Burgoyne', John

an English general, and dramatic author, B. abt. 1730. After having served with distinction in Portugal, he was sent to America in 1775. He joined General Gage at Boston, with large reinforcements, and witne ed, from one of the batteries in that city, the famous battle of Bunker Hill, of which he has left an animated description. After proceeding to Canada as governor, he returned to England, but, in 1777, was dispatched to take command of that expedition from Canada against the U. States, the failure of which so largely contributed to the establishment of American freedom. Few battles, indeed, have achieved, in their ultimate influence, results so great as the surrender of B., with 5,791 fighting-men, well provided with artillery, at Saratoga, to the army of General Gates. It gave heart to the colonists, confirmed them in their resistance, and, in England, greatly strengthened the hands of those opposed to a continuance of the struggle. B., on his return home, was received by the king with marked disfavor. He defended himself with eloquence, and demanded an inquiry. The inquiry was commenced, but summarily stopped by a prorogation of parliament. Although B. did not po e the genius of a great general, and was in many respects utterly inadequate to the tasks imposed upon him, yet no one can read the work published in his defence- State of the Expedition from Canada, London, 1780-without acknowledging his courage, and detecting qualities, which, in a le exalted station, might have been of service to his country. Disgusted with his treatment by the govt., he retired into private life, and devoted his leisure to the production of dramas, many of which, as the Maid of the Oaks, The Lord of the Manor, ., were highly popular in their day. His best play, The Heire , still keeps the stage. D. 1792. Bur'gra , n. ( Bot .) See CENCHRUS. Burgrave, n. See BURG GRAVE. Burgundy. [Fr. Bourgogne .] An ancient province of France, now forming the departments of Cote d'Or, Saone-et-Loire, Ain, and part of Yonne. Dijon was the capital of B. The ancient Burgundians ( Burgundi or Burg und i ones ), originally a German tribe, were at first settled on the banks of the Oder and the Vistula, and afterwards extended themselves to the Rhine and the Neckar, and, in 407, penetrated into Roman Gaul. Their conversion to Christianity took place in the course of eight days! They adopted a brief Arian confe ion of faith, and were baptized. From 407 to 534, the kingdom of B. was several times divided; and in 451, Gundicar, king of B. , with 10,000 men, confronted Attila, but was defeated and slain. The tradition of this overthrow of the old Burgundians is still preserved in a confused form in the Nibelungen Lied. In 534, B. pa ed under the rule of the Franks; but the weak government of the later Car loving i an kings allowed it to become once more independent, and it was named the kingdom of Arles , from the residence of its first king, Boso, who died 887. He was succeeded by his son Louis; and after a time of contention, and division of the French territories, Duke Rudolf, nephew of King Hugo of France, made himself ruler of Upper B. , and was followed by Rudolf II. (912), who was crowned king of Italy in 921, and united Lower B. , or Arles, to his own kingdom in 928. Conrad the Peaceable succeeded, and after him Rudolf III., who dying without male i ue in 1033, bequeathed his kingdom to the Emperor Conrad II. of Germany, whose son, Henry III., made it a duchy of the German empire. With Philip the Good, the founder of the new ducal dynasty of B. , a new and splendid æra was commenced, in 1363, and was continued to the death of Charles the Bold ( q . v.), in 1477, who left no male i ue. B. was then incorporated with France.