Saratoga. Though the Americans
were easily overwhelmed, they did inhibit General Burgoyne’s
movements long enough to allow American success further upstream. And,
as in life, we learn as much about the character of a people by studying
their defeats as we do their successes.
One particular story stood out to me as I visited today:
As the British advanced, several Americans were sent to the main road
with a 30 lb cannon to delay the attack. The artillery proved useful and
they even succeeded in pushing the British forces back for a time.
At this point, General Burgoyne commissioned a meeting under the white
flag where he offered fair treatment if the Americans would surrender.
Lieutenant Colonel William Livingston not only refused the offer, he made a similar offer in return!
Can you imagine being there? Outnumbered 3 to 1, yet he remained bold
enough to inform his enemies that they, not he, needed to surrender. He
knew who he was and was unwilling to settle.
When challenges
of similar importance come in our lives, I hope we will also have the
courage to demand surrender of anything that seeks to limit our divine
worth or our eternal potential.
Our fight will likely not be
physical, but every day we choose whether or not we will surrender to
negative thoughts, temptations, fears, unfavorable circumstances,
illnesses, stresses, uncertainties…etc. And certainly there are times
in which surrender may appear enticing, but, win or lose, we’re not
going anywhere without a fight.
Pretium: Surrender
