sited and emplaced be-
fore military engage-
ments, owing to its great
weight and unwieldiness.
However, Phillips disre-
garded the rule book by
trotting his cannons for-
ward for five miles before
deploying on the field in
midbattle. His fire proved
so galling to a group of
French cavalry that they
withdrew without com-
bat, and a French com-
mander, the Marquis de
Ternay, officially praised
the performance of
British guns. Phillips also
proved instrumental in
establishing the Royal Ar-
tillery’s first musical band
to enhance unit esprit de
corps. After the war he
continued climbing the
ladder of rank and responsibility, rising to
lieutenant colonel in August 1760 and full
colonel in May 1772. Phillips, despite his mod-
est origins, was becoming a rising star within
the British officer corps.
In 1768, Phillips ventured to America to
take command of Fort Niagara. He remained
there several years before returning to En-
gland in 1771 to raise a new artillery company.
Phillips then arrived at Montreal in 1776 with
another newcomer, Gen. John Burgoyne.
Phillips commanded the garrison at St. John’s
for a year and was accorded the local rank of
major general. In the spring of 1777, Phillips
became second in command of Burgoyne’s
new army, 8,000 strong, for the purpose of in-
vading New York and capturing Albany. As
the British column moved southward, its first
objective was Fort Ticonderoga on Lake
Champlain, a large fortification commanded
by Gen. Arthur St. Clair. Preparations were
being made for an assault, but Phillips, as-
sisted by Gen. Simon Fraser, made a per-
sonal reconnaissance of neighboring Mount
Defiance, heretofore
viewed as too steep for
the employment of ar-
tillery. On the night of
July 4, 1777, he carefully
worked and positioned
several pieces up the
slopes, and St. Clair, his
position compromised,
abandoned Fort Ticon-
deroga without a fight.
This success clearly re-
flected a personal dictum
of Phillips: “Where a goat
can go, a man can go, and
where a man can go, he
can drag a gun.” The inva-
sion was off to a promis-
ing start.
By August, Burgoyne’s
column was mired in the
hills and forests around
Saratoga, and he elected
to attack the Americans
and drive them off. Phillips commanded the
left wing of the British army at the Battles of
Freeman’s Farm and Bemis Heights, where he
handled his guns with aplomb and inflicted
scores of rebel casualties. During the latter en-
gagement, he personally rallied the 29th Regi-
ment and stabilized a rapidly crumbling
British line. However, Burgoyne’s moves were
continually thwarted by the outstanding com-
bat leadership of Gen. Benedict Arnold, an-
other outstanding tactician. At this critical
juncture, nothing but massive reinforcements
could rescue Burgoyne, and when these failed
to arrive, he surrendered to Gen. Horatio
Gates on October 17, 1777. By the terms of a
convention reached with Gates, Burgoyne was
free to leave for London while Phillips com-
manded the so-called Convention Army on its
march to Boston. Congress subsequently re-
fused to honor the agreement, so the entire
forced passed into captivity as prisoners of
war. It was during his tenure as a prisoner that
Phillips gained the reputation for impudence
and arrogance—principally over the shoddyPHILLIPS, WILLIAM
William Phillips
New York Historical Society