by Helga Doblin (Translator)
The Specht Journal is one of the major diaries written by Braunschweig military personnel during the Burgoyne campaign of the American Revolutionary War. From the departure from Wolfenbuttel on February 22, 1776 to the end on Winter Hill near Boston on November 9, 1777, the narrator faithfully accounts for each day of the ill-fated campaign. He describes the astonishing affair at Ticonderoga, the short battle at Hubbardton, and the toilsome march south to Fort Miller via Forts Ann and Edward. The campaign ends after two indecisive battles at Saratoga, where Burgoyne, without supplies and badly outnumbered, has to sign a Convention with the victorious American commander Horatio Gates.
Author Biography
HELGA DOBLIN is Professor Emerita for Foreign Languages, Skidmore College. Since her retirement, she has concentrated on translating historical material from the Braunschweig regiments that served in the Burgoyne campaign.