NY, USA
Major General William Phillips
1731–1781 · British Artillery Commander · Burgoyne's Second
1731–1781
British Artillery Commander · Burgoyne's Second
William Phillips was born around 1731 and rose through the British army to become one of the most technically accomplished artillery officers of his generation, an expert in the theory and practice of moving and placing guns in terrain that less imaginative commanders would have declared impassable. He served in the Seven Years' War at the Battle of Minden in 1759 and distinguished himself in engagements where artillery placement proved decisive, developing the systematic approach to gun siting that would define his American service. By the time he arrived in North America with Burgoyne's expedition, he held the rank of major general and commanded all the artillery in the invasion force.
Phillips's crucial contribution to Burgoyne's 1777 campaign came at Fort Ticonderoga in early July, when he ordered a survey of the heights overlooking the American fortifications. American commanders had considered Mount Defiance, a hill south of the main works, too steep to bring artillery up its slopes. Phillips is credited with the remark that where a goat could go, a man could go, and where a man could go, cannon could be dragged, and he set his artillerists to the apparently impossible task of hauling guns to the summit. Within two days the guns were in place, commanding the entire American position below, and the American commander Arthur St. Clair had no choice but to evacuate. The bloodless capture of Ticonderoga was achieved entirely through Phillips's mastery of artillery emplacement, making it one of the most elegant applications of technical military knowledge in the entire war.
Phillips served through the Saratoga campaign until he was captured at the Convention of Saratoga in October 1777 along with the rest of Burgoyne's army. He remained a prisoner on parole for several years before being exchanged in 1781 and given command of British forces in Virginia, where he cooperated with Benedict Arnold in raids through the Virginia interior. He died of typhoid fever in Petersburg, Virginia, in May 1781, before Cornwallis arrived to assume overall command of the Virginia campaign. His death robbed the British of one of their ablest officers at a critical moment, and his technical achievements at Ticonderoga remained among the most admired pieces of professional military artistry produced by either side during the entire Revolutionary War.
In Ticonderoga
- Jul 1777Burgoyne's Army Retakes Fort Ticonderoga(British Artillery Commander)
In early July 1777, Burgoyne's army approaching from the north appeared before Fort Ticonderoga. American commanders had believed the garrison's position impregnable — until British artillery chief General William Phillips hauled cannon to the summit of Mount Defiance overlooking the fort. Once guns commanded the water approaches and the fort itself, the position became indefensible. The American garrison under General Arthur St. Clair evacuated the night of July 5–6 without a major engagement, retreating south. The loss of Ticonderoga shocked American public opinion, which had viewed the fort as a symbol of Continental strength. Congress briefly considered court-martialing St. Clair, though he was eventually acquitted — his evacuation prevented the destruction of an army that survived to fight at Hubbardton and eventually contribute to Saratoga.