initial commit of ebook 31206HEADmain

23 files changed, 12572 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6833f05
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitattributes
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+* text=auto
+*.txt text
+*.md text
diff --git a/31206-8.txt b/31206-8.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..502bcd0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/31206-8.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,4011 @@
+Project Gutenberg's Burgoyne's Invasion of 1777, by Samuel Adams  Drake
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Burgoyne's Invasion of 1777
+       With an outline sketch of the American Invasion of Canada, 1775-76.
+
+Author: Samuel Adams  Drake
+
+Release Date: February 7, 2010 [EBook #31206]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BURGOYNE'S INVASION OF 1777 ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Barbara Kosker and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was
+produced from images generously made available by The
+Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+  WORKS BY SAMUEL ADAMS DRAKE
+
+  OLD LANDMARKS AND HISTORIC PERSONAGES
+  OF BOSTON. Illustrated                         $2.00
+
+  OLD LANDMARKS AND HISTORIC FIELDS OF
+  MIDDLESEX. Illustrated                          2.00
+
+  NOOKS AND CORNERS OF THE NEW ENGLAND
+  COAST. Illustrated                              3.50
+
+  CAPTAIN NELSON. A Romance of Colonial Days       .75
+
+  THE HEART OF THE WHITE MOUNTAINS. Illustrated
+  (Illuminated Cloth)                             7.50
+
+  Tourist's Edition                               3.00
+
+  AROUND THE HUB. A Boy's Book about Boston.
+  Illustrated                                     1.50
+
+  NEW ENGLAND LEGENDS AND FOLK LORE.
+  Illustrated                                     2.00
+
+  THE MAKING OF NEW ENGLAND. Illustrated          1.50
+
+  THE MAKING OF THE GREAT WEST                    1.75
+
+  OLD BOSTON TAVERNS. Paper                        .50
+
+  BURGOYNE'S INVASION OF 1777. Net                 .50
+
+  _Any book on the above list sent by mail, postpaid, on receipt
+  of price, by_
+
+  LEE AND SHEPARD, BOSTON
+
+
+[Illustration: GENL. BURGOYNE.]
+
+
+
+
+  Decisive Events in American History
+
+
+  BURGOYNE'S INVASION OF 1777
+
+
+  WITH AN
+  OUTLINE SKETCH OF THE AMERICAN INVASION
+  OF CANADA, 1775-76
+
+
+  BY
+  SAMUEL ADAMS DRAKE
+
+
+  BOSTON 1889
+  LEE AND SHEPARD PUBLISHERS
+  10 MILK STREET NEXT "OLD SOUTH MEETING HOUSE"
+  NEW YORK CHARLES T. DILLINGHAM
+  718 AND 720 BROADWAY
+
+
+
+
+  BOSTON
+  S. J. PARKHILL & CO., PRINTERS
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+  CHAPTER                                                 PAGE
+
+           INTRODUCTION                                      9
+
+  PRELUDE.
+
+      I.   THE INVASION OF CANADA                           15
+
+     II.   THE INVASION OF CANADA                           19
+
+
+  BURGOYNE'S INVASION.
+
+      I.   THE PLAN OF CAMPAIGN                             27
+
+     II.   BURGOYNE'S ARMY                                  33
+
+    III.   THE FALL OF TICONDEROGA                          37
+
+     IV.   HUBBARDTON                                       45
+
+      V.   FACING DISASTER                                  56
+
+     VI.   THE MARCH TO FORT EDWARD                         61
+
+    VII.   BEFORE BENNINGTON                                68
+
+   VIII.   BATTLE OF BENNINGTON                             77
+
+     IX.   AFTER BENNINGTON                                 87
+
+      X.   ST. LEGER'S EXPEDITION                           90
+
+     XI.   OUR ARMY ADVANCES                                95
+
+    XII.   BATTLE OF BEMIS' HEIGHTS                        101
+
+   XIII.   LINCOLN'S RAID IN BURGOYNE'S REAR               113
+
+    XIV.   SECOND BATTLE OF FREEMAN'S FARM                 116
+
+     XV.   RETREAT AND SURRENDER                           126
+
+    XVI.   SEVENTEENTH OF OCTOBER, 1777                    137
+
+   XVII.   CONSEQUENCES OF DEFEAT                          143
+
+[Illustration: MILITARY MAP, LAKE CHAMPLAIN.]
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+
+Among the decisive events of the Revolutionary struggle, Burgoyne's
+campaign deservedly holds the foremost place, as well for what it led
+to, as for what it was in inception and execution--at once the most
+daring, most quixotic, and most disastrous effort of the whole war.
+
+Burgoyne was himself, in some respects, so remarkable a man that any
+picture of his exploits must needs be more or less tinted with his
+personality. And this was unusually picturesque and imposing. He
+acquired prestige, at a time when other generals were losing it, through
+his participation in Carleton's successful campaign. But Burgoyne was
+something more than the professional soldier. His nature was poetic; his
+temperament imaginative. He did nothing in a commonplace way. Even his
+orders are far more scholarly than soldier-like. At one time he tells
+his soldiers that "occasions may occur, when nor difficulty, nor labor,
+nor life are to be regarded"--as if soldiers, in general, expected
+anything else than to be shot at!--at another, we find him preaching
+humanity to Indians, repentance to rebels, or better manners to his
+adversary, with all the superb self-consciousness that was Burgoyne's
+most prominent characteristic.
+
+To the military critic, Burgoyne's campaign is instructive, because it
+embodies, in itself, about all the operations known to active warfare.
+It was destined to great things, but collapsed, like a bubble, with the
+first shock of an adverse fortune.
+
+This campaign is remarkable in yet another way. It has given us the most
+voluminous literature extant, that treats of any single episode of the
+Revolutionary War. In general, it takes many more words to explain a
+defeat than to describe a victory. Hence this fulness is much more
+conspicuous upon the British than upon the American side of the history
+of this campaign. Not only the general, who had his reputation to
+defend, but high officials, whose guiding hand was seen behind the
+curtain, were called to the bar of public opinion. The ministers
+endeavored to make a scapegoat of the general; the general, to fix the
+responsibility for defeat upon the ministers. His demand for a
+court-martial was denied. His sovereign refused to hear him. It was thus
+meanly attempted to turn the torrent of popular indignation, arising
+from the ill success of the expedition, wholly upon the unlucky
+general's head. Burgoyne's heroic persistency at length brought the
+British nation face to face with the unwelcome fact, which the ministers
+were so desirous of concealing,--that somebody besides the general had
+blundered; and if the inquiry that Burgoyne obtained from Parliament
+failed to vindicate him as a captain, it nevertheless did good service
+by exposing both the shortcomings of his accusers, and the motives which
+had guided their conduct with respect to himself.
+
+Besides the official examination by the House of Commons, we have
+several excellent narratives, written by officers who served with
+Burgoyne, all of which materially contribute to an intelligent study of
+the campaign, from a purely military point of view. These narratives are
+really histories of the several corps to which the writers belonged,
+rather than capable surveys of the whole situation; but they give us the
+current gossip of the camp-fire and mess-table, spiced with anecdote,
+and enlivened with the daily experiences through which the writers were
+passing. And this is much.
+
+In his defence, General Burgoyne vigorously addresses himself to the
+four principal charges brought forward by his accusers: namely, first,
+of encumbering himself with a needless amount of artillery; secondly, of
+taking the Fort Anne route, rather than the one by way of Lake George;
+thirdly, of sending off an expedition to Bennington, under conditions
+inviting defeat; and, lastly, of crossing the Hudson after the disasters
+of Bennington and Fort Stanwix had taken place.
+
+The real criticism upon Burgoyne's conduct, so far as it relates to the
+movement of his forces only, seems to be that from the moment when the
+march was actually to begin, he found himself in want of everything
+necessary to a rapid advance. Thus, we find him scarcely arrived at
+Skenesborough before he is asking Sir Guy Carleton for reënforcements to
+garrison Ticonderoga and Fort George with, to the end that his own force
+might not be weakened by the detachments required to hold those
+fortresses against the Americans, when he should move on. It would seem
+that this contingency, at least, might have been foreseen before it
+forced itself upon Burgoyne's attention. Yet it was of so serious a
+nature, in this general's eyes, that he expresses a doubt whether his
+army would be found equal to the task before it, unless Carleton would
+assume the defence of the forts referred to above.
+
+At this time, too, the inadequacy of his transportation service became
+so painfully evident, that the expedition to Bennington offered the only
+practicable solution to Burgoyne's mind.
+
+These circumstances stamp the purposed invasion with a certain haphazard
+character at the outset, which boded no good to it in the future.
+
+Carleton having declined to use his troops in the manner suggested,
+Burgoyne was compelled to leave a thousand men behind him when he
+marched for Albany. Carleton, the saviour of Canada, was justly
+chagrined at finding himself superseded in the conduct of this campaign,
+by an officer who had served under his orders in the preceding one; and,
+though he seems to have acted with loyalty toward Burgoyne, this is by
+no means the only instance known in which one general has refused to go
+beyond the strict letter of his instructions for the purpose of rescuing
+a rival from a dilemma into which he had plunged with his eyes wide
+open.
+
+The Prelude with which our narrative opens, undertakes first, to briefly
+outline the history of the Northern Army, which finally brought victory
+out of defeat; and next, to render familiar the names, location, and
+strategic value of the frontier fortresses, before beginning the story
+of the campaign itself.
+
+Few armies have ever suffered more, or more nobly redeemed an apparently
+lost cause, than the one which was defeated at Quebec and victorious at
+Saratoga. The train of misfortunes which brought Burgoyne's erratic
+course to so untimely an end was nothing by comparison. And the
+quickness with which raw yeomanry were formed into armies capable of
+fighting veteran troops, affords the strongest proof that the Americans
+are a nation of soldiers.
+
+So many specific causes have been assigned for Burgoyne's failure, that
+it is hardly practicable to discuss all of them within reasonable
+limits. The simplest statement of the whole case is that he allowed
+himself to be beaten in detail. It seems plain enough that any plan,
+which exposed his forces to this result, was necessarily vicious in
+itself. Moreover, Burgoyne wofully misestimated the resources, spirit,
+and fighting capacity of his adversary. With our forces strongly posted
+on the Mohawk, St. Leger's advance down the valley was clearly
+impracticable. Yet such a combination of movements as would bring about
+a junction of the two invading columns, at this point, was all essential
+to the success of Burgoyne's campaign. To have effected this in season,
+Burgoyne should have made a rapid march to the Mohawk, intrenched
+himself there, and operated in conjunction with St. Leger. His delays,
+attributable first, to his unwise choice of the Fort Anne route, next,
+to Schuyler's activity in obstructing it, and lastly, to his defeat at
+Bennington, gave time to render our army so greatly superior to his own,
+that the conditions were wholly altered when the final trial of strength
+came to be made.
+
+What might have happened if Sir W. Howe had moved his large army and
+fleet up the Hudson, in due season, is quite another matter. The writer
+does not care to discuss futilities. In the first place, he thinks that
+Burgoyne's campaign should stand or fall on its own merits. In the next,
+such a movement by Howe would have left Washington free to act in the
+enemy's rear, or upon his flanks, with a fair prospect of cutting him
+off from his base at New York. Of the two commanders-in-chief,
+Washington acted most effectively in reënforcing Gates's army from his
+own. Howe could not and Carleton would not do this. From the moment that
+Burgoyne crossed the Hudson, he seems to have pinned his faith to
+chance; but if chance has sometimes saved poor generalship, the general
+who commits himself to its guidance, does so with full knowledge that he
+is casting his reputation on the hazard of a die. As Burgoyne did just
+this, he must be set down, we think, notwithstanding his chivalrous
+defence of himself, as the conspicuous failure of the war. And we assume
+that the importance which his campaign implied to Europe and America,
+more than any high order of ability in the general himself, has lifted
+Burgoyne into undeserved prominence.
+
+
+
+
+PRELUDE
+
+I.
+
+THE INVASION OF CANADA, 1775.
+
+
+[Sidenote: Canada's attitude.]
+
+England took Canada from France in 1759, and soon after annexed it to
+her own dominions. Twelve years later, her despotic acts drove her
+American colonies into open rebellion. England feared, and the colonies
+hoped, Canada would join in the revolt against her. But, though they did
+not love their new masters, prudence counselled the Canadians to stand
+aloof, at least till the Americans had proved their ability to make head
+against the might of England.
+
+That England would be much distressed by Canada's taking sides with the
+Americans was plain enough to all men, for the whole continent would
+then be one in purpose, and the conflict more equal; but the Americans
+also greatly wished it because all New England and New York lay open to
+invasion from Canada.
+
+Nature had created a great highway, stretching southward from the St.
+Lawrence to the Hudson, over which rival armies had often passed to
+victory or defeat in the old wars. Open water offered an easy transit
+for nearly the whole way. A chain of forts extended throughout its
+whole length. Chambly and St. John's defended the passage of the
+Richelieu, through which the waters of Lake Champlain flow to the St.
+Lawrence. Crown Point[1] and Ticonderoga[2] blocked the passage of this
+lake in its narrowest part. Ticonderoga, indeed, is placed just where
+the outlet of Lake George falls down a mountain gorge into Lake
+Champlain. Its cannon, therefore, commanded that outlet also. Fort
+George stood at the head of Lake George, within sixteen miles of Fort
+Edward, on the Hudson. These were the gates through which a hostile army
+might sally forth upon our naked frontier. Much, therefore, depended on
+whether they were to be kept by friend or foe.
+
+[Sidenote: Ticonderoga.]
+
+In natural and artificial strength, Ticonderoga was by far the most
+important of these fortresses. At this place the opposite shores of New
+York and Vermont are pushed out into the lake toward each other, thus
+forming two peninsulas, with the lake contracted to a width of half a
+mile, or point-blank cannon range, between them: one is Ticonderoga; the
+other, Mount Independence. Thus, together, they command the passage of
+the two lakes.
+
+Ticonderoga itself is a tongue-shaped projection of quite uneven land,
+broad and high at the base, or where it joins the hills behind it, but
+growing narrower as it descends over intervening hollows or swells to
+its farthest point in the lake. That part next the mainland is a wooded
+height, having a broad plateau on the brow--large enough to encamp an
+army corps upon--but cut down abruptly on the sides washed by the lake.
+This height, therefore, commanded the whole peninsula lying before it,
+and underneath it, as well as the approach from Lake George, opening
+behind it in a rugged mountain pass, since it must be either crossed or
+turned before access to the peninsula could be gained. Except for the
+higher hills surrounding it, this one is, in every respect, an admirable
+military position.
+
+The French, who built the first fortress here, had covered all the low
+ground next the lake with batteries and intrenchments, but had left the
+heights rising behind it unguarded, until Abercromby attacked on that
+side in 1758. They then hastily threw up a rude intrenchment of logs,
+extending quite across the crest in its broadest part. Yet, in spite of
+the victory he then obtained, Montcalm was so fully convinced that
+Ticonderoga could not stand a siege, that he made no secret of calling
+it a trap, for some honest man to disgrace himself in.[3]
+
+Ticonderoga, however, was henceforth looked upon as a sort of Gibraltar.
+People, therefore, were filled with wonder when they heard how Ethan
+Allen had surprised and taken it on the 9th of May, 1775, with only a
+handful of men; how Seth Warner had also taken Crown Point; and how
+Skenesborough[4] and Fort George, being thus cut off from Canada, had
+also fallen into our hands without firing a shot.[5]
+
+Thus, in the very beginning of the war for independence, and at one bold
+stroke, we regained possession of this gateway of the north; or in
+military phrase, we now held all the strategic points by which an
+advance from Lower Canada upon the United Colonies was possible.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[1] CROWN POINT, built by the French in 1731, greatly strengthened by
+the British, who took it in 1759.
+
+[2] TICONDEROGA, familiarly called "Ty" because the early spelling of
+the name was Tyconderoga. Built 1755-56 by the French, taken 1759 by the
+British, under Amherst. Three weeks before the battle of Lexington, an
+agent of Massachusetts was sent to ascertain the feelings of the people
+of Canada. His first advice was that "Ty" should be seized as quickly as
+possible.
+
+[3] MONTCALM'S PROPHECY came true in St. Clair's case in 1777.
+
+[4] SKENESBOROUGH, now Whitehall, named for Philip Skene, a retired
+British officer, who settled on lands granted him after the French War.
+He had about fifty tenants, and a few negro slaves.
+
+[5] THE CAPTURED ARTILLERY was taken to Cambridge on sleds in midwinter,
+by Colonel Knox. It enabled Washington to bring the siege of Boston to a
+favorable conclusion.
+
+
+
+
+II.
+
+THE INVASION OF CANADA.
+
+
+[Sidenote: Invasion of Canada.]
+
+The prompt seizure of the lake fortresses had a marked effect upon the
+wavering Canadians.[6] Many joined us. More stood ready to do so
+whenever the signal for revolt should be given. Success begets
+confidence. The Americans were now led to believe that by throwing an
+army into Canada at once, the people would no longer hesitate to free
+themselves from the British yoke. The time seemed the riper for it,
+because it was known that the strong places of Canada were but weakly
+guarded. Could Quebec and Montreal be taken, British power in Canada
+would be at an end.
+
+[Sidenote: Our army retreats.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1776.]
+
+With such promise held out before it, Congress resolved to make the
+attempt. Forces were ordered to both places. One body, under General
+Montgomery,[7] mustered at Ticonderoga. Ethan Allen went before it to
+rouse the Canadians, who were expected to receive the Americans with
+open arms. This army moved down the lake in October, taking St. John's
+and Chambly in its way, and Montreal a little later. The other, led by
+Colonel Arnold,[8] ascended the Kennebec to its head, crossed over to
+the Chaudière, which was followed to the St. Lawrence, and came before
+Quebec at about the same time Montgomery entered Montreal. Montgomery
+hastened to Arnold with a handful of men. Together they assaulted Quebec
+on the morning of December 31. The attack failed, and Montgomery fell.
+The Americans lay before Quebec till spring, when the arrival of fresh
+troops, for the enemy, forced ours to retreat to Montreal. This, too,
+was abandoned. Our army then fell back toward Lake Champlain, setting
+fire to Chambly, and St. John's behind it. The enemy followed close,
+recapturing these places as our troops left them. Very little fighting
+took place, but the Americans were greatly disheartened by having
+constantly to retreat, and by the loss of many brave officers and men,
+who fell sick and died of the smallpox. July 1 the army finally reached
+Crown Point, ragged, sickly, and destitute of everything. Weakened by
+the loss of five thousand men and three commanders, it was no longer
+able to keep the field. Instead of conquering Canada, it had been driven
+out at the point of the bayonet. The great question now was, whether
+this army could hold its own against a victorious and advancing enemy.
+
+General Gates[9] took command of the army at this critical time.
+Convinced that he could never hope to hold both Crown Point and
+Ticonderoga, and knowing Ticonderoga to be much the stronger, in a
+military view, he decided to remove the army to that place at once. This
+was promptly done.[10] The soldiers were set to work strengthening the
+old, or building new, works, under the direction of skilful engineers.
+Of these new works the strongest, as well as most important, because
+they commanded Ticonderoga itself, were those raised on the peninsula
+opposite the fortress on the Vermont side, which was christened Mount
+Independence on the day the army heard that the colonies had declared
+themselves free and independent.
+
+Having thrown a bridge across the strait, between Ticonderoga and Mount
+Independence, the Americans waited for the enemy to come and attack
+them, for with such leaders as Gates and Stark they felt confident of
+gaining the victory.
+
+The British were equally active on their side. After driving the
+Americans from Canada, they next determined to make themselves masters
+of Lake Champlain, recover the forts they had lost, and so gain a
+foothold for striking a blow at our northern colonies.
+
+For this purpose they set about building a fleet at St. John's. Vessels
+were sent out from England, for the purpose, which were taken to pieces
+below the Chambly rapids, brought across the portage, and put together
+again at St. John's. By working diligently, the British got their fleet
+ready to sail early in October.
+
+Well knowing the importance of keeping possession of the lake, the
+Americans turned Skenesborough into a dockyard, and were straining every
+nerve to get ready a fleet strong enough to cope with the British. As
+everything needed for equipping it had to be brought from the sea-coast,
+the British had much the advantage in this respect, yet all labored with
+so much zeal, that our fleet was first ready for action. Gates gave the
+command of it to Arnold, who had once been a sailor, and whose courage
+had been tried so signally under the walls of Quebec.
+
+By the middle of August, Ticonderoga was in fighting trim. The enemy's
+delays had given time to make the defences so strong that an attack was
+rather hoped for than feared. Ignorant of the great preparations making
+at St. John's, the Americans also believed themselves strongest on the
+lake. Our fleet, therefore, went forward with confidence to the battle.
+
+[Sidenote: Naval battle, October 11.]
+
+On the 11th of October the British flotilla was seen coming up the lake.
+The rival forces met at Valcour Island, and the battle began. From noon
+till night the combatants hurled broadsides at each other without
+ceasing. The British then drew off to repair damages, meaning to renew
+the fight in the morning. This gave Arnold a chance to slip through them
+unperceived, for his vessels were so badly shattered that all hope of
+gaining the victory was given over. He was pursued and overtaken. Near
+Crown Point the battle began again, but the enemy's superior forces soon
+decided it in his favor. Rather than surrender, Arnold ran his disabled
+vessels on shore, set fire to them, and with his men escaped to the
+woods.
+
+Having thus cleared the lake, the British commander, Guy Carleton,[11]
+sailed back to St. John's, leaving Ticonderoga unmolested behind him, to
+the great astonishment of our soldiers, who said Carleton deserved to be
+hanged for not following up his victory over Arnold.
+
+[Illustration: NAVAL BATTLE, LAKE CHAMPLAIN.
+
+A, American flotilla. B-C, British. D, Line of Retreat, when the British
+were forced back to E.]
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[6] THE WAVERING CANADIANS. The Massachusetts revolutionary authority
+had been at work upon the wavering Canadians since 1774, with only
+partial success. (See note 2, preceding chapter.) The Americans thought
+the Canadians would seize the opportunity of freeing themselves, but
+events proved this opinion ill-grounded. A political connection between
+the Protestants of New England and the Catholics of Canada, except for
+mutual defence, could hardly be lasting, nor did the priests favor it.
+The military advantages were equally questionable, though great stress
+was laid upon them by Washington and Schuyler, even after the allegiance
+of the Canadians had been confirmed to the British side by the reverses
+our arms sustained. If we had conquered Canada, it would doubtless have
+been handed over to France again at the close of the war.
+
+[7] GENERAL RICHARD MONTGOMERY, of Irish birth, had served under Amherst
+at the taking of Crown Point and Ticonderoga in 1759, settled in New
+York, been one of eight brigadiers created by Congress in June, 1775;
+General Schuyler's illness threw the chief command, for which he proved
+himself eminently fitted, on Montgomery. His having served on this line
+was much in his favor.
+
+[8] COLONEL BENEDICT ARNOLD had once been a soldier at Ticonderoga. He
+went there again with a commission from Massachusetts, when the fortress
+was taken by Allen. He had also spent some time in Quebec. These facts
+had influence in procuring for him a command in the invading expedition.
+
+[9] GENERAL HORATIO GATES, a retired British major, settled in Virginia,
+was made adjutant-general of the army, June, 1775.
+
+[10] THE REMOVAL OF THE ARMY from Crown Point to Ticonderoga was
+strongly opposed by Stark and others, and disapproved by Washington.
+
+[11] GUY CARLETON, British governor of Canada, though driven from
+Montreal by Montgomery, had successfully defended Quebec against him. He
+reconnoitred Ticonderoga, but seems to have thought it too strong to be
+attacked with his force.
+
+
+
+
+BURGOYNE'S INVASION
+
+I.
+
+THE PLAN OF CAMPAIGN.
+
+
+After the British had gone back to Canada, it was thought they would
+return as soon as the lake should be frozen hard enough to bear
+artillery. But when it was found that they had gone into winter
+quarters, and the danger was past, part of the garrison of Ticonderoga
+was hurried off to Washington, who was then fighting against great odds
+in the Jerseys. This winter was the dark hour of the Revolution, upon
+which the victory at Trenton[12] shed the first ray of light. So low had
+the American cause fallen at this time, that, but for this unlooked-for
+success, it is doubtful if another army could have been brought into the
+field.
+
+The British were really planning to invade New York as soon as the lakes
+should be open again, in the spring. For this campaign great
+preparations were making, both in Canada and England. Quiet, therefore,
+reigned at Ticonderoga throughout the winter of 1776 and 1777.
+
+General Burgoyne sailed for England in November, to lay before the king
+a plan for subduing the colonies in a single campaign. Burgoyne was a
+good soldier, popular with the army and government, brave to rashness,
+but vain and headstrong. He knew the Americans were not to be despised,
+for he had seen them fight at Bunker Hill, as well as in the campaign
+just closed, in which he himself had taken part; yet an easy confidence
+in his own abilities led Burgoyne into committing many grave errors, not
+the least of which was underestimating this very enemy.[13]
+
+[Sidenote: George III. wants the war pushed.]
+
+Any plan that promised to put down the Americans, was sure of gaining
+the king's ear. Justice was never tempered with mercy in this monarch's
+treatment of his rebellious subjects. His heart was hardened, his hand
+ever ready to strike them the fatal blow. Moreover, the Americans had
+just now declared themselves independent of Great Britain. They had
+crossed their Rubicon. To crush them with iron hand was now the king's
+one thought and purpose. No half measures would do for him. He told his
+ministers, in so many words, that every means of distressing the
+Americans would meet with his approval. Mercenaries, savages,
+refugees--all who could fire a shot, or burn a dwelling, were to be
+enrolled under the proud old banner of the isles. No more effectual
+means could have been devised to arouse the spirit of resistance to the
+highest pitch.
+
+Burgoyne's ambition was kindled by the hope of making himself the hero
+of the war. He combined the qualities of general and statesman without
+being great as either. He wrote and talked well, was eloquent and
+persuasive, had friends at court, and knew how to make the most of his
+opportunity. On his part, the king wanted a general badly. He had been
+grievously disappointed in Sir William Howe, whose victories seemed
+never bringing the war any nearer to an end. Burgoyne brought forward
+his plan at the right moment, shrewdly touched the keynote of the king's
+discontent by declaring for aggressive war, smoothed every obstacle away
+with easy assurance, and so impressed the ministers with his capacity,
+that they believed they had found the very man the king wanted for the
+work in hand.
+
+The plan proposed for making short work of the war was briefly this: The
+American colonies were to be divided in two parts, by seizing the line
+of the Hudson River; just as in later times, the Union armies aimed to
+split the Southern Confederacy in two by getting possession of the
+Mississippi. To effect this, two armies were to act together. With one,
+Burgoyne was to come down the lakes from Canada, and force his way to
+Albany, while the other was coming up the Hudson to join him. Once these
+armies were united, with full control of the Hudson in their hands, New
+England would be cut off from the other colonies by forts and fleets,
+and the way laid open to crush out rebellion in what was admitted to be
+its cradle and stronghold.
+
+Ever since Sir William Howe had been driven from Boston, in the spring
+of 1776, the opinion prevailed among American generals that, sooner or
+later, New England would become the battle-ground.[14] This view was
+sustained by the enemy's seizure of Newport, in December of the same
+year, so that the Americans were perplexed at finding themselves
+threatened from this quarter, until the enemy's plans were fully
+developed.
+
+[Sidenote: St. Leger's part.]
+
+There was yet another part to the plan concerted between Burgoyne and
+the British cabinet. It was seen that in proportion as Burgoyne moved
+down toward Albany, he would have the fertile Mohawk valley on his
+right. This valley was the great thoroughfare between the Hudson and
+Lake Ontario, Niagara, and Detroit. In it were many prosperous
+settlements, inhabited by a vigorous yeomanry, who were the mainstay of
+the patriot cause in this quarter. The passage to and fro was guarded by
+Fort Stanwix, which stood where Rome now is, and Fort Oswego, which was
+situated at the lake. Fort Stanwix was held by the Americans, and
+Oswego, by the British. Perceiving its value to the Americans not only
+as a granary, but as a recruiting station, and in view of the danger of
+leaving it on his flank, Burgoyne decided to march a force through this
+valley, clear it of enemies, and so effectively bring about a timely
+coöperation between the two branches of the expedition. Freed of fear
+for himself, he could materially aid in the work intrusted to his
+auxiliary. It followed that the Americans, with whom Burgoyne himself
+might be contending, would, of necessity, be greatly distressed by their
+inability to draw either men or supplies from the Mohawk Valley, no less
+than by the appearance of this force upon their own flank. The command
+of it was given to Colonel St. Leger, who was ordered to proceed up the
+St. Lawrence to Oswego, and from thence to Fort Stanwix and Albany.
+
+It must be allowed that this plan was well conceived; yet its success
+depended so much upon all the parts working in harmony together, that to
+have set it in motion, without consultation or clear understanding
+between the generals who were to execute it, is inconceivable. At a
+distance of three thousand miles from the scene of war, the British
+cabinet undertook to direct complicated military operations, in which
+widely separated armies were to take part. General Burgoyne received his
+orders on the spot. General Howe did not receive his until the 16th of
+August; his army was then entering Chesapeake Bay. Burgoyne was being
+defeated at Bennington, at the time Howe was reading his despatch, and
+learning from it what he had not known before; namely, that he was
+expected to coöperate with the army of Burgoyne. These facts will so
+sufficiently illustrate the course that events were taking, as to
+foreshadow their conclusion to the feeblest understanding.
+
+In order to make the war more terrible to the Americans, the British
+cabinet decided to use the Indians of Canada, and the Great Lakes,
+against them. Not even the plea of military necessity could reconcile
+some Englishmen to letting loose these barbarians upon the colonists.
+Though enemies, they were men. Lord Chatham, the noblest Englishman of
+them all, cried out against it in Parliament. "Who is the man," he
+indignantly asked, "who has dared to associate to our arms the tomahawk
+and scalping-knife of the savage?" All knew he meant the prime minister,
+and, behind him, the king himself. Had not King George just said that
+any means of distressing the Americans must meet with his approval?
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[12] VICTORY AT TRENTON. After being driven from the Jerseys, Washington
+suddenly turned on his pursuers, and by the two fine combats of Trenton
+and Princeton, compelled much superior forces everywhere to retreat
+before him, thus breaking up all the enemy's plans for the ensuing
+campaign, saving Philadelphia, and putting new life into the American
+cause.
+
+[13] UNDERESTIMATING HIS ENEMY. Burgoyne candidly admits as much in his
+letter to Lord G. Germaine. _State of the Expedition_, Appendix, xcii.
+
+[14] NEW ENGLAND THE BATTLE-GROUND. Sir William Howe did propose, at
+first, operating against Boston from Rhode Island, with ten thousand
+men, while an equal force should effect a junction with the army of
+Canada, by way of the Hudson. This purpose he subsequently deferred for
+an advance into Pennsylvania, but Burgoyne asserts that he was not
+informed of the change of plan when he sailed for Canada in April; and,
+though Sir William Howe afterward wrote him to the same effect (July
+17th) a letter which was received early in August, Burgoyne,
+nevertheless, persisted in his intention of passing the Hudson,
+notwithstanding he knew, and says (August 20th), that no operation had
+yet been undertaken in his favor. _State of the Expedition_, 188, 189;
+Appendix, xlvii.
+
+
+
+
+II.
+
+BURGOYNE'S ARMY.
+
+
+Having thus outlined the plan of invasion, let us now look at the means
+allotted for its execution. There were in Canada ten thousand British
+soldiers; in New York, thirty thousand. Burgoyne was to take with him
+seven thousand, of whom three thousand were Germans in the pay of
+England.[15] In discipline, spirit, and equipment, this was by far the
+best little army that had yet taken the field in America.
+
+Good judges said that England might be searched through and through
+before such battalions could be raised. Forty cannon, splendidly served
+and equipped, formed its artillery train. All the generals, and most of
+the soldiers, were veterans. In short, nothing that experience could
+suggest, or unlimited means provide, was omitted to make this army
+invincible. It was one with which Burgoyne felt he could do anything,
+and dare everything.
+
+Besides these regular troops, we have said the government had authorized
+and even attempted to justify to the world, the employment of Indians.
+Four hundred warriors joined the army when it marched, and as many more
+when it reached Lake Champlain. They were to scour the woods, hang like
+a storm cloud about the enemy's camps, and discover his every movement.
+For this service they had no equals. In the woods they could steal upon
+an enemy unawares, or lie in wait for his approach. In the field they
+were of little use. Much of the terror they inspired came from the
+suddenness of their onset, their hideous looks and unearthly war-cries,
+and their cruel practice of scalping the wounded.
+
+To these were added about an equal number of Canadians, and American
+refugees, who were designed to act as scouts, skirmishers, or foragers,
+as the occasion might require. Being well skilled in bush-fighting, they
+were mostly attached to Frazer's corps, for the purpose of clearing the
+woods in his front, getting information, or driving in cattle. With his
+Indians and irregulars,[16] Burgoyne's whole force could hardly have
+numbered less than ten thousand men.
+
+Taken as a whole, this army was justly thought the equal of twice its
+own number of raw yeomanry, suddenly called to the field from the anvil,
+the workshop, or the plough. Its strongest arm was its artillery; its
+weakest, its Indian allies.
+
+Burgoyne divided his force into three corps, commanded by Generals
+Frazer, Phillips, and Riedesel,--all excellent officers. Frazer's corps
+was mostly made up of picked companies, taken from other battalions and
+joined with the 24th regiment of the line. As its duty was of the
+hardest, so its material was of the best the army could afford. Next to
+Burgoyne, Frazer was, beyond all question, the officer most looked up to
+by the soldiers; in every sense of the word, he was a thorough soldier.
+His corps was, therefore, Burgoyne's right arm. Phillips commanded the
+artillery; and Riedesel, the Germans.
+
+In the middle of June this army embarked on Lake Champlain. Of many
+warlike pageants the aged mountains had looked down upon, perhaps this
+was the most splendid and imposing. From the general to the private
+soldier, all were filled with high hopes of a successful campaign. In
+front, the Indians, painted and decked out for war, skimmed the lake in
+their light canoes. Next came the barges containing Frazer's corps,
+marshalled in one regular line, with gunboats flanking it on each side;
+next, the Royal George and Inflexible frigates, with other armed vessels
+forming the fleet. Behind this strong escort, the main body, with the
+generals, followed in close order; and, last of all, came the camp
+followers, of whom there were far too many for the nature of the service
+in hand.
+
+In the distance the American watch-boats saw this gallant array bearing
+down upon them, in the confidence of its power. Hastening back to
+Ticonderoga, the word was passed along the lines to prepare for battle.
+
+For the Mohawk Valley expedition, St. Leger, who led it, took with him
+about seven hundred regular troops, two hundred loyalists, and eight
+guns. At Oswego, seven hundred Indians of the Six Nations joined him.
+With these, St. Leger started in July for Fort Stanwix, which barred
+his way to the Hudson, just as Ticonderoga blocked Burgoyne's advance on
+the side of Lake Champlain.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[15] SOLDIERS WERE HIRED from the petty German princes for the American
+war. The Americans called them all Hessians, because some came from the
+principality of Hesse. George III. also tried to hire twenty thousand
+Russians of Empress Catharine, but she gave him to understand that her
+soldiers would be better employed. There was good material among the
+Germans, many of whom had served with credit under the Great Frederick;
+but the British showed them little favor as comrades, while the
+Americans looked upon them as paid assassins. Not one in twenty knew any
+English, so that misconception of orders was not unfrequent, though
+orders were usually transmitted from headquarters in French. A jealousy
+also grew up out of the belief that Burgoyne gave the Germans the
+hardest duty, and the British the most praise. At Hubbardton, and on the
+19th of September, the Germans saved him from defeat, yet he
+ungenerously, we think, lays the disaster of October 7th chiefly at
+their door.
+
+[16] INDIANS AND IRREGULARS. It is impossible to give the number of
+these accurately, as it was constantly fluctuating. Though Burgoyne
+started with only four hundred Indians, the number was increased by five
+hundred at Skenesborough, and he was later joined by some of the Mohawks
+from St. Leger's force. In like manner, his two hundred and fifty
+Canadians and Provincials had grown to more than six hundred of the
+latter before he left Skenesborough. Most of these recruits came from
+the Vermont settlements. They were put to work clearing the roads,
+scouting, getting forward the supplies, collecting cattle, etc. Their
+knowledge of the country was greatly serviceable to Burgoyne. In the
+returns given of Burgoyne's _regular troops_, only the rank and file are
+accounted for. Staff and line officers would swell the number
+considerably.
+
+
+
+
+III.
+
+THE FALL OF TICONDEROGA.
+
+(_July 5, 1777._)
+
+
+A hundred years ago, the shores of Lake Champlain were for the most part
+a wilderness. What few settlements did exist were mostly grouped about
+the southeast corner of the lake, into which emigration had naturally
+flowed from the older New England States. And even these were but feeble
+plantations,[17] separated from the Connecticut valley by lofty
+mountains, over which one rough road led the way.
+
+Burgoyne's companions in arms have told us of the herds of red deer seen
+quietly browsing on the hillsides; of the flocks of pigeons, darkening
+the air in their flight; and of the store of pike, bass, and maskelonge
+with which the waters of the lake abounded. At one encampment the
+soldiers lived a whole day on the pigeons they had knocked off the trees
+with poles. So the passage of the lake must have seemed more like a
+pleasure trip to them than the prelude to a warlike campaign.
+
+In his way up the lake, Burgoyne landed at the River Bouquet, on the
+west shore, where for some days the army rested.
+
+To this rendezvous, large numbers of Indians had come to join the
+expedition. It was indispensable to observe the customs which had always
+prevailed among these peoples when going to war. So Burgoyne made them a
+speech, gave them a feast, and witnessed the wild antics of their war
+dance.
+
+He forbade their scalping the wounded, or destroying women and children.
+They listened attentively to his words, and promised obedience; but
+these commands were so flatly opposed to all their philosophy of war,
+which required the extinction of every human feeling, that Burgoyne
+might as well have bidden the waters of the lake flow backward, as
+expect an Indian not to use his scalping-knife whenever an enemy lay at
+his mercy.
+
+Still, it is to Burgoyne's credit that he tried to check the ferocity of
+these savages, and we would also charitably believe him at least half
+ashamed of having to employ them at all, when he saw them brandishing
+their tomahawks over the heads of imaginary victims; beheld them
+twisting their bodies about in hideous contortions, in mimicry of
+tortured prisoners; or heard them howling, like wild beasts, their cry
+of triumph when the scalp is torn from an enemy's head.
+
+While thus drawing the sword with one hand, Burgoyne took his pen in the
+other. He drew up a paper which his Tory agents were directed to scatter
+among the people of Vermont, many of whom, he was assured, were at heart
+loyal to the king. These he invited to join his standard, or offered its
+protection to all who should remain neutral. All were warned against
+driving off their cattle, hiding their corn, or breaking down the
+bridges in his way. Should they dare disobey, he threatened to let loose
+his horde of savages upon them. Such a departure from the rules of
+honorable warfare would have justified the Americans in declaring no
+quarter to the invaders.
+
+Well aware that he would not conquer the Americans with threats,
+Burgoyne now gave the order to his army to go forward. His view of what
+lay before him might be thus expressed: The enemy will, probably, fight
+at Ticonderoga. Of course I shall beat them. I will give them no time to
+rally. When they hear St. Leger is in the valley, their panic will be
+completed. We shall have a little promenade of eight days, to Albany.
+
+On June 29 the army was near Ticonderoga. This day Burgoyne made a
+stirring address to his soldiers, in which he gave out the memorable
+watchword, "_This army must not retreat._"
+
+The next day, Frazer's corps landed in full view of the fortress. The
+rest of the army was posted on both sides of the lake, which is nowhere
+wider than a river as the fortress is approached. The fleet kept the
+middle of the channel. With drums beating and bugles sounding, the
+different battalions took up their allotted stations in the woods
+bordering upon the lake. When night fell, the watch-fires of the
+besiegers' camps made red the waters that flowed past them. But as yet
+no hostile gun boomed from the ramparts of Ticonderoga.
+
+What was going on behind those grim walls which frowned defiance upon
+the invaders? General Gates was no longer there to direct. General St.
+Clair[18] was now in command of perhaps four thousand effective men,
+with whom, nevertheless, he hoped to defend his miles of intrenchments
+against the assaults of twice his own numbers. His real weakness lay in
+not knowing what point Burgoyne would choose for attack, and he had been
+strangely delinquent in not calling for reënforcements until the enemy
+was almost at the gates of the fortress itself.
+
+Burgoyne knew better than to heedlessly rush upon the lines that had
+proved Abercromby's destruction.[19] He knew they were too strong to be
+carried without great bloodshed, and meant first to invest the fortress,
+and after cutting off access to it on all sides, then lay siege to it in
+regular form.
+
+[Sidenote: July 2, Mount Hope seized.]
+
+To this end, Frazer's corps was moved up to within cannon-shot of the
+works. His scouts soon found a way leading through old paths,[20] quite
+round the rear of the fortress, to the outlet of Lake George. This was
+promptly seized. After a little skirmishing, the enemy planted
+themselves firmly, on some high ground rising behind the old French
+lines, on this side; thus making themselves masters of the communication
+with Lake George, and enclosing the fortress on the rear or land side.
+While this was going on, on the west shore, Riedesel's Germans were
+moved up still nearer Mount Independence, on the Vermont shore, thus
+investing Ticonderoga on three sides.
+
+A more enterprising general would never have permitted his enemy to
+seize his communications with Lake George, without making a struggle
+for their possession, but St. Clair appears to have thought his forces
+unequal to the attempt, and it was not made. The disaster which followed
+was but the natural result.
+
+[Illustration: THE INVESTMENT OF TICONDEROGA.
+
+[_Pen and ink sketch by a British officer._]
+
+A-B, Ticonderoga. C-D-E, Mount Independence. F, Barracks. G, Mount
+Defiance. H, Bridge joining the fortress proper with Mount Independence.
+I, American Fleet. K, Outlet of Lake George. O, British Fleet. P,
+Three-Mile Point. Q, First Landing Place of Burgoyne. R, The Germans.
+T-U, Position taken on Mount Hope. W, Second Position of same Troops at
+U. Z, Portage to Lake George.]
+
+[Sidenote: Mount Defiance occupied.]
+
+Just across the basin formed by the widening of the outlet of Lake
+George, a steep-sided mountain rises high above all the surrounding
+region. Its summit not only looks down upon the fortress, in every part,
+but over all its approaches by land or water. Not a man could march
+without being distinctly seen from this mountain. Yet, to-day, the eye
+measures its forest-shagged sides, in doubt if they can be scaled by
+human feet. Indeed, its ascent was so difficult that the Americans had
+neglected to occupy it at all. This is Mount Defiance, the most
+commanding object for miles around.
+
+[Sidenote: July 5.]
+
+Burgoyne's engineers could not help seeing that if artillery could be
+got to the top of this mountain, Ticonderoga was doomed. They
+reconnoitred it. Though difficult, they said it might be done. St.
+Clair's timidity having given them the way to it, the British instantly
+began moving men and guns round the rear of the fortress, and cutting a
+road up the mountain-side. The work was pushed forward day and night. It
+took most of the oxen belonging to the army to drag two twelve-pounders
+up the steep ascent, but when they were once planted on the summit,
+Ticonderoga lay at the mercy of the besiegers.
+
+[Sidenote: July 6.]
+
+When St. Clair saw the enemy getting ready to cannonade him from Mount
+Defiance, he at once gave orders to evacuate the fortress[21] under
+cover of the night. Most of the garrison retreated over the bridge
+leading to Mount Independence, and thence by the road to Hubbardton.
+What could be saved of the baggage and army stores was sent off to
+Skenesborough, by water. Hurry and confusion were everywhere, for it was
+not doubted that the enemy would be upon them as soon as daylight should
+discover the fortress abandoned. This happened at an early hour of the
+morning. The British instantly marched into the deserted works, without
+meeting with the least resistance. Ticonderoga's hundred cannon were
+silent under the menace of two. Burgoyne was now free to march his
+victorious battalions to the east, the west, or the south, whenever he
+should give the order.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[17] FEEBLE PLANTATIONS. No permanent settlements were begun west of the
+Green Mountains till after the conquest of Canada. After that, the
+report of soldiers who had passed over the military road from
+Charlestown on the Connecticut River, to Crown Point, brought a swarm of
+settlers into what is now Bennington County. Settlement began in Rutland
+County in 1771.
+
+[18] GENERAL ARTHUR ST. CLAIR, of Scotch birth, had been a lieutenant
+with Wolfe at Quebec; he resigned and settled in Pennsylvania; served
+with our army in Canada; made brigadier, August, 1776; major-general,
+February, 1777.
+
+[19] ABERCROMBY lost two thousand men in assaulting these lines in 1758.
+Since then they had been greatly strengthened.
+
+[20] THROUGH OLD PATHS. The Indians had passed this way centuries before
+the fortress was thought of.
+
+[21] ST. CLAIR seems to have waited just long enough for the defence to
+become difficult, to admit its impossibility. He chose the part of
+safety rather than that of glory.
+
+
+
+
+IV.
+
+HUBBARDTON.
+
+(_July 7, 1777._)
+
+
+Not doubting he would find Skenesborough still in our possession, St.
+Clair was pushing for that place with all possible speed. He expected to
+get there by land, before the enemy could do so by water; then, after
+gathering up the men and stores saved from Ticonderoga, St. Clair meant
+to fall back toward Fort Edward, where General Schuyler,[22] his
+superior officer, lay with two thousand men.
+
+This was plainly St Clair's true course. Indeed, there was nothing else
+for him to do, unless he decided to abandon the direct route to Albany
+altogether. So St. Clair did what a good general should. He resolved to
+throw himself between Burgoyne and Schuyler, whose force, joined to his
+own, would thus be able, even if not strong enough to risk a battle, at
+least to keep up a bold front toward the enemy.
+
+Though Burgoyne really knew nothing about Schuyler's force, he was
+keenly alive to the importance of cutting off the garrison of
+Ticonderoga from its line of retreat, and, if possible, of striking it a
+disabling blow before it could take up a new position. St. Clair counted
+on stealing a march before his retreat could be interfered with. He
+also depended on the strength of the obstructions at the bridge[23] of
+Ticonderoga to delay the enemy's fleet until his own could get safely to
+Skenesborough. In both expectations, St. Clair was disappointed.
+
+[Sidenote: July 6.]
+
+In the first place, Burgoyne had sent Frazer out in pursuit of him, as
+soon as the evacuation was discovered; in the second, Burgoyne's
+gunboats had hewed their way through the obstructions by nine in the
+morning, and were presently crowding all sail after the American
+flotilla, under command of Burgoyne himself.
+
+Riedesel's camp, we remember, lay on the Vermont side, and so nearest to
+Mount Independence, and St. Clair's line of retreat. Burgoyne,
+therefore, ordered Riedesel to fall in behind Frazer, who had just
+marched, and give that officer any support he might be in want of.
+
+Thus, most of the hostile forces were in active movement, either by land
+or water, at an early hour of the sixth. Let us first follow Frazer, in
+his effort to strike the American rear.
+
+Frazer had with him eight hundred and fifty men of his own corps. He
+pushed on so eagerly that the slow-moving Germans were far in the rear
+when the British halted for the night, near Hubbardton. The day had been
+sultry, the march fatiguing. Frazer's men threw themselves on the
+ground, and slept on their arms.
+
+St. Clair had reached Hubbardton the same afternoon, in great disorder.
+He halted only long enough for the rearguard to come up, and then
+hastened on, six miles farther, to Castleton, leaving Warner,[24] with
+three regiments, to cover his retreat. Instead of keeping within
+supporting distance of the main body, Warner foolishly decided to halt
+for the night where he was, because his men were tired, thus putting a
+gap of six miles between his commander and himself.
+
+Warner did not neglect, however, to fell some trees in front of his
+camp, and this simple precaution, perhaps, proved the salvation of his
+command the next day.
+
+[Sidenote: July 7.]
+
+At five in the morning, Frazer's scouts fell upon Warner's pickets while
+they were cooking their breakfasts, unsuspicious of danger. The surprise
+was complete. With their usual dash, Frazer's men rushed on to the
+assault, but soon found themselves entangled among the felled trees and
+brushwood, behind which the Americans were hurriedly endeavoring to
+form. At the moment of attack, one regiment made a shameful retreat. The
+rest were rallied by Warner and Francis,[25] behind trees, in copses, or
+wherever a vantage-ground could be had. As the combat took place in the
+woods, the British were forced to adopt the same tactics. Musket and
+rifle were soon doing deadly work in their ranks, every foot of ground
+was obstinately disputed, and when they thought the battle already won
+they found the Americans had only just begun to fight.
+
+For three hours, eight hundred men maintained a gallant and stubborn
+fight against the picked soldiers of Burgoyne's army, each side being
+repeatedly driven from its ground without gaining decided advantage over
+the other. Nor would Frazer have gained the day, as he at length did,
+but for the timely arrival of the Germans. Indeed, at the moment when
+the British were really beaten and ready to give way, the sound of many
+voices, singing aloud, rose above the din of battle, and near at hand.
+At first neither of the combatants knew what such strange sounds could
+mean. It was Riedesel's Germans advancing to the attack, chanting battle
+hymns to the fierce refrain of the musketry and the loud shouts of the
+combatants. Fifty fresh men would have turned the scale to either side.
+This reënforcement, therefore, decided the day. Being now greatly
+outnumbered, the Americans scattered in the woods around them.
+
+Although a defeat, this spirited little battle was every way honorable
+to the Americans, who fought on until all hope of relief had vanished. A
+single company would have turned defeat into victory, when to the
+British, defeat in the woods, thirty miles from help, meant destruction.
+Even as it was, they did not know what to do with the victory they had
+just won, with the loss of two hundred men, killed and wounded,
+seventeen of whom were officers. They had neither shelter nor medicines
+for the wounded, nor provisions for themselves. The battle had exhausted
+their ammunition, and every moment was expected to bring another swarm
+of foes about their ears.
+
+The Americans had three hundred men killed and wounded, and many
+taken. The brave Colonel Francis, who had so admirably conducted the
+retreat from Ticonderoga, was killed while rallying his men. Seldom has
+a battle shown more determined obstinacy in the combatants, seldom has
+one been more bloody for the numbers engaged.
+
+[Illustration: ST. CLAIR'S RETREAT--BURGOYNE'S ADVANCE ON FORT EDWARD.]
+
+While Frazer was thus driving St. Clair's rearguard before him on the
+left, the British were giving chase to the American flotilla on the
+lake. This had hardly reached Skenesborough, encumbered with the sick,
+the baggage, and the stores, when the British gunboats came up with, and
+furiously attacked, it. Our vessels could not be cleared for action or
+make effective resistance. After making what defence they could, they
+were abandoned, and blown up by their crews. Skenesborough was then set
+on fire, the Americans making good their retreat to Fort Anne,[26] with
+the loss of all their stores.
+
+St. Clair heard of Warner's defeat and of the taking of Skenesborough
+almost at the same hour. His first plan had wholly miscarried. His
+soldiers were angry and insubordinate, half his available force had been
+scattered at Hubbardton, his supplies were gone, his line of retreat in
+the enemy's hands. Finding himself thus cut off from the direct route to
+Fort Edward, he now marched to join Schuyler by way of Rutland,
+Manchester, and Bennington. This he succeeded in doing on the twelfth,
+with about half the men he had led from Ticonderoga. Warner, too,
+brought off the shattered remnant of his command to Bennington.
+
+On his part, Schuyler had promptly sent a reënforcement to Fort Anne, to
+protect St. Clair's retreat, as soon as he knew of it. These troops soon
+found other work on their hands than that cut out for them.
+
+[Sidenote: July 7.]
+
+Burgoyne was determined to give the Americans no time either to rally,
+or again unite their scattered bands in his front. Without delay, one
+regiment was pushed forward to Fort Anne, on the heels of the fugitives
+who had just left Skenesborough in flames. When this battalion reached
+the fort, instead of waiting to be attacked, the Americans sallied out
+upon it with spirit, and were driving it before them in full retreat,
+when the yells of some Indians, who were lurking in the neighboring
+woods, spread such a panic among the victors that they gave up the
+fight, set fire to Fort Anne, and retreated to Fort Edward with no enemy
+pursuing them. The defeated British then fell back to Skenesborough, so
+that each detachment may be said to have run away from the other.
+
+General Burgoyne had much reason to be elated with his success thus far.
+In one short week he had taken Ticonderoga, with more than one hundred
+cannon; had scattered the garrison right and left; had captured or
+destroyed a prodigious quantity of warlike stores, the loss of which
+distressed the Americans long after; had annihilated their naval
+armament on the lake, and had sown dismay among the neighboring colonies
+broadcast. It was even a question whether there was any longer a force
+in his front capable of offering the least resistance to his march.
+
+[Illustration: BLOCK HOUSE, FORT ANNE.]
+
+With these exploits, the first stage of the invasion may be said to have
+ended. If ever a man had been favored by fortune, Burgoyne was that man.
+The next stage must show him in a very different light, as the fool of
+fortune, whose favors he neither knew how to deserve when offered him,
+nor how to compel when withheld.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[22] GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER, one of the four major-generals first
+created by Congress, June, 1775. Had seen some service in the French
+War; was given command of the Northern Department, including
+Ticonderoga, Crown Point, Fort Stanwix, etc., February, 1777, as the one
+man who could unite the people of New York against the enemy. Gates
+declined to serve under him.
+
+[23] OBSTRUCTIONS AT THE BRIDGE. The Americans had stretched a boom of
+logs, strongly chained together, across the strait.
+
+[24] SETH WARNER was on the way to Ticonderoga when he met St. Clair
+retreating. The rearguard, which Colonel Francis had previously
+commanded, was then increased, and put under Warner's orders.
+
+[25] COLONEL EBENEZER FRANCIS of Newton, Mass., colonel, 11th
+Massachusetts Regiment. His bravery was so conspicuous that the British
+thought he was in chief command of the Americans.
+
+[26] FORT ANNE, one of the minor posts built during the French War to
+protect the route from Albany to Lake Champlain. It consisted of a log
+blockhouse surrounded by a palisade. Boat navigation of Lake Champlain
+began here, fourteen miles from Skenesborough, by Wood Creek flowing
+into it.
+
+
+
+
+V.
+
+FACING DISASTER.
+
+
+One of Washington's most trusted generals said, and said truly, that it
+was only through misfortune that the Americans would rise to the
+character of a great people. Perhaps no event of the Revolution more
+signally verified the truth of this saying, than the fall of
+Ticonderoga.
+
+Let us see how this disaster was affecting the Northern States. In that
+section, stragglers and deserters were spreading exaggerated accounts of
+it on every side. In Vermont, the settlers living west of the mountains
+were now practically defenceless. Burgoyne's agents were undermining
+their loyalty; the fall of Ticonderoga had shaken it still more. Rather
+than abandon their farms, many no longer hesitated to put themselves
+under British protection. Hundreds, who were too patriotic to do this,
+fled over the mountains, spreading consternation as they went. From Lake
+Champlain to the New England coast, there was not a village which did
+not believe itself to be the especial object of Burgoyne's vengeance.
+Indeed, his name became a bugbear, to frighten unruly children with.
+
+Of those who had been with the army, many believed it their first duty
+to protect their families, and so went home. Numbers, who were on the
+way to Ticonderoga, turned back, on hearing that it was taken. To
+Burgoyne, these results were equal to a battle gained, since he was
+weakening the Americans, just as surely, in this way, with entire safety
+to himself.
+
+In despair, those settlers who stood faithful among the faithless,
+turned to their New Hampshire brethren. "If we are driven back, the
+invader will soon be at your doors," they said. "We are your buckler and
+shield. Our humble cabins are the bulwark of your happy firesides. But
+our hearts fail us. Help us or we perish!"
+
+Could Schuyler do nothing for these suffering people? To let them be
+ruined and driven out was not only bad policy, but worse strategy. He
+knew that Burgoyne must regard these settlements with foreboding, as the
+home of a hostile and brave yeomanry, whose presence was a constant
+threat to him. To maintain them, then, was an act of simplest wisdom.
+Schuyler could ill spare a single soldier, yet it was necessary to do
+something, and that quickly, for all New England was in a tumult, and
+Burgoyne said to be marching all ways at once. What wonder, since
+Washington himself believed New England to be the threatened point![27]
+
+Warner's regiment had been recruited among the Green Mountain Boys of
+this very section. Schuyler posted what was left of it at Manchester, to
+be at once a rallying-point for the settlers, a menace to the loyalists,
+and a defence against Burgoyne's predatory bands, who were already
+spreading themselves out over the surrounding region. It was not much,
+but it was something.
+
+From New Hampshire, the panic quickly spread into Massachusetts, and
+throughout all New England. As usually happens, the loss of Ticonderoga
+was laid at the door of the generals in chief command. Many accused St.
+Clair of treacherous dealing. Everywhere, people were filled with wrath
+and astonishment. "The fortress has been sold!" they cried. Some of the
+officers, who had been present, wrote home that the place could have
+held out against Burgoyne for weeks, or until help could have arrived.
+This was sure to find ready believers, and so added to the volume of
+denunciation cast upon the head of the unlucky St. Clair.
+
+But these passionate outbursts of feeling were soon quenched by the
+necessity all saw for prompt action. Once passion and prejudice had
+burned out, our people nobly rose to the demands of the situation. But
+confidence in the generals of the Northern army was gone forever. The
+men of New England would not sit long in the shadow of defeat, but they
+said they would no more be sacrificed to the incompetency of leaders who
+had been tried and found wanting. Congress had to pay heed to this
+feeling. Washington had to admit the force of it, because he knew that
+New England must be chiefly looked to in this crisis, to make head
+against Burgoyne. If she failed, all else would fail.
+
+[Sidenote: P. Van Cortlandt's letters.]
+
+If we turn now to New York, what do we see? Five counties in the enemy's
+hands. Three more, so divided against themselves as to be without order
+or government. Of the remaining six, the resources of Orange, Ulster,
+and Dutchess were already heavily taxed with the duty of defending the
+passes of the Hudson; Westchester was being overrun by the enemy, at
+will; only Tryon and Albany remained, and in Tryon, every able-bodied
+citizen, not a loyalist, was arming to repel the invasion of St. Leger,
+now imminent.
+
+We have thus briefly glanced at the dangers resulting from the fall of
+Ticonderoga, at the resources of the sections which Burgoyne was now
+threatening to lay waste with fire and sword, and at the attitude of the
+people toward those generals who had so grievously disappointed them in
+the conduct of the campaign, up to this time.
+
+[Sidenote: John Marshall.]
+
+In the words of one distinguished writer, "The evacuation of Ticonderoga
+was a shock for which no part of the United States was prepared." In the
+language of another, "No event throughout the whole war produced such
+consternation, nothing could have been more unexpected."
+
+It was not so much the loss of the fortress itself,--as costly as it was
+to the impoverished colonies, that could have been borne,--but the
+people had been led to believe, and did believe, it was next to
+impregnable; nor could they understand why those who had been intrusted
+with its defence should have fled without striking a blow, or calling
+for assistance until too late.
+
+Congress immediately ordered all the generals of the Northern army[28]
+to Philadelphia, in order that their conduct might be looked into. John
+Adams hotly declared that they would never be able to defend a post
+until they shot a general. But Washington, always greatest in defeat,
+hastened to show how such a step was doubly dangerous to an army when
+fronting its enemy, and wisely procured its suspension for the present.
+He first set himself to work to soothe Schuyler's wounded pride, while
+stimulating him to greater activity. "We should never despair," he nobly
+said. And again: "If new difficulties arise, we must only put forth new
+exertions. I yet look forward to a happy change." It was indeed
+fortunate that one so stout of heart, with so steady a hand, so firm in
+the belief of final triumph, so calm in the hour of greatest danger,
+should have guided the destinies of the infant nation at this trying
+hour.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[27] THE THREATENED POINT. Baffled in his purpose of taking Philadelphia
+by Washington's success at Trenton, Sir William Howe had decided on
+making another attempt; but his manoeuvres led Washington to believe
+Howe was going to Newport, R.I., with the view of overrunning
+Massachusetts. See Note 3, "Plan of Campaign" (p. 32).
+
+[28] GENERALS OF THE NORTHERN ARMY. Schuyler and St. Clair were chiefly
+inculpated. Brigadiers Poor, Patterson, and De Fermoy, who were with St.
+Clair at Ticonderoga, were included in the order. All had agreed in the
+necessity for the evacuation, and all came in for a share of the public
+censure. Poor and Patterson nobly redeemed themselves in the later
+operations against Burgoyne.
+
+
+
+
+VI.
+
+THE MARCH TO FORT EDWARD.[29]
+
+
+It is a well-known maxim of war, that the general who makes the fewest
+mistakes will come off conqueror.
+
+In his haste to crush the Americans before they could combine against
+him, Burgoyne had overshot his mark. His troops were now so widely
+scattered that he could not stir until they were again collected. By the
+combats of Hubbardton and Fort Anne, nothing material had been gained,
+since St. Clair was at Fort Edward by the time Frazer got to
+Skenesborough, and the Americans had returned to Fort Anne as soon as
+the British left the neighborhood.
+
+After the battle of Hubbardton, Riedesel was posted at Castleton, in
+order to create the impression that the British army was moving into New
+England. By this bit of strategy, Burgoyne expected to keep back
+reënforcements from Schuyler. Riedesel's presence also gave much
+encouragement to the loyalists, who now joined Burgoyne in such numbers
+as to persuade him that a majority of the inhabitants were for the king.
+The information they gave, proved of vital consequence in determining
+Burgoyne's operations in the near future.
+
+Two routes were now open to Burgoyne. Contrary to sound judgment, he
+decided on marching to Fort Edward, by way of Fort Anne, instead of
+going back to Ticonderoga, making that his _dépôt_, and proceeding
+thence up Lake George to Fort Edward and the Hudson. Unquestionably, the
+latter route would have taken him to Albany, by the time he actually
+reached Fort Edward, and in much better condition to fight.
+
+Burgoyne had said he was afraid that going back to Ticonderoga would
+dispirit his soldiers. It could have been done in half the time required
+for bringing the supplies up to it at Skenesborough, to say nothing of
+the long and fatiguing marches saved by water carriage across Lake
+George.
+
+Be that as it may, from the moment Burgoyne decided in favor of the Fort
+Anne route, that moment the possession of Fort Anne became a necessity
+to him. Had he first attacked it with fifteen hundred men, instead of
+five hundred, he would have taken it; but even if he had occupied it
+after the fight of the eighth, the Americans would have been prevented
+from blocking his way, as they subsequently did with so much effect. In
+Burgoyne's case, delays were most dangerous. It seems only too plain,
+that he was the sort of general who would rather commit two errors than
+retract one.
+
+Let us see what Burgoyne's chosen route offered of advantage or
+disadvantage. The distance by it to Fort Edward is only twenty-six
+miles. By a good road, in easy marches, an army should be there in two
+days; in an exigency, in one. It was mostly a wilderness country,
+and, though generally level, much of it was a bog, which could only be
+made passable by laying down a corduroy road. There were miles of such
+road to be repaired or built before wagons or artillery could be dragged
+over it. Indeed, a worse country to march through can hardly be
+imagined. On the other hand, of this twenty-six miles, Wood Creek, a
+tributary of Lake Champlain, afforded boat navigation for nine or ten,
+or as far as Fort Anne, for the artillery, stores, and baggage.
+
+[Illustration: OLD FORT EDWARD.
+
+A, Magazine. B, Barracks. C, Storehouse. D, Hospital.]
+
+But while Burgoyne was getting his scattered forces again in hand, and
+was bringing everything up the lake to Skenesborough, the garrison of
+Fort Edward had been spreading themselves out over the road he meant to
+take, and were putting every obstacle in his way that ingenuity could
+devise or experience suggest. Hundreds of trees were felled across the
+road. The navigation of Wood Creek was similarly interrupted. Those
+trees growing on its banks were dexterously dropped so as to interlock
+their branches in mid-stream. Farms were deserted. All the live-stock
+was driven out of reach, to the end that the country itself might offer
+the most effectual resistance to Burgoyne's march.
+
+Burgoyne could not move until his working parties had cleared the way,
+in whole or in part. From this cause alone, he was detained more than a
+week at Skenesborough. This delay was as precious to the Americans as it
+was vexatious to Burgoyne, since it gave them time to bring up
+reënforcements, form magazines, and prepare for the approaching
+struggle, while the enemy's difficulties multiplied with every mile he
+advanced.
+
+[Sidenote: July 25.]
+
+At length the British army left Skenesborough. It took two days to reach
+Fort Anne, and five to arrive at Fort Edward, where it halted to allow
+the heavy artillery, sent by way of Lake George, to join it; give time
+to bring up its supplies of food and ammunition, without which the army
+was helpless to move farther on; and, meanwhile, permit the general to
+put in execution a scheme by which he expected to get a supply of
+cattle, horses, carts, and forage, of all of which he was in pressing
+want.
+
+Still another body of savages joined Burgoyne at Fort Edward. Better for
+him had they staid in their native wilds, for he presently found himself
+equally powerless to control their thirst for blood, or greed for
+plunder.
+
+[Sidenote: July 21.]
+
+Not yet feeling himself strong enough to risk a battle, Schuyler decided
+to evacuate Fort Edward on the enemy's approach. He first called in to
+him the garrison at Fort George. Nixon's brigade, which had just been
+obstructing the road from Fort Anne, was also called back. All told,
+Schuyler now had only about four thousand men. With these he fell back;
+first, to Moses's Creek, then to Saratoga, then to Stillwater.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[29] FORT EDWARD, a link in the chain of forts extending between Canada
+and the Hudson,--first called Fort Lyman, for Colonel Phineas Lyman, who
+built it in 1755,--stood at the elbow of the Hudson, where the river
+turns west, after approaching within sixteen miles of Lake George, to
+which point there was a good military road. The fort itself was only a
+redoubt of timber and earth, surrounded by a stockade, and having a
+casern, or barrack, inside, capable of accommodating two hundred
+soldiers. It was an important military position, because this was the
+old portage, or carrying-place, from the Hudson to Lake George, though
+the fort was no great matter.
+
+
+
+
+VII.
+
+BEFORE BENNINGTON.
+
+
+[Sidenote: Frazer advances.]
+
+On the 9th of August, Frazer's corps moved down to Duer's house, seven
+miles from Fort Edward, and seven from Saratoga. This was done to cover
+the expedition Burgoyne had planned; first, to confirm the belief that
+he was about to fall on New England, and, next, for supplying his army
+with horses, cattle, carts, provisions, forage--everything, in short, of
+which he stood in want. Both objects would be gained at once, since fear
+of the first would make easy the second.
+
+[Sidenote: Real object of the Bennington raid.]
+
+Burgoyne ached to strike a blow at New England. The successes he had
+just met with tempted him on toward his wishes; yet he dared not go too
+far, because the king's orders forbade his turning aside from his main
+object, to march into New England, as he himself had asked for
+discretionary power to do, when laying his plan before the ministers.
+Still, as New England was to be the final object of the campaign,
+Burgoyne was impatient to set about humbling her in good earnest. Events
+were working so favorably for him, that he now saw his chance to go at
+least half way toward his desires. So the expedition to Bennington was
+certainly far from being the effect of any sudden decision on
+Burgoyne's part, or wholly due to the pressing want of supplies. It
+would, we think, have been undertaken in any event.
+
+On the other hand, the victualling of his army was the one obstacle to
+Burgoyne's advance to Albany. So long as every pound of bread and meat
+had to be brought from Quebec to Skenesborough, and from Skenesborough
+to his camp, the farther the army marched, the greater the difficulty of
+feeding it became. It was now living from hand to mouth, so to speak.
+Nobody but Tories would sell it a pound of beef or an ear of corn. What
+gold could not buy, Burgoyne determined to take by force. If enough
+could be gleaned, in this way, from the country round, he could march
+on; if not, he must halt where he was, until sufficient could be brought
+up over a road every day growing longer and more dangerous. Burgoyne
+would never submit to the last alternative without trying the first.
+
+For the moment then, the problem, how to feed his army so as to put it
+in motion with the least possible delay, was all-important with General
+Burgoyne. The oldest, and most populous, of the Vermont settlements lay
+within striking distance on his left. He knew that rebel flour was
+stored in Bennington. He had been told that half the farmers were loyal
+at heart, and that the other half would never wait for the coming of
+British veterans. Burgoyne was puffed up with the notion that he was
+going to conjure the demon of rebellion with the magic of his name.
+Already he saw himself not only a conqueror, but lawgiver to the
+conquered. On the whole, the plan seemed easy of accomplishment.
+Burgoyne was like a man starving in the midst of plenty. Supplies he
+must have. If they could be wrung from the enemy, so much the better.
+
+An expedition chiefly designed to rob barnyards, corn-cribs, and
+henroosts promised little glory to those engaged in it. This may have
+been the reason why Burgoyne chose to employ his Germans, who were
+always excellent foragers, rather than his British soldiers. Perhaps he
+thought the Germans would inspire most fear. Be that as it may, never
+did a general make a more costly mistake.[30]
+
+[Sidenote: Baum marches for Bennington.]
+
+The command was given to Colonel Baum, who, with about a thousand
+Germans, Indians, Canadians, and refugee loyalists, started out from
+camp on his maraud, on the eleventh, halted at Batten-Kill on the
+twelfth, and reached Cambridge on the thirteenth. He was furnished with
+Tory guides, who knew the country well, and with instructions looking to
+a long absence from the army.
+
+Burgoyne then began manoeuvring so as to mask Baum's movements from
+Schuyler.
+
+[Sidenote: Frazer crosses the Hudson.]
+
+Frazer was marched down to Batten-Kill, with his own and Breyman's
+corps. Leaving Breyman here to support either Baum or himself, in case
+of need, Frazer crossed the Hudson on the fourteenth, and encamped on
+the heights of Saratoga that night. The rest of the army moved on to
+Duer's, the same day. By thus threatening Schuyler with an advance in
+force, of which Frazer's crossing was conclusive proof, Burgoyne
+supposed Baum would be left to plunder at his leisure, but he seems to
+have thought little of the opposition which Baum, on his side, might
+meet with from the settlers themselves; though this too was provided
+against in Baum's orders, and by posting Breyman on Baum's line of
+march.
+
+[Illustration: POSITION OF BELLIGERENTS BEFORE BENNINGTON.]
+
+If Baum succeeded to his wishes, Burgoyne meant to throw the whole army
+across the Hudson immediately. Already Frazer was intrenching at
+Saratoga, with the view of protecting the crossing. Having now so placed
+his troops as to take instant advantage of Baum's success, of which he
+felt no manner of doubt, Burgoyne could only sit still till Baum should
+be heard from.
+
+Meanwhile, the New England militia were flocking to Manchester in
+squads, companies, or regiments. Washington had said they were the best
+yeomanry in the world, and they were about to prove their right to this
+title more decisively than ever. Ministers dismissed their congregations
+with the exhortation, "He that hath no sword, let him sell his garment,
+and buy one." Some clergymen even took a musket and went into the ranks.
+Apathy and the numbness that succeeds defeat were dissipated by these
+appeals and these examples.
+
+It was Washington's policy to keep a force on Burgoyne's flank, which
+might be used to break up his communications, cut off his provision
+trains, or otherwise so harass him as to delay his march. In General
+Lincoln[31] he found an officer, at once capable and brave, who had the
+confidence of the New England people. Lincoln was, therefore, sent to
+take command of the militia now mustering at Manchester.
+
+At the same time, New Hampshire called upon the veteran Stark[32] to
+lead her forces into the field. Stark had left the army in disgust,
+because Congress had promoted other officers over his head, not more
+worthy than himself. He was still smarting under the sense of wrong,
+when this command was offered him. He was like Achilles, sulking in his
+tent.
+
+Stark said that he asked nothing better than to fight, but insisted that
+he would do so only upon condition that the State troops should be
+exclusively under his orders. To agree to this would be practically an
+exercise of State sovereignty. But time pressed, Stark's name was a host
+in itself: it was thought best to give his wounded vanity this sop; for,
+by general consent, he was the only man for the crisis.
+
+[Sidenote: Aug. 6.]
+
+Lincoln found six hundred men assembled at Manchester, most of whom
+belonged to Stark's brigade. On the seventh, Stark himself arrived with
+eight hundred more. By Schuyler's order, Lincoln desired Stark to march
+them to the main army at once. Stark replied that, being in an
+independent command, he would take orders from nobody as to how or where
+he should move his troops.
+
+Though plainly subversive of all military rules, Stark's obstinacy
+proved Burgoyne's destruction; for if Schuyler had prevailed, there
+would never have been a battle of Bennington.
+
+Though undoubtedly perplexed by the situation in which he found himself
+placed, of antagonism to the regularly constituted military authority of
+the nation, Stark's future operations show excellent military judgment
+on his part. He was not going to abandon Schuyler, or leave Vermont
+uncovered; still less was he disposed to throw away the chance of
+striking Burgoyne by hanging on his flank, and of thus achieving
+something on his own account. Stark's sagacity was soon justified to the
+world.
+
+[Sidenote: Aug. 9.]
+
+He determined to march with part of his force to Bennington, twenty-five
+miles south of Manchester, and about the same distance from Stillwater.
+In this position he would easily be able to carry out either of the
+objects he had in view, assist Schuyler, cover Bennington, or get in a
+telling blow somewhere, when least expected.
+
+Burgoyne's expectation of surprising Bennington was thus completely
+frustrated.
+
+[Sidenote: Aug. 14.]
+
+Baum learned at Cambridge that the Americans were at Bennington, to the
+number of eighteen hundred. He immediately wrote Burgoyne to this
+effect. On the next day, he marched to Sancoic, a mill-stream falling
+into the Walloomsac River in North Hoosac, and after again writing
+Burgoyne, confirming the account he had previously sent about the force
+in his front, moved on toward Bennington, under the impression that the
+Americans would not wait to be attacked.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[30] A COSTLY MISTAKE to give the command to an officer who could not
+speak English; still another, to intrust an expedition in which celerity
+of movement was all-important, to soldiers loaded down with their
+equipments, as the Germans were, instead of to light troops. Colonel
+Skene went with Baum. See note 4, p. 18.
+
+[31] GENERAL BENJAMIN LINCOLN, born at Hingham, Mass., 1733. Made a
+major-general, February, 1777. Joined Schuyler, July 29, at Fort Miller,
+while our army was retreating; sent thence to Manchester. One of those
+captains who, while seldom successful, are yet considered brave and
+skilful commanders.
+
+[32] GENERAL JOHN STARK, born at Londonderry, N.H., 1728, had seen more
+active service than most officers of his time. He had fought with
+Abercromby at Ticonderoga, against Howe at Bunker Hill, and with
+Washington at Trenton. Notwithstanding this, he was passed over in
+making promotions, perhaps because he had less education than some
+others, who lacked his natural capacity for a military life. Congress
+first censured him for insubordination, and then voted him thanks, and
+promotion to a brigadiership for his victory over Baum.
+
+
+
+
+VIII.
+
+BATTLE OF BENNINGTON.[33]
+
+
+Burgoyne's movements convinced Schuyler that he would shortly be
+attacked by the whole British army, as Burgoyne had intended and
+foreseen. Schuyler therefore again urged Stark to come to his assistance
+without more delay, if he would not have the burden of defeat lie at his
+own door. This appeal took present effect.
+
+Nothing happened till the thirteenth. Meantime, Stark had decided to go
+to Schuyler's assistance. His brigade was under arms, ready to march,
+when a woman rode up in haste with the news that hostile Indians were
+running up and down the next town, spreading terror in their path. She
+had come herself, because the road was no longer safe for men to travel
+it. Stark quickly ordered out two hundred men to stop the supposed
+marauders, and gain further intelligence.
+
+This detachment soon sent back word that the Indians were only clearing
+the way for a larger force, which was marching toward Bennington. Swift
+couriers were instantly despatched to Manchester, to hurry forward the
+troops there to Stark's aid.
+
+[Sidenote: Aug. 14.]
+
+The next day Stark moved out toward the enemy, in order to look for his
+detachment. He soon fell in with it, fighting in retreat, with the enemy
+following close behind. Stark halted, formed his line, and gathered in
+his scouts. This defiance brought the enemy to a stand also.
+
+Seeing before him a force as strong as, or stronger than, his own, Baum
+was now looking about him for ground suitable to receive an attack upon;
+making one himself was farthest from his thoughts, as Burgoyne had given
+him express orders not to risk an engagement, if opposed by a superior
+force, but to intrench, and send back for help at once. This was
+precisely Baum's present situation. He therefore lost no time in sending
+a courier to headquarters.
+
+On his part, Stark did not wish to fight till Warner could come up, or
+delay fighting long enough for the enemy to be reënforced. Baum's
+evident desire to avoid an action made Stark all the more anxious to
+attack him, and he resolved to do so not later than the next morning, by
+which time he confidently reckoned on having Warner's regiment with him.
+Though small, it had fought bravely at Hubbardton, and Stark felt that
+his raw militia would be greatly strengthened by the presence of such
+veterans among them.
+
+[Sidenote: Aug. 15.]
+
+Rain frustrated Stark's plan for attacking the next day, so there was
+only a little skirmishing, in which the Americans had the advantage.
+Baum improved the delay by throwing up a redoubt of logs and earth on a
+rather high, flat-topped hill, rising behind the little Walloomsac
+River. In this he placed his two field-pieces. His Canadians and
+loyalists took up a position across and lower down the stream, in his
+front, the better to cover the road by which his reënforcements must
+come, or the Americans attempt to cut off his retreat. These
+dispositions were all that time, the size of his force, and the nature
+of the ground, would permit.
+
+[Illustration: BATTLE OF BENNINGTON.
+
+August 16, 1777.]
+
+Rain also kept back the reënforcements that each side was so impatiently
+expecting. Stark chafed at the delay, Baum grew more hopeful of holding
+out until help could reach him. Burgoyne had, indeed, despatched Breyman
+to Baum's assistance at eight o'clock in the morning, with eight hundred
+and fifty men and two guns. This corps was toiling on, through mud and
+rain, at the rate of only a mile an hour, when an hour, more or less,
+was to decide the fate of the expedition itself. The fatigue was so
+great, that when urged on to the relief of their comrades, the weary
+Germans would grumble out, "Oh, let us give them time to get warm!"
+
+Warner's regiment could not leave Manchester till the morning of the
+fifteenth, but by marching till midnight, it was near Bennington on the
+morning of the sixteenth. Breyman put so little energy into his
+movements that he was nowhere near Baum at that hour. Stark, however,
+was strengthened by the arrival of several hundred militia from
+Massachusetts, who came full of fight, and demanding to be led against
+the enemy without delay. Stark's reply was characteristic: "Do you want
+to go out now, while it is dark and rainy?" he asked. "No," the
+spokesman rejoined. "Then," continued Stark, "if the Lord should give us
+sunshine once more, and I do not give you fighting enough, I will never
+ask you to turn out again."
+
+[Sidenote: Aug. 16.]
+
+The day broke clear and pleasant. Both parties prepared for the coming
+battle. Stark had the most men, but Baum the advantage of fighting
+behind intrenchments, and of having artillery, while Stark had none.
+
+At midday, Stark formed his men for the attack. All were yeomanry, in
+homespun, rudely equipped with pouches and powder-horns, and armed with
+the old brown firelocks, without bayonets, they had brought from their
+homes. Some had served in the preceding campaign, but not one in fifty
+had ever fired a shot in anger; while many were mere lads, in whom
+enthusiasm for their leader and cause supplied the want of experience.
+The work now required of them was such as only veterans were thought
+capable of doing. They were to storm intrenchments, defended by the
+trained soldiers of Europe; yet not a man flinched when Stark, with a
+soldier's bluntness and fire, pointed his sword toward the enemy's
+redoubt and exclaimed, "There, my lads, are the Hessians! To-night our
+flag floats over yonder hill, or Molly Stark is a widow!"
+
+His men answered with loud cheers, grasped their weapons, and demanded
+to be led against the enemy. Stark then gave the wished-for order to
+march.
+
+Meanwhile, dismay reigned in Bennington. Every man who could load a
+musket had gone out to fight with Stark. Their household goods had been
+loaded upon wagons, ready to move off in case the day went against them.
+Their wives and little ones stood hand in hand along the village street,
+throughout that long summer afternoon, listening to the peal of cannon
+and musketry, in fear for those who had gone forth to the battle, and
+expecting the moment that was to make them homeless wanderers.
+
+The story of the battle is soon told. Stark so divided his force as to
+attack the enemy in front, flank, and rear, at once. The nature of the
+ground was such as to hide the march of the several detachments from
+Baum's view, but he had no other idea than to keep close in his
+intrenchments.
+
+At three in the afternoon, firing began in Baum's rear. This was the
+signal that the several attacking columns had reached their allotted
+stations. All the Americans then rushed on to the assault. Baum found
+himself everywhere assailed with unlooked-for vigor. Never had he
+expected to see raw rustics charging up to the muzzles of his guns. In
+vain he plied them with grape and musketry. The encircling line grew
+tighter and tighter; the fire, hotter and hotter. For an hour he
+defended himself valiantly, hoping for night or Breyman to come. At last
+his fire slackened. The Americans clambered over the breastworks, and
+poured into the redoubt. For a few moments there was sharp hand-to-hand
+fighting. The Germans threw down their muskets, drew their broadswords,
+and desperately attempted to cut their way out. Most of them were
+beaten back or taken. A few only escaped. The Tories and Canadians
+fared no better. The victory was complete and decisive.
+
+Now, at the eleventh hour, Breyman was marching on the field to the
+sound of the firing. He had taken thirty-two hours to get over
+twenty-four miles. Supposing the day won, Stark's men were scattered
+about in disorder. Not even Stark himself seems to have thought of a
+rescuing force. Some were guarding the prisoners, some caring for the
+wounded, and some gathering up the booty. All had yielded to the
+demoralization of victory, or to the temptation to plunder. Most
+opportunely, Warner's men now came fresh into the fight. This gallant
+little band flung itself boldly in the path of the advancing foe, thus
+giving Stark the time to rally those nearest him, and lead them into
+action again.
+
+At first Breyman gained ground. With steady tread his veterans fired and
+moved on, pushing the Americans back, toward the scene of the first
+encounter; but Baum was no longer there to assist, the scattered
+militiamen were fast closing in round Breyman's flanks, and Stark had
+now brought one of Baum's cannon to bear, with destructive effect, upon
+the head of the enemy's advancing column.
+
+In no long time the deadly fire, poured in on all sides, began to tell
+upon Breyman's solid battalions. Our marksmen harassed his flanks. His
+front was hard pressed, and there were no signs of Baum. Enraged by the
+thought of having victory torn from their grasp, the Americans gave
+ground foot by foot, and inch by inch. At last the combatants were
+firing in each other's faces; so close was the encounter, so deadly the
+strife, that Breyman's men were falling round him by scores, under the
+close and accurate aim of their assailants. Darkness was closing in. His
+artillery horses were shot down in their traces, his flanks driven in,
+his advance stopped.
+
+As soon as they perceived their advantage, the Americans redoubled their
+efforts. The firing grew tremendous. It was now Breyman who was forced
+back. Soon all order was lost. Favored by the darkness, he began a
+disorderly retreat. In an instant his guns were taken. Exhausted by
+fighting two battles in one afternoon, no longer able in the darkness to
+tell friend from foe, the Americans soon gave over the pursuit. But, for
+the second time, they stood victors on the hard-fought field. All felt
+it to be a narrow escape from defeat, for if Breyman had loitered by the
+way, he had fought like a lion in the toils of the hunter.
+
+Thus Washington's sagacity had been vindicated, Stark's insubordination
+nobly atoned for, Schuyler's worst fears set at rest, by the fortunes of
+a single day.
+
+Four cannon, one thousand stand of arms, and seven hundred prisoners,
+were the trophies of this victory. The enemy left two hundred of his
+dead on the field. Baum's corps was virtually destroyed, Breyman's badly
+cut up, Burgoyne's well-laid plans scattered to the winds.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[33] BATTLE OF BENNINGTON. Both actions actually occurred in the town of
+Hoosic, N.Y. (we cannot be held responsible for the absurd variations in
+spelling this name), though the troops were formed for the attack within
+the limits of Bennington, and Stark's despatch announcing his victory is
+dated at this place. A battle monument, designed to be three hundred and
+one feet high, is now being built on a commanding site at Bennington
+Centre, which is the old village. No more beautiful spot than this
+hill-environed valley, overlooked by Mount Anthony, could possibly
+commemorate to future centuries one of the decisive conflicts of the War
+for Independence.
+
+
+
+
+IX.
+
+AFTER BENNINGTON.
+
+
+Stark had, indeed, dealt Burgoyne a stunning blow. In a moment all his
+combinations were overthrown. Efforts were made to keep the disaster a
+secret from the army, but the movements made in consequence of it told
+the story but too plainly.
+
+[Sidenote: Aug. 17.]
+
+In the first place, the whole army was hurried up to Batten-Kill in
+order to cover Breyman's and Frazer's retreat,[34] for Frazer had been
+ordered to recross the Hudson at once. Frazer's position was most
+critical; his bridge had been broken by a freshet, and for one whole day
+he was cut off from the main army.
+
+[Sidenote: Aug. 18.]
+
+As soon as Breyman's worn-out men had straggled into camp, Burgoyne's
+fell back to Duer's again. Meantime, Frazer had repaired his bridge and
+hastily recrossed the Hudson. Riedesel's corps was sent back to Fort
+Edward. The whole army had thus made a retrograde movement in
+consequence of the defeat at Bennington, and now lay in _echelon_[35]
+from Fort Edward to Batten-Kill, in the camps it had occupied before the
+advance was begun; it had retreated upon its communications; it was put
+on the defensive.
+
+Burgoyne had now no choice left but to hold fast his communication with
+the lakes, and these could not be called safe while a victorious enemy
+was threatening his flank. From this time forward, he grew wary and
+circumspect. His councils began to be divided. The prestige of the army
+was lowered, confidence in its leaders visibly shaken. Even the soldiers
+began to grumble, criticise, and reflect. Burgoyne's vain boast that
+this army would not retreat, no longer met the conditions in which it
+stood. It had retreated.
+
+As if to prove the truth of the adage that misfortunes never come
+singly, most of Burgoyne's Indians now deserted him. So far from
+intimidating, their atrocities had served to arouse the Americans as
+nothing else could. As soldiers, they had usually run away at the first
+fire. As scouts, their minds were wholly fixed upon plundering. Burgoyne
+had sharply rebuked them for it. Ever sullen and intractable under
+restraint, their answer was at least explicit, "No plunder, no Indians;"
+and they were as good as their word.
+
+We find, then, that the battle of Bennington had cost Burgoyne not far
+from two thousand men, whether soldiers or Indians. More than this, it
+had thrown him back upon his second alternative, which, we remember, was
+to halt until supplies could be brought from Canada. This was easily
+equivalent to a month's delay. Thirty days of inaction were thus forced
+upon Burgoyne at a time when every one of them was worth five hundred
+men to the Americans. Such were some of the substantial results of the
+victory at Bennington.
+
+To the Americans, the moral and material gains were no less striking or
+important. At once confidence was restored. Men no longer hesitated to
+turn out, or feared for the result. A most hopeful sign was the alacrity
+with which the well-to-do farmers went into the ranks. There was general
+appreciation of the fact that Burgoyne had seriously compromised himself
+by advancing as far as he had; in short, the re-action was quite as
+decisive as that which had followed the victory at Trenton.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[34] BREYMAN'S RETREAT. The express from Baum arrived at headquarters at
+5 A.M. of the fifteenth. Orders were immediately given Breyman to march.
+News of Baum's defeat reached Burgoyne during the night of the
+sixteenth. The 20th regiment, British, was immediately marched to
+Breyman's support. Burgoyne's anxiety was so great, that he followed it
+until Breyman's corps was met on the road.
+
+[35] ECHELON, the French word for step-ladder, by adoption a universal
+military term, well describes the posting of troops, belonging to one
+army, at stated intervals apart, so as to be moved forward or backward
+step by step, always keeping the same relative distances between the
+separate bodies. In marking out such positions on the map, the columns
+would look like the rounds of a ladder, hence the term.
+
+
+
+
+X.
+
+ST. LEGER'S EXPEDITION.
+
+
+Burgoyne's hopes now chiefly turned upon the promised coöperation of St.
+Leger from Oswego, and of Sir William Howe from New York.
+
+[Sidenote: Refer to "Plan of Campaign."]
+
+Convinced that the enemy would shortly invade the Mohawk Valley,
+Schuyler had sent Colonel Gansevoort[36] to put Fort Stanwix,[37] the
+key to this valley, in a state of defence, before it should be attacked.
+
+[Illustration: ST. LEGER'S ROUTE TO FORT STANWIX.]
+
+St. Leger's force was the counterpart of Burgoyne's, in that it
+consisted of regular troops, loyalists, and Indians. Many of the
+loyalists, and most of the Indians, had lived in this valley, so that
+St. Leger had no want of guides, who knew every foot of ground, or of
+spies acquainted with the sentiments of every settler.
+
+[Sidenote: Aug. 3.]
+
+A scanty supply of provisions had just been brought into the fort when
+St. Leger's scouts opened fire upon it. The garrison shut the gates and
+returned the fire. Instead of finding Fort Stanwix defenceless, St.
+Leger was compelled to lay siege to it.
+
+The news of St. Leger's appearance in the valley roused the settlers in
+arms. Near a thousand men, all brave, but without discipline, promptly
+marched, under General Herkimer,[38] to the relief of Fort Stanwix.
+Gansevoort was notified, and was to aid the movement by making a sortie
+from the fort, at the proper moment.
+
+St. Leger's spies soon discovered Herkimer's men coming. All the
+rangers, and most of the Indians, went out to waylay them in the thick
+forests. Not far from Oriskany, Brant,[39] the Mohawk chief, and
+Johnson,[40] the loyalist leader, hid their men in a ravine, through
+which the Americans would have to pass, in a thin line, over a causeway
+of logs.
+
+[Sidenote: Aug. 6.]
+
+Meantime, the Americans were heedlessly pressing on, without order, to
+the rescue of their comrades. In their impatience, even ordinary
+precautions were neglected. When the van entered the ravine, a terrible
+fire mowed down the front ranks by scores; those in the rear fled in a
+panic from the field. It was downright butchery.
+
+After the firing had continued some time, those Americans whom panic had
+not seized, threw themselves into a posture of defence, and resolved to
+sell their lives dearly. Herkimer, their leader, had been struck down by
+a bullet, among the first; but, notwithstanding his wound was a
+disabling one, he continued to direct his men, and encourage them by his
+firm demeanor to fight on. In the face of overwhelming odds they
+gallantly stood their ground, until the enemy was alarmed by hearing
+firing in its rear, and drew off, leaving Herkimer's little band of
+heroes to retire unmolested from the field.
+
+The firing had been heard at Fort Stanwix, and the cause easily guessed.
+While the battle was raging at Oriskany, the garrison of the fort
+sallied out upon the besiegers' camps. They met with little opposition,
+as most of the defenders had gone out to fight Herkimer. The firing,
+however, had called off the savages from Herkimer, to the defence of
+their own camps. The sortie was gallantly made, and entirely successful;
+but the attack on Herkimer rendered it of so little avail, that the
+battle of Oriskany left Gansevoort hardly better off than before.
+
+Two hundred of Herkimer's men were killed. He, too, soon died of his
+wounds.
+
+Though this attempt to relieve Fort Stanwix had so signally failed,
+Schuyler was much too sensible of the importance of holding it, not to
+make another effort to raise the siege. He could ill afford to spare the
+troops necessary for the undertaking, since Burgoyne was now
+manoeuvring in his front; but the gravity of the situation could not
+be overlooked. He therefore sent Arnold, with Learned's brigade, to
+retrieve Herkimer's disaster in the valley.
+
+[Sidenote: Aug. 22.]
+
+Gansevoort was still holding out against St. Leger as stubbornly as
+ever. His situation was, however, growing desperate, when, one day,
+without apparent cause, the besiegers suddenly decamped in headlong
+haste, leaving their tents standing, their baggage in their tents, and
+their artillery in the trenches.
+
+This inglorious and unlooked-for flight was brought about by emissaries
+from Arnold, who spread the report among St. Leger's Indians, that the
+Americans were coming with forces as numerous as leaves on the trees.
+Arnold, whom no one will accuse of want of courage, was really undecided
+about advancing farther with his small force. His stratagem, however,
+took effect. Grown weary of the siege, the Indians now made no scruple
+of deserting their allies on the spot. In vain St. Leger stormed and
+entreated by turns; stay they would not. He therefore had no choice but
+to follow them, in mortification and disgust, back to Oswego. In the
+belief that Arnold was close upon them, everything was left behind that
+could impede the march. The siege was abandoned in disgrace, and Fort
+Stanwix saved by a simple stratagem.
+
+[Sidenote: Aug. 28.]
+
+Six days later, Burgoyne was informed of St. Leger's retreat. He had now
+no other resource than in the promised advance up the Hudson, and in the
+strength of his artillery. By acting in detachments, his immediate force
+had been so seriously weakened that a forward movement on his part,
+without full assurance of active support from New York, savored far
+more of recklessness than sound military judgment.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[36] COLONEL PETER GANSEVOORT, born at Albany, 1749, had fought with
+Montgomery at Quebec.
+
+[37] FORT STANWIX, also called Schuyler, built by General Stanwix of
+Abercromby's army in 1758.
+
+[38] GENERAL NICHOLAS HERKIMER, a leading settler of the Mohawk Valley.
+
+[39] JOSEPH BRANT, or Thayandanega, sometime pupil of Dr. Wheelock's
+school (since Dartmouth College), was by all odds the most active,
+intelligent, and implacable enemy to the Americans that the war produced
+among his people. With Johnson, he held most of the Six Nations at
+enmity with us during the Revolution. (See Note 5.)
+
+[40] SIR JOHN JOHNSON was the son of Sir William, who gained wealth and
+a title by his victory over Dieskau at Lake George, 1755. He was also
+the king's superintendent over the Six Nations, and had his residence at
+Caughnawaga, since called Johnstown in his honor. Sir John succeeded to
+his father's title and estates. He took sides with the Royalists, raised
+a body of Tory followers, and with them fled to Canada. Out of these
+refugees, he raised a corps of rangers called Royal Greens, with whom he
+joined St. Leger, in the hope of crushing out his enemies in the valley.
+
+
+
+
+XI.
+
+OUR ARMY ADVANCES.
+
+
+[Sidenote: Refer to Chapter V., "Facing Disaster."]
+
+[Sidenote: Aug. 4.]
+
+We remember that the united voice of the army and people had demanded
+the recall of those generals whose want of foresight or energy, or both,
+had caused the disasters with which the campaign had opened. Congress
+chose General Gates[41] to command in room of Schuyler, who, with St.
+Clair, was ordered to report at headquarters. With the methods of travel
+then in use, Gates was nearly two weeks in getting from Philadelphia to
+Albany. This fact will sufficiently illustrate the difficulties which
+attended the movement of reënforcements from one army to another, before
+the day of railways and steamboats.
+
+All that lay in the power of man to do, Washington had done for the
+Northern army. Though fronting an enemy greatly superior to himself, he
+had still found time to so direct operations in the North, that his hand
+may almost be said to have guided the course of events in that quarter.
+He had soothed Schuyler's wounded self-love, commended his efforts,
+strengthened his hands in the field, and nobly stood between him and his
+detractors in Congress. When Congress had suspended all the generals of
+the Northern army from command, it was Washington who interposed to
+save them and the army from the consequences of such blindness and
+folly. To Schuyler he had said, "Burgoyne is doing just what we could
+wish; let him but continue to scatter his army about, and his ruin is
+only a question of time." Schuyler urgently called for more troops.
+Brigade after brigade had gone from Washington's own army to swell
+Schuyler's ranks. "I care not where the victory is won, so we do but
+gain it," Washington said. Schuyler again pleaded his want of general
+officers. Washington sent him Arnold, the dare-devil of the army, and
+Lincoln, a man of sound head, steady hand, and even temper, as a
+counterpoise to Arnold's over-confident and impetuous nature. Thanks to
+these efforts, we had created a new army on the ruins of the old.
+
+Schuyler's deportment toward the Massachusetts authorities at this time
+was neither conciliatory nor conducive to the interests of the service.
+He knew their feelings of distrust toward him, and in making application
+to them for reënforcements showed his resentment in a way that called
+forth an acrimonious response. He upbraided them for their shortcomings;
+they entreated him to look nearer home. Thus we find General Schuyler
+and the Massachusetts Council engaged in an exchange of sarcasms at a
+time when the exigency called for something besides a war of words
+between the commander of an army and the executive head of a powerful
+State.
+
+[Sidenote: Aug. 19.]
+
+Gates took command just after the Battle of Bennington was won. He
+found the army in much disorder, but pleased with the change of
+commanders. Gates was a thorough disciplinarian and organizer. In his
+hands, the efficiency of the army daily increased. Old jealousies were
+silenced, and confidence restored. Letters from the soldiers show the
+change in temper and spirit to have been instant and marked. One of them
+says, "When we came to Albany, things looked very dark for our side, for
+there were officers in town who had left camp, and would not go back as
+long as Schuyler had the command. Both officers and soldiers were
+determined not to fight under him, and would tell him so to his head.
+But General Gates came to town, and then the tune was turned, and every
+face showed a merry heart."
+
+The hostile armies now lay, quietly gathering up their strength for the
+decisive struggle, within sound of each other's evening guns.
+
+[Sidenote: Sept. 9.]
+
+Gates was the first to act. Having been joined by Morgan's rifle
+corps,[42] and by large numbers of militia, the whole army now moved up
+to Stillwater, within a dozen miles of the enemy, who still remained
+intrenched behind the Batten-Kill. This movement put new life into our
+soldiers, and was not without its effect upon the enemy, whose spirit
+was aroused at finding the antagonist it had been pursuing suddenly
+become the aggressor. The Americans had a well-served though not
+numerous artillery, but the presence of Morgan's corps more than made
+good any deficiency in this respect. The great drawback to the
+efficiency of the army was the want of cordiality between Gates and
+Arnold. The breach between them was daily widening that was presently to
+become an impassable gulf.
+
+Gates purposed taking up a strong position, and awaiting Burgoyne's
+attack behind his intrenchments. Either Burgoyne must risk an assault,
+under conditions most favorable to the Americans, or retire discomfited
+under conditions highly unfavorable to a successful retreat.
+
+The country between Saratoga and Stillwater, covered with woods and
+intersected by ravines, was wholly unsuited to the free movement of
+troops. All the shore of the Hudson is high ground, rising to a nearly
+uniform level next the river, but gradually ascending, as the river is
+left, to the summit of the streams falling into it. Long slopes or
+terraces are thus formed, furrowed here and there by the ravines, which
+serve to drain off the water from above into the river below. Puny
+rivulets where they begin, these watercourses cut deeper as they run on,
+until, at the river, they become impassable gulches. The old military
+road skirts the foot of the heights, which sometimes abut closely upon
+the river, and sometimes draw back far enough to leave a strip of meadow
+between it and them.
+
+[Sidenote: Sept. 12.]
+
+[Sidenote: Bemis' Heights.]
+
+Kosciusko,[43] Gates's engineer, chose the ground on which to receive
+Burgoyne's attack, at one of these places where the heights crowd upon
+the river, thus forming a narrow defile, which a handful of men could
+easily defend against an army. At this place the house of a settler
+named Bemis stood by the roadside. Our army filed off the road here, to
+the left, scaled the heights, and encamped along a ridge of land,
+running west as far as some high, rough, and woody ground, which formed
+the summit.
+
+[Sidenote: Freeman's Farm.]
+
+[Sidenote: Sept. 13.]
+
+Except two or three clearings, all the ground in Gates's front was
+thickly wooded. One settler, called Freeman, had cleared and planted
+quite a large field in front of the American centre and left, though at
+some distance beyond, and hid from view by intervening woods. This field
+of Freeman's was one of the few spots of ground lying between the two
+armies, on which troops could be manoeuvred or artillery used with
+advantage. The farm-house stood at the upper edge of it, at a distance
+of a mile back from the river. Our pickets immediately took post there,
+as no one could enter the clearing without being seen from the house.
+Accident has thus made this spot of ground, Freeman's Farm,[44] famous.
+The Americans were at work like beavers, strengthening their line with
+redoubts, felled trees, and batteries, when the enemy was discovered
+marching against them.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[41] GENERAL GATES had resigned his command at Ticonderoga, rather than
+serve under Schuyler. There was no good feeling between them.
+
+[42] MORGAN'S RIFLEMEN was the most celebrated corps of the Continental
+Army. The men were unerring marksmen, and on that account greatly feared
+by the British. All were expert woodsmen, devoted to their leader, who
+held them under strict discipline.
+
+[43] THADDEUS KOSCIUSKO came to this country to offer his services to
+Congress. "What can you do?" asked Washington. "Try me," was the laconic
+reply. In course of time, he was sent to Schuyler as engineer of his
+army.
+
+[44] FREEMAN'S HOUSE was made use of by Burgoyne, during the battle of
+September 9, as his headquarters. After this battle it was included
+within the British lines.
+
+
+
+
+XII.
+
+BATTLE OF BEMIS' HEIGHTS.[45]
+
+(_September 19, 1777._)
+
+
+Burgoyne, at Batten-Kill, had only a choice of evils to make. Either he
+could save his army by retreating to Fort Edward, and thus give up all
+hope of seeing the ends of the campaign fulfilled, or he might still
+make a bold push for Albany, and so put everything at the hazard of
+battle.
+
+But to fall back when he had promised to go forward, when the doing so
+meant ruin to his reputation, and possibly to the cause of his king, was
+not only a bitter alternative, but a responsibility heavier than he was
+prepared to take.
+
+On the other hand, should he now cross the Hudson, with intent to bring
+on a decisive battle,--and his crossing meant just this,--Burgoyne knew
+that he must drop his communications with Canada, because he could not
+afford the guards necessary to keep them open. Already he had been
+weakened by the loss of more than fifteen hundred men, without counting
+the Indians who had so basely deserted him; St. Leger had failed him in
+his utmost need. On his left, the Americans were watching their chance
+to strike a blow in his rear. Burgoyne therefore felt that, from the
+moment he should put the Hudson between his army and its only way of
+retreat, all must be staked on the doubtful issue of battle. He decided
+to make the gambler's last throw.
+
+Burgoyne himself has said that his orders left him no choice but to go
+on. It is evident he construed them to his own wishes. He still believed
+his six thousand excellent soldiers, with their superb artillery, would
+prove themselves more than a match for twice their own number of
+undisciplined yeomanry. He would not admit even the possibility of
+defeat. He felt confident of beating Gates with ease.
+
+In choosing to fight, rather than retreat, Burgoyne, perhaps, acted from
+the impulse of a brave nature, rather than the promptings of his sober
+judgment, as he was bound to do; since he had known for some time that
+Sir William Howe had gone to Pennsylvania, without making any definite
+preparations to come to his assistance. Notwithstanding this assurance,
+that a most important part of the plan of campaign had failed, through
+no fault of his, Burgoyne seems to have put his trust in the chapter of
+accidents, rather than remain inactive until it was certain he would be
+supported from New York. Not one solitary circumstance, except faith in
+the valor of his troops, favored a further advance at this time. But his
+gallant little army was ready to follow him, the enemy was within
+striking distance, and so Burgoyne marched on, bemoaning his ill luck,
+but with the pluck characteristic of the man.
+
+On the thirteenth the British army crossed the Hudson, by a bridge of
+boats, to Saratoga. Burgoyne took with him provisions for five weeks,
+which were loaded in bateaux and floated down the river as he advanced.
+As yet he knew comparatively nothing of what preparations the Americans
+were making to receive him, and but little about the country he was in.
+But he did know that the patriot army had at last faced about, and that
+was enough to rouse the spirit of his soldiers to the highest pitch.
+
+[Illustration: BURGOYNE'S ORDER OF BATTLE.
+
+19th September.
+
+[_Pen and ink sketch by a British officer._]
+
+A, The Line Formed. B, The Columns in March.]
+
+[Sidenote: Sept. 15.]
+
+On the fifteenth the British Army began its march southward in three
+divisions. The only road had to be given up to the baggage and
+artillery. To protect it, the left, or German division, marched along
+the meadows, next the river. The centre, or British division, kept the
+heights above; while Frazer's corps moved at some distance, on the right
+of it, with Breyman's following just behind in support. Two divisions
+were therefore marching on the heights, and one underneath them.
+
+[Sidenote: Sept. 17.]
+
+What with the delays caused by broken bridges on the road, bridging the
+ravines on the heights, or forcing a way through thick woods, which it
+was necessary always to reconnoitre with care,--the royal army could get
+over but six miles in two days. Being then near the enemy, a halt was
+made to prepare for battle.
+
+[Sidenote: Sept. 19.]
+
+On this day, Burgoyne continued his march in the same order as before,
+with skirmishers thrown out well in advance of each column. The centre,
+which he directed in person, would, in following the direction it was
+taking, very shortly find itself at Freeman's Farm.
+
+On his part, Gates had sent out Morgan's rifle corps to feel the enemy,
+in order to learn what they were doing or intending to do. Morgan had
+advanced as far as our outpost at Freeman's house, when the British
+skirmishers came out of the woods into the clearing. They were instantly
+fired upon and returned the fire. It was therefore here that the action
+of September 19 began.
+
+Morgan's hot fire soon drove the enemy back to cover again, with loss.
+Our riflemen dashed into the woods after them, got into disorder, and,
+before they were aware, fell upon the supporting battalions, by whom
+they were defeated and scattered, in their turn. This division then
+advanced into the clearing, from which by this time the Americans had
+decamped. Burgoyne thus gained the ground about Freeman's house, whence
+his pickets were first attacked and driven in.
+
+At this place, Burgoyne formed his line, facing towards the woods into
+which Morgan's men had retreated. He rightly judged the enemy to be
+there, though threats failed to extort any information from the
+prisoners he had taken. When Frazer told one of Morgan's captains he
+would hang him up to the nearest tree, unless he would point out the
+place where his comrades were posted, the man undauntedly replied, "You
+may, if you please."
+
+Knowing that Gates could not be attacked on his right, Burgoyne meant to
+make the trial on the left. If that wing could be turned, Gates would
+have to retreat from his works, or be driven into the river. This was
+all the simple plan of attack, but as yet, Burgoyne did not know where
+the American left was posted. The woods effectually masked the American
+position, and all was now quiet.
+
+Burgoyne now prepared to go forward again. From what had just taken
+place, he supposed the troops now with him would strike the American
+line first. It was therefore arranged that when he became fully engaged,
+Frazer was to charge the American flank, and crush it, making the centre
+division his pivot. With his right, Burgoyne meant to turn the American
+left.
+
+Burgoyne had with him four battalions of the line, and four guns. He
+would have brought more guns if more could have been used with effect in
+the woods, as he greatly relied upon this arm. Frazer had twenty
+companies of grenadiers and light infantry, the 24th British regiment,
+Breyman's Germans, and all the Canadians, loyalists, and Indians now
+left with the army; he also had four pieces of artillery. About four
+thousand men were thus in readiness to engage. The left wing was now in
+motion along the river road, under the heights, but was too far off to
+be of much use in reënforcing the right. It was, however, of service in
+preventing Gates from sending troops away from his right, to fight
+Burgoyne on the left.
+
+Though Burgoyne did not know the American position, which thick woods
+everywhere masked from his view, he had disclosed his own very clearly
+to Morgan, who sent an urgent request for reënforcements.
+
+Gates wished to receive the attack in his works, not make one himself.
+He therefore ordered only one or two battalions from his left to go to
+Morgan's assistance, and withstood the entreaties of his officers to be
+allowed to meet the enemy in the open field.
+
+At between two and three o'clock, as Burgoyne had just finished his
+dispositions for attacking, a heavy fire broke from the woods in
+Frazer's front. This came from Morgan and the troops sent to his
+support. Making no impression on Frazer, whose cannon held them in
+check, the assailants suddenly shifted their attack over to the left,
+where Burgoyne commanded in person. And thus it was that, instead of
+attacking, Burgoyne found himself assaulted; instead of turning Gates's
+left, his own was being assailed, with the purpose of separating the two
+wings of his army.
+
+On finding a battle actually in progress, Gates reënforced the troops
+who were fighting against odds, with driblets of a regiment at a time.
+Instead of going on the field himself, or letting Arnold go,[46] he
+pretended to believe that his own right was the real object of attack,
+and kept in his quarters. This day's battle was therefore fought wholly
+by his subordinates, against the British general-in-chief, seconded by
+his ablest lieutenants.
+
+Having found the enemy's left, the Americans chiefly turned their
+attention to that flank, as has just been said. The 62d British regiment
+was posted here with two guns. This flank was crushed, and its artillery
+silenced by a superior fire. Its defeat caused the whole British line
+to give way, leaving part of their artillery in our hands.
+
+[Illustration: FIRST BATTLE OF BEMIS' HEIGHTS.
+
+[_Pen and ink sketch by a British officer._]
+
+A, Americans Attacking. B, British Positions.]
+
+So far the battle had gone in our favor. Any demonstration from our
+right, upon the enemy's left, would, unquestionably, have rendered the
+victory complete. As nothing of the kind was attempted, the British were
+able to bring up reënforcements from that wing, without opposition, and
+the golden opportunity was lost.
+
+From the river road, Riedesel, by making a roundabout march, brought two
+of his regiments into action. Phillips hurried with four guns taken from
+the reserve artillery to the front. Frazer turned part of his force upon
+the American flank, thus relieving Burgoyne from the pressure laid upon
+him, and enabling him to form a second line. When this was done, the
+whole British force advanced again as far as their first position, while
+the Americans, for want of fresh troops to meet them, were compelled to
+fall back under cover of the woods again. The combat had now lasted four
+hours. Darkness put an end to it, nearly on the spot where it had begun.
+The British were indeed masters of the field; but instead of attacking,
+they had always been attacked, and instead of advancing, they had been
+everywhere stopped; their artillery alone had saved them from defeat.
+Our army lost three hundred and nineteen killed and wounded; the
+British, more than five hundred,--the difference being due to superior
+marksmanship. Our losses could easily be made good; the British could
+not. All the real advantages, therefore, were clearly on the side of the
+Americans.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[45] BATTLE OF BEMIS' HEIGHTS. Bemis' Heights formed part of the
+American position, but not of the battle-ground. Freeman's Farm would
+have been a more accurate designation. Stillwater locates it anywhere
+within a township of many miles in extent.
+
+[46] ARNOLD'S PART in this battle has been long a matter of dispute.
+Gates was jealous of him because he was the idol of his soldiers. Arnold
+had no high opinion of Gates. After Arnold turned traitor, every one
+seems to have thought it a duty to give him a kick. This feeling is
+unfortunately conspicuous in the only detailed account from the American
+side we have of this battle, which was written by Wilkinson, Gates's
+adjutant-general, and given to the world nearly forty years (1816)
+afterwards. Wilkinson seems to have fully shared his commander's likes
+and dislikes, and has treated Arnold shabbily. The battle was almost
+wholly fought by Arnold's division, and it is equally incompatible with
+his duty and temper to suppose he would have remained in camp when his
+troops were engaged, though he was probably held back until a late hour
+in the day.
+
+
+
+
+XIII.
+
+LINCOLN'S RAID IN BURGOYNE'S REAR.
+
+
+Much to Burgoyne's chagrin, he had been obliged to garrison Ticonderoga
+with troops taken from his own army, instead of being allowed to draw
+upon those left in Canada, under command of General Carleton. About a
+thousand men were thus deducted from the force now operating on the
+Hudson.
+
+Ever since the battle of Bennington, Lincoln had been most industriously
+gathering in, and organizing the militia, at Manchester. All New England
+was now up, and her sons were flocking in such numbers to his camp, that
+Lincoln soon found himself at the head of about two thousand excellent
+militia.
+
+Guided by the spirit of Washington's instructions, he now determined on
+making an effort to break up Burgoyne's communications, capture his
+magazines, harass his outposts, and, perhaps, even throw himself on the
+British line of retreat. There is a refreshing boldness and vigor about
+the conception, something akin to real generalship and enterprise. It
+was a good plan, undertaken without Gates's knowledge or consent.
+
+[Sidenote: Sept. 13.]
+
+On the same day that Burgoyne was crossing the Hudson, Lincoln sent
+five hundred men to the head of Lake George, with orders to destroy the
+stores there; five hundred more to attack Ticonderoga; and another five
+hundred to Skenesborough, to support them in case of need. Unknown to
+Lincoln, Burgoyne had now wholly dropped his communications with the
+lakes, but these movements were no less productive of good results on
+that account.
+
+The first detachment, under command of Colonel Brown,[47] reached Lake
+George landing undiscovered. The blockhouse and mills there were
+instantly taken. Mount Defiance and the French lines at Ticonderoga[48]
+were next carried without difficulty. In these operations, Brown took
+three hundred prisoners, released over one hundred Americans from
+captivity, and destroyed a great quantity of stores.
+
+The second detachment having, meantime, come up before Mount
+Independence, Ticonderoga was cannonaded, for some time, without effect.
+Unlike St. Clair, the British commander would neither surrender nor
+retreat, even when the guns of Mount Defiance were turned against him.
+
+Failing here, the Americans next went up Lake George, to attack
+Burgoyne's artillery depot, at Diamond Island. They were not more
+successful in this attempt, as the enemy was strongly fortified and made
+a vigorous defence. After burning the enemy's boats on the lake, Brown
+returned to Skenesborough.
+
+General Lincoln was about to march from Skenesborough to Fort Edward,
+with seven hundred men, when he received a pressing request from Gates,
+dated on the morning of the battle, to join him at once.
+
+Abandoning, therefore, his own plans, Lincoln retraced his steps with so
+much speed, that he arrived in Gates's camp[49] on the twenty-second.
+Gates immediately gave him command of the right wing[50] of the army.
+
+The road between Skenesborough and Fort Edward was now constantly
+patrolled by parties of American militia; so that it was truly said of
+Burgoyne, that the gates of retreat were fast closing behind him.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[47] COLONEL JOHN BROWN, of Pittsfield, Mass.,--who had been with Allen
+at the taking of Ticonderoga in 1775, and with Montgomery at
+Quebec,--Colonels Warner, Woodbridge, and Johnson coöperated in this
+expedition.
+
+[48] TICONDEROGA was garrisoned at this time by one British and one
+German battalion, under command of General Powell.
+
+[49] GATES'S CAMP. By this time, Gates also had connected his camp with
+the east bank of the Hudson, by a floating bridge, to facilitate the
+crossing of reënforcements to him.
+
+[50] THE RIGHT WING was composed of Nixon's, Glover's, and Patterson's
+Continental brigades, with a certain proportion of militia. The left
+wing of Poor's and Learned's brigades, Dearborn's Light Infantry, and
+Morgan's corps, with a like proportion of militia.
+
+
+
+
+XIV.
+
+SECOND BATTLE OF FREEMAN'S FARM.
+
+(_October, 1777._)
+
+
+Convinced that another such victory would be his ruin, Burgoyne now
+thought only of defending himself until the wished-for help should come.
+To this end, he began intrenching the ground on which he stood. The
+action of September 19 had, therefore, changed the relative situation of
+the antagonists, in that from being the assailant, Burgoyne was now
+driven to act wholly on the defensive.
+
+On the day following the battle, a courier brought Burgoyne the welcome
+news that forces from New York would soon be on the way to his relief.
+Word was instantly sent back that his army could hold its ground until
+the 12th of October, by which time it was not doubted that the relieving
+force would be near enough at hand to crush Gates between two fires.
+
+[Sidenote: At Wilber's Basin.]
+
+Burgoyne, therefore, now threw his bridge across the Hudson again,
+posted a guard on the farther side, made his camp as strong as possible,
+and waited with growing impatience for the sound of Sir Henry
+Clinton's[51] cannon to be heard in the distance. But Clinton did not
+move to Burgoyne's assistance until too late. The blundering of the War
+
+[Sidenote: Oct. 4.]
+
+Office had worked its inevitable results. By the time Clinton reached
+Tarrytown, thirty miles above New York, Burgoyne's army had been put on
+short rations. With the utmost economy the provisions could not be made
+to last much beyond the day fixed in Burgoyne's despatch. Foraging was
+out of the question. Nothing could be learned about Clinton's progress.
+All between the two British armies was such perilous ground, that
+several officers had returned unsuccessful, after making heroic efforts
+to reach Clinton's camp.
+
+While Burgoyne was thus anxiously looking forward to Clinton's energetic
+coöperation, that officer supposed he was only making a diversion in
+Burgoyne's favor, a feint to call off the enemy's attention from him;
+and thus it happened that in the decisive hour of the war, and after the
+signal had been given, only one arm was raised to strike, because two
+British commanders acted without unison; either through misconception of
+the orders they had received, or of what was expected of them in just
+such an emergency as the one that now presented itself.
+
+Perhaps two armies have seldom remained so near together for so long a
+time without coming to blows, as the two now facing each other on the
+heights of Stillwater. The camps being little more than a mile apart,
+brought the hostile pickets so close together, that men strayed into the
+opposite lines unawares. Day and night there was incessant firing from
+the outposts, every hour threatened to bring on a battle. Half
+Burgoyne's soldiers were constantly under arms to repel the attack,
+which--in view of the desperate condition they found themselves placed
+in, of the steady progress from bad to worse--was rather hoped for than
+feared.
+
+Two weeks passed thus without news of Clinton. Burgoyne's provisions
+were now getting alarmingly low. If he staid where he was, in a few
+days, at most, he would be starved into surrendering. Again the ominous
+word "retreat" was heard around the camp-fires. The hospital was filled
+with wounded men. Hard duty and scant food were telling on those fit for
+duty. Lincoln's raid announced a new and dangerous complication. It was
+necessary to try something, for Gates's do-nothing policy was grinding
+them to powder.
+
+A council was therefore called. It is a maxim, as old as history, that
+councils of war never fight. Some of Burgoyne's generals advised putting
+the Hudson between themselves and Gates, as the only means now left of
+saving the army; none, it is believed, advocated risking another battle.
+
+Burgoyne could not bring himself to order a retreat without first making
+one more effort for victory. He dwelt strongly upon the difficulty of
+withdrawing the army in the face of so vigilant and powerful an enemy.
+He maintained his own opinion that even in order to secure an honorable
+retreat it would be necessary to fight, and it was so determined.
+
+It is evident that Burgoyne nourished a secret hope that fortune might
+yet take a turn favorable to him; otherwise, it is impossible to account
+for his making this last and most desperate effort, under conditions
+even less favorable than had attended his attack of the 19th of
+September.
+
+Fifteen hundred men and ten guns were chosen for the attempt. In plain
+language, Burgoyne started out to provoke a combat with an enemy greatly
+his superior in numbers, with less than half the force his former
+demonstration had been made with. His idea seems to have been to take up
+a position from which his cannon would reach the American works. After
+intrenching, it was his intention to bring up his heavy artillery, and
+open a cannonade which he was confident the enemy could not withstand,
+as their defensive works were chiefly built of logs. And out of this
+state of things, Burgoyne hoped to derive some substantial benefit.
+
+This plan differed from that of the 19th of September, in that it looked
+chiefly to obtaining a more advantageous position; while on the former
+occasion it was attempted to force a way through or around the American
+left. The lesson of that day had not been lost on Burgoyne, who now
+meant to utilize his artillery to the utmost, rather than risk the
+inevitable slaughter that must ensue from an attempt to carry the
+American lines by storm.
+
+Everything depended upon gaining the desired position before the
+Americans could make their dispositions to thwart the attempt.
+
+The importance to the army of this movement induced Burgoyne to call his
+three best generals to his aid; so that nothing that experience could
+suggest, or skill attempt, should be left undone. It was kept a profound
+secret till the troops who were going out to fight were actually under
+arms. The rest of the army was to remain in the works; so that, if worst
+came to worst, the enemy might not reap any decided advantage from a
+victory gained over the fighting corps.
+
+[Sidenote: Oct. 7.]
+
+It was near one o'clock, on the afternoon of the seventh, when Burgoyne
+marched out from his own right, toward the American left. He had reached
+an eminence rising at the right of the late battle-ground, and not far
+removed from Frazer's position on that day, when the pickets of Arnold's
+division discovered his approach, and gave the alarm. Having gained a
+favorable position for using his guns, Burgoyne halted, and formed his
+line.
+
+Upon hearing that the British had advanced to within half a mile of his
+left, and were offering battle, Gates decided to accept the challenge,
+as he now felt strong enough to do so without fear for the result, and
+the behavior of his own troops in the previous battle had been such as
+to put an end to his doubts about their ability to cope with British
+soldiers. Morgan was therefore ordered to make a _détour_ through the
+woods, and fall on the British right flank, while other troops were
+attacking on its left.
+
+These movements were gallantly executed. At three o'clock, Burgoyne's
+artillery opened the battle; at four, the Americans charged the British
+position under a heavy fire of cannon and musketry. Again and again,
+the Continentals met the British bayonet without flinching. Never was a
+battle more manfully fought. Burgoyne faced death like the meanest
+soldier in the ranks. After some discharges, the British cannoneers were
+shot down at their pieces, and the hill on which they stood was carried
+at the point of the bayonet.
+
+On his part, Morgan grappled with the British right, overthrew it after
+a fierce struggle, and drove it back upon the centre. In vain Frazer[52]
+tried to stem the tide of defeat by throwing himself into the thickest
+of the fight. "That man," said Morgan, pointing him out to his marksmen,
+"must die." A rifle bullet soon gave the gallant Scot his death wound,
+and he was led from the field.
+
+The combat had lasted scarce an hour. All Burgoyne's guns were taken. Of
+the fifteen hundred soldiers he had led into action, four hundred lay
+dead or dying around him. Frazer's fall had carried dismay among those
+who were still stubbornly yielding the ground to the victorious
+Americans. A retreat was sounded. The Americans followed on with loud
+shouts. For a few moments a rearguard fight was kept up, then the
+retreat became a rout, the rout a race, to see who should first reach
+the British lines.
+
+Thus far the action had been maintained on our part, by the same troops
+who had fought the battle of September 19, and in part on the same
+ground. It was now to be transferred to the enemy's own camp.
+
+Hardly had the British gained the shelter of their works, when the
+Americans, led on by Arnold, stormed them with reckless bravery. Gates
+had held Arnold back from the field from motives of envy and dislike;
+but Arnold, to whom the sound of battle was like the spur to the mettled
+courser, at last broke through all restraint. Leaping into the saddle,
+he spurred into the thickest of the fight before Gates could stop him.
+
+The point of attack was strongly defended by artillery, and the
+Americans here suffered their first repulse. Other troops came up. The
+assault soon began again all along the British line. Beaten off in one
+place, Arnold spurred over to the enemy's extreme right, where Breyman
+was posted behind a breastwork of logs and rails, that formed a right
+angle with the rest of the line. Calling on the nearest battalion to
+follow him, Arnold leaped his horse over the parapet. The Germans fired
+one volley and fled. Our troops took guns and prisoners. By this success
+they had gained an opening on Burgoyne's right and rear, precisely as he
+had meant to do by them. In this last assault Breyman was killed, and
+Arnold wounded.
+
+The day was now too far spent for further efforts to be made on either
+side. Little by little, the angry roll of musketry sunk into silence.
+The battle was over.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[51] SIR HENRY CLINTON then commanded at New York, under the orders of
+Sir William Howe. Not having received orders to assist Burgoyne in any
+event, until he was about to engage with Washington for the possession
+of Philadelphia, Howe turned over the matter of assisting Burgoyne to
+Clinton, who was compelled to wait for the arrival of fresh troops, then
+on the way from England, before he could organize an expedition to
+attack our posts in the Highlands of the Hudson. See Introduction; also
+Note 1, "Facing Disaster" (p. 60).
+
+[52] GENERAL SIMON FRAZER was of Scotch birth, younger son of Frazer of
+Balnain. His actual rank on joining Burgoyne was lieutenant-colonel,
+24th foot. With other field officers assigned to command brigades, he
+was made acting brigadier, and is therefore known as General Frazer,
+though Burgoyne was notified that this _local rank_ would cease when his
+army joined Sir William Howe. Frazer's remains were disinterred and
+taken to England. The spot where he was wounded is marked by a monument,
+and indicates where he endeavored to make a stand after being driven
+from his first position. Anburey and Madame Riedesel give graphic
+accounts of his death and burial.
+
+
+
+
+XV.
+
+RETREAT AND SURRENDER.
+
+
+Burgoyne had been everywhere foiled by the battle of the seventh.
+Instead of turning Gates's flank his own had been turned. Instead of
+thrusting Gates back upon the river, he would surely be forced there
+himself, in a few hours, at most. Instead, even, of dealing Gates such a
+blow as would favor a retreat, Burgoyne's situation was now more
+precarious than ever: it was more than precarious; it was next to
+hopeless.
+
+It is again but too plain that Burgoyne had not taken defeat--such a
+defeat--seriously into account, or he would never have led out that
+gallant little column of fifteen hundred men; first, for victory, then,
+for an honorable retreat. His army was now like the wounded lion, whose
+expiring struggles the hunter watches at a distance, without fear, and
+without danger. All had been lost but honor.
+
+The first and only thing to be done now was promptly to form a new line
+of defence, behind which the army could mask its retreat. This was
+skilfully and quietly done on the night after the battle, our troops not
+attempting to do more than hold the ground already won. In the morning
+they occupied the deserted works.
+
+[Illustration: THE RETREAT TO SARATOGA.]
+
+Burgoyne's new position stretched along the heights next the river, so
+as to cover the road to Saratoga. He had merely drawn back his centre
+and right, while his left wing remained stationary; and he now stood
+facing west, instead of south, as before the battle.
+
+[Sidenote: Oct. 8.]
+
+The day passed in skirmishing, reconnoitring, and artillery firing. The
+Americans were feeling their way along the enemy's new front, while
+Burgoyne's every effort was limited to keeping them at a distance, with
+his superior artillery, till night. On our side, his intentions were
+rather guessed than certainly known. His great problem was how to get
+his army over the Hudson undiscovered. It was supposed that he would
+attempt to retreat across his bridge as soon as it was dark. Our
+artillery, therefore, tried to destroy it with shot. Moreover, fourteen
+hundred men were crossed over to the east bank, and now stood ready to
+dispute Burgoyne's passage from that side of the river.
+
+At sunset, General Frazer was buried[53] inside a battery, on the brow
+of the heights, according to his dying wish. Chaplain Brudenell read the
+burial service, with our balls ploughing up the earth around him, and
+our cannon thundering the soldier's requiem from camp to camp.
+
+At nine o'clock, the British army began its retreat along the river
+road, leaving its camp-fires burning behind it; profound silence was
+enjoined. To avoid confusion, the different corps simply moved off in
+the order in which they stood on the lines, or by their right. Upon
+finding that his crossing would be opposed by the troops who had passed
+over to the east bank, Burgoyne had decided to go back the way he came
+as far as Saratoga, and on fording the river at that place. Orders were
+therefore given to destroy the bridge. Just before day, his rearguard
+set fire to it, and marched off without interference. All the sick and
+wounded were left behind.
+
+In view of the fact that all of the enemy's movements announced a rapid
+retreat, the Americans seem to have shown a want of vigor in pushing the
+advantages they had won by the late battles. This hesitation may be in
+part accounted for by the other fact that both Arnold and Lincoln were
+disabled. Lincoln had been wounded while reconnoitring the enemy's
+right, on the eighth, with a view of passing a force round in his rear.
+Gates was thus deprived of his most efficient lieutenants at the moment
+when they were most needed. The British army could hardly have been
+placed in a more critical position; but, by keeping up a bold front, it
+managed to extricate itself without the loss of a man.
+
+[Sidenote: Oct. 9.]
+
+[Sidenote: Dovegat, now Coveville.]
+
+Rain began falling early the next morning. Burgoyne had marched but six
+miles, yet dallied till afternoon on the spot where he had halted early
+in the day. He then saw, to his inexpressible dismay, the same body of
+Americans[54] whom he had seen opposite his encampment at Stillwater,
+now marching abreast of him, with the evident design of seizing the
+Saratoga ford before he could get to it. The road he meant to take was,
+therefore, already as good as in the enemy's hands.
+
+The discovery that he was being everywhere hemmed in hastened
+Burgoyne's departure. Much baggage and many wagons and tents were
+burned, in order that the army might march the faster. Like a ship,
+laboring with the gale, it was relieving itself of all unnecessary
+burdens.
+
+Pelted by the storm, in silence, and with downcast looks, the soldiers
+plodded wearily on, through mud and water, ankle deep. No tap of drum or
+bugle-call put life into their heavy tread. The sense of defeat and
+disgrace brooded over the minds of officers and men, as they stole away
+in darkness and gloom from an enemy for whom they had but lately felt
+such high disdain. Grief, shame, and indignation were the common lot of
+high and low. No word was spoken, except when the curt "Forward" of the
+officers passed along the ranks. All knew instinctively, that this
+retreat was but the prelude to greater disaster, which, perchance, was
+not far off.
+
+The same evening, the bedraggled and footsore soldiers waded the
+Fishkill[55] where the bridge had been, but was now destroyed, and
+bivouacked on the heights of Saratoga.[56] Too weary even to light
+fires, to dry their clothing, or cook their suppers, they threw
+themselves on the wet ground to snatch a few hours' sleep; for, dark as
+it was, and though rain fell in torrents, the firing heard at intervals
+throughout the night told them that the Americans were dogging their
+footsteps, and would soon be up with them. It seemed as if the foe were
+never to be shaken off.
+
+[Sidenote: Oct. 10.]
+
+It was not till after daylight that the British artillery could ford
+the Fishkill with safety. The guns were then dragged up the heights and
+once more pointed toward the advancing enemy. Numbness and torpor seem
+to have pervaded the whole movement thus far. Now it was that Frazer's
+loss was most bitterly deplored, for he had often pledged himself to
+bring off the army in safety, should a retreat become necessary. He had
+marked out, and intrenched this very position, in which the army now
+found its last retreat. Almost twenty-four hours had been consumed in
+marching not quite ten miles, or at a much slower rate of progress than
+Burgoyne had censured Breyman for making to Baum's relief, at
+Bennington. Burgoyne seemed to find satisfaction in showing that he
+would not be hurried.
+
+The army took up its old positions along the heights into which the
+Fishkill cuts deeply, as it runs to the Hudson. Being threatened in
+front, flank, and rear, Burgoyne had to form three separate camps,
+facing as many different ways. One fronted the Fishkill and commanded
+the usual fording-place. A second looked east at the enemy posted across
+the Hudson; a third faced the west, where the ground rose above the
+camps, and hid itself in a thick forest.
+
+Though he secured his camps as well as he could, Burgoyne meant to make
+no delay here. But it was no longer in his power to control his own
+acts. The want of energy shown in the retreat had given the Americans
+time to close every avenue of escape against him.
+
+Let us note how the fate of armies is decided. Active pursuit did not
+begin until the morning of the ninth, when the retreat was first
+discovered. A start of ten hours had thus been gained by the British.
+Their artillery had so cut up the roads as to render them next to
+impassable for our troops. Frequent halts had to be made to mend broken
+bridges. From these causes, even so late as the morning of the tenth,
+our army had advanced but three miles from the battle-ground. But
+Burgoyne had marched, when he marched at all, like a general who means
+to be overtaken. Four thousand men were being pushed around his right;
+an equal number followed in his rear; while fourteen hundred more
+menaced with destruction any attempt he might make to ford the river.
+
+No choice being left but to continue the retreat by the west bank,
+pioneers were sent out, under a strong escort, to make the road
+passable.
+
+But the golden moment had already flown. By this time Gates's van had
+come up with Burgoyne. Morgan's corps had crossed the Fishkill at a
+point above the British camps, had taken post within rifle-shot, and had
+thus fastened upon the enemy a grip never more to be shaken off.
+
+As a last resort, the British general decided to attempt a night
+retreat, leaving behind the artillery he had so persistently dragged
+after him when the fate of his army was hanging on its speed alone.
+Before this desperate venture could be put to trial, worse news came to
+hand. It was learned that Stark, with two thousand men, was in
+possession of Fort Edward, and of all the fords below it. Turn what way
+he would, Burgoyne found a foe in his path.
+
+[Sidenote: Oct. 13.]
+
+Even General Burgoyne now saw no way open but surrender; either he must
+do this, or let his soldiers be slaughtered where they stood. Cannon and
+rifle shot were searching every corner of his camp; retreat was cut off;
+his provisions could be made to last but a day or two longer at most;
+the bateaux were destroyed; his animals were dying of starvation, and
+their dead bodies tainting the air his soldiers breathed; water could
+only be had at the risk of life or limb, as the American sharpshooters
+picked off every one who attempted to fetch it from the river; and no
+more than thirty-five hundred men could be mustered to repel an
+assault;--a crisis had now been reached which loudly called on the
+British general, in the name of humanity, to desist from further efforts
+to maintain so hopeless a struggle.
+
+Burgoyne called his officers together in council. The absence of such
+men as Frazer, Baum, Breyman, Ackland, Clarke, and others from the
+meeting, must have brought home to the commanding general, as nothing
+else could, a sense of the calamities that had befallen him; while the
+faces of the survivors no less ominously prefigured those to come. A
+heavy cannonade was in progress. Even while the council was
+deliberating, a cannon-ball crashed through the room among them, as if
+to enjoin haste in bringing the proceedings to a close. The council
+listened to what was already but too well known. Already the finger of
+fate pointed undeviatingly to the inevitable result. A general lassitude
+had fallen upon the spirits of the soldiers. The situation was
+manifestly hopeless to all.
+
+There could be but one opinion. Enough had been done for honor. All were
+agreed that only a surrender could save the army.
+
+[Sidenote: Oct. 14.]
+
+Without more delay, an officer was sent to General Gates. At first he
+would listen only to an unconditional surrender. This was indignantly
+rejected. Two days of suspense followed to both armies. Indeed, the
+vanquished seemed dictating terms to the conqueror. But if the British
+dreaded a renewal of hostilities, the Americans knew that Clinton's
+forces[57] were nearing Albany from below. Gates lowered his demands.
+The British army was allowed the honors of war, with liberty to return
+to England, on condition of not serving against the United States during
+the war. These terms were agreed to, and the treaty was duly signed on
+the seventeenth.
+
+Burgoyne's situation when gathering up his trophies, and issuing his
+presumptuous proclamation at Ticonderoga, compared with the straits to
+which his reverses had now brought him--a failure before his king and
+country, a captain stripped of his laurels by the hand he professed to
+despise, a petitioner for the clemency of his conqueror--affords a
+striking example of the uncertain chances of war. It really seemed as if
+fortune had only raised Burgoyne the higher in order that his fall might
+be the more destructive at last.
+
+[Illustration: WHERE THE SURRENDER TOOK PLACE.]
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[53] FRAZER'S BURIAL would not have been molested had our artillerists
+known what was going forward. Seeing so many persons collected in the
+redoubt, they naturally directed their fire upon it.
+
+[54] THIS BODY OF AMERICANS was led by Colonel John Fellows, whom Gates
+had ordered to seize the fords as high up as Fort Edward.
+
+[55] FISHKILL, or Fish Creek, is the outlet of Saratoga Lake. Though a
+rapid mill-stream, there were several fords. The precipitous banks were
+a greater obstacle to troops than the stream itself.
+
+[56] HEIGHTS OF SARATOGA are in what is now called Schuylerville, a
+village owing its prosperity to the water-power of the Fishkill. At the
+time of the surrender, there were only a few houses strung along the
+river road. Schuyler's house stood in the angle formed by the entrance
+of the Fishkill into the Hudson. On arriving at Saratoga, Burgoyne
+occupied this house as his headquarters, but burned it to the ground
+immediately on the appearance of the Americans. On the opposite (north)
+bank of the Fishkill was old Fort Hardy, built during the French War, to
+cover the ford of the Hudson at this place. Within this fort, Burgoyne's
+army laid down its arms, October 17, 1777. On the heights back of the
+river a granite obelisk, one hundred and fifty-four feet high, has been
+built to commemorate the event.
+
+[57] CLINTON'S FORCES carried Forts Montgomery and Clinton, in the
+Highlands, by assault on the sixth. Having thus broken down all
+opposition to their advance up the Hudson, they reached Kingston
+(Esopus) on the thirteenth, burned it, and were within a few hours' sail
+of Albany when news of Burgoyne's surrender caused them to retreat down
+the river.
+
+
+
+
+XVI.
+
+THE SEVENTEENTH OF OCTOBER, 1777.
+
+
+The closing scene of this most memorable campaign is thus described by
+one of the actors in it. He says,--
+
+"About ten o'clock we marched out, according to treaty, with drums
+beating, and the honors of war; but the drums seemed to have lost their
+former inspiriting sounds, and though we beat the Grenadiers' March,
+which not long before was so animating, yet now it seemed by its last
+feeble effort as if almost ashamed to be heard on such an occasion.
+
+"I shall never forget the appearance of the American troops on our
+marching past them. A dead silence reigned through their numerous
+columns. I must say their decent behavior to us, so greatly fallen,
+merited the utmost praise.... Not one of them was uniformly clad. Each
+had on the clothes he wore in the fields, the church, or the tavern;
+they stood, however, like soldiers, well arranged, and with a military
+air, in which there was but little to find fault with. All the muskets
+had bayonets, and the sharpshooters had rifles. The men all stood so
+still that we were filled with wonder. Not one of them made a single
+motion as if he would speak with his neighbor. Nay, more, all the lads
+that stood there in rank and file, kind nature had formed so trim, so
+slender, so nervous, that it was a pleasure to look at them, and we were
+all surprised at the sight of such a handsome, well-formed race. The
+whole nation has a natural turn for war and a soldier's life.
+
+"The generals wore uniforms, and belts which designated their rank, but
+most of the colonels were in their ordinary clothes, with a musket and
+bayonet in hand, and a cartridge-box or powder-horn slung over the
+shoulder. There were regular regiments which, for want of time or cloth,
+were not yet equipped in uniform. These had standards, with various
+emblems and mottoes, some of which had a very satirical meaning for us."
+
+The number of regular troops, British and German, who laid down their
+arms at Saratoga was 5,591. The camp-followers amounted to two hundred
+more. Forty-two pieces of artillery, nearly five thousand muskets, with
+ammunition for both, fell into the victors' hands.
+
+
+
+
+XVII.
+
+THE CONSEQUENCES OF DEFEAT.
+
+
+We come now to the reasons why Burgoyne's surrender proved decisive to
+the cause of American independence.
+
+Our opening chapter states that England took Canada from France in 1759,
+and annexed it to her own dominions in 1763. This conquest came about
+through what is known in history as the Seven Years' War, which had not
+only raised all Europe in arms, but had lighted the flames of war
+throughout our own continent also. The great battle was fought on the
+plains of Quebec. Victory decided for England. Defeated France had, at
+last, to give up Canada to her ancient enemy.
+
+France came out of this conflict sorely humbled. She was brooding over
+her defeat, when the American colonies took up arms. The colonists at
+once turned with confidence to France; now was her chance to cripple
+England, to get back what she had lost, to gain the friendship of a
+grateful people, and make them her debtor for all time. But France would
+not go to war unless assured that her doing so would turn the scale
+against England. The memory of her humiliation was too recent, the
+chances of the contest too doubtful, to admit of any other course of
+conduct on her part. Meanwhile, she gave us much secret help, but none
+openly. The course of events was, however, closely watched, and when
+Burgoyne's surrender was known in Paris, it was seen that the day of
+revenge had come at last. Doubt and hesitation gave way before the
+general demand for war. Franklin was openly received at Versailles.
+Within three months, the French court had acknowledged our independence.
+Her armies and fleets prepared to give us active aid, and it was not
+doubted that her example would soon be followed by Spain and Holland.
+
+Thus, Burgoyne's surrender gained for us at once recognition as a
+nation, and the alliance of the first military power of Europe.
+
+The effect of the surrender in England is thus described by Gibbon, the
+historian, who was then sitting in Parliament: "Dreadful news indeed! An
+English army of nearly ten thousand men laid down their arms, and
+surrendered, prisoners of war, on condition of being sent to England,
+and of never serving against America. They had fought bravely, and were
+three days without eating. Burgoyne is said to have received three
+wounds; General Frazer, with two thousand men, killed; Colonel Ackland
+likewise killed. A general cry for peace."
+
+England now gave up the colonies for lost. In truth, it needed no
+prophet to foretell that what England could not do before, she could do
+still less now, with France against her. From this time forward, the war
+was carried on more to save the nation's pride than with any hope of
+success. The military policy underwent an instant change; it now looked
+rather to destroying our commerce and ports, than to marching large
+armies into the interior of the country, to meet with a like fate to
+Burgoyne's. Howe was ordered to evacuate Philadelphia. In Parliament, a
+plan was hurriedly put forth to grant everything the Americans had asked
+for, except independence. As Gibbon well said, the two greatest
+countries of Europe were fairly running a race for the favor of America.
+
+The movements taking place on the continent showed everywhere a feeling
+hostile to England. No nation was ever so friendless as she, none had so
+richly deserved the coldness with which the other powers now treated
+her. Spain and Holland were getting ready to follow the lead of France.
+It was well known that England could not carry on the war without the
+aid of mercenaries. The King of Prussia and the Empress of Austria now
+refused to permit any more German soldiers to go to America. In the
+threatening condition of affairs at home, England could not spare
+another army for so distant a field. Whichever way England looked, she
+saw either open enemies or half friends. Everywhere the sky was dark for
+her, and bright for us.
+
+At home the surrender of Burgoyne thrilled the whole land, for all felt
+it to be the harbinger of final triumph. The people went wild with joy;
+salvos of artillery, toasts, bonfires, illuminations, everywhere
+testified to the general exultation. The name of France was hailed with
+acclamations. At once a sense of national dignity and solidity took the
+place of uncertainty and isolation. Now and henceforth, the flag of the
+United States was known and respected; abroad as at home, on the sea as
+on the land.
+
+Burgoyne's disaster has been charged to the grossest carelessness on the
+part of some under official of the British War Office. It is said that
+the orders for Sir William Howe were never put in the despatch bag at
+all, but lay forgotten until the catastrophe at Saratoga brought them to
+light. On such trifles does the fate of nations sometimes hang.
+Certainly, greater unity of purpose in the two generals might have given
+the history of the campaign a different reading. But all such
+conjectures must fall before the inexorable logic of accomplished
+results. The world has long since passed upon the merits of the great
+conflict which set America free. Its verdict is recorded. The actors are
+but as dust in the balance.
+
+
+
+
+INDEX.
+
+
+  ALLEN, ETHAN, takes Ticonderoga, 17;
+    goes before Montgomery, 19.
+
+  ARNOLD, BENEDICT, marches to Canada, 19;
+    takes command of our flotilla, and fights the enemy, 22; 25, _note_;
+    sent to relieve Fort Stanwix, and does it by a stratagem, 92;
+    part at Bemis' Heights, 112;
+    storms the enemy's intrenchments, 121, 122;
+    wounded, 122.
+
+
+  BATTEN-KILL, British take post at, 70, 87.
+
+  BAUM, FREDERIC, commands British expedition to Bennington, and
+      marches, 70;
+    composition of his force, 70;
+    hears the Americans are waiting for him, 75;
+    notifies Burgoyne, and goes on, 75;
+    discovers Stark, and intrenches himself on the Walloomsac, 78, 81;
+    defeated, 83, 132.
+
+  BENNINGTON, VT.; Burgoyne's plan to seize stores at, 68;
+    Baum marches for, 72;
+    Battle of Bennington, 83, 84, 85;
+    trophies of, 85; 86, _note_;
+    results of the battle, 88, 89.
+
+  BEMIS' HEIGHTS; position of the army described, 99;
+    battle of September 19, 106, 107, 108, 111; 112, _note_.
+
+  BOUQUET RIVER; Burgoyne halts at, 37.
+
+  BRANT, JOSEPH, at Oriskany, 91; 94, _note_.
+
+  BREYMAN, HEINRICH C., posted in support of Baum, 70;
+    marches to Baum's aid, 81;
+    his slowness fatal to Baum, 84;
+    defeated, and badly cut up, 85;
+    his retreat to camp, 89;
+    part in Battle of Bemis' Heights, 105;
+    killed, 122.
+
+  BROWN, JOHN, attacks Ticonderoga, 114; 115, _note_.
+
+  BURGOYNE'S ARMY, composition of, 33, 34;
+    passes Lake Champlain, 35; 36, _notes_ 1 and 2;
+    invests Ticonderoga, 40, 43;
+  fights at Hubbardton, 47, 48;
+    at Fort Anne, 52;
+    joined by loyalists, 61;
+    concentrated, and leaves Skenesborough, 66;
+    arrives at Fort Edward, 66;
+    joined by savages, 66;
+    compelled to halt for provisions, 66, 69;
+    is moved forward to support the expedition to Bennington, 70;
+    falls back after the defeat of Baum, 87;
+    its losses, 88;
+    crosses the Hudson, 102;
+    order of march from Saratoga to Bemis' Heights, 105;
+    slow advance, 105;
+    gives battle to Gates, 106;
+    troops in action, 107;
+    on the defensive, 116;
+    on short rations, 117;
+    inactivity of, 117;
+    ordered to fight Gates again, 118;
+    troops selected, 119;
+    meets defeat, 121;
+    camp assaulted and turned, 122;
+    forms new line, 124;
+    retreats, 127;
+    soldiers dispirited, 129;
+    reaches Saratoga, 129;
+    makes a last stand, 130;
+    its camps, 130;
+    compelled to surrender, 133;
+    numbers at this time, 138.
+
+  BURGOYNE'S CAMPAIGN discussed, 10-14;
+    demand for re-enforcements, 11;
+    deficiency of transportation service, 12;
+    cause of failure, 13;
+    plan of, 26-32;
+    results in surrender, 133;
+    effect of it in Europe, especially in France, 140;
+    effect at home, 141;
+    said to have failed through blundering in the War Office, 142.
+
+  BURGOYNE, JOHN; his personal traits, 9;
+    his plan of campaign, 26 _et seq._;
+    his army, 33;
+    his proclamation, 38;
+    aims to cut off St. Clair from Schuyler, 45;
+    takes Skenesborough, 51;
+    follows up his successes, 52;
+    _résumé_ of his campaign thus far, 52;
+    sends Riedesel to Castleton, 61;
+    chooses the Fort Anne route to Albany, 61;
+    his reasons, 62;
+    march obstructed, 65;
+    reaches Fort Edward, 66;
+    plans how to provide for his army, 68;
+    desire to strike New England, 68;
+    orders the expedition to Bennington, 70;
+    how composed, 70;
+    combinations overthrown by Baum's defeat, 87;
+    his losses up to this time, 88;
+    his Indians desert him, 88;
+    compelled to halt again, 90;
+    hears of St. Leger's retreat, 93;
+    his choice of evils, 101;
+    decides to cross the Hudson, 102;
+    marches in search of Gates, 105;
+    order of march, 105;
+    gives battle, 106 _et seq._;
+    troops in action, 107;
+    holds his position, but makes no advance, 113;
+    brings on another battle, 118, 119;
+    calls his three best generals to his aid, and commands in person,
+      119;
+    is defeated, and driven into his works, 121;
+    orders a retreat, 127;
+    finds a force confronting him on the east bank of the Hudson, 128;
+    loses valuable time, 128;
+    burns his baggage, 129;
+    arrives at Saratoga, 129;
+    finds retreat cut off, 131;
+    his camp untenable, 132;
+    surrenders his army, 133;
+    scene described by eyewitnesses, 135, 138.
+
+
+  CANADA'S alliance desired, 15;
+    invasion of begun, 19;
+    attitude toward the colonies, 25, _note_.
+
+  CARLETON, GUY; attitude toward Burgoyne, 11, 12;
+    gains a naval victory over Arnold, 22, 25.
+
+  CASTLETON, VT.; Riedesel posted there by Burgoyne, 61.
+
+  CHAMBLY, FORT; position of, 16;
+    taken by Americans, 19;
+    burnt, 20.
+
+  CLINTON, SIR HENRY, notifies Burgoyne that he is coming to his relief,
+      116;
+    thinks he is only to make a diversion, 117; 122, _note_;
+    is near Albany when Burgoyne surrenders, 133; 134, _note_.
+
+  CROWN POINT, position of, 16;
+    when built, 18, _note_;
+    Americans fall back to, 20;
+    evacuated, 20;
+    naval battle near, 22.
+
+
+  DIAMOND ISLAND, unsuccessful attack upon, 114.
+
+  DUER'S HOUSE, Frazer's corps at, 68;
+    British army posted at, 70, 87.
+
+
+  FELLOWS, JOHN, commands a detachment to watch Burgoyne, 134.
+
+  FISHKILL CREEK, 129; 134, _note_.
+
+  FORT ANNE, N. Y.; Americans retreat to, from Skenesborough, 51;
+    Schuyler re-enforces them, 52;
+    combat at, 52;
+    burnt and abandoned, 52;
+    described, 55, _note_;
+    importance to Burgoyne, 62;
+    neighborhood described, 62, 63.
+
+  FORT EDWARD, position of, 16;
+    Schuyler at, 51;
+    is joined by St. Clair, after Ticonderoga falls, 51;
+    Burgoyne arrives at, 66;
+    Schuyler evacuates it, 66;
+    described, 66, _note_.
+
+  FORT GEORGE, position of, 16;
+    Americans evacuate it, 66;
+    and British occupy it, 66.
+
+  FORT OSWEGO, position of, 30.
+
+  FORT STANWIX, position of, 30;
+    St. Leger's force, 35;
+    garrisoned and defended, 90, 91;
+    attempt to relieve fails, 91;
+    garrison makes a sally, 92;
+    siege raised, 93; 94, _note_.
+
+  FRANCIS, EBENEZER, covers retreat from Ticonderoga, fights Frazer at
+      Hubbardton, but is killed, 51; 55, _note_.
+
+  FRAZER, SIMON, commands a corps under Burgoyne, 34, 35;
+    takes Mt. Hope, 40;
+    pursues St. Clair, 46;
+    comes up with the Americans at Hubbardton, and fights them, 47;
+    on the point of defeat is re-enforced, and gains the day, 48;
+    crosses the Hudson, and takes post at Saratoga, 70;
+    recrosses the Hudson, 87;
+    is posted on the right at Bemis' Heights, 105;
+    his force, 107;
+    killed, 121; 123, _note_;
+    buried, 127; 134, _note_.
+
+  FREEMAN'S FARM, position of, 99; 100, _note_, 105;
+    first collision at (Sept. 19), 106;
+    second battle at, 120-122.
+
+
+  GANSEVOORT, PETER, at Fort Stanwix, 90;
+    sallies out upon besiegers, 91; 94, _note_.
+
+  GATES, HORATIO, takes command of the Northern Army, 20;
+    his rank, 25, _note_; supersedes Schuyler, 95;
+    good effect on the army, 97;
+    orders an advance to Stillwater, 97;
+    want of confidence in Arnold a drawback to success, 98;
+    posts the army on Bemis' Heights, 98; _note_, 99;
+    sends Morgan to feel the enemy, 106;
+    re-enforces in driblets, 108;
+    his camp and army, 115, _note_s 1 and 2;
+    accepts battle again, 120;
+  is victorious, 121, 122;
+    dilatory pursuit of the enemy, 131;
+    comes up with Burgoyne, 131;
+    dispositions for attacking, 131;
+    receives Burgoyne's surrender, 133.
+
+
+  HERKIMER, NICHOLAS, marches to relieve Fort Stanwix, 91;
+    is waylaid and defeated, 91, 92;
+    dies of his wounds, 92; 94, _note_.
+
+  HESSIAN MERCENARIES, 36, _note_.
+
+  HOWE, SIR WILLIAM, participation in the campaign discussed, 14;
+    driven from Boston, 29;
+    George III. disappointed in him, 29;
+    gets his orders too late, 31.
+
+  HUBBARDTON, VT., garrison of Ticonderoga retreats to, 44;
+    St. Clair's rearguard overtaken at, 47;
+    battle of, 47, 48, 49.
+
+
+  JOHNSON, SIR JOHN, at Oriskany, 91; 94, _note_.
+
+
+  KOSCIUSKO, THADDEUS, marks out the lines on Bemis' Heights, 98; 100,
+      _note_.
+
+
+  LAKE CHAMPLAIN, the gateway of the north, 16;
+    naval battle on, 22;
+    Burgoyne's advance, 35;
+    shores of, 37;
+    Americans driven from, 51.
+
+  LINCOLN, BENJAMIN, sent to Manchester, 74;
+    sketch of, 76, _note_;
+    makes a raid in Burgoyne's rear, 113;
+    joins Gates, 115;
+    wounded, 128.
+
+  LYMAN, PHINEAS, builds Fort Edward, 66.
+
+
+  MANCHESTER, VT., Warner posted at, 57;
+    rendezvous for militia, 73;
+    Lincoln and Stark at, 74.
+
+  MOHAWK VALLEY, plan for invading it, 30, 35.
+
+  MONTGOMERY, RICHARD, leads an army to Canada, 19;
+    killed, 20;
+    sketch of, 25, _note_.
+
+  MORGAN'S RIFLEMEN, 99, _note_;
+    attack Burgoyne, 106;
+    part in the battle of October 7, 120, 121.
+
+  MOUNT INDEPENDENCE described, 16;
+    named, 21;
+    Americans retreat from Ticonderoga to, 44.
+
+  MOUNT DEFIANCE, the key of Ticonderoga, 43;
+    seized by Burgoyne's engineers, 43;
+    compels the evacuation of Ticonderoga, 43;
+    retaken by the Americans, 114; 115, _note_.
+
+  NEWPORT, R. I., held by the enemy, 30;
+    Howe's strategy, 60, _note_.
+
+  NEW YORK, plans for its invasion, 26, 29, 30;
+    resources of for resisting Burgoyne, 58, 59.
+
+
+  ORISKANY, N. Y., Americans marching to Fort Stanwix are defeated at,
+      91.
+
+
+  PHILLIPS, WILLIAM, commands Burgoyne's artillery, 34;
+    brings up artillery at Bemis' Heights, 111.
+
+
+  RIEDESEL, BARON VON, commands Burgoyne's German contingent, 34;
+    at Ticonderoga, 40;
+    pursues the retreating Americans, 46;
+    turns defeat to victory at Hubbardton, 48;
+    is posted at Castleton, Vt., 61;
+    falls back to Fort Edward, 86;
+    supports Burgoyne at Bemis' Heights, 111.
+
+
+  SARATOGA, occupied by Burgoyne, 70;
+    country below described, 98;
+    Burgoyne's army crosses over to, 102;
+    falls back to, after being defeated, 129; 134, _note_.
+
+  ST. CLAIR, ARTHUR, commands at Ticonderoga, 39;
+    evacuates it, 43;
+    military record of, 44, _note_ 2; also _note_ 5;
+    marches for Skenesborough, 45;
+    halts at Hubbardton, 46;
+    hears Burgoyne has occupied his proposed line of retreat, and now
+      marches for Bennington, 51;
+    joins Schuyler at Fort Edward, 51;
+    accused of treachery, 58;
+    and ordered to Philadelphia, 60.
+
+  ST. JOHN'S, FORT, position of, 16;
+    taken by Americans, 19;
+    burnt, 20;
+    British build a fleet at, 21.
+
+  ST. LEGER, BARRY, combination with Burgoyne, 13;
+    his part, 30, 31;
+    his force, 35, 90;
+    lays siege to Fort Stanwix, 91;
+    Arnold's stratagem compels him to raise the siege, 93;
+    and retreat to Oswego, 93.
+
+  SCHUYLER, PHILIP, at Fort Edward, 51;
+    St. Clair joins him, 51;
+    sends a force to Fort Anne, 52;
+    military record of, 55, _note_;
+    holds Warner at Manchester, 57;
+    evacuates Fort Edward on Burgoyne's approach, 66;
+    state of his army, 66;
+    urges Stark to join him, 77;
+    sends Gansevoort to Fort Stanwix, 90;
+    then Arnold, 93;
+    superseded by Gates, 95.
+
+  SECOND BATTLE OF FREEMAN'S FARM, 120-122.
+
+  SKENESBOROUGH taken by Americans, 17;
+    described, 18, _note_;
+    made a dockyard, 21;
+    Americans retreat to, from Ticonderoga, 44;
+    set fire to, and abandoned, 51.
+
+  STARK, JOHN, appointed to sole command over New Hampshire militia, 74;
+    musters his brigade at Manchester, 74;
+    refuses to join Schuyler, 74;
+    his perplexity, 75;
+    marches to Bennington, 75;
+    sketch of, 76, _note_;
+    decides to join Schuyler, 77;
+    but hears of the enemy's approach, and sends out scouts, 77;
+    sends for Warner, 78;
+    re-enforced, 81;
+    his force, 82;
+    gains the victory of Bennington, 83;
+    and defeats Breyman also, 84, 85;
+    at Fort Edward, 132.
+
+  STILLWATER, position of the American army described, 98.
+
+
+  TICONDEROGA, position of described, 16;
+    taken by Americans, 17; 18, _note_;
+    Montgomery there, 19;
+    Burgoyne's landing, 39;
+    garrison of, 40;
+    invested by Burgoyne, 40, 43;
+    evacuated, 44;
+    effects of its fall, 56, 57;
+    Americans attack it unsuccessfully, 114.
+
+  TRENTON, N. J., victory at, 32, _note_.
+
+
+  VALCOUR ISLAND, naval battle at, 22.
+
+  VERMONT, people of addressed by Burgoyne, 38;
+    state of settlements in, 44, _note_;
+    critical situation of after the fall of Ticonderoga, 57.
+
+
+  WARNER, SETH, in command at Hubbardton, 47; 55, _note_;
+    surprised there, 48;
+    retreats to Bennington, 51;
+    posted at Manchester, 57;
+    his Green Mountain Boys, 57;
+    Stark calls on him for assistance, 77;
+    gets to Bennington in time, 81;
+    attacks Breyman, 84.
+
+  WASHINGTON, GEORGE, sets about retrieving the disaster at Ticonderoga,
+      60;
+    his views how to retard Burgoyne's march, 73;
+    sends Lincoln to carry them out, 74;
+    his policy vindicated, 85;
+    efforts to strengthen the northern army, 95, 96;
+    considerate treatment of Schuyler, 96.
+
+
+
+
+    +-----------------------------------------------+
+    |             Transcriber's Note:               |
+    |                                               |
+    | Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the  |
+    | original document have been preserved.        |
+    |                                               |
+    | Typographical errors corrected in the text:   |
+    |                                               |
+    | Page    5  126 changed to 124                 |
+    | Page    5  143 changed to 139
+    | Page  143  followes changed to follows        |
+    | Page  144  Fellow's changed to Fellows        |
+    +-----------------------------------------------+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Burgoyne's Invasion of 1777, by Samuel Adams  Drake
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BURGOYNE'S INVASION OF 1777 ***
+
+***** This file should be named 31206-8.txt or 31206-8.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        http://www.gutenberg.org/3/1/2/0/31206/
+
+Produced by Barbara Kosker and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was
+produced from images generously made available by The
+Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
+
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+http://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need, are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+http://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at http://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit http://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations.
+To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     http://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
diff --git a/31206-8.zip b/31206-8.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0514b0a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/31206-8.zip
diff --git a/31206-h.zip b/31206-h.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a0a7185
--- /dev/null
+++ b/31206-h.zip
diff --git a/31206-h/31206-h.htm b/31206-h/31206-h.htm
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3ecc09e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/31206-h/31206-h.htm
@@ -0,0 +1,4534 @@
+<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
+<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">
+  <head>
+    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" />
+    <title>
+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of Burgoyne's Invasion of 1777, by Samuel Adams Drake.
+    </title>
+    <style type="text/css">
+    p {  margin-top: .5em;
+         text-align: justify;
+         margin-bottom: .5em;
+         text-indent: 1em;
+         }
+    h1   {
+         text-align: center; font-family: garamond, serif; /* all headings centered */
+         }
+    h5,h6 {
+         text-align: center; font-family: garamond, serif; /* all headings centered */
+         }
+    h2 {
+         text-align: center; font-family: garamond, serif; /* all headings centered */
+         }
+    h3 {
+         text-align: center; font-family: garamond, serif; /* all headings centered */
+         }
+    h4 {
+         text-align: center; font-family: garamond, serif; /* all headings centered */
+         }
+    hr { width: 33%;
+         margin-top: 1em;
+         margin-bottom: 1em;
+       }
+    body{margin-left: 10%;
+         margin-right: 10%;
+        }
+    a  {text-decoration: none} /* no lines under links */
+    div.centered {text-align: center;} /* work around for IE centering with CSS problem part 1 */
+    div.centered table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;} /* work around for IE centering with CSS problem part 2 */
+    ul        {list-style-type: none} /* no bullets on lists */
+    ul.nest   {margin-top: .15em; margin-bottom: .15em; text-indent: -1.5em;} /* spacing for nested list */
+    li        {margin-top: .15em; margin-bottom: .15em;} /* spacing for list */
+
+    .cen      {text-align: center; text-indent: 0em;} /* centering paragraphs */
+    .smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;} /* small caps */
+    .noin     {text-indent: 0em;} /* no indenting */
+    .img      {text-align: center; padding: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} /* centering images */
+    .sidenote {width: 10%; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: .5em; margin-left: .5em; font-size: smaller; float: right; clear: right; text-align: right;}
+    .tdr      {text-align: right;} /* right align cell */
+    .tdrrbp   {text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom; border-right: .5pt black solid; padding-right: .5em;} /* right align cell; border right, padding */
+    .tdrp     {text-align: right; padding-right: 1em;} /* right align with padding */
+    .tdc      {text-align: center;} /* center align cell */
+    .tdclr    {text-align: center; border-left: .5pt black solid; border-right: .5pt black solid;} /* center align, border left and right */
+    .tdctlr   {text-align: center; border-top: .5pt black solid; border-left: .5pt black solid; border-right: .5pt black solid;} /* center align, top, left, right border */
+    .tdl      {text-align: left;}  /* left align cell */
+    .tdllp    {text-align: left; border-left: .5pt black solid; padding-left: .5em;} /* left align, border left; padding */
+    .tr       {margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; margin-top: 5%; margin-bottom: 5%; padding: 1em; background-color: #f6f2f2; color: black; border: dotted black 1px;} /* transcriber's notes */
+
+    .pagenum  { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */
+               /*  visibility: hidden;  */
+               position: absolute; right: 2%;
+               font-size: 75%;
+               color: silver;
+               background-color: inherit;
+               text-align: right;
+               text-indent: 0em;
+               font-style: normal;
+               font-weight: normal;
+               font-variant: normal;} /* page numbers */
+
+    .footnotes        {border: dashed 1px;}
+    .footnote         {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 90%;}
+    .footnote .label  {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right; font-size: 90%;}
+    .fnanchor         {vertical-align: text-top; font-size: .8em; text-decoration: none;}
+
+    .poem             {margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; text-align: left;}
+    .poem br          {display: none;}
+    .poem .stanza     {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;}
+    .poem span        {display: block; margin: 0; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;}
+    .poem span.i2     {display: block; margin-left: 2em;}
+    .poem span.i4     {display: block; margin-left: 4em;}
+    .poem span.pn     { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */
+                        /*  visibility: hidden;  */
+                            position: absolute; right: 2%;
+                            font-size: 75%;
+                            text-align: right;
+                            text-indent: 0em;
+                            font-style: normal;
+                            font-weight: normal;
+                            color: silver; background-color: inherit;
+                            font-variant: normal;} /* page numbers in poems */
+
+
+    </style>
+   </head>
+<body>
+
+
+<pre>
+
+Project Gutenberg's Burgoyne's Invasion of 1777, by Samuel Adams  Drake
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Burgoyne's Invasion of 1777
+       With an outline sketch of the American Invasion of Canada, 1775-76.
+
+Author: Samuel Adams  Drake
+
+Release Date: February 7, 2010 [EBook #31206]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BURGOYNE'S INVASION OF 1777 ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Barbara Kosker and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was
+produced from images generously made available by The
+Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<div class="centered">
+<table border="0" width="65%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="List">
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdctlr" colspan="2" style="padding-top: .75em;"><span style="font-size: 120%;"><b>WORKS BY SAMUEL ADAMS DRAKE</b></span></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdllp"><b>OLD LANDMARKS AND HISTORIC PERSONAGES OF BOSTON.</b> Illustrated.</td>
+  <td class="tdrrbp">$2.00</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdllp"><b>OLD LANDMARKS AND HISTORIC FIELDS OF MIDDLESEX.</b> Illustrated.</td>
+  <td class="tdrrbp">2.00</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdllp"><b>NOOKS AND CORNERS OF THE NEW ENGLAND COAST.</b> Illustrated.</td>
+  <td class="tdrrbp">3.50</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdllp"><b>CAPTAIN NELSON.</b> A Romance of Colonial Days.</td>
+  <td class="tdrrbp">.75</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdllp"><b>THE HEART OF THE WHITE MOUNTAINS.</b> Illustrated<br />
+    &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(Illuminated Cloth).</td>
+  <td class="tdrrbp">7.50</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdllp">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Tourist's Edition.</td>
+  <td class="tdrrbp">3.00</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdllp"><b>AROUND THE HUB.</b> A Boy's Book about Boston. Illustrated.</td>
+  <td class="tdrrbp">1.50</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdllp"><b>NEW ENGLAND LEGENDS AND FOLK LORE.</b> Illustrated.</td>
+  <td class="tdrrbp">2.00</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdllp"><b>THE MAKING OF NEW ENGLAND.</b> Illustrated.</td>
+  <td class="tdrrbp">1.50</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdllp"><b>THE MAKING OF THE GREAT WEST.</b></td>
+  <td class="tdrrbp">1.75</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdllp"><b>OLD BOSTON TAVERNS.</b> Paper.</td>
+  <td class="tdrrbp">.50</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdllp"><b>BURGOYNE'S INVASION OF 1777.</b> Net.</td>
+  <td class="tdrrbp">.50</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdclr" colspan="2"><i>Any book on the above list sent by mail, postpaid, on receipt of price,<br /> by</i></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdclr" colspan="2" style="border-bottom: .5pt black solid;">LEE AND SHEPARD, BOSTON</td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<div class="img">
+<a href="images/frontis.jpg">
+<img border="0" src="images/frontis.jpg" width="55%" alt="General. Burgoyne." /></a><br />
+<p class="cen smcap" style="margin-top: .2em;">Gen<span style="vertical-align: 15%;">l.</span> Burgoyne.</p>
+</div>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+
+
+<h3>  Decisive Events in American History</h3>
+<br />
+<br />
+<h1>  <span class="smcap">Burgoyne's Invasion of 1777</span></h1>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<h3>  WITH AN
+  OUTLINE SKETCH OF THE<br /> AMERICAN INVASION
+  OF CANADA, 1775-76</h3>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<h4>  BY</h4>
+
+<h2>SAMUEL ADAMS DRAKE</h2>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<h4>  BOSTON 1889<br />
+  LEE AND SHEPARD PUBLISHERS</h4>
+
+<h5>  10 MILK STREET NEXT "OLD SOUTH MEETING HOUSE"<br />
+  NEW YORK CHARLES T. DILLINGHAM<br />
+  718 AND 720 BROADWAY</h5>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<h5><span class="smcap">Copyright, 1889,<br />
+by<br />
+Lee and Shepard.</span></h5>
+<br />
+<br />
+<h5>BOSTON<br />
+<span class="smcap">S. J. Parkhill &amp; Co., Printers</span></h5>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+
+
+<hr /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span>
+<br />
+<h2>CONTENTS.</h2>
+
+<div class="centered">
+<table border="0" width="70%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Table opf Contents">
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp" width="10%" style="font-size: 80%;">CHAPTER</td>
+  <td class="tdl" width="80%">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdr" width="10%" style="font-size: 80%;">PAGE</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl smcap">Introduction</td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_9">9</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="3">PRELUDE.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">I.</td>
+  <td class="tdl smcap">The Invasion of Canada</td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_15">15</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">II.</td>
+  <td class="tdl smcap">The Invasion of Canada</td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_19">19</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="3">BURGOYNE'S INVASION.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">I.</td>
+  <td class="tdl smcap">The Plan of Campaign</td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_27">27</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">II.</td>
+  <td class="tdl smcap">Burgoyne's Army</td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_33">33</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">III.</td>
+  <td class="tdl smcap">The Fall of Ticonderoga</td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_37">37</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">IV.</td>
+  <td class="tdl smcap">Hubbardton</td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_45">45</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">V.</td>
+  <td class="tdl smcap">Facing Disaster</td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_56">56</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">VI.</td>
+  <td class="tdl smcap">The March to Fort Edward</td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_61">61</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">VII.</td>
+  <td class="tdl smcap">Before Bennington</td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_68">68</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">VIII.</td>
+  <td class="tdl smcap">Battle of Bennington</td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_77">77</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">IX.</td>
+  <td class="tdl smcap">After Bennington</td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_87">87</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">X.</td>
+  <td class="tdl smcap">St. Leger's Expedition</td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_90">90</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">XI.</td>
+  <td class="tdl smcap">Our Army Advances</td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_95">95</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">XII.</td>
+  <td class="tdl smcap">Battle of Bemis' Heights</td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_101">101</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">XIII.</td>
+  <td class="tdl smcap">Lincoln's Raid in Burgoyne's Rear</td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_113">113</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">XIV.</td>
+  <td class="tdl smcap">Second Battle of Freeman's Farm</td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_116">116</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">XV.</td>
+  <td class="tdl smcap">Retreat and Surrender</td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_124">124</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">XVI.</td>
+  <td class="tdl smcap">Seventeenth of October, 1777</td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_137">137</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">XVII.</td>
+  <td class="tdl smcap">Consequences of Defeat</td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_139">139</a></td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span>
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<div class="img"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span>
+<a href="images/imagep009.jpg">
+<img border="0" src="images/imagep009.jpg" width="30%" alt="MILITARY MAP, LAKE CHAMPLAIN." /></a><br />
+<p class="cen" style="margin-top: .2em;">MILITARY MAP, LAKE CHAMPLAIN.</p>
+</div>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span>
+<br />
+
+<hr /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span>
+<br />
+<h2>INTRODUCTION</h2>
+<br />
+
+<p>Among the decisive events of the Revolutionary struggle, Burgoyne's
+campaign deservedly holds the foremost place, as well for what it led
+to, as for what it was in inception and execution&mdash;at once the most
+daring, most quixotic, and most disastrous effort of the whole war.</p>
+
+<p>Burgoyne was himself, in some respects, so remarkable a man that any
+picture of his exploits must needs be more or less tinted with his
+personality. And this was unusually picturesque and imposing. He
+acquired prestige, at a time when other generals were losing it, through
+his participation in Carleton's successful campaign. But Burgoyne was
+something more than the professional soldier. His nature was poetic; his
+temperament imaginative. He did nothing in a commonplace way. Even his
+orders are far more scholarly than soldier-like. At one time he tells
+his soldiers that "occasions may occur, when nor difficulty, nor labor,
+nor life are to be regarded"&mdash;as if soldiers, in general, expected
+anything else than to be shot at!&mdash;at another, we find him preaching
+humanity to Indians, repentance to rebels, or better manners to his
+adversary, with all the superb self-consciousness that was Burgoyne's
+most prominent characteristic.</p>
+
+<p>To the military critic, Burgoyne's campaign is <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span>instructive, because it
+embodies, in itself, about all the operations known to active warfare.
+It was destined to great things, but collapsed, like a bubble, with the
+first shock of an adverse fortune.</p>
+
+<p>This campaign is remarkable in yet another way. It has given us the most
+voluminous literature extant, that treats of any single episode of the
+Revolutionary War. In general, it takes many more words to explain a
+defeat than to describe a victory. Hence this fulness is much more
+conspicuous upon the British than upon the American side of the history
+of this campaign. Not only the general, who had his reputation to
+defend, but high officials, whose guiding hand was seen behind the
+curtain, were called to the bar of public opinion. The ministers
+endeavored to make a scapegoat of the general; the general, to fix the
+responsibility for defeat upon the ministers. His demand for a
+court-martial was denied. His sovereign refused to hear him. It was thus
+meanly attempted to turn the torrent of popular indignation, arising
+from the ill success of the expedition, wholly upon the unlucky
+general's head. Burgoyne's heroic persistency at length brought the
+British nation face to face with the unwelcome fact, which the ministers
+were so desirous of concealing,&mdash;that somebody besides the general had
+blundered; and if the inquiry that Burgoyne obtained from Parliament
+failed to vindicate him as a captain, it nevertheless did good service
+by exposing both the shortcomings of his accusers, and the motives which
+had guided their conduct with respect to himself.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span>Besides the official examination by the House of Commons, we have
+several excellent narratives, written by officers who served with
+Burgoyne, all of which materially contribute to an intelligent study of
+the campaign, from a purely military point of view. These narratives are
+really histories of the several corps to which the writers belonged,
+rather than capable surveys of the whole situation; but they give us the
+current gossip of the camp-fire and mess-table, spiced with anecdote,
+and enlivened with the daily experiences through which the writers were
+passing. And this is much.</p>
+
+<p>In his defence, General Burgoyne vigorously addresses himself to the
+four principal charges brought forward by his accusers: namely, first,
+of encumbering himself with a needless amount of artillery; secondly, of
+taking the Fort Anne route, rather than the one by way of Lake George;
+thirdly, of sending off an expedition to Bennington, under conditions
+inviting defeat; and, lastly, of crossing the Hudson after the disasters
+of Bennington and Fort Stanwix had taken place.</p>
+
+<p>The real criticism upon Burgoyne's conduct, so far as it relates to the
+movement of his forces only, seems to be that from the moment when the
+march was actually to begin, he found himself in want of everything
+necessary to a rapid advance. Thus, we find him scarcely arrived at
+Skenesborough before he is asking Sir Guy Carleton for re&euml;nforcements to
+garrison Ticonderoga and Fort George with, to the end that his own force
+might not be weakened by the detachments required to hold those
+fortresses against the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span>Americans, when he should move on. It would seem
+that this contingency, at least, might have been foreseen before it
+forced itself upon Burgoyne's attention. Yet it was of so serious a
+nature, in this general's eyes, that he expresses a doubt whether his
+army would be found equal to the task before it, unless Carleton would
+assume the defence of the forts referred to above.</p>
+
+<p>At this time, too, the inadequacy of his transportation service became
+so painfully evident, that the expedition to Bennington offered the only
+practicable solution to Burgoyne's mind.</p>
+
+<p>These circumstances stamp the purposed invasion with a certain haphazard
+character at the outset, which boded no good to it in the future.</p>
+
+<p>Carleton having declined to use his troops in the manner suggested,
+Burgoyne was compelled to leave a thousand men behind him when he
+marched for Albany. Carleton, the saviour of Canada, was justly
+chagrined at finding himself superseded in the conduct of this campaign,
+by an officer who had served under his orders in the preceding one; and,
+though he seems to have acted with loyalty toward Burgoyne, this is by
+no means the only instance known in which one general has refused to go
+beyond the strict letter of his instructions for the purpose of rescuing
+a rival from a dilemma into which he had plunged with his eyes wide
+open.</p>
+
+<p>The Prelude with which our narrative opens, undertakes first, to briefly
+outline the history of the Northern Army, which finally brought victory
+out of defeat; and next, to render familiar the names, location, and
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span>strategic value of the frontier fortresses, before beginning the story
+of the campaign itself.</p>
+
+<p>Few armies have ever suffered more, or more nobly redeemed an apparently
+lost cause, than the one which was defeated at Quebec and victorious at
+Saratoga. The train of misfortunes which brought Burgoyne's erratic
+course to so untimely an end was nothing by comparison. And the
+quickness with which raw yeomanry were formed into armies capable of
+fighting veteran troops, affords the strongest proof that the Americans
+are a nation of soldiers.</p>
+
+<p>So many specific causes have been assigned for Burgoyne's failure, that
+it is hardly practicable to discuss all of them within reasonable
+limits. The simplest statement of the whole case is that he allowed
+himself to be beaten in detail. It seems plain enough that any plan,
+which exposed his forces to this result, was necessarily vicious in
+itself. Moreover, Burgoyne wofully misestimated the resources, spirit,
+and fighting capacity of his adversary. With our forces strongly posted
+on the Mohawk, St. Leger's advance down the valley was clearly
+impracticable. Yet such a combination of movements as would bring about
+a junction of the two invading columns, at this point, was all essential
+to the success of Burgoyne's campaign. To have effected this in season,
+Burgoyne should have made a rapid march to the Mohawk, intrenched
+himself there, and operated in conjunction with St. Leger. His delays,
+attributable first, to his unwise choice of the Fort Anne route, next,
+to Schuyler's activity in obstructing it, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span>lastly, to his defeat at
+Bennington, gave time to render our army so greatly superior to his own,
+that the conditions were wholly altered when the final trial of strength
+came to be made.</p>
+
+<p>What might have happened if Sir W. Howe had moved his large army and
+fleet up the Hudson, in due season, is quite another matter. The writer
+does not care to discuss futilities. In the first place, he thinks that
+Burgoyne's campaign should stand or fall on its own merits. In the next,
+such a movement by Howe would have left Washington free to act in the
+enemy's rear, or upon his flanks, with a fair prospect of cutting him
+off from his base at New York. Of the two commanders-in-chief,
+Washington acted most effectively in re&euml;nforcing Gates's army from his
+own. Howe could not and Carleton would not do this. From the moment that
+Burgoyne crossed the Hudson, he seems to have pinned his faith to
+chance; but if chance has sometimes saved poor generalship, the general
+who commits himself to its guidance, does so with full knowledge that he
+is casting his reputation on the hazard of a die. As Burgoyne did just
+this, he must be set down, we think, notwithstanding his chivalrous
+defence of himself, as the conspicuous failure of the war. And we assume
+that the importance which his campaign implied to Europe and America,
+more than any high order of ability in the general himself, has lifted
+Burgoyne into undeserved prominence.</p>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span>
+<br />
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2>PRELUDE</h2>
+<br />
+<h2>I.</h2>
+
+<h2>THE INVASION OF CANADA, 1775.</h2>
+<br />
+
+<div class="sidenote">Canada's attitude.</div>
+
+<p>England took Canada from France in 1759, and soon after annexed it to
+her own dominions. Twelve years later, her despotic acts drove her
+American colonies into open rebellion. England feared, and the colonies
+hoped, Canada would join in the revolt against her. But, though they did
+not love their new masters, prudence counselled the Canadians to stand
+aloof, at least till the Americans had proved their ability to make head
+against the might of England.</p>
+
+<p>That England would be much distressed by Canada's taking sides with the
+Americans was plain enough to all men, for the whole continent would
+then be one in purpose, and the conflict more equal; but the Americans
+also greatly wished it because all New England and New York lay open to
+invasion from Canada.</p>
+
+<p>Nature had created a great highway, stretching southward from the St.
+Lawrence to the Hudson, over which rival armies had often passed to
+victory or defeat in the old wars. Open water offered an easy transit
+for nearly the whole way. A chain of forts <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span>extended throughout its
+whole length. Chambly and St. John's defended the passage of the
+Richelieu, through which the waters of Lake Champlain flow to the St.
+Lawrence. Crown Point<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> and Ticonderoga<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> blocked the passage of this
+lake in its narrowest part. Ticonderoga, indeed, is placed just where
+the outlet of Lake George falls down a mountain gorge into Lake
+Champlain. Its cannon, therefore, commanded that outlet also. Fort
+George stood at the head of Lake George, within sixteen miles of Fort
+Edward, on the Hudson. These were the gates through which a hostile army
+might sally forth upon our naked frontier. Much, therefore, depended on
+whether they were to be kept by friend or foe.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Ticonderoga.</div>
+
+<p>In natural and artificial strength, Ticonderoga was by far the most
+important of these fortresses. At this place the opposite shores of New
+York and Vermont are pushed out into the lake toward each other, thus
+forming two peninsulas, with the lake contracted to a width of half a
+mile, or point-blank cannon range, between them: one is Ticonderoga; the
+other, Mount Independence. Thus, together, they command the passage of
+the two lakes.</p>
+
+<p>Ticonderoga itself is a tongue-shaped projection of quite uneven land,
+broad and high at the base, or where it joins the hills behind it, but
+growing narrower as it descends over intervening hollows or swells to
+its farthest point in the lake. That part next the mainland is a wooded
+height, having a broad plateau on the brow&mdash;large enough to encamp an
+army corps <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span>upon&mdash;but cut down abruptly on the sides washed by the lake.
+This height, therefore, commanded the whole peninsula lying before it,
+and underneath it, as well as the approach from Lake George, opening
+behind it in a rugged mountain pass, since it must be either crossed or
+turned before access to the peninsula could be gained. Except for the
+higher hills surrounding it, this one is, in every respect, an admirable
+military position.</p>
+
+<p>The French, who built the first fortress here, had covered all the low
+ground next the lake with batteries and intrenchments, but had left the
+heights rising behind it unguarded, until Abercromby attacked on that
+side in 1758. They then hastily threw up a rude intrenchment of logs,
+extending quite across the crest in its broadest part. Yet, in spite of
+the victory he then obtained, Montcalm was so fully convinced that
+Ticonderoga could not stand a siege, that he made no secret of calling
+it a trap, for some honest man to disgrace himself in.<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a></p>
+
+<p>Ticonderoga, however, was henceforth looked upon as a sort of Gibraltar.
+People, therefore, were filled with wonder when they heard how Ethan
+Allen had surprised and taken it on the 9th of May, 1775, with only a
+handful of men; how Seth Warner had also taken Crown Point; and how
+Skenesborough<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> and Fort George, being thus cut off from Canada, had
+also fallen into our hands without firing a shot.<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a></p>
+
+<p>Thus, in the very beginning of the war for independence, and at one bold
+stroke, we regained possession of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span>this gateway of the north; or in
+military phrase, we now held all the strategic points by which an
+advance from Lower Canada upon the United Colonies was possible.</p>
+
+<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> <span class="smcap">Crown Point</span>, built by the French in 1731, greatly
+strengthened by the British, who took it in 1759.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> <span class="smcap">Ticonderoga</span>, familiarly called "Ty" because the
+early spelling of the name was Tyconderoga. Built 1755-56 by the French,
+taken 1759 by the British, under Amherst. Three weeks before the battle
+of Lexington, an agent of Massachusetts was sent to ascertain the
+feelings of the people of Canada. His first advice was that "Ty" should
+be seized as quickly as possible.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> <span class="smcap">Montcalm's Prophecy</span> came true in St. Clair's case
+in 1777.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> <span class="smcap">Skenesborough</span>, now Whitehall, named for Philip
+Skene, a retired British officer, who settled on lands granted him after
+the French War. He had about fifty tenants, and a few negro slaves.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> <span class="smcap">The Captured Artillery</span> was taken to Cambridge on
+sleds in midwinter, by Colonel Knox. It enabled Washington to bring the
+siege of Boston to a favorable conclusion.</p></div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span>
+<br />
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2>II.</h2>
+
+<h2>THE INVASION OF CANADA.</h2>
+<br />
+
+<div class="sidenote">Invasion of Canada.</div>
+
+<p>The prompt seizure of the lake fortresses had a marked effect upon the
+wavering Canadians.<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> Many joined us. More stood ready to do so
+whenever the signal for revolt should be given. Success begets
+confidence. The Americans were now led to believe that by throwing an
+army into Canada at once, the people would no longer hesitate to free
+themselves from the British yoke. The time seemed the riper for it,
+because it was known that the strong places of Canada were but weakly
+guarded. Could Quebec and Montreal be taken, British power in Canada
+would be at an end.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Our army retreats.</div>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1776.</div>
+
+<p>With such promise held out before it, Congress resolved to make the
+attempt. Forces were ordered to both places. One body, under General
+Montgomery,<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> mustered at Ticonderoga. Ethan Allen went before it to
+rouse the Canadians, who were expected to receive the Americans with
+open arms. This army moved down the lake in October, taking St. John's
+and Chambly in its way, and Montreal a little later. The other, led by
+Colonel Arnold,<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> ascended the Kennebec to its head, crossed over to
+the Chaudi&egrave;re, which was followed to the St. Lawrence, and came before
+Quebec at about the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span>same time Montgomery entered Montreal. Montgomery
+hastened to Arnold with a handful of men. Together they assaulted Quebec
+on the morning of December 31. The attack failed, and Montgomery fell.
+The Americans lay before Quebec till spring, when the arrival of fresh
+troops, for the enemy, forced ours to retreat to Montreal. This, too,
+was abandoned. Our army then fell back toward Lake Champlain, setting
+fire to Chambly, and St. John's behind it. The enemy followed close,
+recapturing these places as our troops left them. Very little fighting
+took place, but the Americans were greatly disheartened by having
+constantly to retreat, and by the loss of many brave officers and men,
+who fell sick and died of the smallpox. July 1 the army finally reached
+Crown Point, ragged, sickly, and destitute of everything. Weakened by
+the loss of five thousand men and three commanders, it was no longer
+able to keep the field. Instead of conquering Canada, it had been driven
+out at the point of the bayonet. The great question now was, whether
+this army could hold its own against a victorious and advancing enemy.</p>
+
+<p>General Gates<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> took command of the army at this critical time.
+Convinced that he could never hope to hold both Crown Point and
+Ticonderoga, and knowing Ticonderoga to be much the stronger, in a
+military view, he decided to remove the army to that place at once. This
+was promptly done.<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> The soldiers were set to work strengthening the
+old, or building new, works, under the direction of skilful engineers.
+Of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span>these new works the strongest, as well as most important, because
+they commanded Ticonderoga itself, were those raised on the peninsula
+opposite the fortress on the Vermont side, which was christened Mount
+Independence on the day the army heard that the colonies had declared
+themselves free and independent.</p>
+
+<p>Having thrown a bridge across the strait, between Ticonderoga and Mount
+Independence, the Americans waited for the enemy to come and attack
+them, for with such leaders as Gates and Stark they felt confident of
+gaining the victory.</p>
+
+<p>The British were equally active on their side. After driving the
+Americans from Canada, they next determined to make themselves masters
+of Lake Champlain, recover the forts they had lost, and so gain a
+foothold for striking a blow at our northern colonies.</p>
+
+<p>For this purpose they set about building a fleet at St. John's. Vessels
+were sent out from England, for the purpose, which were taken to pieces
+below the Chambly rapids, brought across the portage, and put together
+again at St. John's. By working diligently, the British got their fleet
+ready to sail early in October.</p>
+
+<p>Well knowing the importance of keeping possession of the lake, the
+Americans turned Skenesborough into a dockyard, and were straining every
+nerve to get ready a fleet strong enough to cope with the British. As
+everything needed for equipping it had to be brought from the sea-coast,
+the British had much the advantage in this respect, yet all labored with
+so much zeal, that our fleet was first ready for action. Gates <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span>gave the
+command of it to Arnold, who had once been a sailor, and whose courage
+had been tried so signally under the walls of Quebec.</p>
+
+<p>By the middle of August, Ticonderoga was in fighting trim. The enemy's
+delays had given time to make the defences so strong that an attack was
+rather hoped for than feared. Ignorant of the great preparations making
+at St. John's, the Americans also believed themselves strongest on the
+lake. Our fleet, therefore, went forward with confidence to the battle.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Naval battle, October 11.</div>
+
+<p>On the 11th of October the British flotilla was seen coming up the lake.
+The rival forces met at Valcour Island, and the battle began. From noon
+till night the combatants hurled broadsides at each other without
+ceasing. The British then drew off to repair damages, meaning to renew
+the fight in the morning. This gave Arnold a chance to slip through them
+unperceived, for his vessels were so badly shattered that all hope of
+gaining the victory was given over. He was pursued and overtaken. Near
+Crown Point the battle began again, but the enemy's superior forces soon
+decided it in his favor. Rather than surrender, Arnold ran his disabled
+vessels on shore, set fire to them, and with his men escaped to the
+woods.</p>
+
+<p>Having thus cleared the lake, the British commander, Guy Carleton,<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a>
+sailed back to St. John's, leaving Ticonderoga unmolested behind him, to
+the great astonishment of our soldiers, who said Carleton deserved to be
+hanged for not following up his victory over Arnold.</p>
+
+<div class="img"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span>
+<a href="images/imagep023.jpg">
+<img border="0" src="images/imagep023.jpg" width="35%" alt="NAVAL BATTLE, LAKE CHAMPLAIN." /></a><br />
+<p class="cen" style="margin-top: .2em;">NAVAL BATTLE, LAKE CHAMPLAIN.<br />
+A, American flotilla. B-C, British. D, Line of Retreat, when the British were forced back to E.</p>
+</div>
+
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span>
+
+<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> <span class="smcap">The Wavering Canadians.</span> The Massachusetts
+revolutionary authority had been at work upon the wavering Canadians
+since 1774, with only partial success. (See note 2, preceding chapter.)
+The Americans thought the Canadians would seize the opportunity of
+freeing themselves, but events proved this opinion ill-grounded. A
+political connection between the Protestants of New England and the
+Catholics of Canada, except for mutual defence, could hardly be lasting,
+nor did the priests favor it. The military advantages were equally
+questionable, though great stress was laid upon them by Washington and
+Schuyler, even after the allegiance of the Canadians had been confirmed
+to the British side by the reverses our arms sustained. If we had
+conquered Canada, it would doubtless have been handed over to France
+again at the close of the war.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> <span class="smcap">General Richard Montgomery</span>, of Irish birth, had
+served under Amherst at the taking of Crown Point and Ticonderoga in
+1759, settled in New York, been one of eight brigadiers created by
+Congress in June, 1775; General Schuyler's illness threw the chief
+command, for which he proved himself eminently fitted, on Montgomery.
+His having served on this line was much in his favor.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> <span class="smcap">Colonel Benedict Arnold</span> had once been a soldier at
+Ticonderoga. He went there again with a commission from Massachusetts,
+when the fortress was taken by Allen. He had also spent some time in
+Quebec. These facts had influence in procuring for him a command in the
+invading expedition.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> <span class="smcap">General Horatio Gates</span>, a retired British major,
+settled in Virginia, was made adjutant-general of the army, June, 1775.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> <span class="smcap">The Removal of the Army</span> from Crown Point to
+Ticonderoga was strongly opposed by Stark and others, and disapproved by
+Washington.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> <span class="smcap">Guy Carleton</span>, British governor of Canada, though
+driven from Montreal by Montgomery, had successfully defended Quebec
+against him. He reconnoitred Ticonderoga, but seems to have thought it
+too strong to be attacked with his force.</p></div>
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span><br />
+<h2>BURGOYNE'S INVASION</h2>
+
+<h2>I.</h2>
+
+<h2>THE PLAN OF CAMPAIGN.</h2>
+<br />
+
+<p>After the British had gone back to Canada, it was thought they would
+return as soon as the lake should be frozen hard enough to bear
+artillery. But when it was found that they had gone into winter
+quarters, and the danger was past, part of the garrison of Ticonderoga
+was hurried off to Washington, who was then fighting against great odds
+in the Jerseys. This winter was the dark hour of the Revolution, upon
+which the victory at Trenton<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> shed the first ray of light. So low had
+the American cause fallen at this time, that, but for this unlooked-for
+success, it is doubtful if another army could have been brought into the
+field.</p>
+
+<p>The British were really planning to invade New York as soon as the lakes
+should be open again, in the spring. For this campaign great
+preparations were making, both in Canada and England. Quiet, therefore,
+reigned at Ticonderoga throughout the winter of 1776 and 1777.</p>
+
+<p>General Burgoyne sailed for England in November, to lay before the king
+a plan for subduing the colonies in a single campaign. Burgoyne was a
+good soldier, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span>popular with the army and government, brave to rashness,
+but vain and headstrong. He knew the Americans were not to be despised,
+for he had seen them fight at Bunker Hill, as well as in the campaign
+just closed, in which he himself had taken part; yet an easy confidence
+in his own abilities led Burgoyne into committing many grave errors, not
+the least of which was underestimating this very enemy.<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a></p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">George III. wants the war pushed.</div>
+
+<p>Any plan that promised to put down the Americans, was sure of gaining
+the king's ear. Justice was never tempered with mercy in this monarch's
+treatment of his rebellious subjects. His heart was hardened, his hand
+ever ready to strike them the fatal blow. Moreover, the Americans had
+just now declared themselves independent of Great Britain. They had
+crossed their Rubicon. To crush them with iron hand was now the king's
+one thought and purpose. No half measures would do for him. He told his
+ministers, in so many words, that every means of distressing the
+Americans would meet with his approval. Mercenaries, savages,
+refugees&mdash;all who could fire a shot, or burn a dwelling, were to be
+enrolled under the proud old banner of the isles. No more effectual
+means could have been devised to arouse the spirit of resistance to the
+highest pitch.</p>
+
+<p>Burgoyne's ambition was kindled by the hope of making himself the hero
+of the war. He combined the qualities of general and statesman without
+being great as either. He wrote and talked well, was eloquent and
+persuasive, had friends at court, and knew how to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span>make the most of his
+opportunity. On his part, the king wanted a general badly. He had been
+grievously disappointed in Sir William Howe, whose victories seemed
+never bringing the war any nearer to an end. Burgoyne brought forward
+his plan at the right moment, shrewdly touched the keynote of the king's
+discontent by declaring for aggressive war, smoothed every obstacle away
+with easy assurance, and so impressed the ministers with his capacity,
+that they believed they had found the very man the king wanted for the
+work in hand.</p>
+
+<p>The plan proposed for making short work of the war was briefly this: The
+American colonies were to be divided in two parts, by seizing the line
+of the Hudson River; just as in later times, the Union armies aimed to
+split the Southern Confederacy in two by getting possession of the
+Mississippi. To effect this, two armies were to act together. With one,
+Burgoyne was to come down the lakes from Canada, and force his way to
+Albany, while the other was coming up the Hudson to join him. Once these
+armies were united, with full control of the Hudson in their hands, New
+England would be cut off from the other colonies by forts and fleets,
+and the way laid open to crush out rebellion in what was admitted to be
+its cradle and stronghold.</p>
+
+<p>Ever since Sir William Howe had been driven from Boston, in the spring
+of 1776, the opinion prevailed among American generals that, sooner or
+later, New England would become the battle-ground.<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> This view <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span>was
+sustained by the enemy's seizure of Newport, in December of the same
+year, so that the Americans were perplexed at finding themselves
+threatened from this quarter, until the enemy's plans were fully
+developed.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">St. Leger's part.</div>
+
+<p>There was yet another part to the plan concerted between Burgoyne and
+the British cabinet. It was seen that in proportion as Burgoyne moved
+down toward Albany, he would have the fertile Mohawk valley on his
+right. This valley was the great thoroughfare between the Hudson and
+Lake Ontario, Niagara, and Detroit. In it were many prosperous
+settlements, inhabited by a vigorous yeomanry, who were the mainstay of
+the patriot cause in this quarter. The passage to and fro was guarded by
+Fort Stanwix, which stood where Rome now is, and Fort Oswego, which was
+situated at the lake. Fort Stanwix was held by the Americans, and
+Oswego, by the British. Perceiving its value to the Americans not only
+as a granary, but as a recruiting station, and in view of the danger of
+leaving it on his flank, Burgoyne decided to march a force through this
+valley, clear it of enemies, and so effectively bring about a timely
+co&ouml;peration between the two branches of the expedition. Freed of fear
+for himself, he could materially aid in the work intrusted to his
+auxiliary. It followed that the Americans, with whom Burgoyne himself
+might be contending, would, of necessity, be greatly distressed by their
+inability to draw either men or supplies from the Mohawk Valley, no less
+than by the appearance of this <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span>force upon their own flank. The command
+of it was given to Colonel St. Leger, who was ordered to proceed up the
+St. Lawrence to Oswego, and from thence to Fort Stanwix and Albany.</p>
+
+<p>It must be allowed that this plan was well conceived; yet its success
+depended so much upon all the parts working in harmony together, that to
+have set it in motion, without consultation or clear understanding
+between the generals who were to execute it, is inconceivable. At a
+distance of three thousand miles from the scene of war, the British
+cabinet undertook to direct complicated military operations, in which
+widely separated armies were to take part. General Burgoyne received his
+orders on the spot. General Howe did not receive his until the 16th of
+August; his army was then entering Chesapeake Bay. Burgoyne was being
+defeated at Bennington, at the time Howe was reading his despatch, and
+learning from it what he had not known before; namely, that he was
+expected to co&ouml;perate with the army of Burgoyne. These facts will so
+sufficiently illustrate the course that events were taking, as to
+foreshadow their conclusion to the feeblest understanding.</p>
+
+<p>In order to make the war more terrible to the Americans, the British
+cabinet decided to use the Indians of Canada, and the Great Lakes,
+against them. Not even the plea of military necessity could reconcile
+some Englishmen to letting loose these barbarians upon the colonists.
+Though enemies, they were men. Lord Chatham, the noblest Englishman of
+them all, cried <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span>out against it in Parliament. "Who is the man," he
+indignantly asked, "who has dared to associate to our arms the tomahawk
+and scalping-knife of the savage?" All knew he meant the prime minister,
+and, behind him, the king himself. Had not King George just said that
+any means of distressing the Americans must meet with his approval?</p>
+
+<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> <span class="smcap">Victory at Trenton.</span> After being driven from the
+Jerseys, Washington suddenly turned on his pursuers, and by the two fine
+combats of Trenton and Princeton, compelled much superior forces
+everywhere to retreat before him, thus breaking up all the enemy's plans
+for the ensuing campaign, saving Philadelphia, and putting new life into
+the American cause.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> <span class="smcap">Underestimating his Enemy.</span> Burgoyne candidly
+admits as much in his letter to Lord G. Germaine. <i>State of the
+Expedition</i>, Appendix, xcii.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> <span class="smcap">New England the Battle-Ground.</span> Sir William Howe
+did propose, at first, operating against Boston from Rhode Island, with
+ten thousand men, while an equal force should effect a junction with the
+army of Canada, by way of the Hudson. This purpose he subsequently
+deferred for an advance into Pennsylvania, but Burgoyne asserts that he
+was not informed of the change of plan when he sailed for Canada in
+April; and, though Sir William Howe afterward wrote him to the same
+effect (July 17th) a letter which was received early in August,
+Burgoyne, nevertheless, persisted in his intention of passing the
+Hudson, notwithstanding he knew, and says (August 20th), that no
+operation had yet been undertaken in his favor. <i>State of the
+Expedition</i>, 188, 189; Appendix, xlvii.</p></div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span><br />
+<h2>II.</h2>
+
+<h2>BURGOYNE'S ARMY.</h2>
+<br />
+
+<p>Having thus outlined the plan of invasion, let us now look at the means
+allotted for its execution. There were in Canada ten thousand British
+soldiers; in New York, thirty thousand. Burgoyne was to take with him
+seven thousand, of whom three thousand were Germans in the pay of
+England.<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> In discipline, spirit, and equipment, this was by far the
+best little army that had yet taken the field in America.</p>
+
+<p>Good judges said that England might be searched through and through
+before such battalions could be raised. Forty cannon, splendidly served
+and equipped, formed its artillery train. All the generals, and most of
+the soldiers, were veterans. In short, nothing that experience could
+suggest, or unlimited means provide, was omitted to make this army
+invincible. It was one with which Burgoyne felt he could do anything,
+and dare everything.</p>
+
+<p>Besides these regular troops, we have said the government had authorized
+and even attempted to justify to the world, the employment of Indians.
+Four hundred warriors joined the army when it marched, and as many more
+when it reached Lake Champlain. They were to scour the woods, hang like
+a storm cloud about <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span>the enemy's camps, and discover his every movement.
+For this service they had no equals. In the woods they could steal upon
+an enemy unawares, or lie in wait for his approach. In the field they
+were of little use. Much of the terror they inspired came from the
+suddenness of their onset, their hideous looks and unearthly war-cries,
+and their cruel practice of scalping the wounded.</p>
+
+<p>To these were added about an equal number of Canadians, and American
+refugees, who were designed to act as scouts, skirmishers, or foragers,
+as the occasion might require. Being well skilled in bush-fighting, they
+were mostly attached to Frazer's corps, for the purpose of clearing the
+woods in his front, getting information, or driving in cattle. With his
+Indians and irregulars,<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> Burgoyne's whole force could hardly have
+numbered less than ten thousand men.</p>
+
+<p>Taken as a whole, this army was justly thought the equal of twice its
+own number of raw yeomanry, suddenly called to the field from the anvil,
+the workshop, or the plough. Its strongest arm was its artillery; its
+weakest, its Indian allies.</p>
+
+<p>Burgoyne divided his force into three corps, commanded by Generals
+Frazer, Phillips, and Riedesel,&mdash;all excellent officers. Frazer's corps
+was mostly made up of picked companies, taken from other battalions and
+joined with the 24th regiment of the line. As its duty was of the
+hardest, so its material was of the best the army could afford. Next to
+Burgoyne, Frazer was, beyond all question, the officer most looked up to
+by <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span>the soldiers; in every sense of the word, he was a thorough soldier.
+His corps was, therefore, Burgoyne's right arm. Phillips commanded the
+artillery; and Riedesel, the Germans.</p>
+
+<p>In the middle of June this army embarked on Lake Champlain. Of many
+warlike pageants the aged mountains had looked down upon, perhaps this
+was the most splendid and imposing. From the general to the private
+soldier, all were filled with high hopes of a successful campaign. In
+front, the Indians, painted and decked out for war, skimmed the lake in
+their light canoes. Next came the barges containing Frazer's corps,
+marshalled in one regular line, with gunboats flanking it on each side;
+next, the Royal George and Inflexible frigates, with other armed vessels
+forming the fleet. Behind this strong escort, the main body, with the
+generals, followed in close order; and, last of all, came the camp
+followers, of whom there were far too many for the nature of the service
+in hand.</p>
+
+<p>In the distance the American watch-boats saw this gallant array bearing
+down upon them, in the confidence of its power. Hastening back to
+Ticonderoga, the word was passed along the lines to prepare for battle.</p>
+
+<p>For the Mohawk Valley expedition, St. Leger, who led it, took with him
+about seven hundred regular troops, two hundred loyalists, and eight
+guns. At Oswego, seven hundred Indians of the Six Nations joined him.
+With these, St. Leger started in July for Fort Stanwix, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span>which barred
+his way to the Hudson, just as Ticonderoga blocked Burgoyne's advance on
+the side of Lake Champlain.</p>
+
+<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> <span class="smcap">Soldiers were hired</span> from the petty German princes
+for the American war. The Americans called them all Hessians, because
+some came from the principality of Hesse. George III. also tried to hire
+twenty thousand Russians of Empress Catharine, but she gave him to
+understand that her soldiers would be better employed. There was good
+material among the Germans, many of whom had served with credit under
+the Great Frederick; but the British showed them little favor as
+comrades, while the Americans looked upon them as paid assassins. Not
+one in twenty knew any English, so that misconception of orders was not
+unfrequent, though orders were usually transmitted from headquarters in
+French. A jealousy also grew up out of the belief that Burgoyne gave the
+Germans the hardest duty, and the British the most praise. At
+Hubbardton, and on the 19th of September, the Germans saved him from
+defeat, yet he ungenerously, we think, lays the disaster of October 7th
+chiefly at their door.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> <span class="smcap">Indians and Irregulars.</span> It is impossible to give
+the number of these accurately, as it was constantly fluctuating. Though
+Burgoyne started with only four hundred Indians, the number was
+increased by five hundred at Skenesborough, and he was later joined by
+some of the Mohawks from St. Leger's force. In like manner, his two
+hundred and fifty Canadians and Provincials had grown to more than six
+hundred of the latter before he left Skenesborough. Most of these
+recruits came from the Vermont settlements. They were put to work
+clearing the roads, scouting, getting forward the supplies, collecting
+cattle, etc. Their knowledge of the country was greatly serviceable to
+Burgoyne. In the returns given of Burgoyne's <i>regular troops</i>, only the
+rank and file are accounted for. Staff and line officers would swell the
+number considerably.</p></div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span><br />
+<h2>III.</h2>
+
+<h2>THE FALL OF TICONDEROGA.</h2>
+<h3>(<i>July 5, 1777.</i>)</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>A hundred years ago, the shores of Lake Champlain were for the most part
+a wilderness. What few settlements did exist were mostly grouped about
+the southeast corner of the lake, into which emigration had naturally
+flowed from the older New England States. And even these were but feeble
+plantations,<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> separated from the Connecticut valley by lofty
+mountains, over which one rough road led the way.</p>
+
+<p>Burgoyne's companions in arms have told us of the herds of red deer seen
+quietly browsing on the hillsides; of the flocks of pigeons, darkening
+the air in their flight; and of the store of pike, bass, and maskelonge
+with which the waters of the lake abounded. At one encampment the
+soldiers lived a whole day on the pigeons they had knocked off the trees
+with poles. So the passage of the lake must have seemed more like a
+pleasure trip to them than the prelude to a warlike campaign.</p>
+
+<p>In his way up the lake, Burgoyne landed at the River Bouquet, on the
+west shore, where for some days the army rested.</p>
+
+<p>To this rendezvous, large numbers of Indians had <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span>come to join the
+expedition. It was indispensable to observe the customs which had always
+prevailed among these peoples when going to war. So Burgoyne made them a
+speech, gave them a feast, and witnessed the wild antics of their war
+dance.</p>
+
+<p>He forbade their scalping the wounded, or destroying women and children.
+They listened attentively to his words, and promised obedience; but
+these commands were so flatly opposed to all their philosophy of war,
+which required the extinction of every human feeling, that Burgoyne
+might as well have bidden the waters of the lake flow backward, as
+expect an Indian not to use his scalping-knife whenever an enemy lay at
+his mercy.</p>
+
+<p>Still, it is to Burgoyne's credit that he tried to check the ferocity of
+these savages, and we would also charitably believe him at least half
+ashamed of having to employ them at all, when he saw them brandishing
+their tomahawks over the heads of imaginary victims; beheld them
+twisting their bodies about in hideous contortions, in mimicry of
+tortured prisoners; or heard them howling, like wild beasts, their cry
+of triumph when the scalp is torn from an enemy's head.</p>
+
+<p>While thus drawing the sword with one hand, Burgoyne took his pen in the
+other. He drew up a paper which his Tory agents were directed to scatter
+among the people of Vermont, many of whom, he was assured, were at heart
+loyal to the king. These he invited to join his standard, or offered its
+protection to all who should remain neutral. All were warned against
+driving off their cattle, hiding their corn, or breaking <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span>down the
+bridges in his way. Should they dare disobey, he threatened to let loose
+his horde of savages upon them. Such a departure from the rules of
+honorable warfare would have justified the Americans in declaring no
+quarter to the invaders.</p>
+
+<p>Well aware that he would not conquer the Americans with threats,
+Burgoyne now gave the order to his army to go forward. His view of what
+lay before him might be thus expressed: The enemy will, probably, fight
+at Ticonderoga. Of course I shall beat them. I will give them no time to
+rally. When they hear St. Leger is in the valley, their panic will be
+completed. We shall have a little promenade of eight days, to Albany.</p>
+
+<p>On June 29 the army was near Ticonderoga. This day Burgoyne made a
+stirring address to his soldiers, in which he gave out the memorable
+watchword, "<i>This army must not retreat.</i>"</p>
+
+<p>The next day, Frazer's corps landed in full view of the fortress. The
+rest of the army was posted on both sides of the lake, which is nowhere
+wider than a river as the fortress is approached. The fleet kept the
+middle of the channel. With drums beating and bugles sounding, the
+different battalions took up their allotted stations in the woods
+bordering upon the lake. When night fell, the watch-fires of the
+besiegers' camps made red the waters that flowed past them. But as yet
+no hostile gun boomed from the ramparts of Ticonderoga.</p>
+
+<p>What was going on behind those grim walls which frowned defiance upon
+the invaders? General Gates was no longer there to direct. General St.
+Clair<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span>now in command of perhaps four thousand effective men,
+with whom, nevertheless, he hoped to defend his miles of intrenchments
+against the assaults of twice his own numbers. His real weakness lay in
+not knowing what point Burgoyne would choose for attack, and he had been
+strangely delinquent in not calling for re&euml;nforcements until the enemy
+was almost at the gates of the fortress itself.</p>
+
+<p>Burgoyne knew better than to heedlessly rush upon the lines that had
+proved Abercromby's destruction.<a name="FNanchor_19_19" id="FNanchor_19_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> He knew they were too strong to be
+carried without great bloodshed, and meant first to invest the fortress,
+and after cutting off access to it on all sides, then lay siege to it in
+regular form.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">July 2, Mount Hope seized.</div>
+
+<p>To this end, Frazer's corps was moved up to within cannon-shot of the
+works. His scouts soon found a way leading through old paths,<a name="FNanchor_20_20" id="FNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> quite
+round the rear of the fortress, to the outlet of Lake George. This was
+promptly seized. After a little skirmishing, the enemy planted
+themselves firmly, on some high ground rising behind the old French
+lines, on this side; thus making themselves masters of the communication
+with Lake George, and enclosing the fortress on the rear or land side.
+While this was going on, on the west shore, Riedesel's Germans were
+moved up still nearer Mount Independence, on the Vermont shore, thus
+investing Ticonderoga on three sides.</p>
+
+<p>A more enterprising general would never have permitted his enemy to
+seize his communications with Lake George, without making a struggle
+for their possession, but St. Clair appears to have thought his forces
+unequal to the attempt, and it was not made. The disaster which followed
+was but the natural result.</p>
+
+<div class="img"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span>
+<a href="images/imagep041.jpg">
+<img border="0" src="images/imagep041.jpg" width="35%" alt="THE INVESTMENT OF TICONDEROGA." /></a><br />
+<p class="cen" style="margin-top: .2em;">THE INVESTMENT OF TICONDEROGA.<br />
+<i>Pen and ink sketch by a British officer.</i></p>
+<p class="noin" style="margin-left: 25%; margin-right: 25%;">A-B, Ticonderoga. C-D-E, Mount Independence. F, Barracks. G, Mount
+Defiance. H, Bridge joining the fortress proper with Mount Independence.
+I, American Fleet. K, Outlet of Lake George. O, British Fleet. P,
+Three-Mile Point. Q, First Landing Place of Burgoyne. R, The Germans.
+T-U, Position taken on Mount Hope. W, Second Position of same Troops at
+U. Z, Portage to Lake George.</p></div>
+
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span><br />
+
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span>
+<div class="sidenote">Mount Defiance occupied.</div>
+
+<p>Just across the basin formed by the widening of the outlet of Lake
+George, a steep-sided mountain rises high above all the surrounding
+region. Its summit not only looks down upon the fortress, in every part,
+but over all its approaches by land or water. Not a man could march
+without being distinctly seen from this mountain. Yet, to-day, the eye
+measures its forest-shagged sides, in doubt if they can be scaled by
+human feet. Indeed, its ascent was so difficult that the Americans had
+neglected to occupy it at all. This is Mount Defiance, the most
+commanding object for miles around.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">July 5.</div>
+
+<p>Burgoyne's engineers could not help seeing that if artillery could be
+got to the top of this mountain, Ticonderoga was doomed. They
+reconnoitred it. Though difficult, they said it might be done. St.
+Clair's timidity having given them the way to it, the British instantly
+began moving men and guns round the rear of the fortress, and cutting a
+road up the mountain-side. The work was pushed forward day and night. It
+took most of the oxen belonging to the army to drag two twelve-pounders
+up the steep ascent, but when they were once planted on the summit,
+Ticonderoga lay at the mercy of the besiegers.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">July 6.</div>
+
+<p>When St. Clair saw the enemy getting ready to cannonade him from Mount
+Defiance, he at once gave <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span>orders to evacuate the fortress<a name="FNanchor_21_21" id="FNanchor_21_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a> under
+cover of the night. Most of the garrison retreated over the bridge
+leading to Mount Independence, and thence by the road to Hubbardton.
+What could be saved of the baggage and army stores was sent off to
+Skenesborough, by water. Hurry and confusion were everywhere, for it was
+not doubted that the enemy would be upon them as soon as daylight should
+discover the fortress abandoned. This happened at an early hour of the
+morning. The British instantly marched into the deserted works, without
+meeting with the least resistance. Ticonderoga's hundred cannon were
+silent under the menace of two. Burgoyne was now free to march his
+victorious battalions to the east, the west, or the south, whenever he
+should give the order.</p>
+
+<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> <span class="smcap">Feeble Plantations.</span> No permanent settlements were
+begun west of the Green Mountains till after the conquest of Canada.
+After that, the report of soldiers who had passed over the military road
+from Charlestown on the Connecticut River, to Crown Point, brought a
+swarm of settlers into what is now Bennington County. Settlement began
+in Rutland County in 1771.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> <span class="smcap">General Arthur St. Clair</span>, of Scotch birth, had
+been a lieutenant with Wolfe at Quebec; he resigned and settled in
+Pennsylvania; served with our army in Canada; made brigadier, August,
+1776; major-general, February, 1777.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> <span class="smcap">Abercromby</span> lost two thousand men in assaulting
+these lines in 1758. Since then they had been greatly strengthened.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> <span class="smcap">Through Old Paths.</span> The Indians had passed this
+way centuries before the fortress was thought of.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_21_21" id="Footnote_21_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> <span class="smcap">St. Clair</span> seems to have waited just long enough
+for the defence to become difficult, to admit its impossibility. He
+chose the part of safety rather than that of glory.</p></div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span><br />
+<h2>IV.</h2>
+
+<h2>HUBBARDTON.</h2>
+
+<h3>(<i>July 7, 1777.</i>)</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>Not doubting he would find Skenesborough still in our possession, St.
+Clair was pushing for that place with all possible speed. He expected to
+get there by land, before the enemy could do so by water; then, after
+gathering up the men and stores saved from Ticonderoga, St. Clair meant
+to fall back toward Fort Edward, where General Schuyler,<a name="FNanchor_22_22" id="FNanchor_22_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a> his
+superior officer, lay with two thousand men.</p>
+
+<p>This was plainly St Clair's true course. Indeed, there was nothing else
+for him to do, unless he decided to abandon the direct route to Albany
+altogether. So St. Clair did what a good general should. He resolved to
+throw himself between Burgoyne and Schuyler, whose force, joined to his
+own, would thus be able, even if not strong enough to risk a battle, at
+least to keep up a bold front toward the enemy.</p>
+
+<p>Though Burgoyne really knew nothing about Schuyler's force, he was
+keenly alive to the importance of cutting off the garrison of
+Ticonderoga from its line of retreat, and, if possible, of striking it a
+disabling blow before it could take up a new position. St. Clair counted
+on stealing a march before his retreat could <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span>be interfered with. He
+also depended on the strength of the obstructions at the bridge<a name="FNanchor_23_23" id="FNanchor_23_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a> of
+Ticonderoga to delay the enemy's fleet until his own could get safely to
+Skenesborough. In both expectations, St. Clair was disappointed.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">July 6.</div>
+
+<p>In the first place, Burgoyne had sent Frazer out in pursuit of him, as
+soon as the evacuation was discovered; in the second, Burgoyne's
+gunboats had hewed their way through the obstructions by nine in the
+morning, and were presently crowding all sail after the American
+flotilla, under command of Burgoyne himself.</p>
+
+<p>Riedesel's camp, we remember, lay on the Vermont side, and so nearest to
+Mount Independence, and St. Clair's line of retreat. Burgoyne,
+therefore, ordered Riedesel to fall in behind Frazer, who had just
+marched, and give that officer any support he might be in want of.</p>
+
+<p>Thus, most of the hostile forces were in active movement, either by land
+or water, at an early hour of the sixth. Let us first follow Frazer, in
+his effort to strike the American rear.</p>
+
+<p>Frazer had with him eight hundred and fifty men of his own corps. He
+pushed on so eagerly that the slow-moving Germans were far in the rear
+when the British halted for the night, near Hubbardton. The day had been
+sultry, the march fatiguing. Frazer's men threw themselves on the
+ground, and slept on their arms.</p>
+
+<p>St. Clair had reached Hubbardton the same afternoon, in great disorder.
+He halted only long enough <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span>for the rearguard to come up, and then
+hastened on, six miles farther, to Castleton, leaving Warner,<a name="FNanchor_24_24" id="FNanchor_24_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a> with
+three regiments, to cover his retreat. Instead of keeping within
+supporting distance of the main body, Warner foolishly decided to halt
+for the night where he was, because his men were tired, thus putting a
+gap of six miles between his commander and himself.</p>
+
+<p>Warner did not neglect, however, to fell some trees in front of his
+camp, and this simple precaution, perhaps, proved the salvation of his
+command the next day.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">July 7.</div>
+
+<p>At five in the morning, Frazer's scouts fell upon Warner's pickets while
+they were cooking their breakfasts, unsuspicious of danger. The surprise
+was complete. With their usual dash, Frazer's men rushed on to the
+assault, but soon found themselves entangled among the felled trees and
+brushwood, behind which the Americans were hurriedly endeavoring to
+form. At the moment of attack, one regiment made a shameful retreat. The
+rest were rallied by Warner and Francis,<a name="FNanchor_25_25" id="FNanchor_25_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a> behind trees, in copses, or
+wherever a vantage-ground could be had. As the combat took place in the
+woods, the British were forced to adopt the same tactics. Musket and
+rifle were soon doing deadly work in their ranks, every foot of ground
+was obstinately disputed, and when they thought the battle already won
+they found the Americans had only just begun to fight.</p>
+
+<p>For three hours, eight hundred men maintained a gallant and stubborn
+fight against the picked soldiers <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span>of Burgoyne's army, each side being
+repeatedly driven from its ground without gaining decided advantage over
+the other. Nor would Frazer have gained the day, as he at length did,
+but for the timely arrival of the Germans. Indeed, at the moment when
+the British were really beaten and ready to give way, the sound of many
+voices, singing aloud, rose above the din of battle, and near at hand.
+At first neither of the combatants knew what such strange sounds could
+mean. It was Riedesel's Germans advancing to the attack, chanting battle
+hymns to the fierce refrain of the musketry and the loud shouts of the
+combatants. Fifty fresh men would have turned the scale to either side.
+This re&euml;nforcement, therefore, decided the day. Being now greatly
+outnumbered, the Americans scattered in the woods around them.</p>
+
+<p>Although a defeat, this spirited little battle was every way honorable
+to the Americans, who fought on until all hope of relief had vanished. A
+single company would have turned defeat into victory, when to the
+British, defeat in the woods, thirty miles from help, meant destruction.
+Even as it was, they did not know what to do with the victory they had
+just won, with the loss of two hundred men, killed and wounded,
+seventeen of whom were officers. They had neither shelter nor medicines
+for the wounded, nor provisions for themselves. The battle had exhausted
+their ammunition, and every moment was expected to bring another swarm
+of foes about their ears.</p>
+
+<p>The Americans had three hundred men killed and wounded, and many
+taken. The brave Colonel Francis, who had so admirably conducted the
+retreat from Ticonderoga, was killed while rallying his men. Seldom has
+a battle shown more determined obstinacy in the combatants, seldom has
+one been more bloody for the numbers engaged.</p>
+
+<div class="img"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span>
+<a href="images/imagep049.jpg">
+<img border="0" src="images/imagep049.jpg" width="40%" alt="ST. CLAIR'S RETREAT" /></a><br />
+<p class="cen" style="margin-top: .2em;">ST. CLAIR'S RETREAT&mdash;BURGOYNE'S ADVANCE ON FORT EDWARD.</p>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span>
+</div>
+
+<p>While Frazer was thus driving St. Clair's rearguard before him on the
+left, the British were giving chase to the American flotilla on the
+lake. This had hardly reached Skenesborough, encumbered with the sick,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span>
+the baggage, and the stores, when the British gunboats came up with, and
+furiously attacked, it. Our vessels could not be cleared for action or
+make effective resistance. After making what defence they could, they
+were abandoned, and blown up by their crews. Skenesborough was then set
+on fire, the Americans making good their retreat to Fort Anne,<a name="FNanchor_26_26" id="FNanchor_26_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a> with
+the loss of all their stores.</p>
+
+<p>St. Clair heard of Warner's defeat and of the taking of Skenesborough
+almost at the same hour. His first plan had wholly miscarried. His
+soldiers were angry and insubordinate, half his available force had been
+scattered at Hubbardton, his supplies were gone, his line of retreat in
+the enemy's hands. Finding himself thus cut off from the direct route to
+Fort Edward, he now marched to join Schuyler by way of Rutland,
+Manchester, and Bennington. This he succeeded in doing on the twelfth,
+with about half the men he had led from Ticonderoga. Warner, too,
+brought off the shattered remnant of his command to Bennington.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span>On his part, Schuyler had promptly sent a re&euml;nforcement to Fort Anne, to
+protect St. Clair's retreat, as soon as he knew of it. These troops soon
+found other work on their hands than that cut out for them.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">July 7.</div>
+
+<p>Burgoyne was determined to give the Americans no time either to rally,
+or again unite their scattered bands in his front. Without delay, one
+regiment was pushed forward to Fort Anne, on the heels of the fugitives
+who had just left Skenesborough in flames. When this battalion reached
+the fort, instead of waiting to be attacked, the Americans sallied out
+upon it with spirit, and were driving it before them in full retreat,
+when the yells of some Indians, who were lurking in the neighboring
+woods, spread such a panic among the victors that they gave up the
+fight, set fire to Fort Anne, and retreated to Fort Edward with no enemy
+pursuing them. The defeated British then fell back to Skenesborough, so
+that each detachment may be said to have run away from the other.</p>
+
+<p>General Burgoyne had much reason to be elated with his success thus far.
+In one short week he had taken Ticonderoga, with more than one hundred
+cannon; had scattered the garrison right and left; had captured or
+destroyed a prodigious quantity of warlike stores, the loss of which
+distressed the Americans long after; had annihilated their naval
+armament on the lake, and had sown dismay among the neighboring colonies
+broadcast. It was even a question whether there was any longer a force
+in his front capable of offering the least resistance to his march.</p>
+
+<div class="img"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span>
+<a href="images/imagep053.jpg">
+<img border="0" src="images/imagep053.jpg" width="45%" alt="BLOCK HOUSE, FORT ANNE." /></a><br />
+<p class="cen" style="margin-top: .2em;">BLOCK HOUSE, FORT ANNE.</p>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span>
+</div>
+
+<p>With these exploits, the first stage of the invasion may be said to have
+ended. If ever a man had <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> been favored by fortune, Burgoyne was that man.
+The next stage must show him in a very different light, as the fool of
+fortune, whose favors he neither knew how to deserve when offered him,
+nor how to compel when withheld.</p>
+
+<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_22_22" id="Footnote_22_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> <span class="smcap">General Philip Schuyler</span>, one of the four
+major-generals first created by Congress, June, 1775. Had seen some
+service in the French War; was given command of the Northern Department,
+including Ticonderoga, Crown Point, Fort Stanwix, etc., February, 1777,
+as the one man who could unite the people of New York against the enemy.
+Gates declined to serve under him.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_23_23" id="Footnote_23_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_23"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> <span class="smcap">Obstructions at the Bridge.</span> The Americans had
+stretched a boom of logs, strongly chained together, across the strait.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_24_24" id="Footnote_24_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_24"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> <span class="smcap">Seth Warner</span> was on the way to Ticonderoga when he
+met St. Clair retreating. The rearguard, which Colonel Francis had
+previously commanded, was then increased, and put under Warner's
+orders.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_25_25" id="Footnote_25_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_25"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> <span class="smcap">Colonel Ebenezer Francis</span> of Newton, Mass.,
+colonel, 11th Massachusetts Regiment. His bravery was so conspicuous
+that the British thought he was in chief command of the Americans.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_26_26" id="Footnote_26_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_26"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> <span class="smcap">Fort Anne</span>, one of the minor posts built during
+the French War to protect the route from Albany to Lake Champlain. It
+consisted of a log blockhouse surrounded by a palisade. Boat navigation
+of Lake Champlain began here, fourteen miles from Skenesborough, by Wood
+Creek flowing into it.</p></div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span><br />
+<h2>V.</h2>
+
+<h2>FACING DISASTER.</h2>
+<br />
+
+<p>One of Washington's most trusted generals said, and said truly, that it
+was only through misfortune that the Americans would rise to the
+character of a great people. Perhaps no event of the Revolution more
+signally verified the truth of this saying, than the fall of
+Ticonderoga.</p>
+
+<p>Let us see how this disaster was affecting the Northern States. In that
+section, stragglers and deserters were spreading exaggerated accounts of
+it on every side. In Vermont, the settlers living west of the mountains
+were now practically defenceless. Burgoyne's agents were undermining
+their loyalty; the fall of Ticonderoga had shaken it still more. Rather
+than abandon their farms, many no longer hesitated to put themselves
+under British protection. Hundreds, who were too patriotic to do this,
+fled over the mountains, spreading consternation as they went. From Lake
+Champlain to the New England coast, there was not a village which did
+not believe itself to be the especial object of Burgoyne's vengeance.
+Indeed, his name became a bugbear, to frighten unruly children with.</p>
+
+<p>Of those who had been with the army, many believed it their first duty
+to protect their families, and so went <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span>home. Numbers, who were on the
+way to Ticonderoga, turned back, on hearing that it was taken. To
+Burgoyne, these results were equal to a battle gained, since he was
+weakening the Americans, just as surely, in this way, with entire safety
+to himself.</p>
+
+<p>In despair, those settlers who stood faithful among the faithless,
+turned to their New Hampshire brethren. "If we are driven back, the
+invader will soon be at your doors," they said. "We are your buckler and
+shield. Our humble cabins are the bulwark of your happy firesides. But
+our hearts fail us. Help us or we perish!"</p>
+
+<p>Could Schuyler do nothing for these suffering people? To let them be
+ruined and driven out was not only bad policy, but worse strategy. He
+knew that Burgoyne must regard these settlements with foreboding, as the
+home of a hostile and brave yeomanry, whose presence was a constant
+threat to him. To maintain them, then, was an act of simplest wisdom.
+Schuyler could ill spare a single soldier, yet it was necessary to do
+something, and that quickly, for all New England was in a tumult, and
+Burgoyne said to be marching all ways at once. What wonder, since
+Washington himself believed New England to be the threatened point!<a name="FNanchor_27_27" id="FNanchor_27_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a></p>
+
+<p>Warner's regiment had been recruited among the Green Mountain Boys of
+this very section. Schuyler posted what was left of it at Manchester, to
+be at once a rallying-point for the settlers, a menace to the loyalists,
+and a defence against Burgoyne's predatory bands, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span>who were already
+spreading themselves out over the surrounding region. It was not much,
+but it was something.</p>
+
+<p>From New Hampshire, the panic quickly spread into Massachusetts, and
+throughout all New England. As usually happens, the loss of Ticonderoga
+was laid at the door of the generals in chief command. Many accused St.
+Clair of treacherous dealing. Everywhere, people were filled with wrath
+and astonishment. "The fortress has been sold!" they cried. Some of the
+officers, who had been present, wrote home that the place could have
+held out against Burgoyne for weeks, or until help could have arrived.
+This was sure to find ready believers, and so added to the volume of
+denunciation cast upon the head of the unlucky St. Clair.</p>
+
+<p>But these passionate outbursts of feeling were soon quenched by the
+necessity all saw for prompt action. Once passion and prejudice had
+burned out, our people nobly rose to the demands of the situation. But
+confidence in the generals of the Northern army was gone forever. The
+men of New England would not sit long in the shadow of defeat, but they
+said they would no more be sacrificed to the incompetency of leaders who
+had been tried and found wanting. Congress had to pay heed to this
+feeling. Washington had to admit the force of it, because he knew that
+New England must be chiefly looked to in this crisis, to make head
+against Burgoyne. If she failed, all else would fail.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">P. Van Cortlandt's letters.</div>
+
+<p>If we turn now to New York, what do we see? Five counties in the enemy's
+hands. Three more, so divided <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span>against themselves as to be without order
+or government. Of the remaining six, the resources of Orange, Ulster,
+and Dutchess were already heavily taxed with the duty of defending the
+passes of the Hudson; Westchester was being overrun by the enemy, at
+will; only Tryon and Albany remained, and in Tryon, every able-bodied
+citizen, not a loyalist, was arming to repel the invasion of St. Leger,
+now imminent.</p>
+
+<p>We have thus briefly glanced at the dangers resulting from the fall of
+Ticonderoga, at the resources of the sections which Burgoyne was now
+threatening to lay waste with fire and sword, and at the attitude of the
+people toward those generals who had so grievously disappointed them in
+the conduct of the campaign, up to this time.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">John Marshall.</div>
+
+<p>In the words of one distinguished writer, "The evacuation of Ticonderoga
+was a shock for which no part of the United States was prepared." In the
+language of another, "No event throughout the whole war produced such
+consternation, nothing could have been more unexpected."</p>
+
+<p>It was not so much the loss of the fortress itself,&mdash;as costly as it was
+to the impoverished colonies, that could have been borne,&mdash;but the
+people had been led to believe, and did believe, it was next to
+impregnable; nor could they understand why those who had been intrusted
+with its defence should have fled without striking a blow, or calling
+for assistance until too late.</p>
+
+<p>Congress immediately ordered all the generals of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span>Northern army<a name="FNanchor_28_28" id="FNanchor_28_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a>
+to Philadelphia, in order that their conduct might be looked into. John
+Adams hotly declared that they would never be able to defend a post
+until they shot a general. But Washington, always greatest in defeat,
+hastened to show how such a step was doubly dangerous to an army when
+fronting its enemy, and wisely procured its suspension for the present.
+He first set himself to work to soothe Schuyler's wounded pride, while
+stimulating him to greater activity. "We should never despair," he nobly
+said. And again: "If new difficulties arise, we must only put forth new
+exertions. I yet look forward to a happy change." It was indeed
+fortunate that one so stout of heart, with so steady a hand, so firm in
+the belief of final triumph, so calm in the hour of greatest danger,
+should have guided the destinies of the infant nation at this trying
+hour.</p>
+
+<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_27_27" id="Footnote_27_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_27"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> <span class="smcap">The Threatened Point.</span> Baffled in his purpose of
+taking Philadelphia by Washington's success at Trenton, Sir William Howe
+had decided on making another attempt; but his man&oelig;uvres led
+Washington to believe Howe was going to Newport, R.I., with the view of
+overrunning Massachusetts. See Note 3, "Plan of Campaign" (p. 32).</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_28_28" id="Footnote_28_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_28"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> <span class="smcap">Generals of the Northern Army.</span> Schuyler and St.
+Clair were chiefly inculpated. Brigadiers Poor, Patterson, and De
+Fermoy, who were with St. Clair at Ticonderoga, were included in the
+order. All had agreed in the necessity for the evacuation, and all came
+in for a share of the public censure. Poor and Patterson nobly redeemed
+themselves in the later operations against Burgoyne.</p></div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span><br />
+<h2>VI.</h2>
+
+<h2>THE MARCH TO FORT EDWARD.<a name="FNanchor_29_29" id="FNanchor_29_29"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a></h2>
+<br />
+
+<p>It is a well-known maxim of war, that the general who makes the fewest
+mistakes will come off conqueror.</p>
+
+<p>In his haste to crush the Americans before they could combine against
+him, Burgoyne had overshot his mark. His troops were now so widely
+scattered that he could not stir until they were again collected. By the
+combats of Hubbardton and Fort Anne, nothing material had been gained,
+since St. Clair was at Fort Edward by the time Frazer got to
+Skenesborough, and the Americans had returned to Fort Anne as soon as
+the British left the neighborhood.</p>
+
+<p>After the battle of Hubbardton, Riedesel was posted at Castleton, in
+order to create the impression that the British army was moving into New
+England. By this bit of strategy, Burgoyne expected to keep back
+re&euml;nforcements from Schuyler. Riedesel's presence also gave much
+encouragement to the loyalists, who now joined Burgoyne in such numbers
+as to persuade him that a majority of the inhabitants were for the king.
+The information they gave, proved of vital consequence in determining
+Burgoyne's operations in the near future.</p>
+
+<p>Two routes were now open to Burgoyne. Contrary to sound judgment, he
+decided on marching to Fort <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span>Edward, by way of Fort Anne, instead of
+going back to Ticonderoga, making that his <i>d&eacute;p&ocirc;t</i>, and proceeding
+thence up Lake George to Fort Edward and the Hudson. Unquestionably, the
+latter route would have taken him to Albany, by the time he actually
+reached Fort Edward, and in much better condition to fight.</p>
+
+<p>Burgoyne had said he was afraid that going back to Ticonderoga would
+dispirit his soldiers. It could have been done in half the time required
+for bringing the supplies up to it at Skenesborough, to say nothing of
+the long and fatiguing marches saved by water carriage across Lake
+George.</p>
+
+<p>Be that as it may, from the moment Burgoyne decided in favor of the Fort
+Anne route, that moment the possession of Fort Anne became a necessity
+to him. Had he first attacked it with fifteen hundred men, instead of
+five hundred, he would have taken it; but even if he had occupied it
+after the fight of the eighth, the Americans would have been prevented
+from blocking his way, as they subsequently did with so much effect. In
+Burgoyne's case, delays were most dangerous. It seems only too plain,
+that he was the sort of general who would rather commit two errors than
+retract one.</p>
+
+<p>Let us see what Burgoyne's chosen route offered of advantage or
+disadvantage. The distance by it to Fort Edward is only twenty-six
+miles. By a good road, in easy marches, an army should be there in two
+days; in an exigency, in one. It was mostly a wilderness country,
+and, though generally level, much of it was a bog, which could only be
+made passable by laying down a corduroy road. There were miles of such
+road to be repaired or built before wagons or artillery could be dragged
+over it. Indeed, a worse country to march through can hardly be
+imagined. On the other hand, of this twenty-six miles, Wood Creek, a
+tributary of Lake Champlain, afforded boat navigation for nine or ten,
+or as far as Fort Anne, for the artillery, stores, and baggage.</p>
+
+<div class="img"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span>
+<a href="images/imagep063.jpg">
+<img border="0" src="images/imagep063.jpg" width="45%" alt="OLD FORT EDWARD." /></a><br />
+<p class="cen" style="margin-top: .2em;">OLD FORT EDWARD.<br />
+A, Magazine. B, Barracks. C, Storehouse. D, Hospital.</p>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span>But while Burgoyne was getting his scattered forces again in hand, and
+was bringing everything up the lake to Skenesborough, the garrison of
+Fort Edward had been spreading themselves out over the road he meant to
+take, and were putting every obstacle in his way that ingenuity could
+devise or experience suggest. Hundreds of trees were felled across the
+road. The navigation of Wood Creek was similarly interrupted. Those
+trees growing on its banks were dexterously dropped so as to interlock
+their branches in mid-stream. Farms were deserted. All the live-stock
+was driven out of reach, to the end that the country itself might offer
+the most effectual resistance to Burgoyne's march.</p>
+
+<p>Burgoyne could not move until his working parties had cleared the way,
+in whole or in part. From this cause alone, he was detained more than a
+week at Skenesborough. This delay was as precious to the Americans as it
+was vexatious to Burgoyne, since it gave them time to bring up
+re&euml;nforcements, form magazines, and prepare for the approaching
+struggle, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span>while the enemy's difficulties multiplied with every mile he
+advanced.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">July 25.</div>
+
+<p>At length the British army left Skenesborough. It took two days to reach
+Fort Anne, and five to arrive at Fort Edward, where it halted to allow
+the heavy artillery, sent by way of Lake George, to join it; give time
+to bring up its supplies of food and ammunition, without which the army
+was helpless to move farther on; and, meanwhile, permit the general to
+put in execution a scheme by which he expected to get a supply of
+cattle, horses, carts, and forage, of all of which he was in pressing
+want.</p>
+
+<p>Still another body of savages joined Burgoyne at Fort Edward. Better for
+him had they staid in their native wilds, for he presently found himself
+equally powerless to control their thirst for blood, or greed for
+plunder.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">July 21.</div>
+
+<p>Not yet feeling himself strong enough to risk a battle, Schuyler decided
+to evacuate Fort Edward on the enemy's approach. He first called in to
+him the garrison at Fort George. Nixon's brigade, which had just been
+obstructing the road from Fort Anne, was also called back. All told,
+Schuyler now had only about four thousand men. With these he fell back;
+first, to Moses's Creek, then to Saratoga, then to Stillwater.</p>
+
+<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_29_29" id="Footnote_29_29"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_29"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> <span class="smcap">Fort Edward</span>, a link in the chain of forts
+extending between Canada and the Hudson,&mdash;first called Fort Lyman, for
+Colonel Phineas Lyman, who built it in 1755,&mdash;stood at the elbow of the
+Hudson, where the river turns west, after approaching within sixteen
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span>
+miles of Lake George, to which point there was a good military road.
+The fort itself was only a redoubt of timber and earth, surrounded by a
+stockade, and having a casern, or barrack, inside, capable of
+accommodating two hundred soldiers. It was an important military
+position, because this was the old portage, or carrying-place, from the
+Hudson to Lake George, though the fort was no great matter.</p></div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span><br />
+<h2>VII.</h2>
+
+<h2>BEFORE BENNINGTON.</h2>
+<br />
+
+<div class="sidenote">Frazer advances.</div>
+
+<p>On the 9th of August, Frazer's corps moved down to Duer's house, seven
+miles from Fort Edward, and seven from Saratoga. This was done to cover
+the expedition Burgoyne had planned; first, to confirm the belief that
+he was about to fall on New England, and, next, for supplying his army
+with horses, cattle, carts, provisions, forage&mdash;everything, in short, of
+which he stood in want. Both objects would be gained at once, since fear
+of the first would make easy the second.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Real object of the Bennington raid.</div>
+
+<p>Burgoyne ached to strike a blow at New England. The successes he had
+just met with tempted him on toward his wishes; yet he dared not go too
+far, because the king's orders forbade his turning aside from his main
+object, to march into New England, as he himself had asked for
+discretionary power to do, when laying his plan before the ministers.
+Still, as New England was to be the final object of the campaign,
+Burgoyne was impatient to set about humbling her in good earnest. Events
+were working so favorably for him, that he now saw his chance to go at
+least half way toward his desires. So the expedition to Bennington was
+certainly far from <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span>being the effect of any sudden decision on
+Burgoyne's part, or wholly due to the pressing want of supplies. It
+would, we think, have been undertaken in any event.</p>
+
+<p>On the other hand, the victualling of his army was the one obstacle to
+Burgoyne's advance to Albany. So long as every pound of bread and meat
+had to be brought from Quebec to Skenesborough, and from Skenesborough
+to his camp, the farther the army marched, the greater the difficulty of
+feeding it became. It was now living from hand to mouth, so to speak.
+Nobody but Tories would sell it a pound of beef or an ear of corn. What
+gold could not buy, Burgoyne determined to take by force. If enough
+could be gleaned, in this way, from the country round, he could march
+on; if not, he must halt where he was, until sufficient could be brought
+up over a road every day growing longer and more dangerous. Burgoyne
+would never submit to the last alternative without trying the first.</p>
+
+<p>For the moment then, the problem, how to feed his army so as to put it
+in motion with the least possible delay, was all-important with General
+Burgoyne. The oldest, and most populous, of the Vermont settlements lay
+within striking distance on his left. He knew that rebel flour was
+stored in Bennington. He had been told that half the farmers were loyal
+at heart, and that the other half would never wait for the coming of
+British veterans. Burgoyne was puffed up with the notion that he was
+going to conjure the demon of rebellion with the magic of his name.
+Already he saw himself <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span>not only a conqueror, but lawgiver to the
+conquered. On the whole, the plan seemed easy of accomplishment.
+Burgoyne was like a man starving in the midst of plenty. Supplies he
+must have. If they could be wrung from the enemy, so much the better.</p>
+
+<p>An expedition chiefly designed to rob barnyards, corn-cribs, and
+henroosts promised little glory to those engaged in it. This may have
+been the reason why Burgoyne chose to employ his Germans, who were
+always excellent foragers, rather than his British soldiers. Perhaps he
+thought the Germans would inspire most fear. Be that as it may, never
+did a general make a more costly mistake.<a name="FNanchor_30_30" id="FNanchor_30_30"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a></p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Baum marches for Bennington.</div>
+
+<p>The command was given to Colonel Baum, who, with about a thousand
+Germans, Indians, Canadians, and refugee loyalists, started out from
+camp on his maraud, on the eleventh, halted at Batten-Kill on the
+twelfth, and reached Cambridge on the thirteenth. He was furnished with
+Tory guides, who knew the country well, and with instructions looking to
+a long absence from the army.</p>
+
+<p>Burgoyne then began man&oelig;uvring so as to mask Baum's movements from
+Schuyler.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Frazer crosses the Hudson.</div>
+
+<p>Frazer was marched down to Batten-Kill, with his own and Breyman's
+corps. Leaving Breyman here to support either Baum or himself, in case
+of need, Frazer crossed the Hudson on the fourteenth, and encamped on
+the heights of Saratoga that night. The rest of the army moved on to
+Duer's, the same day. By thus threatening Schuyler with an advance in
+force, of which Frazer's crossing was conclusive proof, Burgoyne
+supposed Baum would be left to plunder at his leisure, but he seems to
+have thought little of the opposition which Baum, on his side, might
+meet with from the settlers themselves; though this too was provided
+against in Baum's orders, and by posting Breyman on Baum's line of
+march.</p>
+
+<div class="img"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span>
+<a href="images/imagep071.jpg">
+<img border="0" src="images/imagep071.jpg" width="45%" alt="POSITION OF BELLIGERENTS BEFORE BENNINGTON." /></a><br />
+<p class="cen" style="margin-top: .2em;">POSITION OF BELLIGERENTS BEFORE BENNINGTON.</p>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span>If Baum succeeded to his wishes, Burgoyne meant to throw the whole army
+across the Hudson immediately. Already Frazer was intrenching at
+Saratoga, with the view of protecting the crossing. Having now so placed
+his troops as to take instant advantage of Baum's success, of which he
+felt no manner of doubt, Burgoyne could only sit still till Baum should
+be heard from.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile, the New England militia were flocking to Manchester in
+squads, companies, or regiments. Washington had said they were the best
+yeomanry in the world, and they were about to prove their right to this
+title more decisively than ever. Ministers dismissed their congregations
+with the exhortation, "He that hath no sword, let him sell his garment,
+and buy one." Some clergymen even took a musket and went into the ranks.
+Apathy and the numbness that succeeds defeat were dissipated by these
+appeals and these examples.</p>
+
+<p>It was Washington's policy to keep a force on Burgoyne's flank, which
+might be used to break up his communications, cut off his provision
+trains, or otherwise so harass him as to delay his march. In General
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span>Lincoln<a name="FNanchor_31_31" id="FNanchor_31_31"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a> he found an officer, at once capable and brave, who had the
+confidence of the New England people. Lincoln was, therefore, sent to
+take command of the militia now mustering at Manchester.</p>
+
+<p>At the same time, New Hampshire called upon the veteran Stark<a name="FNanchor_32_32" id="FNanchor_32_32"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a> to
+lead her forces into the field. Stark had left the army in disgust,
+because Congress had promoted other officers over his head, not more
+worthy than himself. He was still smarting under the sense of wrong,
+when this command was offered him. He was like Achilles, sulking in his
+tent.</p>
+
+<p>Stark said that he asked nothing better than to fight, but insisted that
+he would do so only upon condition that the State troops should be
+exclusively under his orders. To agree to this would be practically an
+exercise of State sovereignty. But time pressed, Stark's name was a host
+in itself: it was thought best to give his wounded vanity this sop; for,
+by general consent, he was the only man for the crisis.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Aug. 6.</div>
+
+<p>Lincoln found six hundred men assembled at Manchester, most of whom
+belonged to Stark's brigade. On the seventh, Stark himself arrived with
+eight hundred more. By Schuyler's order, Lincoln desired Stark to march
+them to the main army at once. Stark replied that, being in an
+independent command, he would take orders from nobody as to how or where
+he should move his troops.</p>
+
+<p>Though plainly subversive of all military rules, Stark's obstinacy
+proved Burgoyne's destruction; for if Schuyler <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span>had prevailed, there
+would never have been a battle of Bennington.</p>
+
+<p>Though undoubtedly perplexed by the situation in which he found himself
+placed, of antagonism to the regularly constituted military authority of
+the nation, Stark's future operations show excellent military judgment
+on his part. He was not going to abandon Schuyler, or leave Vermont
+uncovered; still less was he disposed to throw away the chance of
+striking Burgoyne by hanging on his flank, and of thus achieving
+something on his own account. Stark's sagacity was soon justified to the
+world.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Aug. 9.</div>
+
+<p>He determined to march with part of his force to Bennington, twenty-five
+miles south of Manchester, and about the same distance from Stillwater.
+In this position he would easily be able to carry out either of the
+objects he had in view, assist Schuyler, cover Bennington, or get in a
+telling blow somewhere, when least expected.</p>
+
+<p>Burgoyne's expectation of surprising Bennington was thus completely
+frustrated.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Aug. 14.</div>
+
+<p>Baum learned at Cambridge that the Americans were at Bennington, to the
+number of eighteen hundred. He immediately wrote Burgoyne to this
+effect. On the next day, he marched to Sancoic, a mill-stream falling
+into the Walloomsac River in North Hoosac, and after again writing
+Burgoyne, confirming the account he had previously sent about the force
+in his front, moved on toward Bennington, under the impression that the
+Americans would not wait to be attacked.</p>
+
+<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_30_30" id="Footnote_30_30"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30_30"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> <span class="smcap">A Costly Mistake</span> to give the command to an
+officer who could not speak English; still another, to intrust an
+expedition in which celerity of movement was all-important, to soldiers
+loaded down with their equipments, as the Germans were, instead of to
+light troops. Colonel Skene went with Baum. See note 4, p. 18.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_31_31" id="Footnote_31_31"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31_31"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> <span class="smcap">General Benjamin Lincoln</span>, born at Hingham, Mass.,
+1733. Made a major-general, February, 1777. Joined Schuyler, July 29, at
+Fort Miller, while our army was retreating; sent thence to Manchester.
+One of those captains who, while seldom successful, are yet considered
+brave and skilful commanders.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_32_32" id="Footnote_32_32"></a><a href="#FNanchor_32_32"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> <span class="smcap">General John Stark</span>, born at Londonderry, N.H.,
+1728, had seen more active service than most officers of his time. He
+had fought with Abercromby at Ticonderoga, against Howe at Bunker Hill,
+and with Washington at Trenton. Notwithstanding this, he was passed over
+in making promotions, perhaps because he had less education than some
+others, who lacked his natural capacity for a military life. Congress
+first censured him for insubordination, and then voted him thanks, and
+promotion to a brigadiership for his victory over Baum.</p></div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span><br />
+<h2>VIII.</h2>
+
+<h2>BATTLE OF BENNINGTON.<a name="FNanchor_33_33" id="FNanchor_33_33"></a><a href="#Footnote_33_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a></h2>
+<br />
+
+<p>Burgoyne's movements convinced Schuyler that he would shortly be
+attacked by the whole British army, as Burgoyne had intended and
+foreseen. Schuyler therefore again urged Stark to come to his assistance
+without more delay, if he would not have the burden of defeat lie at his
+own door. This appeal took present effect.</p>
+
+<p>Nothing happened till the thirteenth. Meantime, Stark had decided to go
+to Schuyler's assistance. His brigade was under arms, ready to march,
+when a woman rode up in haste with the news that hostile Indians were
+running up and down the next town, spreading terror in their path. She
+had come herself, because the road was no longer safe for men to travel
+it. Stark quickly ordered out two hundred men to stop the supposed
+marauders, and gain further intelligence.</p>
+
+<p>This detachment soon sent back word that the Indians were only clearing
+the way for a larger force, which was marching toward Bennington. Swift
+couriers were instantly despatched to Manchester, to hurry forward the
+troops there to Stark's aid.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Aug. 14.</div>
+
+<p>The next day Stark moved out toward the enemy, in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span>order to look for his
+detachment. He soon fell in with it, fighting in retreat, with the enemy
+following close behind. Stark halted, formed his line, and gathered in
+his scouts. This defiance brought the enemy to a stand also.</p>
+
+<p>Seeing before him a force as strong as, or stronger than, his own, Baum
+was now looking about him for ground suitable to receive an attack upon;
+making one himself was farthest from his thoughts, as Burgoyne had given
+him express orders not to risk an engagement, if opposed by a superior
+force, but to intrench, and send back for help at once. This was
+precisely Baum's present situation. He therefore lost no time in sending
+a courier to headquarters.</p>
+
+<p>On his part, Stark did not wish to fight till Warner could come up, or
+delay fighting long enough for the enemy to be re&euml;nforced. Baum's
+evident desire to avoid an action made Stark all the more anxious to
+attack him, and he resolved to do so not later than the next morning, by
+which time he confidently reckoned on having Warner's regiment with him.
+Though small, it had fought bravely at Hubbardton, and Stark felt that
+his raw militia would be greatly strengthened by the presence of such
+veterans among them.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Aug. 15.</div>
+
+<p>Rain frustrated Stark's plan for attacking the next day, so there was
+only a little skirmishing, in which the Americans had the advantage.
+Baum improved the delay by throwing up a redoubt of logs and earth on a
+rather high, flat-topped hill, rising behind the little Walloomsac
+River. In this he placed his two field-pieces. His Canadians and
+loyalists took up a position across and lower down the stream, in his
+front, the better to cover the road by which his re&euml;nforcements must
+come, or the Americans attempt to cut off his retreat. These
+dispositions were all that time, the size of his force, and the nature
+of the ground, would permit.</p>
+
+<div class="img"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span>
+<a href="images/imagep079.jpg">
+<img border="0" src="images/imagep079.jpg" width="35%" alt="BATTLE OF BENNINGTON." /></a><br />
+<p class="cen" style="margin-top: .2em;">BATTLE OF BENNINGTON.<br />
+August 16, 1777.</p>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span>Rain also kept back the re&euml;nforcements that each side was so impatiently
+expecting. Stark chafed at the delay, Baum grew more hopeful of holding
+out until help could reach him. Burgoyne had, indeed, despatched Breyman
+to Baum's assistance at eight o'clock in the morning, with eight hundred
+and fifty men and two guns. This corps was toiling on, through mud and
+rain, at the rate of only a mile an hour, when an hour, more or less,
+was to decide the fate of the expedition itself. The fatigue was so
+great, that when urged on to the relief of their comrades, the weary
+Germans would grumble out, "Oh, let us give them time to get warm!"</p>
+
+<p>Warner's regiment could not leave Manchester till the morning of the
+fifteenth, but by marching till midnight, it was near Bennington on the
+morning of the sixteenth. Breyman put so little energy into his
+movements that he was nowhere near Baum at that hour. Stark, however,
+was strengthened by the arrival of several hundred militia from
+Massachusetts, who came full of fight, and demanding to be led against
+the enemy without delay. Stark's reply was characteristic: "Do you want
+to go out now, while it is dark and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span>rainy?" he asked. "No," the
+spokesman rejoined. "Then," continued Stark, "if the Lord should give us
+sunshine once more, and I do not give you fighting enough, I will never
+ask you to turn out again."</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Aug. 16.</div>
+
+<p>The day broke clear and pleasant. Both parties prepared for the coming
+battle. Stark had the most men, but Baum the advantage of fighting
+behind intrenchments, and of having artillery, while Stark had none.</p>
+
+<p>At midday, Stark formed his men for the attack. All were yeomanry, in
+homespun, rudely equipped with pouches and powder-horns, and armed with
+the old brown firelocks, without bayonets, they had brought from their
+homes. Some had served in the preceding campaign, but not one in fifty
+had ever fired a shot in anger; while many were mere lads, in whom
+enthusiasm for their leader and cause supplied the want of experience.
+The work now required of them was such as only veterans were thought
+capable of doing. They were to storm intrenchments, defended by the
+trained soldiers of Europe; yet not a man flinched when Stark, with a
+soldier's bluntness and fire, pointed his sword toward the enemy's
+redoubt and exclaimed, "There, my lads, are the Hessians! To-night our
+flag floats over yonder hill, or Molly Stark is a widow!"</p>
+
+<p>His men answered with loud cheers, grasped their weapons, and demanded
+to be led against the enemy. Stark then gave the wished-for order to
+march.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile, dismay reigned in Bennington. Every man who could load a
+musket had gone out to fight <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span>with Stark. Their household goods had been
+loaded upon wagons, ready to move off in case the day went against them.
+Their wives and little ones stood hand in hand along the village street,
+throughout that long summer afternoon, listening to the peal of cannon
+and musketry, in fear for those who had gone forth to the battle, and
+expecting the moment that was to make them homeless wanderers.</p>
+
+<p>The story of the battle is soon told. Stark so divided his force as to
+attack the enemy in front, flank, and rear, at once. The nature of the
+ground was such as to hide the march of the several detachments from
+Baum's view, but he had no other idea than to keep close in his
+intrenchments.</p>
+
+<p>At three in the afternoon, firing began in Baum's rear. This was the
+signal that the several attacking columns had reached their allotted
+stations. All the Americans then rushed on to the assault. Baum found
+himself everywhere assailed with unlooked-for vigor. Never had he
+expected to see raw rustics charging up to the muzzles of his guns. In
+vain he plied them with grape and musketry. The encircling line grew
+tighter and tighter; the fire, hotter and hotter. For an hour he
+defended himself valiantly, hoping for night or Breyman to come. At last
+his fire slackened. The Americans clambered over the breastworks, and
+poured into the redoubt. For a few moments there was sharp hand-to-hand
+fighting. The Germans threw down their muskets, drew their broadswords,
+and desperately attempted to cut their way out. Most of them were
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span>beaten back or taken. A few only escaped. The Tories and Canadians
+fared no better. The victory was complete and decisive.</p>
+
+<p>Now, at the eleventh hour, Breyman was marching on the field to the
+sound of the firing. He had taken thirty-two hours to get over
+twenty-four miles. Supposing the day won, Stark's men were scattered
+about in disorder. Not even Stark himself seems to have thought of a
+rescuing force. Some were guarding the prisoners, some caring for the
+wounded, and some gathering up the booty. All had yielded to the
+demoralization of victory, or to the temptation to plunder. Most
+opportunely, Warner's men now came fresh into the fight. This gallant
+little band flung itself boldly in the path of the advancing foe, thus
+giving Stark the time to rally those nearest him, and lead them into
+action again.</p>
+
+<p>At first Breyman gained ground. With steady tread his veterans fired and
+moved on, pushing the Americans back, toward the scene of the first
+encounter; but Baum was no longer there to assist, the scattered
+militiamen were fast closing in round Breyman's flanks, and Stark had
+now brought one of Baum's cannon to bear, with destructive effect, upon
+the head of the enemy's advancing column.</p>
+
+<p>In no long time the deadly fire, poured in on all sides, began to tell
+upon Breyman's solid battalions. Our marksmen harassed his flanks. His
+front was hard pressed, and there were no signs of Baum. Enraged by the
+thought of having victory torn from their <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span>grasp, the Americans gave
+ground foot by foot, and inch by inch. At last the combatants were
+firing in each other's faces; so close was the encounter, so deadly the
+strife, that Breyman's men were falling round him by scores, under the
+close and accurate aim of their assailants. Darkness was closing in. His
+artillery horses were shot down in their traces, his flanks driven in,
+his advance stopped.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as they perceived their advantage, the Americans redoubled their
+efforts. The firing grew tremendous. It was now Breyman who was forced
+back. Soon all order was lost. Favored by the darkness, he began a
+disorderly retreat. In an instant his guns were taken. Exhausted by
+fighting two battles in one afternoon, no longer able in the darkness to
+tell friend from foe, the Americans soon gave over the pursuit. But, for
+the second time, they stood victors on the hard-fought field. All felt
+it to be a narrow escape from defeat, for if Breyman had loitered by the
+way, he had fought like a lion in the toils of the hunter.</p>
+
+<p>Thus Washington's sagacity had been vindicated, Stark's insubordination
+nobly atoned for, Schuyler's worst fears set at rest, by the fortunes of
+a single day.</p>
+
+<p>Four cannon, one thousand stand of arms, and seven hundred prisoners,
+were the trophies of this victory. The enemy left two hundred of his
+dead on the field. Baum's corps was virtually destroyed, Breyman's badly
+cut up, Burgoyne's well-laid plans scattered to the winds.</p>
+
+<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_33_33" id="Footnote_33_33"></a><a href="#FNanchor_33_33"><span class="label">[33]</span></a> <span class="smcap">Battle of Bennington.</span> Both actions actually
+occurred in the town of Hoosic, N.Y. (we cannot be held responsible for
+the absurd variations in spelling this name), though the troops were
+formed for the attack within the limits of Bennington, and Stark's
+despatch announcing his victory is dated at this place. A battle
+monument, designed to be three hundred and one feet high, is now being
+built on a commanding site at Bennington Centre, which is the old
+village. No more beautiful spot than this hill-environed valley,
+overlooked by Mount Anthony, could possibly commemorate to future
+centuries one of the decisive conflicts of the War for Independence.</p></div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span><br />
+<h2>IX.</h2>
+
+<h2>AFTER BENNINGTON.</h2>
+<br />
+
+<p>Stark had, indeed, dealt Burgoyne a stunning blow. In a moment all his
+combinations were overthrown. Efforts were made to keep the disaster a
+secret from the army, but the movements made in consequence of it told
+the story but too plainly.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Aug. 17.</div>
+
+<p>In the first place, the whole army was hurried up to Batten-Kill in
+order to cover Breyman's and Frazer's retreat,<a name="FNanchor_34_34" id="FNanchor_34_34"></a><a href="#Footnote_34_34" class="fnanchor">[34]</a> for Frazer had been
+ordered to recross the Hudson at once. Frazer's position was most
+critical; his bridge had been broken by a freshet, and for one whole day
+he was cut off from the main army.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Aug. 18.</div>
+
+<p>As soon as Breyman's worn-out men had straggled into camp, Burgoyne's
+fell back to Duer's again. Meantime, Frazer had repaired his bridge and
+hastily recrossed the Hudson. Riedesel's corps was sent back to Fort
+Edward. The whole army had thus made a retrograde movement in
+consequence of the defeat at Bennington, and now lay in <i>echelon</i><a name="FNanchor_35_35" id="FNanchor_35_35"></a><a href="#Footnote_35_35" class="fnanchor">[35]</a>
+from Fort Edward to Batten-Kill, in the camps it had occupied before the
+advance was begun; it had retreated upon its communications; it was put
+on the defensive.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span>Burgoyne had now no choice left but to hold fast his communication with
+the lakes, and these could not be called safe while a victorious enemy
+was threatening his flank. From this time forward, he grew wary and
+circumspect. His councils began to be divided. The prestige of the army
+was lowered, confidence in its leaders visibly shaken. Even the soldiers
+began to grumble, criticise, and reflect. Burgoyne's vain boast that
+this army would not retreat, no longer met the conditions in which it
+stood. It had retreated.</p>
+
+<p>As if to prove the truth of the adage that misfortunes never come
+singly, most of Burgoyne's Indians now deserted him. So far from
+intimidating, their atrocities had served to arouse the Americans as
+nothing else could. As soldiers, they had usually run away at the first
+fire. As scouts, their minds were wholly fixed upon plundering. Burgoyne
+had sharply rebuked them for it. Ever sullen and intractable under
+restraint, their answer was at least explicit, "No plunder, no Indians;"
+and they were as good as their word.</p>
+
+<p>We find, then, that the battle of Bennington had cost Burgoyne not far
+from two thousand men, whether soldiers or Indians. More than this, it
+had thrown him back upon his second alternative, which, we remember, was
+to halt until supplies could be brought from Canada. This was easily
+equivalent to a month's delay. Thirty days of inaction were thus forced
+upon Burgoyne at a time when every one of them was worth five hundred
+men to the Americans. Such were some of the substantial results of the
+victory at Bennington.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span>To the Americans, the moral and material gains were no less striking or
+important. At once confidence was restored. Men no longer hesitated to
+turn out, or feared for the result. A most hopeful sign was the alacrity
+with which the well-to-do farmers went into the ranks. There was general
+appreciation of the fact that Burgoyne had seriously compromised himself
+by advancing as far as he had; in short, the re-action was quite as
+decisive as that which had followed the victory at Trenton.</p>
+
+<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_34_34" id="Footnote_34_34"></a><a href="#FNanchor_34_34"><span class="label">[34]</span></a> <span class="smcap">Breyman's Retreat.</span> The express from Baum arrived
+at headquarters at 5 <span class="smcap">A.M.</span> of the fifteenth. Orders were
+immediately given Breyman to march. News of Baum's defeat reached
+Burgoyne during the night of the sixteenth. The 20th regiment, British,
+was immediately marched to Breyman's support. Burgoyne's anxiety was so
+great, that he followed it until Breyman's corps was met on the road.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_35_35" id="Footnote_35_35"></a><a href="#FNanchor_35_35"><span class="label">[35]</span></a> <span class="smcap">Echelon</span>, the French word for step-ladder, by
+adoption a universal military term, well describes the posting of
+troops, belonging to one army, at stated intervals apart, so as to be
+moved forward or backward step by step, always keeping the same relative
+distances between the separate bodies. In marking out such positions on
+the map, the columns would look like the rounds of a ladder, hence the
+term.</p></div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span><br />
+<h2>X.</h2>
+
+<h2>ST. LEGER'S EXPEDITION.</h2>
+<br />
+
+<p>Burgoyne's hopes now chiefly turned upon the promised co&ouml;peration of St.
+Leger from Oswego, and of Sir William Howe from New York.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Refer to "Plan of Campaign."</div>
+
+<p>Convinced that the enemy would shortly invade the Mohawk Valley,
+Schuyler had sent Colonel Gansevoort<a name="FNanchor_36_36" id="FNanchor_36_36"></a><a href="#Footnote_36_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a> to put Fort Stanwix,<a name="FNanchor_37_37" id="FNanchor_37_37"></a><a href="#Footnote_37_37" class="fnanchor">[37]</a> the
+key to this valley, in a state of defence, before it should be attacked.</p>
+
+<div class="img">
+<a href="images/imagep090.jpg">
+<img border="0" src="images/imagep090.jpg" width="55%" alt="ST. LEGER'S ROUTE TO FORT STANWIX." /></a><br />
+<p class="cen" style="margin-top: .2em;">ST. LEGER'S ROUTE TO FORT STANWIX.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>St. Leger's force was the counterpart of Burgoyne's, in that it
+consisted of regular troops, loyalists, and Indians. Many of the
+loyalists, and most of the Indians, had lived in this valley, so that
+St. Leger had no <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span>want of guides, who knew every foot of ground, or of
+spies acquainted with the sentiments of every settler.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Aug. 3.</div>
+
+<p>A scanty supply of provisions had just been brought into the fort when
+St. Leger's scouts opened fire upon it. The garrison shut the gates and
+returned the fire. Instead of finding Fort Stanwix defenceless, St.
+Leger was compelled to lay siege to it.</p>
+
+<p>The news of St. Leger's appearance in the valley roused the settlers in
+arms. Near a thousand men, all brave, but without discipline, promptly
+marched, under General Herkimer,<a name="FNanchor_38_38" id="FNanchor_38_38"></a><a href="#Footnote_38_38" class="fnanchor">[38]</a> to the relief of Fort Stanwix.
+Gansevoort was notified, and was to aid the movement by making a sortie
+from the fort, at the proper moment.</p>
+
+<p>St. Leger's spies soon discovered Herkimer's men coming. All the
+rangers, and most of the Indians, went out to waylay them in the thick
+forests. Not far from Oriskany, Brant,<a name="FNanchor_39_39" id="FNanchor_39_39"></a><a href="#Footnote_39_39" class="fnanchor">[39]</a> the Mohawk chief, and
+Johnson,<a name="FNanchor_40_40" id="FNanchor_40_40"></a><a href="#Footnote_40_40" class="fnanchor">[40]</a> the loyalist leader, hid their men in a ravine, through
+which the Americans would have to pass, in a thin line, over a causeway
+of logs.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Aug. 6.</div>
+
+<p>Meantime, the Americans were heedlessly pressing on, without order, to
+the rescue of their comrades. In their impatience, even ordinary
+precautions were neglected. When the van entered the ravine, a terrible
+fire mowed down the front ranks by scores; those in the rear fled in a
+panic from the field. It was downright butchery.</p>
+
+<p>After the firing had continued some time, those Americans whom panic had
+not seized, threw <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span>themselves into a posture of defence, and resolved to
+sell their lives dearly. Herkimer, their leader, had been struck down by
+a bullet, among the first; but, notwithstanding his wound was a
+disabling one, he continued to direct his men, and encourage them by his
+firm demeanor to fight on. In the face of overwhelming odds they
+gallantly stood their ground, until the enemy was alarmed by hearing
+firing in its rear, and drew off, leaving Herkimer's little band of
+heroes to retire unmolested from the field.</p>
+
+<p>The firing had been heard at Fort Stanwix, and the cause easily guessed.
+While the battle was raging at Oriskany, the garrison of the fort
+sallied out upon the besiegers' camps. They met with little opposition,
+as most of the defenders had gone out to fight Herkimer. The firing,
+however, had called off the savages from Herkimer, to the defence of
+their own camps. The sortie was gallantly made, and entirely successful;
+but the attack on Herkimer rendered it of so little avail, that the
+battle of Oriskany left Gansevoort hardly better off than before.</p>
+
+<p>Two hundred of Herkimer's men were killed. He, too, soon died of his
+wounds.</p>
+
+<p>Though this attempt to relieve Fort Stanwix had so signally failed,
+Schuyler was much too sensible of the importance of holding it, not to
+make another effort to raise the siege. He could ill afford to spare the
+troops necessary for the undertaking, since Burgoyne was now
+man&oelig;uvring in his front; but the gravity of the situation could not
+be overlooked. He therefore sent <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span>Arnold, with Learned's brigade, to
+retrieve Herkimer's disaster in the valley.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Aug. 22.</div>
+
+<p>Gansevoort was still holding out against St. Leger as stubbornly as
+ever. His situation was, however, growing desperate, when, one day,
+without apparent cause, the besiegers suddenly decamped in headlong
+haste, leaving their tents standing, their baggage in their tents, and
+their artillery in the trenches.</p>
+
+<p>This inglorious and unlooked-for flight was brought about by emissaries
+from Arnold, who spread the report among St. Leger's Indians, that the
+Americans were coming with forces as numerous as leaves on the trees.
+Arnold, whom no one will accuse of want of courage, was really undecided
+about advancing farther with his small force. His stratagem, however,
+took effect. Grown weary of the siege, the Indians now made no scruple
+of deserting their allies on the spot. In vain St. Leger stormed and
+entreated by turns; stay they would not. He therefore had no choice but
+to follow them, in mortification and disgust, back to Oswego. In the
+belief that Arnold was close upon them, everything was left behind that
+could impede the march. The siege was abandoned in disgrace, and Fort
+Stanwix saved by a simple stratagem.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Aug. 28.</div>
+
+<p>Six days later, Burgoyne was informed of St. Leger's retreat. He had now
+no other resource than in the promised advance up the Hudson, and in the
+strength of his artillery. By acting in detachments, his immediate force
+had been so seriously weakened that a forward movement on his part,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span>without full assurance of active support from New York, savored far
+more of recklessness than sound military judgment.</p>
+
+<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_36_36" id="Footnote_36_36"></a><a href="#FNanchor_36_36"><span class="label">[36]</span></a> <span class="smcap">Colonel Peter Gansevoort</span>, born at Albany, 1749,
+had fought with Montgomery at Quebec.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_37_37" id="Footnote_37_37"></a><a href="#FNanchor_37_37"><span class="label">[37]</span></a> <span class="smcap">Fort Stanwix</span>, also called Schuyler, built by
+General Stanwix of Abercromby's army in 1758.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_38_38" id="Footnote_38_38"></a><a href="#FNanchor_38_38"><span class="label">[38]</span></a> <span class="smcap">General Nicholas Herkimer</span>, a leading settler of
+the Mohawk Valley.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_39_39" id="Footnote_39_39"></a><a href="#FNanchor_39_39"><span class="label">[39]</span></a> <span class="smcap">Joseph Brant</span>, or Thayandanega, sometime pupil of
+Dr. Wheelock's school (since Dartmouth College), was by all odds the
+most active, intelligent, and implacable enemy to the Americans that the
+war produced among his people. With Johnson, he held most of the Six
+Nations at enmity with us during the Revolution. (See Note 5.)</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_40_40" id="Footnote_40_40"></a><a href="#FNanchor_40_40"><span class="label">[40]</span></a> <span class="smcap">Sir John Johnson</span> was the son of Sir William, who
+gained wealth and a title by his victory over Dieskau at Lake George,
+1755. He was also the king's superintendent over the Six Nations, and
+had his residence at Caughnawaga, since called Johnstown in his honor.
+Sir John succeeded to his father's title and estates. He took sides with
+the Royalists, raised a body of Tory followers, and with them fled to
+Canada. Out of these refugees, he raised a corps of rangers called Royal
+Greens, with whom he joined St. Leger, in the hope of crushing out his
+enemies in the valley.</p></div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span><br />
+<h2>XI.</h2>
+
+<h2>OUR ARMY ADVANCES.</h2>
+<br />
+
+<div class="sidenote">Refer to Chapter V., "Facing Disaster."</div>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Aug. 4.</div>
+
+<p>We remember that the united voice of the army and people had demanded
+the recall of those generals whose want of foresight or energy, or both,
+had caused the disasters with which the campaign had opened. Congress
+chose General Gates<a name="FNanchor_41_41" id="FNanchor_41_41"></a><a href="#Footnote_41_41" class="fnanchor">[41]</a> to command in room of Schuyler, who, with St.
+Clair, was ordered to report at headquarters. With the methods of travel
+then in use, Gates was nearly two weeks in getting from Philadelphia to
+Albany. This fact will sufficiently illustrate the difficulties which
+attended the movement of re&euml;nforcements from one army to another, before
+the day of railways and steamboats.</p>
+
+<p>All that lay in the power of man to do, Washington had done for the
+Northern army. Though fronting an enemy greatly superior to himself, he
+had still found time to so direct operations in the North, that his hand
+may almost be said to have guided the course of events in that quarter.
+He had soothed Schuyler's wounded self-love, commended his efforts,
+strengthened his hands in the field, and nobly stood between him and his
+detractors in Congress. When Congress had suspended all the generals of
+the Northern army from <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span>command, it was Washington who interposed to
+save them and the army from the consequences of such blindness and
+folly. To Schuyler he had said, "Burgoyne is doing just what we could
+wish; let him but continue to scatter his army about, and his ruin is
+only a question of time." Schuyler urgently called for more troops.
+Brigade after brigade had gone from Washington's own army to swell
+Schuyler's ranks. "I care not where the victory is won, so we do but
+gain it," Washington said. Schuyler again pleaded his want of general
+officers. Washington sent him Arnold, the dare-devil of the army, and
+Lincoln, a man of sound head, steady hand, and even temper, as a
+counterpoise to Arnold's over-confident and impetuous nature. Thanks to
+these efforts, we had created a new army on the ruins of the old.</p>
+
+<p>Schuyler's deportment toward the Massachusetts authorities at this time
+was neither conciliatory nor conducive to the interests of the service.
+He knew their feelings of distrust toward him, and in making application
+to them for re&euml;nforcements showed his resentment in a way that called
+forth an acrimonious response. He upbraided them for their shortcomings;
+they entreated him to look nearer home. Thus we find General Schuyler
+and the Massachusetts Council engaged in an exchange of sarcasms at a
+time when the exigency called for something besides a war of words
+between the commander of an army and the executive head of a powerful
+State.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Aug. 19.</div>
+
+<p>Gates took command just after the Battle of Bennington <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span>was won. He
+found the army in much disorder, but pleased with the change of
+commanders. Gates was a thorough disciplinarian and organizer. In his
+hands, the efficiency of the army daily increased. Old jealousies were
+silenced, and confidence restored. Letters from the soldiers show the
+change in temper and spirit to have been instant and marked. One of them
+says, "When we came to Albany, things looked very dark for our side, for
+there were officers in town who had left camp, and would not go back as
+long as Schuyler had the command. Both officers and soldiers were
+determined not to fight under him, and would tell him so to his head.
+But General Gates came to town, and then the tune was turned, and every
+face showed a merry heart."</p>
+
+<p>The hostile armies now lay, quietly gathering up their strength for the
+decisive struggle, within sound of each other's evening guns.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Sept. 9.</div>
+
+<p>Gates was the first to act. Having been joined by Morgan's rifle
+corps,<a name="FNanchor_42_42" id="FNanchor_42_42"></a><a href="#Footnote_42_42" class="fnanchor">[42]</a> and by large numbers of militia, the whole army now moved up
+to Stillwater, within a dozen miles of the enemy, who still remained
+intrenched behind the Batten-Kill. This movement put new life into our
+soldiers, and was not without its effect upon the enemy, whose spirit
+was aroused at finding the antagonist it had been pursuing suddenly
+become the aggressor. The Americans had a well-served though not
+numerous artillery, but the presence of Morgan's corps more than made
+good any deficiency in this respect. The great drawback <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span>to the
+efficiency of the army was the want of cordiality between Gates and
+Arnold. The breach between them was daily widening that was presently to
+become an impassable gulf.</p>
+
+<p>Gates purposed taking up a strong position, and awaiting Burgoyne's
+attack behind his intrenchments. Either Burgoyne must risk an assault,
+under conditions most favorable to the Americans, or retire discomfited
+under conditions highly unfavorable to a successful retreat.</p>
+
+<p>The country between Saratoga and Stillwater, covered with woods and
+intersected by ravines, was wholly unsuited to the free movement of
+troops. All the shore of the Hudson is high ground, rising to a nearly
+uniform level next the river, but gradually ascending, as the river is
+left, to the summit of the streams falling into it. Long slopes or
+terraces are thus formed, furrowed here and there by the ravines, which
+serve to drain off the water from above into the river below. Puny
+rivulets where they begin, these watercourses cut deeper as they run on,
+until, at the river, they become impassable gulches. The old military
+road skirts the foot of the heights, which sometimes abut closely upon
+the river, and sometimes draw back far enough to leave a strip of meadow
+between it and them.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Sept. 12.</div>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Bemis' Heights.</div>
+
+<p>Kosciusko,<a name="FNanchor_43_43" id="FNanchor_43_43"></a><a href="#Footnote_43_43" class="fnanchor">[43]</a> Gates's engineer, chose the ground on which to receive
+Burgoyne's attack, at one of these places where the heights crowd upon
+the river, thus forming a narrow defile, which a handful of men could
+easily defend against an army. At <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span>this place the house of a settler
+named Bemis stood by the roadside. Our army filed off the road here, to
+the left, scaled the heights, and encamped along a ridge of land,
+running west as far as some high, rough, and woody ground, which formed
+the summit.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Freeman's Farm.</div>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Sept. 13.</div>
+
+<p>Except two or three clearings, all the ground in Gates's front was
+thickly wooded. One settler, called Freeman, had cleared and planted
+quite a large field in front of the American centre and left, though at
+some distance beyond, and hid from view by intervening woods. This field
+of Freeman's was one of the few spots of ground lying between the two
+armies, on which troops could be man&oelig;uvred or artillery used with
+advantage. The farm-house stood at the upper edge of it, at a distance
+of a mile back from the river. Our pickets immediately took post there,
+as no one could enter the clearing without being seen from the house.
+Accident has thus made this spot of ground, Freeman's Farm,<a name="FNanchor_44_44" id="FNanchor_44_44"></a><a href="#Footnote_44_44" class="fnanchor">[44]</a> famous.
+The Americans were at work like beavers, strengthening their line with
+redoubts, felled trees, and batteries, when the enemy was discovered
+marching against them.</p>
+
+<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_41_41" id="Footnote_41_41"></a><a href="#FNanchor_41_41"><span class="label">[41]</span></a> <span class="smcap">General Gates</span> had resigned his command at
+Ticonderoga, rather than serve under Schuyler. There was no good feeling
+between them.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_42_42" id="Footnote_42_42"></a><a href="#FNanchor_42_42"><span class="label">[42]</span></a> <span class="smcap">Morgan's Riflemen</span> was the most celebrated corps
+of the Continental Army. The men were unerring marksmen, and on that
+account greatly feared by the British. All were expert <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span>woodsmen,
+devoted to their leader, who held them under strict discipline.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_43_43" id="Footnote_43_43"></a><a href="#FNanchor_43_43"><span class="label">[43]</span></a> <span class="smcap">Thaddeus Kosciusko</span> came to this country to offer
+his services to Congress. "What can you do?" asked Washington. "Try me,"
+was the laconic reply. In course of time, he was sent to Schuyler as
+engineer of his army.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_44_44" id="Footnote_44_44"></a><a href="#FNanchor_44_44"><span class="label">[44]</span></a> <span class="smcap">Freeman's House</span> was made use of by Burgoyne,
+during the battle of September 9, as his headquarters. After this battle
+it was included within the British lines.</p></div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span><br />
+<h2>XII.</h2>
+
+<h2>BATTLE OF BEMIS' HEIGHTS.<a name="FNanchor_45_45" id="FNanchor_45_45"></a><a href="#Footnote_45_45" class="fnanchor">[45]</a></h2>
+
+<h3>(<i>September 19, 1777.</i>)</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>Burgoyne, at Batten-Kill, had only a choice of evils to make. Either he
+could save his army by retreating to Fort Edward, and thus give up all
+hope of seeing the ends of the campaign fulfilled, or he might still
+make a bold push for Albany, and so put everything at the hazard of
+battle.</p>
+
+<p>But to fall back when he had promised to go forward, when the doing so
+meant ruin to his reputation, and possibly to the cause of his king, was
+not only a bitter alternative, but a responsibility heavier than he was
+prepared to take.</p>
+
+<p>On the other hand, should he now cross the Hudson, with intent to bring
+on a decisive battle,&mdash;and his crossing meant just this,&mdash;Burgoyne knew
+that he must drop his communications with Canada, because he could not
+afford the guards necessary to keep them open. Already he had been
+weakened by the loss of more than fifteen hundred men, without counting
+the Indians who had so basely deserted him; St. Leger had failed him in
+his utmost need. On his left, the Americans were watching their chance
+to strike a blow in his rear. Burgoyne therefore felt that, from the
+moment he should <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span>put the Hudson between his army and its only way of
+retreat, all must be staked on the doubtful issue of battle. He decided
+to make the gambler's last throw.</p>
+
+<p>Burgoyne himself has said that his orders left him no choice but to go
+on. It is evident he construed them to his own wishes. He still believed
+his six thousand excellent soldiers, with their superb artillery, would
+prove themselves more than a match for twice their own number of
+undisciplined yeomanry. He would not admit even the possibility of
+defeat. He felt confident of beating Gates with ease.</p>
+
+<p>In choosing to fight, rather than retreat, Burgoyne, perhaps, acted from
+the impulse of a brave nature, rather than the promptings of his sober
+judgment, as he was bound to do; since he had known for some time that
+Sir William Howe had gone to Pennsylvania, without making any definite
+preparations to come to his assistance. Notwithstanding this assurance,
+that a most important part of the plan of campaign had failed, through
+no fault of his, Burgoyne seems to have put his trust in the chapter of
+accidents, rather than remain inactive until it was certain he would be
+supported from New York. Not one solitary circumstance, except faith in
+the valor of his troops, favored a further advance at this time. But his
+gallant little army was ready to follow him, the enemy was within
+striking distance, and so Burgoyne marched on, bemoaning his ill luck,
+but with the pluck characteristic of the man.</p>
+
+<p>On the thirteenth the British army crossed the Hudson, by a bridge of
+boats, to Saratoga. Burgoyne took with him provisions for five weeks,
+which were loaded in bateaux and floated down the river as he advanced.
+As yet he knew comparatively nothing of what preparations the Americans
+were making to receive him, and but little about the country he was in.
+But he did know that the patriot army had at last faced about, and that
+was enough to rouse the spirit of his soldiers to the highest pitch.</p>
+
+<div class="img"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span>
+<a href="images/imagep103.jpg">
+<img border="0" src="images/imagep103.jpg" width="35%" alt="" /></a><br />
+<p class="cen" style="margin-top: .2em;">BURGOYNE'S ORDER OF BATTLE.<br />
+19th September.<br />
+<i>Pen and ink sketch by a British officer.</i><br />
+A, The Line Formed. B, The Columns in March.</p>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span></div>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Sept. 15.</div>
+
+<p>On the fifteenth the British Army began its march southward in three<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span>
+divisions. The only road had to be given up to the baggage and
+artillery. To protect it, the left, or German division, marched along
+the meadows, next the river. The centre, or British division, kept the
+heights above; while Frazer's corps moved at some distance, on the right
+of it, with Breyman's following just behind in support. Two divisions
+were therefore marching on the heights, and one underneath them.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Sept. 17.</div>
+
+<p>What with the delays caused by broken bridges on the road, bridging the
+ravines on the heights, or forcing a way through thick woods, which it
+was necessary always to reconnoitre with care,&mdash;the royal army could get
+over but six miles in two days. Being then near the enemy, a halt was
+made to prepare for battle.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Sept. 19.</div>
+
+<p>On this day, Burgoyne continued his march in the same order as before,
+with skirmishers thrown out well in advance of each column. The centre,
+which he directed in person, would, in following the direction it was
+taking, very shortly find itself at Freeman's Farm.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span>On his part, Gates had sent out Morgan's rifle corps to feel the enemy,
+in order to learn what they were doing or intending to do. Morgan had
+advanced as far as our outpost at Freeman's house, when the British
+skirmishers came out of the woods into the clearing. They were instantly
+fired upon and returned the fire. It was therefore here that the action
+of September 19 began.</p>
+
+<p>Morgan's hot fire soon drove the enemy back to cover again, with loss.
+Our riflemen dashed into the woods after them, got into disorder, and,
+before they were aware, fell upon the supporting battalions, by whom
+they were defeated and scattered, in their turn. This division then
+advanced into the clearing, from which by this time the Americans had
+decamped. Burgoyne thus gained the ground about Freeman's house, whence
+his pickets were first attacked and driven in.</p>
+
+<p>At this place, Burgoyne formed his line, facing towards the woods into
+which Morgan's men had retreated. He rightly judged the enemy to be
+there, though threats failed to extort any information from the
+prisoners he had taken. When Frazer told one of Morgan's captains he
+would hang him up to the nearest tree, unless he would point out the
+place where his comrades were posted, the man undauntedly replied, "You
+may, if you please."</p>
+
+<p>Knowing that Gates could not be attacked on his right, Burgoyne meant to
+make the trial on the left. If that wing could be turned, Gates would
+have to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span>retreat from his works, or be driven into the river. This was
+all the simple plan of attack, but as yet, Burgoyne did not know where
+the American left was posted. The woods effectually masked the American
+position, and all was now quiet.</p>
+
+<p>Burgoyne now prepared to go forward again. From what had just taken
+place, he supposed the troops now with him would strike the American
+line first. It was therefore arranged that when he became fully engaged,
+Frazer was to charge the American flank, and crush it, making the centre
+division his pivot. With his right, Burgoyne meant to turn the American
+left.</p>
+
+<p>Burgoyne had with him four battalions of the line, and four guns. He
+would have brought more guns if more could have been used with effect in
+the woods, as he greatly relied upon this arm. Frazer had twenty
+companies of grenadiers and light infantry, the 24th British regiment,
+Breyman's Germans, and all the Canadians, loyalists, and Indians now
+left with the army; he also had four pieces of artillery. About four
+thousand men were thus in readiness to engage. The left wing was now in
+motion along the river road, under the heights, but was too far off to
+be of much use in re&euml;nforcing the right. It was, however, of service in
+preventing Gates from sending troops away from his right, to fight
+Burgoyne on the left.</p>
+
+<p>Though Burgoyne did not know the American position, which thick woods
+everywhere masked from his view, he had disclosed his own very clearly
+to Morgan, who sent an urgent request for re&euml;nforcements.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span>Gates wished to receive the attack in his works, not make one himself.
+He therefore ordered only one or two battalions from his left to go to
+Morgan's assistance, and withstood the entreaties of his officers to be
+allowed to meet the enemy in the open field.</p>
+
+<p>At between two and three o'clock, as Burgoyne had just finished his
+dispositions for attacking, a heavy fire broke from the woods in
+Frazer's front. This came from Morgan and the troops sent to his
+support. Making no impression on Frazer, whose cannon held them in
+check, the assailants suddenly shifted their attack over to the left,
+where Burgoyne commanded in person. And thus it was that, instead of
+attacking, Burgoyne found himself assaulted; instead of turning Gates's
+left, his own was being assailed, with the purpose of separating the two
+wings of his army.</p>
+
+<p>On finding a battle actually in progress, Gates re&euml;nforced the troops
+who were fighting against odds, with driblets of a regiment at a time.
+Instead of going on the field himself, or letting Arnold go,<a name="FNanchor_46_46" id="FNanchor_46_46"></a><a href="#Footnote_46_46" class="fnanchor">[46]</a> he
+pretended to believe that his own right was the real object of attack,
+and kept in his quarters. This day's battle was therefore fought wholly
+by his subordinates, against the British general-in-chief, seconded by
+his ablest lieutenants.</p>
+
+<p>Having found the enemy's left, the Americans chiefly turned their
+attention to that flank, as has just been said. The 62d British regiment
+was posted here with two guns. This flank was crushed, and its artillery
+silenced by a superior fire. Its defeat caused the whole British line
+to give way, leaving part of their artillery in our hands.</p>
+
+<div class="img"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span>
+<a href="images/imagep109.jpg">
+<img border="0" src="images/imagep109.jpg" width="35%" alt="FIRST BATTLE OF BEMIS' HEIGHTS." /></a><br />
+<p class="cen" style="margin-top: .2em;">FIRST BATTLE OF BEMIS' HEIGHTS.<br />
+[<i>Pen and ink sketch by a British officer.</i>]<br />
+A, Americans Attacking. B, British Positions.</p>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span>So far the battle had gone in our favor. Any demonstration from our
+right, upon the enemy's left, would, unquestionably, have rendered the
+victory complete. As nothing of the kind was attempted, the British were
+able to bring up re&euml;nforcements from that wing, without opposition, and
+the golden opportunity was lost.</p>
+
+<p>From the river road, Riedesel, by making a roundabout march, brought two
+of his regiments into action. Phillips hurried with four guns taken from
+the reserve artillery to the front. Frazer turned part of his force upon
+the American flank, thus relieving Burgoyne from the pressure laid upon
+him, and enabling him to form a second line. When this was done, the
+whole British force advanced again as far as their first position, while
+the Americans, for want of fresh troops to meet them, were compelled to
+fall back under cover of the woods again. The combat had now lasted four
+hours. Darkness put an end to it, nearly on the spot where it had begun.
+The British were indeed masters of the field; but instead of attacking,
+they had always been attacked, and instead of advancing, they had been
+everywhere stopped; their artillery alone had saved them from defeat.
+Our army lost three hundred and nineteen killed and wounded; the
+British, more than five hundred,&mdash;the difference being due to superior
+marksmanship. Our losses could easily be made good; the British could
+not. All the real advantages, therefore, were clearly on the side of the
+Americans.</p>
+
+<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_45_45" id="Footnote_45_45"></a><a href="#FNanchor_45_45"><span class="label">[45]</span></a> <span class="smcap">Battle of Bemis' Heights.</span> Bemis' Heights formed
+part of the American position, but not of the battle-ground. Freeman's
+Farm would have been a more accurate designation. Stillwater locates it
+anywhere within a township of many miles in extent.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_46_46" id="Footnote_46_46"></a><a href="#FNanchor_46_46"><span class="label">[46]</span></a> <span class="smcap">Arnold's Part</span> in this battle has been long a
+matter of dispute. Gates was jealous of him because he was the idol of
+his soldiers. Arnold had no high opinion of Gates. After Arnold turned
+traitor, every one seems to have thought it a duty to give him a kick.
+This feeling is unfortunately conspicuous in the only detailed account
+from the American side we have of this battle, which was written by
+Wilkinson, Gates's adjutant-general, and given to the world nearly forty
+years (1816) afterwards. Wilkinson seems to have fully shared his
+commander's likes and dislikes, and has treated Arnold shabbily. The
+battle was almost wholly fought by Arnold's division, and it is equally
+incompatible with his duty and temper to suppose he would have remained
+in camp when his troops were engaged, though he was probably held back
+until a late hour in the day.</p></div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span><br />
+<h2>XIII.</h2>
+
+<h2>LINCOLN'S RAID IN BURGOYNE'S REAR.</h2>
+<br />
+
+<p>Much to Burgoyne's chagrin, he had been obliged to garrison Ticonderoga
+with troops taken from his own army, instead of being allowed to draw
+upon those left in Canada, under command of General Carleton. About a
+thousand men were thus deducted from the force now operating on the
+Hudson.</p>
+
+<p>Ever since the battle of Bennington, Lincoln had been most industriously
+gathering in, and organizing the militia, at Manchester. All New England
+was now up, and her sons were flocking in such numbers to his camp, that
+Lincoln soon found himself at the head of about two thousand excellent
+militia.</p>
+
+<p>Guided by the spirit of Washington's instructions, he now determined on
+making an effort to break up Burgoyne's communications, capture his
+magazines, harass his outposts, and, perhaps, even throw himself on the
+British line of retreat. There is a refreshing boldness and vigor about
+the conception, something akin to real generalship and enterprise. It
+was a good plan, undertaken without Gates's knowledge or consent.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Sept. 13.</div>
+
+<p>On the same day that Burgoyne was crossing the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span>Hudson, Lincoln sent
+five hundred men to the head of Lake George, with orders to destroy the
+stores there; five hundred more to attack Ticonderoga; and another five
+hundred to Skenesborough, to support them in case of need. Unknown to
+Lincoln, Burgoyne had now wholly dropped his communications with the
+lakes, but these movements were no less productive of good results on
+that account.</p>
+
+<p>The first detachment, under command of Colonel Brown,<a name="FNanchor_47_47" id="FNanchor_47_47"></a><a href="#Footnote_47_47" class="fnanchor">[47]</a> reached Lake
+George landing undiscovered. The blockhouse and mills there were
+instantly taken. Mount Defiance and the French lines at Ticonderoga<a name="FNanchor_48_48" id="FNanchor_48_48"></a><a href="#Footnote_48_48" class="fnanchor">[48]</a>
+were next carried without difficulty. In these operations, Brown took
+three hundred prisoners, released over one hundred Americans from
+captivity, and destroyed a great quantity of stores.</p>
+
+<p>The second detachment having, meantime, come up before Mount
+Independence, Ticonderoga was cannonaded, for some time, without effect.
+Unlike St. Clair, the British commander would neither surrender nor
+retreat, even when the guns of Mount Defiance were turned against him.</p>
+
+<p>Failing here, the Americans next went up Lake George, to attack
+Burgoyne's artillery depot, at Diamond Island. They were not more
+successful in this attempt, as the enemy was strongly fortified and made
+a vigorous defence. After burning the enemy's boats on the lake, Brown
+returned to Skenesborough.</p>
+
+<p>General Lincoln was about to march from Skenesborough to Fort Edward,
+with seven hundred men, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span>when he received a pressing request from Gates,
+dated on the morning of the battle, to join him at once.</p>
+
+<p>Abandoning, therefore, his own plans, Lincoln retraced his steps with so
+much speed, that he arrived in Gates's camp<a name="FNanchor_49_49" id="FNanchor_49_49"></a><a href="#Footnote_49_49" class="fnanchor">[49]</a> on the twenty-second.
+Gates immediately gave him command of the right wing<a name="FNanchor_50_50" id="FNanchor_50_50"></a><a href="#Footnote_50_50" class="fnanchor">[50]</a> of the army.</p>
+
+<p>The road between Skenesborough and Fort Edward was now constantly
+patrolled by parties of American militia; so that it was truly said of
+Burgoyne, that the gates of retreat were fast closing behind him.</p>
+
+<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_47_47" id="Footnote_47_47"></a><a href="#FNanchor_47_47"><span class="label">[47]</span></a> <span class="smcap">Colonel John Brown</span>, of Pittsfield, Mass.,&mdash;who
+had been with Allen at the taking of Ticonderoga in 1775, and with
+Montgomery at Quebec,&mdash;Colonels Warner, Woodbridge, and Johnson
+co&ouml;perated in this expedition.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_48_48" id="Footnote_48_48"></a><a href="#FNanchor_48_48"><span class="label">[48]</span></a> <span class="smcap">Ticonderoga</span> was garrisoned at this time by one
+British and one German battalion, under command of General Powell.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_49_49" id="Footnote_49_49"></a><a href="#FNanchor_49_49"><span class="label">[49]</span></a> <span class="smcap">Gates's Camp.</span> By this time, Gates also had
+connected his camp with the east bank of the Hudson, by a floating
+bridge, to facilitate the crossing of re&euml;nforcements to him.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_50_50" id="Footnote_50_50"></a><a href="#FNanchor_50_50"><span class="label">[50]</span></a> <span class="smcap">The Right Wing</span> was composed of Nixon's, Glover's,
+and Patterson's Continental brigades, with a certain proportion of
+militia. The left wing of Poor's and Learned's brigades, Dearborn's
+Light Infantry, and Morgan's corps, with a like proportion of militia.</p></div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span><br />
+<h2>XIV.</h2>
+
+<h2>SECOND BATTLE OF FREEMAN'S FARM.</h2>
+
+<h3>(<i>October, 1777.</i>)</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>Convinced that another such victory would be his ruin, Burgoyne now
+thought only of defending himself until the wished-for help should come.
+To this end, he began intrenching the ground on which he stood. The
+action of September 19 had, therefore, changed the relative situation of
+the antagonists, in that from being the assailant, Burgoyne was now
+driven to act wholly on the defensive.</p>
+
+<p>On the day following the battle, a courier brought Burgoyne the welcome
+news that forces from New York would soon be on the way to his relief.
+Word was instantly sent back that his army could hold its ground until
+the 12th of October, by which time it was not doubted that the relieving
+force would be near enough at hand to crush Gates between two fires.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">At Wilber's Basin.</div>
+
+<p>Burgoyne, therefore, now threw his bridge across the Hudson again,
+posted a guard on the farther side, made his camp as strong as possible,
+and waited with growing impatience for the sound of Sir Henry
+Clinton's<a name="FNanchor_51_51" id="FNanchor_51_51"></a><a href="#Footnote_51_51" class="fnanchor">[51]</a> cannon to be heard in the distance. But Clinton did not
+move to Burgoyne's assistance until too late. The blundering of the War</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Oct. 4.</div>
+
+<p>Office had worked its inevitable results. By the time Clinton reached<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span>
+Tarrytown, thirty miles above New York, Burgoyne's army had been put on
+short rations. With the utmost economy the provisions could not be made
+to last much beyond the day fixed in Burgoyne's despatch. Foraging was
+out of the question. Nothing could be learned about Clinton's progress.
+All between the two British armies was such perilous ground, that
+several officers had returned unsuccessful, after making heroic efforts
+to reach Clinton's camp.</p>
+
+<p>While Burgoyne was thus anxiously looking forward to Clinton's energetic
+co&ouml;peration, that officer supposed he was only making a diversion in
+Burgoyne's favor, a feint to call off the enemy's attention from him;
+and thus it happened that in the decisive hour of the war, and after the
+signal had been given, only one arm was raised to strike, because two
+British commanders acted without unison; either through misconception of
+the orders they had received, or of what was expected of them in just
+such an emergency as the one that now presented itself.</p>
+
+<p>Perhaps two armies have seldom remained so near together for so long a
+time without coming to blows, as the two now facing each other on the
+heights of Stillwater. The camps being little more than a mile apart,
+brought the hostile pickets so close together, that men strayed into the
+opposite lines unawares. Day and night there was incessant firing from
+the outposts, every hour threatened to bring on a battle. Half
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span>Burgoyne's soldiers were constantly under arms to repel the attack,
+which&mdash;in view of the desperate condition they found themselves placed
+in, of the steady progress from bad to worse&mdash;was rather hoped for than
+feared.</p>
+
+<p>Two weeks passed thus without news of Clinton. Burgoyne's provisions
+were now getting alarmingly low. If he staid where he was, in a few
+days, at most, he would be starved into surrendering. Again the ominous
+word "retreat" was heard around the camp-fires. The hospital was filled
+with wounded men. Hard duty and scant food were telling on those fit for
+duty. Lincoln's raid announced a new and dangerous complication. It was
+necessary to try something, for Gates's do-nothing policy was grinding
+them to powder.</p>
+
+<p>A council was therefore called. It is a maxim, as old as history, that
+councils of war never fight. Some of Burgoyne's generals advised putting
+the Hudson between themselves and Gates, as the only means now left of
+saving the army; none, it is believed, advocated risking another battle.</p>
+
+<p>Burgoyne could not bring himself to order a retreat without first making
+one more effort for victory. He dwelt strongly upon the difficulty of
+withdrawing the army in the face of so vigilant and powerful an enemy.
+He maintained his own opinion that even in order to secure an honorable
+retreat it would be necessary to fight, and it was so determined.</p>
+
+<p>It is evident that Burgoyne nourished a secret hope that fortune might
+yet take a turn favorable to him; otherwise, it is impossible to account
+for his making <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span>this last and most desperate effort, under conditions
+even less favorable than had attended his attack of the 19th of
+September.</p>
+
+<p>Fifteen hundred men and ten guns were chosen for the attempt. In plain
+language, Burgoyne started out to provoke a combat with an enemy greatly
+his superior in numbers, with less than half the force his former
+demonstration had been made with. His idea seems to have been to take up
+a position from which his cannon would reach the American works. After
+intrenching, it was his intention to bring up his heavy artillery, and
+open a cannonade which he was confident the enemy could not withstand,
+as their defensive works were chiefly built of logs. And out of this
+state of things, Burgoyne hoped to derive some substantial benefit.</p>
+
+<p>This plan differed from that of the 19th of September, in that it looked
+chiefly to obtaining a more advantageous position; while on the former
+occasion it was attempted to force a way through or around the American
+left. The lesson of that day had not been lost on Burgoyne, who now
+meant to utilize his artillery to the utmost, rather than risk the
+inevitable slaughter that must ensue from an attempt to carry the
+American lines by storm.</p>
+
+<p>Everything depended upon gaining the desired position before the
+Americans could make their dispositions to thwart the attempt.</p>
+
+<p>The importance to the army of this movement induced Burgoyne to call his
+three best generals to his <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span>aid; so that nothing that experience could
+suggest, or skill attempt, should be left undone. It was kept a profound
+secret till the troops who were going out to fight were actually under
+arms. The rest of the army was to remain in the works; so that, if worst
+came to worst, the enemy might not reap any decided advantage from a
+victory gained over the fighting corps.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Oct. 7.</div>
+
+<p>It was near one o'clock, on the afternoon of the seventh, when Burgoyne
+marched out from his own right, toward the American left. He had reached
+an eminence rising at the right of the late battle-ground, and not far
+removed from Frazer's position on that day, when the pickets of Arnold's
+division discovered his approach, and gave the alarm. Having gained a
+favorable position for using his guns, Burgoyne halted, and formed his
+line.</p>
+
+<p>Upon hearing that the British had advanced to within half a mile of his
+left, and were offering battle, Gates decided to accept the challenge,
+as he now felt strong enough to do so without fear for the result, and
+the behavior of his own troops in the previous battle had been such as
+to put an end to his doubts about their ability to cope with British
+soldiers. Morgan was therefore ordered to make a <i>d&eacute;tour</i> through the
+woods, and fall on the British right flank, while other troops were
+attacking on its left.</p>
+
+<p>These movements were gallantly executed. At three o'clock, Burgoyne's
+artillery opened the battle; at four, the Americans charged the British
+position under a heavy fire of cannon and musketry. Again and again,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span>the Continentals met the British bayonet without flinching. Never was a
+battle more manfully fought. Burgoyne faced death like the meanest
+soldier in the ranks. After some discharges, the British cannoneers were
+shot down at their pieces, and the hill on which they stood was carried
+at the point of the bayonet.</p>
+
+<p>On his part, Morgan grappled with the British right, overthrew it after
+a fierce struggle, and drove it back upon the centre. In vain Frazer<a name="FNanchor_52_52" id="FNanchor_52_52"></a><a href="#Footnote_52_52" class="fnanchor">[52]</a>
+tried to stem the tide of defeat by throwing himself into the thickest
+of the fight. "That man," said Morgan, pointing him out to his marksmen,
+"must die." A rifle bullet soon gave the gallant Scot his death wound,
+and he was led from the field.</p>
+
+<p>The combat had lasted scarce an hour. All Burgoyne's guns were taken. Of
+the fifteen hundred soldiers he had led into action, four hundred lay
+dead or dying around him. Frazer's fall had carried dismay among those
+who were still stubbornly yielding the ground to the victorious
+Americans. A retreat was sounded. The Americans followed on with loud
+shouts. For a few moments a rearguard fight was kept up, then the
+retreat became a rout, the rout a race, to see who should first reach
+the British lines.</p>
+
+<p>Thus far the action had been maintained on our part, by the same troops
+who had fought the battle of September 19, and in part on the same
+ground. It was now to be transferred to the enemy's own camp.</p>
+
+<p>Hardly had the British gained the shelter of their works, when the
+Americans, led on by Arnold, stormed <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span>them with reckless bravery. Gates
+had held Arnold back from the field from motives of envy and dislike;
+but Arnold, to whom the sound of battle was like the spur to the mettled
+courser, at last broke through all restraint. Leaping into the saddle,
+he spurred into the thickest of the fight before Gates could stop him.</p>
+
+<p>The point of attack was strongly defended by artillery, and the
+Americans here suffered their first repulse. Other troops came up. The
+assault soon began again all along the British line. Beaten off in one
+place, Arnold spurred over to the enemy's extreme right, where Breyman
+was posted behind a breastwork of logs and rails, that formed a right
+angle with the rest of the line. Calling on the nearest battalion to
+follow him, Arnold leaped his horse over the parapet. The Germans fired
+one volley and fled. Our troops took guns and prisoners. By this success
+they had gained an opening on Burgoyne's right and rear, precisely as he
+had meant to do by them. In this last assault Breyman was killed, and
+Arnold wounded.</p>
+
+<p>The day was now too far spent for further efforts to be made on either
+side. Little by little, the angry roll of musketry sunk into silence.
+The battle was over.</p>
+
+<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_51_51" id="Footnote_51_51"></a><a href="#FNanchor_51_51"><span class="label">[51]</span></a> <span class="smcap">Sir Henry Clinton</span> then commanded at New York,
+under the orders of Sir William Howe. Not having received orders to
+assist Burgoyne in any event, until he was about to engage with
+Washington for the possession of Philadelphia, Howe turned over the
+matter of assisting Burgoyne to Clinton, who was compelled to wait for
+the arrival of fresh troops, then on the way from England, before he
+could organize an expedition to attack our posts in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span>the Highlands of
+the Hudson. See Introduction; also Note 1, "Facing Disaster" (p. 60).</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_52_52" id="Footnote_52_52"></a><a href="#FNanchor_52_52"><span class="label">[52]</span></a> <span class="smcap">General Simon Frazer</span> was of Scotch birth, younger
+son of Frazer of Balnain. His actual rank on joining Burgoyne was
+lieutenant-colonel, 24th foot. With other field officers assigned to
+command brigades, he was made acting brigadier, and is therefore known
+as General Frazer, though Burgoyne was notified that this <i>local rank</i>
+would cease when his army joined Sir William Howe. Frazer's remains were
+disinterred and taken to England. The spot where he was wounded is
+marked by a monument, and indicates where he endeavored to make a stand
+after being driven from his first position. Anburey and Madame Riedesel
+give graphic accounts of his death and burial.</p></div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span><br />
+<h2>XV.</h2>
+
+<h2>RETREAT AND SURRENDER.</h2>
+<br />
+
+<p>Burgoyne had been everywhere foiled by the battle of the seventh.
+Instead of turning Gates's flank his own had been turned. Instead of
+thrusting Gates back upon the river, he would surely be forced there
+himself, in a few hours, at most. Instead, even, of dealing Gates such a
+blow as would favor a retreat, Burgoyne's situation was now more
+precarious than ever: it was more than precarious; it was next to
+hopeless.</p>
+
+<p>It is again but too plain that Burgoyne had not taken defeat&mdash;such a
+defeat&mdash;seriously into account, or he would never have led out that
+gallant little column of fifteen hundred men; first, for victory, then,
+for an honorable retreat. His army was now like the wounded lion, whose
+expiring struggles the hunter watches at a distance, without fear, and
+without danger. All had been lost but honor.</p>
+
+<p>The first and only thing to be done now was promptly to form a new line
+of defence, behind which the army could mask its retreat. This was
+skilfully and quietly done on the night after the battle, our troops not
+attempting to do more than hold the ground already won. In the morning
+they occupied the deserted works.</p>
+
+<div class="img"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span>
+<a href="images/imagep125.jpg">
+<img border="0" src="images/imagep125.jpg" width="30%" alt="THE RETREAT TO SARATOGA." /></a><br />
+<p class="cen" style="margin-top: .2em;">THE RETREAT TO SARATOGA.</p>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span>Burgoyne's new position stretched along the heights next the river, so
+as to cover the road to Saratoga. He had merely drawn back his centre
+and right, while his left wing remained stationary; and he now stood
+facing west, instead of south, as before the battle.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Oct. 8.</div>
+
+<p>The day passed in skirmishing, reconnoitring, and artillery firing. The
+Americans were feeling their way along the enemy's new front, while
+Burgoyne's every effort was limited to keeping them at a distance, with
+his superior artillery, till night. On our side, his intentions were
+rather guessed than certainly known. His great problem was how to get
+his army over the Hudson undiscovered. It was supposed that he would
+attempt to retreat across his bridge as soon as it was dark. Our
+artillery, therefore, tried to destroy it with shot. Moreover, fourteen
+hundred men were crossed over to the east bank, and now stood ready to
+dispute Burgoyne's passage from that side of the river.</p>
+
+<p>At sunset, General Frazer was buried<a name="FNanchor_53_53" id="FNanchor_53_53"></a><a href="#Footnote_53_53" class="fnanchor">[53]</a> inside a battery, on the brow
+of the heights, according to his dying wish. Chaplain Brudenell read the
+burial service, with our balls ploughing up the earth around him, and
+our cannon thundering the soldier's requiem from camp to camp.</p>
+
+<p>At nine o'clock, the British army began its retreat along the river
+road, leaving its camp-fires burning behind it; profound silence was
+enjoined. To avoid confusion, the different corps simply moved off in
+the order in which they stood on the lines, or by their right. Upon
+finding that his crossing would be opposed by the troops who had passed
+over to the east bank, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span>Burgoyne had decided to go back the way he came
+as far as Saratoga, and on fording the river at that place. Orders were
+therefore given to destroy the bridge. Just before day, his rearguard
+set fire to it, and marched off without interference. All the sick and
+wounded were left behind.</p>
+
+<p>In view of the fact that all of the enemy's movements announced a rapid
+retreat, the Americans seem to have shown a want of vigor in pushing the
+advantages they had won by the late battles. This hesitation may be in
+part accounted for by the other fact that both Arnold and Lincoln were
+disabled. Lincoln had been wounded while reconnoitring the enemy's
+right, on the eighth, with a view of passing a force round in his rear.
+Gates was thus deprived of his most efficient lieutenants at the moment
+when they were most needed. The British army could hardly have been
+placed in a more critical position; but, by keeping up a bold front, it
+managed to extricate itself without the loss of a man.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Oct. 9.</div>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Dovegat, now Coveville.</div>
+
+<p>Rain began falling early the next morning. Burgoyne had marched but six
+miles, yet dallied till afternoon on the spot where he had halted early
+in the day. He then saw, to his inexpressible dismay, the same body of
+Americans<a name="FNanchor_54_54" id="FNanchor_54_54"></a><a href="#Footnote_54_54" class="fnanchor">[54]</a> whom he had seen opposite his encampment at Stillwater,
+now marching abreast of him, with the evident design of seizing the
+Saratoga ford before he could get to it. The road he meant to take was,
+therefore, already as good as in the enemy's hands.</p>
+
+<p>The discovery that he was being everywhere hemmed <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span>in hastened
+Burgoyne's departure. Much baggage and many wagons and tents were
+burned, in order that the army might march the faster. Like a ship,
+laboring with the gale, it was relieving itself of all unnecessary
+burdens.</p>
+
+<p>Pelted by the storm, in silence, and with downcast looks, the soldiers
+plodded wearily on, through mud and water, ankle deep. No tap of drum or
+bugle-call put life into their heavy tread. The sense of defeat and
+disgrace brooded over the minds of officers and men, as they stole away
+in darkness and gloom from an enemy for whom they had but lately felt
+such high disdain. Grief, shame, and indignation were the common lot of
+high and low. No word was spoken, except when the curt "Forward" of the
+officers passed along the ranks. All knew instinctively, that this
+retreat was but the prelude to greater disaster, which, perchance, was
+not far off.</p>
+
+<p>The same evening, the bedraggled and footsore soldiers waded the
+Fishkill<a name="FNanchor_55_55" id="FNanchor_55_55"></a><a href="#Footnote_55_55" class="fnanchor">[55]</a> where the bridge had been, but was now destroyed, and
+bivouacked on the heights of Saratoga.<a name="FNanchor_56_56" id="FNanchor_56_56"></a><a href="#Footnote_56_56" class="fnanchor">[56]</a> Too weary even to light
+fires, to dry their clothing, or cook their suppers, they threw
+themselves on the wet ground to snatch a few hours' sleep; for, dark as
+it was, and though rain fell in torrents, the firing heard at intervals
+throughout the night told them that the Americans were dogging their
+footsteps, and would soon be up with them. It seemed as if the foe were
+never to be shaken off.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Oct. 10.</div>
+
+<p>It was not till after daylight that the British artillery <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span>could ford
+the Fishkill with safety. The guns were then dragged up the heights and
+once more pointed toward the advancing enemy. Numbness and torpor seem
+to have pervaded the whole movement thus far. Now it was that Frazer's
+loss was most bitterly deplored, for he had often pledged himself to
+bring off the army in safety, should a retreat become necessary. He had
+marked out, and intrenched this very position, in which the army now
+found its last retreat. Almost twenty-four hours had been consumed in
+marching not quite ten miles, or at a much slower rate of progress than
+Burgoyne had censured Breyman for making to Baum's relief, at
+Bennington. Burgoyne seemed to find satisfaction in showing that he
+would not be hurried.</p>
+
+<p>The army took up its old positions along the heights into which the
+Fishkill cuts deeply, as it runs to the Hudson. Being threatened in
+front, flank, and rear, Burgoyne had to form three separate camps,
+facing as many different ways. One fronted the Fishkill and commanded
+the usual fording-place. A second looked east at the enemy posted across
+the Hudson; a third faced the west, where the ground rose above the
+camps, and hid itself in a thick forest.</p>
+
+<p>Though he secured his camps as well as he could, Burgoyne meant to make
+no delay here. But it was no longer in his power to control his own
+acts. The want of energy shown in the retreat had given the Americans
+time to close every avenue of escape against him.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span>Let us note how the fate of armies is decided. Active pursuit did not
+begin until the morning of the ninth, when the retreat was first
+discovered. A start of ten hours had thus been gained by the British.
+Their artillery had so cut up the roads as to render them next to
+impassable for our troops. Frequent halts had to be made to mend broken
+bridges. From these causes, even so late as the morning of the tenth,
+our army had advanced but three miles from the battle-ground. But
+Burgoyne had marched, when he marched at all, like a general who means
+to be overtaken. Four thousand men were being pushed around his right;
+an equal number followed in his rear; while fourteen hundred more
+menaced with destruction any attempt he might make to ford the river.</p>
+
+<p>No choice being left but to continue the retreat by the west bank,
+pioneers were sent out, under a strong escort, to make the road
+passable.</p>
+
+<p>But the golden moment had already flown. By this time Gates's van had
+come up with Burgoyne. Morgan's corps had crossed the Fishkill at a
+point above the British camps, had taken post within rifle-shot, and had
+thus fastened upon the enemy a grip never more to be shaken off.</p>
+
+<p>As a last resort, the British general decided to attempt a night
+retreat, leaving behind the artillery he had so persistently dragged
+after him when the fate of his army was hanging on its speed alone.
+Before this desperate venture could be put to trial, worse news came to
+hand. It was learned that Stark, with two <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span>thousand men, was in
+possession of Fort Edward, and of all the fords below it. Turn what way
+he would, Burgoyne found a foe in his path.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Oct. 13.</div>
+
+<p>Even General Burgoyne now saw no way open but surrender; either he must
+do this, or let his soldiers be slaughtered where they stood. Cannon and
+rifle shot were searching every corner of his camp; retreat was cut off;
+his provisions could be made to last but a day or two longer at most;
+the bateaux were destroyed; his animals were dying of starvation, and
+their dead bodies tainting the air his soldiers breathed; water could
+only be had at the risk of life or limb, as the American sharpshooters
+picked off every one who attempted to fetch it from the river; and no
+more than thirty-five hundred men could be mustered to repel an
+assault;&mdash;a crisis had now been reached which loudly called on the
+British general, in the name of humanity, to desist from further efforts
+to maintain so hopeless a struggle.</p>
+
+<p>Burgoyne called his officers together in council. The absence of such
+men as Frazer, Baum, Breyman, Ackland, Clarke, and others from the
+meeting, must have brought home to the commanding general, as nothing
+else could, a sense of the calamities that had befallen him; while the
+faces of the survivors no less ominously prefigured those to come. A
+heavy cannonade was in progress. Even while the council was
+deliberating, a cannon-ball crashed through the room among them, as if
+to enjoin haste in bringing the proceedings to a close. The council
+listened to what was already <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span>but too well known. Already the finger of
+fate pointed undeviatingly to the inevitable result. A general lassitude
+had fallen upon the spirits of the soldiers. The situation was
+manifestly hopeless to all.</p>
+
+<p>There could be but one opinion. Enough had been done for honor. All were
+agreed that only a surrender could save the army.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Oct. 14.</div>
+
+<p>Without more delay, an officer was sent to General Gates. At first he
+would listen only to an unconditional surrender. This was indignantly
+rejected. Two days of suspense followed to both armies. Indeed, the
+vanquished seemed dictating terms to the conqueror. But if the British
+dreaded a renewal of hostilities, the Americans knew that Clinton's
+forces<a name="FNanchor_57_57" id="FNanchor_57_57"></a><a href="#Footnote_57_57" class="fnanchor">[57]</a> were nearing Albany from below. Gates lowered his demands.
+The British army was allowed the honors of war, with liberty to return
+to England, on condition of not serving against the United States during
+the war. These terms were agreed to, and the treaty was duly signed on
+the seventeenth.</p>
+
+<p>Burgoyne's situation when gathering up his trophies, and issuing his
+presumptuous proclamation at Ticonderoga, compared with the straits to
+which his reverses had now brought him&mdash;a failure before his king and
+country, a captain stripped of his laurels by the hand he professed to
+despise, a petitioner for the clemency of his conqueror&mdash;affords a
+striking example of the uncertain chances of war. It really seemed as if
+fortune had only raised Burgoyne the higher in order that his fall might
+be the more destructive at last.</p>
+
+<div class="img"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span>
+<a href="images/imagep135.jpg">
+<img border="0" src="images/imagep135.jpg" width="35%" alt="WHERE THE SURRENDER TOOK PLACE." /></a><br />
+<p class="cen" style="margin-top: .2em;">WHERE THE SURRENDER TOOK PLACE.</p>
+</div>
+
+<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_53_53" id="Footnote_53_53"></a><a href="#FNanchor_53_53"><span class="label">[53]</span></a> <span class="smcap">Frazer's Burial</span> would not have been molested had
+our artillerists known what was going forward. Seeing so many persons
+collected in the redoubt, they naturally directed their fire upon it.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_54_54" id="Footnote_54_54"></a><a href="#FNanchor_54_54"><span class="label">[54]</span></a> <span class="smcap">This Body of Americans</span> was led by Colonel John
+Fellows, whom Gates had ordered to seize the fords as high up as Fort
+Edward.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_55_55" id="Footnote_55_55"></a><a href="#FNanchor_55_55"><span class="label">[55]</span></a> <span class="smcap">Fishkill</span>, or Fish Creek, is the outlet of
+Saratoga Lake. Though a rapid mill-stream, there were several fords. The
+precipitous banks were a greater obstacle to troops than the stream
+itself.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_56_56" id="Footnote_56_56"></a><a href="#FNanchor_56_56"><span class="label">[56]</span></a> <span class="smcap">Heights of Saratoga</span> are in what is now called
+Schuylerville, a village owing its prosperity to the water-power of the
+Fishkill. At the time of the surrender, there were only a few houses
+strung along the river road. Schuyler's house stood in the angle formed
+by the entrance of the Fishkill into the Hudson. On arriving at
+Saratoga, Burgoyne occupied this house as his headquarters, but burned
+it to the ground immediately on the appearance of the Americans. On the
+opposite (north) bank of the Fishkill was old Fort Hardy, built during
+the French War, to cover the ford of the Hudson at this place. Within
+this fort, Burgoyne's army laid down its arms, October 17, 1777. On the
+heights back of the river a granite obelisk, one hundred and fifty-four
+feet high, has been built to commemorate the event.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_57_57" id="Footnote_57_57"></a><a href="#FNanchor_57_57"><span class="label">[57]</span></a> <span class="smcap">Clinton's Forces</span> carried Forts Montgomery and
+Clinton, in the Highlands, by assault on the sixth. Having thus broken
+down all opposition to their advance up the Hudson, they reached
+Kingston (Esopus) on the thirteenth, burned it, and were within a few
+hours' sail of Albany when news of Burgoyne's surrender caused them to
+retreat down the river.</p></div>
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span><br />
+<h2>XVI.</h2>
+
+<h2>THE SEVENTEENTH OF OCTOBER, 1777.</h2>
+<br />
+
+<p>The closing scene of this most memorable campaign is thus described by
+one of the actors in it. He says,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"About ten o'clock we marched out, according to treaty, with drums
+beating, and the honors of war; but the drums seemed to have lost their
+former inspiriting sounds, and though we beat the Grenadiers' March,
+which not long before was so animating, yet now it seemed by its last
+feeble effort as if almost ashamed to be heard on such an occasion.</p>
+
+<p>"I shall never forget the appearance of the American troops on our
+marching past them. A dead silence reigned through their numerous
+columns. I must say their decent behavior to us, so greatly fallen,
+merited the utmost praise.... Not one of them was uniformly clad. Each
+had on the clothes he wore in the fields, the church, or the tavern;
+they stood, however, like soldiers, well arranged, and with a military
+air, in which there was but little to find fault with. All the muskets
+had bayonets, and the sharpshooters had rifles. The men all stood so
+still that we were filled with wonder. Not one of them made a single
+motion as if he would speak with his neighbor. Nay, more, all the lads
+that <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span>stood there in rank and file, kind nature had formed so trim, so
+slender, so nervous, that it was a pleasure to look at them, and we were
+all surprised at the sight of such a handsome, well-formed race. The
+whole nation has a natural turn for war and a soldier's life.</p>
+
+<p>"The generals wore uniforms, and belts which designated their rank, but
+most of the colonels were in their ordinary clothes, with a musket and
+bayonet in hand, and a cartridge-box or powder-horn slung over the
+shoulder. There were regular regiments which, for want of time or cloth,
+were not yet equipped in uniform. These had standards, with various
+emblems and mottoes, some of which had a very satirical meaning for us."</p>
+
+<p>The number of regular troops, British and German, who laid down their
+arms at Saratoga was 5,591. The camp-followers amounted to two hundred
+more. Forty-two pieces of artillery, nearly five thousand muskets, with
+ammunition for both, fell into the victors' hands.</p>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span><br />
+<h2>XVII.</h2>
+
+<h2>THE CONSEQUENCES OF DEFEAT.</h2>
+<br />
+
+<p>We come now to the reasons why Burgoyne's surrender proved decisive to
+the cause of American independence.</p>
+
+<p>Our opening chapter states that England took Canada from France in 1759,
+and annexed it to her own dominions in 1763. This conquest came about
+through what is known in history as the Seven Years' War, which had not
+only raised all Europe in arms, but had lighted the flames of war
+throughout our own continent also. The great battle was fought on the
+plains of Quebec. Victory decided for England. Defeated France had, at
+last, to give up Canada to her ancient enemy.</p>
+
+<p>France came out of this conflict sorely humbled. She was brooding over
+her defeat, when the American colonies took up arms. The colonists at
+once turned with confidence to France; now was her chance to cripple
+England, to get back what she had lost, to gain the friendship of a
+grateful people, and make them her debtor for all time. But France would
+not go to war unless assured that her doing so would turn the scale
+against England. The memory of her humiliation was too recent, the
+chances of the contest too doubtful, to admit of any other course of
+conduct on her part. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span>Meanwhile, she gave us much secret help, but none
+openly. The course of events was, however, closely watched, and when
+Burgoyne's surrender was known in Paris, it was seen that the day of
+revenge had come at last. Doubt and hesitation gave way before the
+general demand for war. Franklin was openly received at Versailles.
+Within three months, the French court had acknowledged our independence.
+Her armies and fleets prepared to give us active aid, and it was not
+doubted that her example would soon be followed by Spain and Holland.</p>
+
+<p>Thus, Burgoyne's surrender gained for us at once recognition as a
+nation, and the alliance of the first military power of Europe.</p>
+
+<p>The effect of the surrender in England is thus described by Gibbon, the
+historian, who was then sitting in Parliament: "Dreadful news indeed! An
+English army of nearly ten thousand men laid down their arms, and
+surrendered, prisoners of war, on condition of being sent to England,
+and of never serving against America. They had fought bravely, and were
+three days without eating. Burgoyne is said to have received three
+wounds; General Frazer, with two thousand men, killed; Colonel Ackland
+likewise killed. A general cry for peace."</p>
+
+<p>England now gave up the colonies for lost. In truth, it needed no
+prophet to foretell that what England could not do before, she could do
+still less now, with France against her. From this time forward, the war
+was carried on more to save the nation's pride than <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span>with any hope of
+success. The military policy underwent an instant change; it now looked
+rather to destroying our commerce and ports, than to marching large
+armies into the interior of the country, to meet with a like fate to
+Burgoyne's. Howe was ordered to evacuate Philadelphia. In Parliament, a
+plan was hurriedly put forth to grant everything the Americans had asked
+for, except independence. As Gibbon well said, the two greatest
+countries of Europe were fairly running a race for the favor of America.</p>
+
+<p>The movements taking place on the continent showed everywhere a feeling
+hostile to England. No nation was ever so friendless as she, none had so
+richly deserved the coldness with which the other powers now treated
+her. Spain and Holland were getting ready to follow the lead of France.
+It was well known that England could not carry on the war without the
+aid of mercenaries. The King of Prussia and the Empress of Austria now
+refused to permit any more German soldiers to go to America. In the
+threatening condition of affairs at home, England could not spare
+another army for so distant a field. Whichever way England looked, she
+saw either open enemies or half friends. Everywhere the sky was dark for
+her, and bright for us.</p>
+
+<p>At home the surrender of Burgoyne thrilled the whole land, for all felt
+it to be the harbinger of final triumph. The people went wild with joy;
+salvos of artillery, toasts, bonfires, illuminations, everywhere
+testified to the general exultation. The name of France <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span>was hailed with
+acclamations. At once a sense of national dignity and solidity took the
+place of uncertainty and isolation. Now and henceforth, the flag of the
+United States was known and respected; abroad as at home, on the sea as
+on the land.</p>
+
+<p>Burgoyne's disaster has been charged to the grossest carelessness on the
+part of some under official of the British War Office. It is said that
+the orders for Sir William Howe were never put in the despatch bag at
+all, but lay forgotten until the catastrophe at Saratoga brought them to
+light. On such trifles does the fate of nations sometimes hang.
+Certainly, greater unity of purpose in the two generals might have given
+the history of the campaign a different reading. But all such
+conjectures must fall before the inexorable logic of accomplished
+results. The world has long since passed upon the merits of the great
+conflict which set America free. Its verdict is recorded. The actors are
+but as dust in the balance.</p>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span><br />
+<h2>INDEX.</h2>
+<br />
+
+
+<ul><li>  <span class="smcap">Allen, Ethan</span>, takes Ticonderoga, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>    goes before Montgomery, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>  <span class="smcap">Arnold, Benedict</span>, marches to Canada, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>    takes command of our flotilla, and fights the enemy, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>; <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <i>note</i>;</li>
+  <li>    sent to relieve Fort Stanwix, and does it by a stratagem, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>;</li>
+  <li>    part at Bemis' Heights, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>;</li>
+  <li>    storms the enemy's intrenchments, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>;</li>
+  <li>    wounded, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+<br />
+</li>
+
+<li>  <span class="smcap">Batten-Kill</span>, British take post at, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  <span class="smcap">Baum, Frederic</span>, commands British expedition to Bennington, and marches, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>    composition of his force, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>;</li>
+  <li>    hears the Americans are waiting for him, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>;</li>
+  <li>    notifies Burgoyne, and goes on, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>;</li>
+  <li>    discovers Stark, and intrenches himself on the Walloomsac, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>;</li>
+  <li>    defeated, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>  <span class="smcap">Bennington, Vt.</span>; Burgoyne's plan to seize stores at, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>    Baum marches for, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>;</li>
+  <li>    Battle of Bennington, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>;</li>
+  <li>    trophies of, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>; <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <i>note</i>;</li>
+  <li>    results of the battle, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>  <span class="smcap">Bemis' Heights</span>; position of the army described, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>    battle of September <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>; <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <i>note</i>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>  <span class="smcap">Bouquet River</span>; Burgoyne halts at, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  <span class="smcap">Brant, Joseph</span>, at Oriskany, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>; <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <i>note</i>.</li>
+
+<li>  <span class="smcap">Breyman, Heinrich C.</span>, posted in support of Baum, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>    marches to Baum's aid, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>;</li>
+  <li>    his slowness fatal to Baum, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>;</li>
+  <li>    defeated, and badly cut up, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>;</li>
+  <li>    his retreat to camp, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>;</li>
+  <li>    part in Battle of Bemis' Heights, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>;</li>
+  <li>    killed, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>  <span class="smcap">Brown, John</span>, attacks Ticonderoga, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>; <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <i>note</i>.</li>
+
+<li>  <span class="smcap">Burgoyne's Army</span>, composition of, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>    passes Lake Champlain, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>; <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <i>notes</i> 1 and 2;</li>
+  <li>    invests Ticonderoga, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>;</li>
+  <li>    fights at Hubbardton, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>;</li>
+  <li>    at Fort Anne, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>;</li>
+  <li>    joined by loyalists, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>;</li>
+  <li>    concentrated, and leaves Skenesborough, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>;</li>
+  <li>    arrives at Fort Edward, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>;</li>
+  <li>    joined by savages, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>;</li>
+  <li>    compelled to halt for provisions, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>;</li>
+  <li>    is moved forward to support the expedition to Bennington, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>;</li>
+  <li>    falls back after the defeat of Baum, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>;</li>
+  <li>    its losses, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>;</li>
+  <li>    crosses the Hudson, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>;</li>
+  <li>    order of march from Saratoga to Bemis' Heights, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>;</li>
+  <li>    slow advance, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>;</li>
+  <li>    gives battle to Gates, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>;</li>
+  <li>    troops in action, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>;</li>
+  <li>    on the defensive, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>;</li>
+  <li>    on short rations, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>;</li>
+  <li>    inactivity of, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>;</li>
+  <li>    ordered to fight Gates again, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>;</li>
+  <li>    troops selected, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>;</li>
+  <li>    meets defeat, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>;</li>
+  <li>    camp assaulted and turned, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>;</li>
+  <li>    forms new line, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>;</li>
+  <li>    retreats, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>;</li>
+  <li>    soldiers dispirited, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>;</li>
+  <li>    reaches Saratoga, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>;</li>
+  <li>    makes a last stand, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>;</li>
+  <li>    its camps, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>;</li>
+  <li>    compelled to surrender, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>;</li>
+  <li>    numbers at this time, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>  <span class="smcap">Burgoyne's Campaign</span> discussed, <a  href="#Page_10">10-14</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>    demand for re-enforcements, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>;</li>
+  <li>    deficiency of transportation service, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>;</li>
+  <li>    cause of failure, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>;</li>
+  <li>    plan of, <a  href="#Page_26">26-32</a>;</li>
+  <li>    results in surrender, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>;</li>
+  <li>    effect of it in Europe, especially in France, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>;</li>
+  <li>    effect at home, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>;</li>
+  <li>    said to have failed through blundering in the War Office, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>  <span class="smcap">Burgoyne, John</span>; his personal traits, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>    his plan of campaign, <a href="#Page_26">26</a> <i>et seq.</i>;</li>
+  <li>    his army, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>;</li>
+  <li>    his proclamation, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>;</li>
+  <li>    aims to cut off St. Clair from Schuyler, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>;</li>
+  <li>    takes Skenesborough, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>;</li>
+  <li>    follows up his successes, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>;</li>
+  <li>    <i>r&eacute;sum&eacute;</i> of his campaign thus far, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>;</li>
+  <li>    sends Riedesel to Castleton, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>;</li>
+  <li>    chooses the Fort Anne route to Albany, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>;</li>
+  <li>    his reasons, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>;</li>
+  <li>    march obstructed, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>;</li>
+  <li>    reaches Fort Edward, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>;</li>
+  <li>    plans how to provide for his army, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span></li>
+  <li>    desire to strike New England, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>;</li>
+  <li>    orders the expedition to Bennington, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>;</li>
+  <li>    how composed, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>;</li>
+  <li>    combinations overthrown by Baum's defeat, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>;</li>
+  <li>    his losses up to this time, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>;</li>
+  <li>    his Indians desert him, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>;</li>
+  <li>    compelled to halt again, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>;</li>
+  <li>    hears of St. Leger's retreat, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>;</li>
+  <li>    his choice of evils, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>;</li>
+  <li>    decides to cross the Hudson, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>;</li>
+  <li>    marches in search of Gates, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>;</li>
+  <li>    order of march, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>;</li>
+  <li>    gives battle, <a href="#Page_106">106</a> <i>et seq.</i>;</li>
+  <li>    troops in action, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>;</li>
+  <li>    holds his position, but makes no advance, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>;</li>
+  <li>    brings on another battle, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>;</li>
+  <li>    calls his three best generals to his aid, and commands in person, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>;</li>
+  <li>    is defeated, and driven into his works, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>;</li>
+  <li>    orders a retreat, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>;</li>
+  <li>    finds a force confronting him on the east bank of the Hudson, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>;</li>
+  <li>    loses valuable time, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>;</li>
+  <li>    burns his baggage, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>;</li>
+  <li>    arrives at Saratoga, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>;</li>
+  <li>    finds retreat cut off, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>;</li>
+  <li>    his camp untenable, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>;</li>
+  <li>    surrenders his army, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>;</li>
+  <li>    scene described by eyewitnesses, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+<br />
+</li>
+
+
+<li>  <span class="smcap">Canada's</span> alliance desired, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>    invasion of begun, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>;</li>
+  <li>    attitude toward the colonies, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <i>note</i>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>  <span class="smcap">Carleton, Guy</span>; attitude toward Burgoyne, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>    gains a naval victory over Arnold, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>  <span class="smcap">Castleton, Vt.</span>; Riedesel posted there by Burgoyne, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  <span class="smcap">Chambly, Fort</span>; position of, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>    taken by Americans, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>;</li>
+  <li>    burnt, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>  <span class="smcap">Clinton, Sir Henry</span>, notifies Burgoyne that he is coming to his relief, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>    thinks he is only to make a diversion, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>; <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <i>note</i>;</li>
+  <li>    is near Albany when Burgoyne surrenders, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>; <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <i>note</i>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>  <span class="smcap">Crown Point</span>, position of, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>    when built, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <i>note</i>;</li>
+  <li>    Americans fall back to, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>;</li>
+  <li>    evacuated, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>;</li>
+  <li>    naval battle near, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+<br />
+</li>
+
+
+<li>  <span class="smcap">Diamond Island</span>, unsuccessful attack upon, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  <span class="smcap">Duer's House</span>, Frazer's corps at, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>    British army posted at, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+<br />
+</li>
+
+
+<li>  <span class="smcap">Fellows, John</span>, commands a detachment to watch Burgoyne, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  <span class="smcap">Fishkill Creek</span>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>; <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <i>note</i>.</li>
+
+<li>  <span class="smcap">Fort Anne, N. Y.</span>; Americans retreat to, from Skenesborough, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>    Schuyler re-enforces them, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>;</li>
+  <li>    combat at, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>;</li>
+  <li>    burnt and abandoned, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>;</li>
+  <li>    described, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <i>note</i>;</li>
+  <li>    importance to Burgoyne, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>;</li>
+  <li>    neighborhood described, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>  <span class="smcap">Fort Edward</span>, position of, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>    Schuyler at, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>;</li>
+  <li>    is joined by St. Clair, after Ticonderoga falls, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>;</li>
+  <li>    Burgoyne arrives at, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>;</li>
+  <li>    Schuyler evacuates it, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>;</li>
+  <li>    described, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <i>note</i>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>  <span class="smcap">Fort George</span>, position of, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>    Americans evacuate it, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>;</li>
+  <li>    and British occupy it, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>  <span class="smcap">Fort Oswego</span>, position of, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  <span class="smcap">Fort Stanwix</span>, position of, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>    St. Leger's force, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>;</li>
+  <li>    garrisoned and defended, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>;</li>
+  <li>    attempt to relieve fails, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>;</li>
+  <li>    garrison makes a sally, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>;</li>
+  <li>    siege raised, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>; <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <i>note</i>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>  <span class="smcap">Francis, Ebenezer,</span> covers retreat from Ticonderoga, fights Frazer at Hubbardton, but is killed, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>; <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <i>note</i>.</li>
+
+<li>  <span class="smcap">Frazer, Simon</span>, commands a corps under Burgoyne, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>    takes Mt. Hope, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>;</li>
+  <li>    pursues St. Clair, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>;</li>
+  <li>    comes up with the Americans at Hubbardton, and fights them, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>;</li>
+  <li>    on the point of defeat is re-enforced, and gains the day, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>;</li>
+  <li>    crosses the Hudson, and takes post at Saratoga, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>;</li>
+  <li>    recrosses the Hudson, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>;</li>
+  <li>    is posted on the right at Bemis' Heights, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>;</li>
+  <li>    his force, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>;</li>
+  <li>    killed, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>; <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <i>note</i>;</li>
+  <li>    buried, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>; <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <i>note</i>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>  <span class="smcap">Freeman's Farm</span>, position of, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>; <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <i>note</i>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>    first collision at (Sept. 19), <a href="#Page_106">106</a>;</li>
+  <li>    second battle at, <a  href="#Page_120">120-122</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+<br />
+</li>
+
+
+<li>  <span class="smcap">Gansevoort, Peter</span>, at Fort Stanwix, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>    sallies out upon besiegers, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>; <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <i>note</i>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>  <span class="smcap">Gates, Horatio</span>, takes command of the Northern Army, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>    his rank, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <i>note</i>;</li>
+  <li>    supersedes Schuyler, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>;</li>
+  <li>    good effect on the army, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>;</li>
+  <li>    orders an advance to Stillwater, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>;</li>
+  <li>    want of confidence in Arnold a drawback to success, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>;</li>
+  <li>    posts the army on Bemis' Heights, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>; <i>note</i>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>;</li>
+  <li>    sends Morgan to feel the enemy, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>;</li>
+  <li>    re-enforces in driblets, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>;</li>
+  <li>    his camp and army, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <i>note</i>s 1 and 2;</li>
+  <li>    accepts battle again, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>;</li>
+  <li>    is victorious, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span></li>
+  <li>    dilatory pursuit of the enemy, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>;</li>
+  <li>    comes up with Burgoyne, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>;</li>
+  <li>    dispositions for attacking, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>;</li>
+  <li>    receives Burgoyne's surrender, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+<br />
+</li>
+
+
+<li>  <span class="smcap">Herkimer, Nicholas</span>, marches to relieve Fort Stanwix, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>    is waylaid and defeated, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>;</li>
+  <li>    dies of his wounds, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>; <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <i>note</i>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>  <span class="smcap">Hessian Mercenaries</span>, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <i>note</i>.</li>
+
+<li>  <span class="smcap">Howe, Sir William</span>, participation in the campaign discussed, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>    driven from Boston, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>;</li>
+  <li>    George III. disappointed in him, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>;</li>
+  <li>    gets his orders too late, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>  <span class="smcap">Hubbardton, Vt.</span>, garrison of Ticonderoga retreats to, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>    St. Clair's rearguard overtaken at, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>;</li>
+  <li>    battle of, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+<br />
+</li>
+
+
+<li>  <span class="smcap">Johnson, Sir John</span>, at Oriskany, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>; <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <i>note</i>.<br /><br /></li>
+
+
+<li>  <span class="smcap">Kosciusko, Thaddeus</span>, marks out the lines on Bemis' Heights, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>; <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <i>note</i>.<br /><br /></li>
+
+
+<li>  <span class="smcap">Lake Champlain</span>, the gateway of the north, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>    naval battle on, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>;</li>
+  <li>    Burgoyne's advance, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>;</li>
+  <li>    shores of, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>;</li>
+  <li>    Americans driven from, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>  <span class="smcap">Lincoln, Benjamin</span>, sent to Manchester, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>    sketch of, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <i>note</i>;</li>
+  <li>    makes a raid in Burgoyne's rear, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>;</li>
+  <li>    joins Gates, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>;</li>
+  <li>    wounded, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>  <span class="smcap">Lyman, Phineas</span>, builds Fort Edward, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>.<br /><br /></li>
+
+
+<li>  <span class="smcap">Manchester, Vt.</span>, Warner posted at, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>    rendezvous for militia, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>;</li>
+  <li>    Lincoln and Stark at, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>  <span class="smcap">Mohawk Valley</span>, plan for invading it, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  <span class="smcap">Montgomery, Richard</span>, leads an army to Canada, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>    killed, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>;</li>
+  <li>    sketch of, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <i>note</i>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>  <span class="smcap">Morgan's Riflemen</span>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <i>note</i>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>    attack Burgoyne, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>;</li>
+  <li>    part in the battle of October 7, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>  <span class="smcap">Mount Independence</span> described, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>    named, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>;</li>
+  <li>    Americans retreat from Ticonderoga to, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>  <span class="smcap">Mount Defiance</span>, the key of Ticonderoga, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>    seized by Burgoyne's engineers, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>;</li>
+  <li>    compels the evacuation of Ticonderoga, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>;</li>
+  <li>    retaken by the Americans, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>; <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <i>note</i>.</li>
+  </ul>
+<br />
+</li>
+
+<li>  <span class="smcap">Newport, R. I.</span>, held by the enemy, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>    Howe's strategy, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <i>note</i>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>  <span class="smcap">New York</span>, plans for its invasion, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>    resources of for resisting Burgoyne, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+<br />
+</li>
+
+
+<li>  <span class="smcap">Oriskany, N. Y.</span>, Americans marching to Fort Stanwix are defeated at, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>.<br /><br /></li>
+
+
+<li>  <span class="smcap">Phillips, William</span>, commands Burgoyne's artillery, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>    brings up artillery at Bemis' Heights, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+<br />
+</li>
+
+
+<li>  <span class="smcap">Riedesel, Baron von</span>, commands Burgoyne's German contingent, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>    at Ticonderoga, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>;</li>
+  <li>    pursues the retreating Americans, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>;</li>
+  <li>    turns defeat to victory at Hubbardton, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>;</li>
+  <li>    is posted at Castleton, Vt., <a href="#Page_61">61</a>;</li>
+  <li>    falls back to Fort Edward, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>;</li>
+  <li>    supports Burgoyne at Bemis' Heights, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+<br />
+</li>
+
+
+<li>  <span class="smcap">Saratoga</span>, occupied by Burgoyne, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>    country below described, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>;</li>
+  <li>    Burgoyne's army crosses over to, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>;</li>
+  <li>    falls back to, after being defeated, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>; <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <i>note</i>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>  <span class="smcap">St. Clair, Arthur</span>, commands at Ticonderoga, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>    evacuates it, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>;</li>
+  <li>    military record of, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <i>note</i> 2; also <i>note</i> 5;</li>
+  <li>    marches for Skenesborough, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>;</li>
+  <li>    halts at Hubbardton, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>;</li>
+  <li>    hears Burgoyne has occupied his proposed line of retreat, and now marches for Bennington, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>;</li>
+  <li>    joins Schuyler at Fort Edward, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>;</li>
+  <li>    accused of treachery, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>;</li>
+  <li>    and ordered to Philadelphia, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>  <span class="smcap">St. John's, Fort</span>, position of, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>    taken by Americans, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>;</li>
+  <li>    burnt, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>;</li>
+  <li>    British build a fleet at, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>  <span class="smcap">St. Leger, Barry</span>, combination with Burgoyne, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>    his part, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>;</li>
+  <li>    his force, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>;</li>
+  <li>    lays siege to Fort Stanwix, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>;</li>
+  <li>    Arnold's stratagem compels him to raise the siege, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>;</li>
+  <li>    and retreat to Oswego, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>  <span class="smcap">Schuyler, Philip</span>, at Fort Edward, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>    St. Clair joins him, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>;</li>
+  <li>    sends a force to Fort Anne, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>;</li>
+  <li>    military record of, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <i>note</i>;</li>
+  <li>    holds Warner at Manchester, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>;</li>
+  <li>    evacuates Fort Edward on Burgoyne's approach, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>;</li>
+  <li>    state of his army, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>;</li>
+  <li>    urges Stark to join him, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>;</li>
+  <li>    sends Gansevoort to Fort Stanwix, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>;</li>
+  <li>    then Arnold, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>;</li>
+  <li>    superseded by Gates, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>  <span class="smcap">Second Battle of Freeman's Farm</span>, <a  href="#Page_120">120-122</a>.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span></li>
+
+<li>  <span class="smcap">Skenesborough</span> taken by Americans, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>    described, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <i>note</i>;</li>
+  <li>    made a dockyard, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>;</li>
+  <li>    Americans retreat to, from Ticonderoga, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>;</li>
+  <li>    set fire to, and abandoned, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>  <span class="smcap">Stark, John</span>, appointed to sole command over New Hampshire militia, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>    musters his brigade at Manchester, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>;</li>
+  <li>    refuses to join Schuyler, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>;</li>
+  <li>    his perplexity, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>;</li>
+  <li>    marches to Bennington, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>;</li>
+  <li>    sketch of, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <i>note</i>;</li>
+  <li>    decides to join Schuyler, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>;</li>
+  <li>    but hears of the enemy's approach, and sends out scouts, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>;</li>
+  <li>    sends for Warner, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>;</li>
+  <li>    re-enforced, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>;</li>
+  <li>    his force, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>;</li>
+  <li>    gains the victory of Bennington, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>;</li>
+  <li>    and defeats Breyman also, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>;</li>
+  <li>    at Fort Edward, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>  <span class="smcap">Stillwater</span>, position of the American army described, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>.<br /><br /></li>
+
+
+<li>  <span class="smcap">Ticonderoga</span>, position of described, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>    taken by Americans, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>; <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <i>note</i>;</li>
+  <li>    Montgomery there, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>;</li>
+  <li>    Burgoyne's landing, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>;</li>
+  <li>    garrison of, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>;</li>
+  <li>    invested by Burgoyne, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>;</li>
+  <li>    evacuated, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>;</li>
+  <li>    effects of its fall, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>;</li>
+  <li>    Americans attack it unsuccessfully, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>  <span class="smcap">Trenton, N. J.</span>, victory at, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <i>note</i>.<br /><br /></li>
+
+
+<li>  <span class="smcap">Valcour Island</span>, naval battle at, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  <span class="smcap">Vermont</span>, people of addressed by Burgoyne, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>    state of settlements in, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <i>note</i>;</li>
+  <li>    critical situation of after the fall of Ticonderoga, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+<br />
+</li>
+
+
+<li>  <span class="smcap">Warner, Seth</span>, in command at Hubbardton, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>; <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <i>note</i>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>    surprised there, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>;</li>
+  <li>    retreats to Bennington, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>;</li>
+  <li>    posted at Manchester, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>;</li>
+  <li>    his Green Mountain Boys, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>;</li>
+  <li>    Stark calls on him for assistance, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>;</li>
+  <li>    gets to Bennington in time, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>;</li>
+  <li>    attacks Breyman, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>  <span class="smcap">Washington, George</span>, sets about retrieving the disaster at Ticonderoga, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>    his views how to retard Burgoyne's march, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>;</li>
+  <li>    sends Lincoln to carry them out, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>;</li>
+  <li>    his policy vindicated, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>;</li>
+  <li>    efforts to strengthen the northern army, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>;</li>
+  <li>    considerate treatment of Schuyler, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+</ul>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<div class="tr">
+<p class="cen"><a name="TN" id="TN"></a>Transcriber's Note</p>
+<br />
+
+Some inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in
+the original document has been preserved.<br />
+<br />
+Typographical errors corrected in the text:<br />
+<br />
+Page&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;    5&nbsp;  126 changed to 124<br />
+Page&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;    5&nbsp;  143 changed to 139<br />
+Page&nbsp;  143&nbsp;  followes changed to follows<br />
+Page&nbsp;  144&nbsp;  Fellow's changed to Fellows<br />
+</div>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Burgoyne's Invasion of 1777, by Samuel Adams  Drake
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BURGOYNE'S INVASION OF 1777 ***
+
+***** This file should be named 31206-h.htm or 31206-h.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        http://www.gutenberg.org/3/1/2/0/31206/
+
+Produced by Barbara Kosker and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was
+produced from images generously made available by The
+Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
+
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+http://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need, are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+http://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at http://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit http://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations.
+To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     http://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
+
+
+</pre>
+
+</body>
+</html>
diff --git a/31206-h/images/frontis.jpg b/31206-h/images/frontis.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..695c2de
--- /dev/null
+++ b/31206-h/images/frontis.jpg
diff --git a/31206-h/images/imagep009.jpg b/31206-h/images/imagep009.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..344111c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/31206-h/images/imagep009.jpg
diff --git a/31206-h/images/imagep023.jpg b/31206-h/images/imagep023.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..eaad647
--- /dev/null
+++ b/31206-h/images/imagep023.jpg
diff --git a/31206-h/images/imagep041.jpg b/31206-h/images/imagep041.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5273ec7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/31206-h/images/imagep041.jpg
diff --git a/31206-h/images/imagep049.jpg b/31206-h/images/imagep049.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b74be15
--- /dev/null
+++ b/31206-h/images/imagep049.jpg
diff --git a/31206-h/images/imagep053.jpg b/31206-h/images/imagep053.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..84b3795
--- /dev/null
+++ b/31206-h/images/imagep053.jpg
diff --git a/31206-h/images/imagep063.jpg b/31206-h/images/imagep063.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a7a00b1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/31206-h/images/imagep063.jpg
diff --git a/31206-h/images/imagep071.jpg b/31206-h/images/imagep071.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..67f7a7c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/31206-h/images/imagep071.jpg
diff --git a/31206-h/images/imagep079.jpg b/31206-h/images/imagep079.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ab005ca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/31206-h/images/imagep079.jpg
diff --git a/31206-h/images/imagep090.jpg b/31206-h/images/imagep090.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..26e3dad
--- /dev/null
+++ b/31206-h/images/imagep090.jpg
diff --git a/31206-h/images/imagep103.jpg b/31206-h/images/imagep103.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..022c205
--- /dev/null
+++ b/31206-h/images/imagep103.jpg
diff --git a/31206-h/images/imagep109.jpg b/31206-h/images/imagep109.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8d8e2df
--- /dev/null
+++ b/31206-h/images/imagep109.jpg
diff --git a/31206-h/images/imagep125.jpg b/31206-h/images/imagep125.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d252b64
--- /dev/null
+++ b/31206-h/images/imagep125.jpg
diff --git a/31206-h/images/imagep135.jpg b/31206-h/images/imagep135.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9e267d3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/31206-h/images/imagep135.jpg
diff --git a/31206.txt b/31206.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..20f6ef0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/31206.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,4011 @@
+Project Gutenberg's Burgoyne's Invasion of 1777, by Samuel Adams  Drake
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Burgoyne's Invasion of 1777
+       With an outline sketch of the American Invasion of Canada, 1775-76.
+
+Author: Samuel Adams  Drake
+
+Release Date: February 7, 2010 [EBook #31206]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BURGOYNE'S INVASION OF 1777 ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Barbara Kosker and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was
+produced from images generously made available by The
+Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+  WORKS BY SAMUEL ADAMS DRAKE
+
+  OLD LANDMARKS AND HISTORIC PERSONAGES
+  OF BOSTON. Illustrated                         $2.00
+
+  OLD LANDMARKS AND HISTORIC FIELDS OF
+  MIDDLESEX. Illustrated                          2.00
+
+  NOOKS AND CORNERS OF THE NEW ENGLAND
+  COAST. Illustrated                              3.50
+
+  CAPTAIN NELSON. A Romance of Colonial Days       .75
+
+  THE HEART OF THE WHITE MOUNTAINS. Illustrated
+  (Illuminated Cloth)                             7.50
+
+  Tourist's Edition                               3.00
+
+  AROUND THE HUB. A Boy's Book about Boston.
+  Illustrated                                     1.50
+
+  NEW ENGLAND LEGENDS AND FOLK LORE.
+  Illustrated                                     2.00
+
+  THE MAKING OF NEW ENGLAND. Illustrated          1.50
+
+  THE MAKING OF THE GREAT WEST                    1.75
+
+  OLD BOSTON TAVERNS. Paper                        .50
+
+  BURGOYNE'S INVASION OF 1777. Net                 .50
+
+  _Any book on the above list sent by mail, postpaid, on receipt
+  of price, by_
+
+  LEE AND SHEPARD, BOSTON
+
+
+[Illustration: GENL. BURGOYNE.]
+
+
+
+
+  Decisive Events in American History
+
+
+  BURGOYNE'S INVASION OF 1777
+
+
+  WITH AN
+  OUTLINE SKETCH OF THE AMERICAN INVASION
+  OF CANADA, 1775-76
+
+
+  BY
+  SAMUEL ADAMS DRAKE
+
+
+  BOSTON 1889
+  LEE AND SHEPARD PUBLISHERS
+  10 MILK STREET NEXT "OLD SOUTH MEETING HOUSE"
+  NEW YORK CHARLES T. DILLINGHAM
+  718 AND 720 BROADWAY
+
+
+
+
+  BOSTON
+  S. J. PARKHILL & CO., PRINTERS
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+  CHAPTER                                                 PAGE
+
+           INTRODUCTION                                      9
+
+  PRELUDE.
+
+      I.   THE INVASION OF CANADA                           15
+
+     II.   THE INVASION OF CANADA                           19
+
+
+  BURGOYNE'S INVASION.
+
+      I.   THE PLAN OF CAMPAIGN                             27
+
+     II.   BURGOYNE'S ARMY                                  33
+
+    III.   THE FALL OF TICONDEROGA                          37
+
+     IV.   HUBBARDTON                                       45
+
+      V.   FACING DISASTER                                  56
+
+     VI.   THE MARCH TO FORT EDWARD                         61
+
+    VII.   BEFORE BENNINGTON                                68
+
+   VIII.   BATTLE OF BENNINGTON                             77
+
+     IX.   AFTER BENNINGTON                                 87
+
+      X.   ST. LEGER'S EXPEDITION                           90
+
+     XI.   OUR ARMY ADVANCES                                95
+
+    XII.   BATTLE OF BEMIS' HEIGHTS                        101
+
+   XIII.   LINCOLN'S RAID IN BURGOYNE'S REAR               113
+
+    XIV.   SECOND BATTLE OF FREEMAN'S FARM                 116
+
+     XV.   RETREAT AND SURRENDER                           126
+
+    XVI.   SEVENTEENTH OF OCTOBER, 1777                    137
+
+   XVII.   CONSEQUENCES OF DEFEAT                          143
+
+[Illustration: MILITARY MAP, LAKE CHAMPLAIN.]
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+
+Among the decisive events of the Revolutionary struggle, Burgoyne's
+campaign deservedly holds the foremost place, as well for what it led
+to, as for what it was in inception and execution--at once the most
+daring, most quixotic, and most disastrous effort of the whole war.
+
+Burgoyne was himself, in some respects, so remarkable a man that any
+picture of his exploits must needs be more or less tinted with his
+personality. And this was unusually picturesque and imposing. He
+acquired prestige, at a time when other generals were losing it, through
+his participation in Carleton's successful campaign. But Burgoyne was
+something more than the professional soldier. His nature was poetic; his
+temperament imaginative. He did nothing in a commonplace way. Even his
+orders are far more scholarly than soldier-like. At one time he tells
+his soldiers that "occasions may occur, when nor difficulty, nor labor,
+nor life are to be regarded"--as if soldiers, in general, expected
+anything else than to be shot at!--at another, we find him preaching
+humanity to Indians, repentance to rebels, or better manners to his
+adversary, with all the superb self-consciousness that was Burgoyne's
+most prominent characteristic.
+
+To the military critic, Burgoyne's campaign is instructive, because it
+embodies, in itself, about all the operations known to active warfare.
+It was destined to great things, but collapsed, like a bubble, with the
+first shock of an adverse fortune.
+
+This campaign is remarkable in yet another way. It has given us the most
+voluminous literature extant, that treats of any single episode of the
+Revolutionary War. In general, it takes many more words to explain a
+defeat than to describe a victory. Hence this fulness is much more
+conspicuous upon the British than upon the American side of the history
+of this campaign. Not only the general, who had his reputation to
+defend, but high officials, whose guiding hand was seen behind the
+curtain, were called to the bar of public opinion. The ministers
+endeavored to make a scapegoat of the general; the general, to fix the
+responsibility for defeat upon the ministers. His demand for a
+court-martial was denied. His sovereign refused to hear him. It was thus
+meanly attempted to turn the torrent of popular indignation, arising
+from the ill success of the expedition, wholly upon the unlucky
+general's head. Burgoyne's heroic persistency at length brought the
+British nation face to face with the unwelcome fact, which the ministers
+were so desirous of concealing,--that somebody besides the general had
+blundered; and if the inquiry that Burgoyne obtained from Parliament
+failed to vindicate him as a captain, it nevertheless did good service
+by exposing both the shortcomings of his accusers, and the motives which
+had guided their conduct with respect to himself.
+
+Besides the official examination by the House of Commons, we have
+several excellent narratives, written by officers who served with
+Burgoyne, all of which materially contribute to an intelligent study of
+the campaign, from a purely military point of view. These narratives are
+really histories of the several corps to which the writers belonged,
+rather than capable surveys of the whole situation; but they give us the
+current gossip of the camp-fire and mess-table, spiced with anecdote,
+and enlivened with the daily experiences through which the writers were
+passing. And this is much.
+
+In his defence, General Burgoyne vigorously addresses himself to the
+four principal charges brought forward by his accusers: namely, first,
+of encumbering himself with a needless amount of artillery; secondly, of
+taking the Fort Anne route, rather than the one by way of Lake George;
+thirdly, of sending off an expedition to Bennington, under conditions
+inviting defeat; and, lastly, of crossing the Hudson after the disasters
+of Bennington and Fort Stanwix had taken place.
+
+The real criticism upon Burgoyne's conduct, so far as it relates to the
+movement of his forces only, seems to be that from the moment when the
+march was actually to begin, he found himself in want of everything
+necessary to a rapid advance. Thus, we find him scarcely arrived at
+Skenesborough before he is asking Sir Guy Carleton for reenforcements to
+garrison Ticonderoga and Fort George with, to the end that his own force
+might not be weakened by the detachments required to hold those
+fortresses against the Americans, when he should move on. It would seem
+that this contingency, at least, might have been foreseen before it
+forced itself upon Burgoyne's attention. Yet it was of so serious a
+nature, in this general's eyes, that he expresses a doubt whether his
+army would be found equal to the task before it, unless Carleton would
+assume the defence of the forts referred to above.
+
+At this time, too, the inadequacy of his transportation service became
+so painfully evident, that the expedition to Bennington offered the only
+practicable solution to Burgoyne's mind.
+
+These circumstances stamp the purposed invasion with a certain haphazard
+character at the outset, which boded no good to it in the future.
+
+Carleton having declined to use his troops in the manner suggested,
+Burgoyne was compelled to leave a thousand men behind him when he
+marched for Albany. Carleton, the saviour of Canada, was justly
+chagrined at finding himself superseded in the conduct of this campaign,
+by an officer who had served under his orders in the preceding one; and,
+though he seems to have acted with loyalty toward Burgoyne, this is by
+no means the only instance known in which one general has refused to go
+beyond the strict letter of his instructions for the purpose of rescuing
+a rival from a dilemma into which he had plunged with his eyes wide
+open.
+
+The Prelude with which our narrative opens, undertakes first, to briefly
+outline the history of the Northern Army, which finally brought victory
+out of defeat; and next, to render familiar the names, location, and
+strategic value of the frontier fortresses, before beginning the story
+of the campaign itself.
+
+Few armies have ever suffered more, or more nobly redeemed an apparently
+lost cause, than the one which was defeated at Quebec and victorious at
+Saratoga. The train of misfortunes which brought Burgoyne's erratic
+course to so untimely an end was nothing by comparison. And the
+quickness with which raw yeomanry were formed into armies capable of
+fighting veteran troops, affords the strongest proof that the Americans
+are a nation of soldiers.
+
+So many specific causes have been assigned for Burgoyne's failure, that
+it is hardly practicable to discuss all of them within reasonable
+limits. The simplest statement of the whole case is that he allowed
+himself to be beaten in detail. It seems plain enough that any plan,
+which exposed his forces to this result, was necessarily vicious in
+itself. Moreover, Burgoyne wofully misestimated the resources, spirit,
+and fighting capacity of his adversary. With our forces strongly posted
+on the Mohawk, St. Leger's advance down the valley was clearly
+impracticable. Yet such a combination of movements as would bring about
+a junction of the two invading columns, at this point, was all essential
+to the success of Burgoyne's campaign. To have effected this in season,
+Burgoyne should have made a rapid march to the Mohawk, intrenched
+himself there, and operated in conjunction with St. Leger. His delays,
+attributable first, to his unwise choice of the Fort Anne route, next,
+to Schuyler's activity in obstructing it, and lastly, to his defeat at
+Bennington, gave time to render our army so greatly superior to his own,
+that the conditions were wholly altered when the final trial of strength
+came to be made.
+
+What might have happened if Sir W. Howe had moved his large army and
+fleet up the Hudson, in due season, is quite another matter. The writer
+does not care to discuss futilities. In the first place, he thinks that
+Burgoyne's campaign should stand or fall on its own merits. In the next,
+such a movement by Howe would have left Washington free to act in the
+enemy's rear, or upon his flanks, with a fair prospect of cutting him
+off from his base at New York. Of the two commanders-in-chief,
+Washington acted most effectively in reenforcing Gates's army from his
+own. Howe could not and Carleton would not do this. From the moment that
+Burgoyne crossed the Hudson, he seems to have pinned his faith to
+chance; but if chance has sometimes saved poor generalship, the general
+who commits himself to its guidance, does so with full knowledge that he
+is casting his reputation on the hazard of a die. As Burgoyne did just
+this, he must be set down, we think, notwithstanding his chivalrous
+defence of himself, as the conspicuous failure of the war. And we assume
+that the importance which his campaign implied to Europe and America,
+more than any high order of ability in the general himself, has lifted
+Burgoyne into undeserved prominence.
+
+
+
+
+PRELUDE
+
+I.
+
+THE INVASION OF CANADA, 1775.
+
+
+[Sidenote: Canada's attitude.]
+
+England took Canada from France in 1759, and soon after annexed it to
+her own dominions. Twelve years later, her despotic acts drove her
+American colonies into open rebellion. England feared, and the colonies
+hoped, Canada would join in the revolt against her. But, though they did
+not love their new masters, prudence counselled the Canadians to stand
+aloof, at least till the Americans had proved their ability to make head
+against the might of England.
+
+That England would be much distressed by Canada's taking sides with the
+Americans was plain enough to all men, for the whole continent would
+then be one in purpose, and the conflict more equal; but the Americans
+also greatly wished it because all New England and New York lay open to
+invasion from Canada.
+
+Nature had created a great highway, stretching southward from the St.
+Lawrence to the Hudson, over which rival armies had often passed to
+victory or defeat in the old wars. Open water offered an easy transit
+for nearly the whole way. A chain of forts extended throughout its
+whole length. Chambly and St. John's defended the passage of the
+Richelieu, through which the waters of Lake Champlain flow to the St.
+Lawrence. Crown Point[1] and Ticonderoga[2] blocked the passage of this
+lake in its narrowest part. Ticonderoga, indeed, is placed just where
+the outlet of Lake George falls down a mountain gorge into Lake
+Champlain. Its cannon, therefore, commanded that outlet also. Fort
+George stood at the head of Lake George, within sixteen miles of Fort
+Edward, on the Hudson. These were the gates through which a hostile army
+might sally forth upon our naked frontier. Much, therefore, depended on
+whether they were to be kept by friend or foe.
+
+[Sidenote: Ticonderoga.]
+
+In natural and artificial strength, Ticonderoga was by far the most
+important of these fortresses. At this place the opposite shores of New
+York and Vermont are pushed out into the lake toward each other, thus
+forming two peninsulas, with the lake contracted to a width of half a
+mile, or point-blank cannon range, between them: one is Ticonderoga; the
+other, Mount Independence. Thus, together, they command the passage of
+the two lakes.
+
+Ticonderoga itself is a tongue-shaped projection of quite uneven land,
+broad and high at the base, or where it joins the hills behind it, but
+growing narrower as it descends over intervening hollows or swells to
+its farthest point in the lake. That part next the mainland is a wooded
+height, having a broad plateau on the brow--large enough to encamp an
+army corps upon--but cut down abruptly on the sides washed by the lake.
+This height, therefore, commanded the whole peninsula lying before it,
+and underneath it, as well as the approach from Lake George, opening
+behind it in a rugged mountain pass, since it must be either crossed or
+turned before access to the peninsula could be gained. Except for the
+higher hills surrounding it, this one is, in every respect, an admirable
+military position.
+
+The French, who built the first fortress here, had covered all the low
+ground next the lake with batteries and intrenchments, but had left the
+heights rising behind it unguarded, until Abercromby attacked on that
+side in 1758. They then hastily threw up a rude intrenchment of logs,
+extending quite across the crest in its broadest part. Yet, in spite of
+the victory he then obtained, Montcalm was so fully convinced that
+Ticonderoga could not stand a siege, that he made no secret of calling
+it a trap, for some honest man to disgrace himself in.[3]
+
+Ticonderoga, however, was henceforth looked upon as a sort of Gibraltar.
+People, therefore, were filled with wonder when they heard how Ethan
+Allen had surprised and taken it on the 9th of May, 1775, with only a
+handful of men; how Seth Warner had also taken Crown Point; and how
+Skenesborough[4] and Fort George, being thus cut off from Canada, had
+also fallen into our hands without firing a shot.[5]
+
+Thus, in the very beginning of the war for independence, and at one bold
+stroke, we regained possession of this gateway of the north; or in
+military phrase, we now held all the strategic points by which an
+advance from Lower Canada upon the United Colonies was possible.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[1] CROWN POINT, built by the French in 1731, greatly strengthened by
+the British, who took it in 1759.
+
+[2] TICONDEROGA, familiarly called "Ty" because the early spelling of
+the name was Tyconderoga. Built 1755-56 by the French, taken 1759 by the
+British, under Amherst. Three weeks before the battle of Lexington, an
+agent of Massachusetts was sent to ascertain the feelings of the people
+of Canada. His first advice was that "Ty" should be seized as quickly as
+possible.
+
+[3] MONTCALM'S PROPHECY came true in St. Clair's case in 1777.
+
+[4] SKENESBOROUGH, now Whitehall, named for Philip Skene, a retired
+British officer, who settled on lands granted him after the French War.
+He had about fifty tenants, and a few negro slaves.
+
+[5] THE CAPTURED ARTILLERY was taken to Cambridge on sleds in midwinter,
+by Colonel Knox. It enabled Washington to bring the siege of Boston to a
+favorable conclusion.
+
+
+
+
+II.
+
+THE INVASION OF CANADA.
+
+
+[Sidenote: Invasion of Canada.]
+
+The prompt seizure of the lake fortresses had a marked effect upon the
+wavering Canadians.[6] Many joined us. More stood ready to do so
+whenever the signal for revolt should be given. Success begets
+confidence. The Americans were now led to believe that by throwing an
+army into Canada at once, the people would no longer hesitate to free
+themselves from the British yoke. The time seemed the riper for it,
+because it was known that the strong places of Canada were but weakly
+guarded. Could Quebec and Montreal be taken, British power in Canada
+would be at an end.
+
+[Sidenote: Our army retreats.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1776.]
+
+With such promise held out before it, Congress resolved to make the
+attempt. Forces were ordered to both places. One body, under General
+Montgomery,[7] mustered at Ticonderoga. Ethan Allen went before it to
+rouse the Canadians, who were expected to receive the Americans with
+open arms. This army moved down the lake in October, taking St. John's
+and Chambly in its way, and Montreal a little later. The other, led by
+Colonel Arnold,[8] ascended the Kennebec to its head, crossed over to
+the Chaudiere, which was followed to the St. Lawrence, and came before
+Quebec at about the same time Montgomery entered Montreal. Montgomery
+hastened to Arnold with a handful of men. Together they assaulted Quebec
+on the morning of December 31. The attack failed, and Montgomery fell.
+The Americans lay before Quebec till spring, when the arrival of fresh
+troops, for the enemy, forced ours to retreat to Montreal. This, too,
+was abandoned. Our army then fell back toward Lake Champlain, setting
+fire to Chambly, and St. John's behind it. The enemy followed close,
+recapturing these places as our troops left them. Very little fighting
+took place, but the Americans were greatly disheartened by having
+constantly to retreat, and by the loss of many brave officers and men,
+who fell sick and died of the smallpox. July 1 the army finally reached
+Crown Point, ragged, sickly, and destitute of everything. Weakened by
+the loss of five thousand men and three commanders, it was no longer
+able to keep the field. Instead of conquering Canada, it had been driven
+out at the point of the bayonet. The great question now was, whether
+this army could hold its own against a victorious and advancing enemy.
+
+General Gates[9] took command of the army at this critical time.
+Convinced that he could never hope to hold both Crown Point and
+Ticonderoga, and knowing Ticonderoga to be much the stronger, in a
+military view, he decided to remove the army to that place at once. This
+was promptly done.[10] The soldiers were set to work strengthening the
+old, or building new, works, under the direction of skilful engineers.
+Of these new works the strongest, as well as most important, because
+they commanded Ticonderoga itself, were those raised on the peninsula
+opposite the fortress on the Vermont side, which was christened Mount
+Independence on the day the army heard that the colonies had declared
+themselves free and independent.
+
+Having thrown a bridge across the strait, between Ticonderoga and Mount
+Independence, the Americans waited for the enemy to come and attack
+them, for with such leaders as Gates and Stark they felt confident of
+gaining the victory.
+
+The British were equally active on their side. After driving the
+Americans from Canada, they next determined to make themselves masters
+of Lake Champlain, recover the forts they had lost, and so gain a
+foothold for striking a blow at our northern colonies.
+
+For this purpose they set about building a fleet at St. John's. Vessels
+were sent out from England, for the purpose, which were taken to pieces
+below the Chambly rapids, brought across the portage, and put together
+again at St. John's. By working diligently, the British got their fleet
+ready to sail early in October.
+
+Well knowing the importance of keeping possession of the lake, the
+Americans turned Skenesborough into a dockyard, and were straining every
+nerve to get ready a fleet strong enough to cope with the British. As
+everything needed for equipping it had to be brought from the sea-coast,
+the British had much the advantage in this respect, yet all labored with
+so much zeal, that our fleet was first ready for action. Gates gave the
+command of it to Arnold, who had once been a sailor, and whose courage
+had been tried so signally under the walls of Quebec.
+
+By the middle of August, Ticonderoga was in fighting trim. The enemy's
+delays had given time to make the defences so strong that an attack was
+rather hoped for than feared. Ignorant of the great preparations making
+at St. John's, the Americans also believed themselves strongest on the
+lake. Our fleet, therefore, went forward with confidence to the battle.
+
+[Sidenote: Naval battle, October 11.]
+
+On the 11th of October the British flotilla was seen coming up the lake.
+The rival forces met at Valcour Island, and the battle began. From noon
+till night the combatants hurled broadsides at each other without
+ceasing. The British then drew off to repair damages, meaning to renew
+the fight in the morning. This gave Arnold a chance to slip through them
+unperceived, for his vessels were so badly shattered that all hope of
+gaining the victory was given over. He was pursued and overtaken. Near
+Crown Point the battle began again, but the enemy's superior forces soon
+decided it in his favor. Rather than surrender, Arnold ran his disabled
+vessels on shore, set fire to them, and with his men escaped to the
+woods.
+
+Having thus cleared the lake, the British commander, Guy Carleton,[11]
+sailed back to St. John's, leaving Ticonderoga unmolested behind him, to
+the great astonishment of our soldiers, who said Carleton deserved to be
+hanged for not following up his victory over Arnold.
+
+[Illustration: NAVAL BATTLE, LAKE CHAMPLAIN.
+
+A, American flotilla. B-C, British. D, Line of Retreat, when the British
+were forced back to E.]
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[6] THE WAVERING CANADIANS. The Massachusetts revolutionary authority
+had been at work upon the wavering Canadians since 1774, with only
+partial success. (See note 2, preceding chapter.) The Americans thought
+the Canadians would seize the opportunity of freeing themselves, but
+events proved this opinion ill-grounded. A political connection between
+the Protestants of New England and the Catholics of Canada, except for
+mutual defence, could hardly be lasting, nor did the priests favor it.
+The military advantages were equally questionable, though great stress
+was laid upon them by Washington and Schuyler, even after the allegiance
+of the Canadians had been confirmed to the British side by the reverses
+our arms sustained. If we had conquered Canada, it would doubtless have
+been handed over to France again at the close of the war.
+
+[7] GENERAL RICHARD MONTGOMERY, of Irish birth, had served under Amherst
+at the taking of Crown Point and Ticonderoga in 1759, settled in New
+York, been one of eight brigadiers created by Congress in June, 1775;
+General Schuyler's illness threw the chief command, for which he proved
+himself eminently fitted, on Montgomery. His having served on this line
+was much in his favor.
+
+[8] COLONEL BENEDICT ARNOLD had once been a soldier at Ticonderoga. He
+went there again with a commission from Massachusetts, when the fortress
+was taken by Allen. He had also spent some time in Quebec. These facts
+had influence in procuring for him a command in the invading expedition.
+
+[9] GENERAL HORATIO GATES, a retired British major, settled in Virginia,
+was made adjutant-general of the army, June, 1775.
+
+[10] THE REMOVAL OF THE ARMY from Crown Point to Ticonderoga was
+strongly opposed by Stark and others, and disapproved by Washington.
+
+[11] GUY CARLETON, British governor of Canada, though driven from
+Montreal by Montgomery, had successfully defended Quebec against him. He
+reconnoitred Ticonderoga, but seems to have thought it too strong to be
+attacked with his force.
+
+
+
+
+BURGOYNE'S INVASION
+
+I.
+
+THE PLAN OF CAMPAIGN.
+
+
+After the British had gone back to Canada, it was thought they would
+return as soon as the lake should be frozen hard enough to bear
+artillery. But when it was found that they had gone into winter
+quarters, and the danger was past, part of the garrison of Ticonderoga
+was hurried off to Washington, who was then fighting against great odds
+in the Jerseys. This winter was the dark hour of the Revolution, upon
+which the victory at Trenton[12] shed the first ray of light. So low had
+the American cause fallen at this time, that, but for this unlooked-for
+success, it is doubtful if another army could have been brought into the
+field.
+
+The British were really planning to invade New York as soon as the lakes
+should be open again, in the spring. For this campaign great
+preparations were making, both in Canada and England. Quiet, therefore,
+reigned at Ticonderoga throughout the winter of 1776 and 1777.
+
+General Burgoyne sailed for England in November, to lay before the king
+a plan for subduing the colonies in a single campaign. Burgoyne was a
+good soldier, popular with the army and government, brave to rashness,
+but vain and headstrong. He knew the Americans were not to be despised,
+for he had seen them fight at Bunker Hill, as well as in the campaign
+just closed, in which he himself had taken part; yet an easy confidence
+in his own abilities led Burgoyne into committing many grave errors, not
+the least of which was underestimating this very enemy.[13]
+
+[Sidenote: George III. wants the war pushed.]
+
+Any plan that promised to put down the Americans, was sure of gaining
+the king's ear. Justice was never tempered with mercy in this monarch's
+treatment of his rebellious subjects. His heart was hardened, his hand
+ever ready to strike them the fatal blow. Moreover, the Americans had
+just now declared themselves independent of Great Britain. They had
+crossed their Rubicon. To crush them with iron hand was now the king's
+one thought and purpose. No half measures would do for him. He told his
+ministers, in so many words, that every means of distressing the
+Americans would meet with his approval. Mercenaries, savages,
+refugees--all who could fire a shot, or burn a dwelling, were to be
+enrolled under the proud old banner of the isles. No more effectual
+means could have been devised to arouse the spirit of resistance to the
+highest pitch.
+
+Burgoyne's ambition was kindled by the hope of making himself the hero
+of the war. He combined the qualities of general and statesman without
+being great as either. He wrote and talked well, was eloquent and
+persuasive, had friends at court, and knew how to make the most of his
+opportunity. On his part, the king wanted a general badly. He had been
+grievously disappointed in Sir William Howe, whose victories seemed
+never bringing the war any nearer to an end. Burgoyne brought forward
+his plan at the right moment, shrewdly touched the keynote of the king's
+discontent by declaring for aggressive war, smoothed every obstacle away
+with easy assurance, and so impressed the ministers with his capacity,
+that they believed they had found the very man the king wanted for the
+work in hand.
+
+The plan proposed for making short work of the war was briefly this: The
+American colonies were to be divided in two parts, by seizing the line
+of the Hudson River; just as in later times, the Union armies aimed to
+split the Southern Confederacy in two by getting possession of the
+Mississippi. To effect this, two armies were to act together. With one,
+Burgoyne was to come down the lakes from Canada, and force his way to
+Albany, while the other was coming up the Hudson to join him. Once these
+armies were united, with full control of the Hudson in their hands, New
+England would be cut off from the other colonies by forts and fleets,
+and the way laid open to crush out rebellion in what was admitted to be
+its cradle and stronghold.
+
+Ever since Sir William Howe had been driven from Boston, in the spring
+of 1776, the opinion prevailed among American generals that, sooner or
+later, New England would become the battle-ground.[14] This view was
+sustained by the enemy's seizure of Newport, in December of the same
+year, so that the Americans were perplexed at finding themselves
+threatened from this quarter, until the enemy's plans were fully
+developed.
+
+[Sidenote: St. Leger's part.]
+
+There was yet another part to the plan concerted between Burgoyne and
+the British cabinet. It was seen that in proportion as Burgoyne moved
+down toward Albany, he would have the fertile Mohawk valley on his
+right. This valley was the great thoroughfare between the Hudson and
+Lake Ontario, Niagara, and Detroit. In it were many prosperous
+settlements, inhabited by a vigorous yeomanry, who were the mainstay of
+the patriot cause in this quarter. The passage to and fro was guarded by
+Fort Stanwix, which stood where Rome now is, and Fort Oswego, which was
+situated at the lake. Fort Stanwix was held by the Americans, and
+Oswego, by the British. Perceiving its value to the Americans not only
+as a granary, but as a recruiting station, and in view of the danger of
+leaving it on his flank, Burgoyne decided to march a force through this
+valley, clear it of enemies, and so effectively bring about a timely
+cooeperation between the two branches of the expedition. Freed of fear
+for himself, he could materially aid in the work intrusted to his
+auxiliary. It followed that the Americans, with whom Burgoyne himself
+might be contending, would, of necessity, be greatly distressed by their
+inability to draw either men or supplies from the Mohawk Valley, no less
+than by the appearance of this force upon their own flank. The command
+of it was given to Colonel St. Leger, who was ordered to proceed up the
+St. Lawrence to Oswego, and from thence to Fort Stanwix and Albany.
+
+It must be allowed that this plan was well conceived; yet its success
+depended so much upon all the parts working in harmony together, that to
+have set it in motion, without consultation or clear understanding
+between the generals who were to execute it, is inconceivable. At a
+distance of three thousand miles from the scene of war, the British
+cabinet undertook to direct complicated military operations, in which
+widely separated armies were to take part. General Burgoyne received his
+orders on the spot. General Howe did not receive his until the 16th of
+August; his army was then entering Chesapeake Bay. Burgoyne was being
+defeated at Bennington, at the time Howe was reading his despatch, and
+learning from it what he had not known before; namely, that he was
+expected to cooeperate with the army of Burgoyne. These facts will so
+sufficiently illustrate the course that events were taking, as to
+foreshadow their conclusion to the feeblest understanding.
+
+In order to make the war more terrible to the Americans, the British
+cabinet decided to use the Indians of Canada, and the Great Lakes,
+against them. Not even the plea of military necessity could reconcile
+some Englishmen to letting loose these barbarians upon the colonists.
+Though enemies, they were men. Lord Chatham, the noblest Englishman of
+them all, cried out against it in Parliament. "Who is the man," he
+indignantly asked, "who has dared to associate to our arms the tomahawk
+and scalping-knife of the savage?" All knew he meant the prime minister,
+and, behind him, the king himself. Had not King George just said that
+any means of distressing the Americans must meet with his approval?
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[12] VICTORY AT TRENTON. After being driven from the Jerseys, Washington
+suddenly turned on his pursuers, and by the two fine combats of Trenton
+and Princeton, compelled much superior forces everywhere to retreat
+before him, thus breaking up all the enemy's plans for the ensuing
+campaign, saving Philadelphia, and putting new life into the American
+cause.
+
+[13] UNDERESTIMATING HIS ENEMY. Burgoyne candidly admits as much in his
+letter to Lord G. Germaine. _State of the Expedition_, Appendix, xcii.
+
+[14] NEW ENGLAND THE BATTLE-GROUND. Sir William Howe did propose, at
+first, operating against Boston from Rhode Island, with ten thousand
+men, while an equal force should effect a junction with the army of
+Canada, by way of the Hudson. This purpose he subsequently deferred for
+an advance into Pennsylvania, but Burgoyne asserts that he was not
+informed of the change of plan when he sailed for Canada in April; and,
+though Sir William Howe afterward wrote him to the same effect (July
+17th) a letter which was received early in August, Burgoyne,
+nevertheless, persisted in his intention of passing the Hudson,
+notwithstanding he knew, and says (August 20th), that no operation had
+yet been undertaken in his favor. _State of the Expedition_, 188, 189;
+Appendix, xlvii.
+
+
+
+
+II.
+
+BURGOYNE'S ARMY.
+
+
+Having thus outlined the plan of invasion, let us now look at the means
+allotted for its execution. There were in Canada ten thousand British
+soldiers; in New York, thirty thousand. Burgoyne was to take with him
+seven thousand, of whom three thousand were Germans in the pay of
+England.[15] In discipline, spirit, and equipment, this was by far the
+best little army that had yet taken the field in America.
+
+Good judges said that England might be searched through and through
+before such battalions could be raised. Forty cannon, splendidly served
+and equipped, formed its artillery train. All the generals, and most of
+the soldiers, were veterans. In short, nothing that experience could
+suggest, or unlimited means provide, was omitted to make this army
+invincible. It was one with which Burgoyne felt he could do anything,
+and dare everything.
+
+Besides these regular troops, we have said the government had authorized
+and even attempted to justify to the world, the employment of Indians.
+Four hundred warriors joined the army when it marched, and as many more
+when it reached Lake Champlain. They were to scour the woods, hang like
+a storm cloud about the enemy's camps, and discover his every movement.
+For this service they had no equals. In the woods they could steal upon
+an enemy unawares, or lie in wait for his approach. In the field they
+were of little use. Much of the terror they inspired came from the
+suddenness of their onset, their hideous looks and unearthly war-cries,
+and their cruel practice of scalping the wounded.
+
+To these were added about an equal number of Canadians, and American
+refugees, who were designed to act as scouts, skirmishers, or foragers,
+as the occasion might require. Being well skilled in bush-fighting, they
+were mostly attached to Frazer's corps, for the purpose of clearing the
+woods in his front, getting information, or driving in cattle. With his
+Indians and irregulars,[16] Burgoyne's whole force could hardly have
+numbered less than ten thousand men.
+
+Taken as a whole, this army was justly thought the equal of twice its
+own number of raw yeomanry, suddenly called to the field from the anvil,
+the workshop, or the plough. Its strongest arm was its artillery; its
+weakest, its Indian allies.
+
+Burgoyne divided his force into three corps, commanded by Generals
+Frazer, Phillips, and Riedesel,--all excellent officers. Frazer's corps
+was mostly made up of picked companies, taken from other battalions and
+joined with the 24th regiment of the line. As its duty was of the
+hardest, so its material was of the best the army could afford. Next to
+Burgoyne, Frazer was, beyond all question, the officer most looked up to
+by the soldiers; in every sense of the word, he was a thorough soldier.
+His corps was, therefore, Burgoyne's right arm. Phillips commanded the
+artillery; and Riedesel, the Germans.
+
+In the middle of June this army embarked on Lake Champlain. Of many
+warlike pageants the aged mountains had looked down upon, perhaps this
+was the most splendid and imposing. From the general to the private
+soldier, all were filled with high hopes of a successful campaign. In
+front, the Indians, painted and decked out for war, skimmed the lake in
+their light canoes. Next came the barges containing Frazer's corps,
+marshalled in one regular line, with gunboats flanking it on each side;
+next, the Royal George and Inflexible frigates, with other armed vessels
+forming the fleet. Behind this strong escort, the main body, with the
+generals, followed in close order; and, last of all, came the camp
+followers, of whom there were far too many for the nature of the service
+in hand.
+
+In the distance the American watch-boats saw this gallant array bearing
+down upon them, in the confidence of its power. Hastening back to
+Ticonderoga, the word was passed along the lines to prepare for battle.
+
+For the Mohawk Valley expedition, St. Leger, who led it, took with him
+about seven hundred regular troops, two hundred loyalists, and eight
+guns. At Oswego, seven hundred Indians of the Six Nations joined him.
+With these, St. Leger started in July for Fort Stanwix, which barred
+his way to the Hudson, just as Ticonderoga blocked Burgoyne's advance on
+the side of Lake Champlain.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[15] SOLDIERS WERE HIRED from the petty German princes for the American
+war. The Americans called them all Hessians, because some came from the
+principality of Hesse. George III. also tried to hire twenty thousand
+Russians of Empress Catharine, but she gave him to understand that her
+soldiers would be better employed. There was good material among the
+Germans, many of whom had served with credit under the Great Frederick;
+but the British showed them little favor as comrades, while the
+Americans looked upon them as paid assassins. Not one in twenty knew any
+English, so that misconception of orders was not unfrequent, though
+orders were usually transmitted from headquarters in French. A jealousy
+also grew up out of the belief that Burgoyne gave the Germans the
+hardest duty, and the British the most praise. At Hubbardton, and on the
+19th of September, the Germans saved him from defeat, yet he
+ungenerously, we think, lays the disaster of October 7th chiefly at
+their door.
+
+[16] INDIANS AND IRREGULARS. It is impossible to give the number of
+these accurately, as it was constantly fluctuating. Though Burgoyne
+started with only four hundred Indians, the number was increased by five
+hundred at Skenesborough, and he was later joined by some of the Mohawks
+from St. Leger's force. In like manner, his two hundred and fifty
+Canadians and Provincials had grown to more than six hundred of the
+latter before he left Skenesborough. Most of these recruits came from
+the Vermont settlements. They were put to work clearing the roads,
+scouting, getting forward the supplies, collecting cattle, etc. Their
+knowledge of the country was greatly serviceable to Burgoyne. In the
+returns given of Burgoyne's _regular troops_, only the rank and file are
+accounted for. Staff and line officers would swell the number
+considerably.
+
+
+
+
+III.
+
+THE FALL OF TICONDEROGA.
+
+(_July 5, 1777._)
+
+
+A hundred years ago, the shores of Lake Champlain were for the most part
+a wilderness. What few settlements did exist were mostly grouped about
+the southeast corner of the lake, into which emigration had naturally
+flowed from the older New England States. And even these were but feeble
+plantations,[17] separated from the Connecticut valley by lofty
+mountains, over which one rough road led the way.
+
+Burgoyne's companions in arms have told us of the herds of red deer seen
+quietly browsing on the hillsides; of the flocks of pigeons, darkening
+the air in their flight; and of the store of pike, bass, and maskelonge
+with which the waters of the lake abounded. At one encampment the
+soldiers lived a whole day on the pigeons they had knocked off the trees
+with poles. So the passage of the lake must have seemed more like a
+pleasure trip to them than the prelude to a warlike campaign.
+
+In his way up the lake, Burgoyne landed at the River Bouquet, on the
+west shore, where for some days the army rested.
+
+To this rendezvous, large numbers of Indians had come to join the
+expedition. It was indispensable to observe the customs which had always
+prevailed among these peoples when going to war. So Burgoyne made them a
+speech, gave them a feast, and witnessed the wild antics of their war
+dance.
+
+He forbade their scalping the wounded, or destroying women and children.
+They listened attentively to his words, and promised obedience; but
+these commands were so flatly opposed to all their philosophy of war,
+which required the extinction of every human feeling, that Burgoyne
+might as well have bidden the waters of the lake flow backward, as
+expect an Indian not to use his scalping-knife whenever an enemy lay at
+his mercy.
+
+Still, it is to Burgoyne's credit that he tried to check the ferocity of
+these savages, and we would also charitably believe him at least half
+ashamed of having to employ them at all, when he saw them brandishing
+their tomahawks over the heads of imaginary victims; beheld them
+twisting their bodies about in hideous contortions, in mimicry of
+tortured prisoners; or heard them howling, like wild beasts, their cry
+of triumph when the scalp is torn from an enemy's head.
+
+While thus drawing the sword with one hand, Burgoyne took his pen in the
+other. He drew up a paper which his Tory agents were directed to scatter
+among the people of Vermont, many of whom, he was assured, were at heart
+loyal to the king. These he invited to join his standard, or offered its
+protection to all who should remain neutral. All were warned against
+driving off their cattle, hiding their corn, or breaking down the
+bridges in his way. Should they dare disobey, he threatened to let loose
+his horde of savages upon them. Such a departure from the rules of
+honorable warfare would have justified the Americans in declaring no
+quarter to the invaders.
+
+Well aware that he would not conquer the Americans with threats,
+Burgoyne now gave the order to his army to go forward. His view of what
+lay before him might be thus expressed: The enemy will, probably, fight
+at Ticonderoga. Of course I shall beat them. I will give them no time to
+rally. When they hear St. Leger is in the valley, their panic will be
+completed. We shall have a little promenade of eight days, to Albany.
+
+On June 29 the army was near Ticonderoga. This day Burgoyne made a
+stirring address to his soldiers, in which he gave out the memorable
+watchword, "_This army must not retreat._"
+
+The next day, Frazer's corps landed in full view of the fortress. The
+rest of the army was posted on both sides of the lake, which is nowhere
+wider than a river as the fortress is approached. The fleet kept the
+middle of the channel. With drums beating and bugles sounding, the
+different battalions took up their allotted stations in the woods
+bordering upon the lake. When night fell, the watch-fires of the
+besiegers' camps made red the waters that flowed past them. But as yet
+no hostile gun boomed from the ramparts of Ticonderoga.
+
+What was going on behind those grim walls which frowned defiance upon
+the invaders? General Gates was no longer there to direct. General St.
+Clair[18] was now in command of perhaps four thousand effective men,
+with whom, nevertheless, he hoped to defend his miles of intrenchments
+against the assaults of twice his own numbers. His real weakness lay in
+not knowing what point Burgoyne would choose for attack, and he had been
+strangely delinquent in not calling for reenforcements until the enemy
+was almost at the gates of the fortress itself.
+
+Burgoyne knew better than to heedlessly rush upon the lines that had
+proved Abercromby's destruction.[19] He knew they were too strong to be
+carried without great bloodshed, and meant first to invest the fortress,
+and after cutting off access to it on all sides, then lay siege to it in
+regular form.
+
+[Sidenote: July 2, Mount Hope seized.]
+
+To this end, Frazer's corps was moved up to within cannon-shot of the
+works. His scouts soon found a way leading through old paths,[20] quite
+round the rear of the fortress, to the outlet of Lake George. This was
+promptly seized. After a little skirmishing, the enemy planted
+themselves firmly, on some high ground rising behind the old French
+lines, on this side; thus making themselves masters of the communication
+with Lake George, and enclosing the fortress on the rear or land side.
+While this was going on, on the west shore, Riedesel's Germans were
+moved up still nearer Mount Independence, on the Vermont shore, thus
+investing Ticonderoga on three sides.
+
+A more enterprising general would never have permitted his enemy to
+seize his communications with Lake George, without making a struggle
+for their possession, but St. Clair appears to have thought his forces
+unequal to the attempt, and it was not made. The disaster which followed
+was but the natural result.
+
+[Illustration: THE INVESTMENT OF TICONDEROGA.
+
+[_Pen and ink sketch by a British officer._]
+
+A-B, Ticonderoga. C-D-E, Mount Independence. F, Barracks. G, Mount
+Defiance. H, Bridge joining the fortress proper with Mount Independence.
+I, American Fleet. K, Outlet of Lake George. O, British Fleet. P,
+Three-Mile Point. Q, First Landing Place of Burgoyne. R, The Germans.
+T-U, Position taken on Mount Hope. W, Second Position of same Troops at
+U. Z, Portage to Lake George.]
+
+[Sidenote: Mount Defiance occupied.]
+
+Just across the basin formed by the widening of the outlet of Lake
+George, a steep-sided mountain rises high above all the surrounding
+region. Its summit not only looks down upon the fortress, in every part,
+but over all its approaches by land or water. Not a man could march
+without being distinctly seen from this mountain. Yet, to-day, the eye
+measures its forest-shagged sides, in doubt if they can be scaled by
+human feet. Indeed, its ascent was so difficult that the Americans had
+neglected to occupy it at all. This is Mount Defiance, the most
+commanding object for miles around.
+
+[Sidenote: July 5.]
+
+Burgoyne's engineers could not help seeing that if artillery could be
+got to the top of this mountain, Ticonderoga was doomed. They
+reconnoitred it. Though difficult, they said it might be done. St.
+Clair's timidity having given them the way to it, the British instantly
+began moving men and guns round the rear of the fortress, and cutting a
+road up the mountain-side. The work was pushed forward day and night. It
+took most of the oxen belonging to the army to drag two twelve-pounders
+up the steep ascent, but when they were once planted on the summit,
+Ticonderoga lay at the mercy of the besiegers.
+
+[Sidenote: July 6.]
+
+When St. Clair saw the enemy getting ready to cannonade him from Mount
+Defiance, he at once gave orders to evacuate the fortress[21] under
+cover of the night. Most of the garrison retreated over the bridge
+leading to Mount Independence, and thence by the road to Hubbardton.
+What could be saved of the baggage and army stores was sent off to
+Skenesborough, by water. Hurry and confusion were everywhere, for it was
+not doubted that the enemy would be upon them as soon as daylight should
+discover the fortress abandoned. This happened at an early hour of the
+morning. The British instantly marched into the deserted works, without
+meeting with the least resistance. Ticonderoga's hundred cannon were
+silent under the menace of two. Burgoyne was now free to march his
+victorious battalions to the east, the west, or the south, whenever he
+should give the order.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[17] FEEBLE PLANTATIONS. No permanent settlements were begun west of the
+Green Mountains till after the conquest of Canada. After that, the
+report of soldiers who had passed over the military road from
+Charlestown on the Connecticut River, to Crown Point, brought a swarm of
+settlers into what is now Bennington County. Settlement began in Rutland
+County in 1771.
+
+[18] GENERAL ARTHUR ST. CLAIR, of Scotch birth, had been a lieutenant
+with Wolfe at Quebec; he resigned and settled in Pennsylvania; served
+with our army in Canada; made brigadier, August, 1776; major-general,
+February, 1777.
+
+[19] ABERCROMBY lost two thousand men in assaulting these lines in 1758.
+Since then they had been greatly strengthened.
+
+[20] THROUGH OLD PATHS. The Indians had passed this way centuries before
+the fortress was thought of.
+
+[21] ST. CLAIR seems to have waited just long enough for the defence to
+become difficult, to admit its impossibility. He chose the part of
+safety rather than that of glory.
+
+
+
+
+IV.
+
+HUBBARDTON.
+
+(_July 7, 1777._)
+
+
+Not doubting he would find Skenesborough still in our possession, St.
+Clair was pushing for that place with all possible speed. He expected to
+get there by land, before the enemy could do so by water; then, after
+gathering up the men and stores saved from Ticonderoga, St. Clair meant
+to fall back toward Fort Edward, where General Schuyler,[22] his
+superior officer, lay with two thousand men.
+
+This was plainly St Clair's true course. Indeed, there was nothing else
+for him to do, unless he decided to abandon the direct route to Albany
+altogether. So St. Clair did what a good general should. He resolved to
+throw himself between Burgoyne and Schuyler, whose force, joined to his
+own, would thus be able, even if not strong enough to risk a battle, at
+least to keep up a bold front toward the enemy.
+
+Though Burgoyne really knew nothing about Schuyler's force, he was
+keenly alive to the importance of cutting off the garrison of
+Ticonderoga from its line of retreat, and, if possible, of striking it a
+disabling blow before it could take up a new position. St. Clair counted
+on stealing a march before his retreat could be interfered with. He
+also depended on the strength of the obstructions at the bridge[23] of
+Ticonderoga to delay the enemy's fleet until his own could get safely to
+Skenesborough. In both expectations, St. Clair was disappointed.
+
+[Sidenote: July 6.]
+
+In the first place, Burgoyne had sent Frazer out in pursuit of him, as
+soon as the evacuation was discovered; in the second, Burgoyne's
+gunboats had hewed their way through the obstructions by nine in the
+morning, and were presently crowding all sail after the American
+flotilla, under command of Burgoyne himself.
+
+Riedesel's camp, we remember, lay on the Vermont side, and so nearest to
+Mount Independence, and St. Clair's line of retreat. Burgoyne,
+therefore, ordered Riedesel to fall in behind Frazer, who had just
+marched, and give that officer any support he might be in want of.
+
+Thus, most of the hostile forces were in active movement, either by land
+or water, at an early hour of the sixth. Let us first follow Frazer, in
+his effort to strike the American rear.
+
+Frazer had with him eight hundred and fifty men of his own corps. He
+pushed on so eagerly that the slow-moving Germans were far in the rear
+when the British halted for the night, near Hubbardton. The day had been
+sultry, the march fatiguing. Frazer's men threw themselves on the
+ground, and slept on their arms.
+
+St. Clair had reached Hubbardton the same afternoon, in great disorder.
+He halted only long enough for the rearguard to come up, and then
+hastened on, six miles farther, to Castleton, leaving Warner,[24] with
+three regiments, to cover his retreat. Instead of keeping within
+supporting distance of the main body, Warner foolishly decided to halt
+for the night where he was, because his men were tired, thus putting a
+gap of six miles between his commander and himself.
+
+Warner did not neglect, however, to fell some trees in front of his
+camp, and this simple precaution, perhaps, proved the salvation of his
+command the next day.
+
+[Sidenote: July 7.]
+
+At five in the morning, Frazer's scouts fell upon Warner's pickets while
+they were cooking their breakfasts, unsuspicious of danger. The surprise
+was complete. With their usual dash, Frazer's men rushed on to the
+assault, but soon found themselves entangled among the felled trees and
+brushwood, behind which the Americans were hurriedly endeavoring to
+form. At the moment of attack, one regiment made a shameful retreat. The
+rest were rallied by Warner and Francis,[25] behind trees, in copses, or
+wherever a vantage-ground could be had. As the combat took place in the
+woods, the British were forced to adopt the same tactics. Musket and
+rifle were soon doing deadly work in their ranks, every foot of ground
+was obstinately disputed, and when they thought the battle already won
+they found the Americans had only just begun to fight.
+
+For three hours, eight hundred men maintained a gallant and stubborn
+fight against the picked soldiers of Burgoyne's army, each side being
+repeatedly driven from its ground without gaining decided advantage over
+the other. Nor would Frazer have gained the day, as he at length did,
+but for the timely arrival of the Germans. Indeed, at the moment when
+the British were really beaten and ready to give way, the sound of many
+voices, singing aloud, rose above the din of battle, and near at hand.
+At first neither of the combatants knew what such strange sounds could
+mean. It was Riedesel's Germans advancing to the attack, chanting battle
+hymns to the fierce refrain of the musketry and the loud shouts of the
+combatants. Fifty fresh men would have turned the scale to either side.
+This reenforcement, therefore, decided the day. Being now greatly
+outnumbered, the Americans scattered in the woods around them.
+
+Although a defeat, this spirited little battle was every way honorable
+to the Americans, who fought on until all hope of relief had vanished. A
+single company would have turned defeat into victory, when to the
+British, defeat in the woods, thirty miles from help, meant destruction.
+Even as it was, they did not know what to do with the victory they had
+just won, with the loss of two hundred men, killed and wounded,
+seventeen of whom were officers. They had neither shelter nor medicines
+for the wounded, nor provisions for themselves. The battle had exhausted
+their ammunition, and every moment was expected to bring another swarm
+of foes about their ears.
+
+The Americans had three hundred men killed and wounded, and many
+taken. The brave Colonel Francis, who had so admirably conducted the
+retreat from Ticonderoga, was killed while rallying his men. Seldom has
+a battle shown more determined obstinacy in the combatants, seldom has
+one been more bloody for the numbers engaged.
+
+[Illustration: ST. CLAIR'S RETREAT--BURGOYNE'S ADVANCE ON FORT EDWARD.]
+
+While Frazer was thus driving St. Clair's rearguard before him on the
+left, the British were giving chase to the American flotilla on the
+lake. This had hardly reached Skenesborough, encumbered with the sick,
+the baggage, and the stores, when the British gunboats came up with, and
+furiously attacked, it. Our vessels could not be cleared for action or
+make effective resistance. After making what defence they could, they
+were abandoned, and blown up by their crews. Skenesborough was then set
+on fire, the Americans making good their retreat to Fort Anne,[26] with
+the loss of all their stores.
+
+St. Clair heard of Warner's defeat and of the taking of Skenesborough
+almost at the same hour. His first plan had wholly miscarried. His
+soldiers were angry and insubordinate, half his available force had been
+scattered at Hubbardton, his supplies were gone, his line of retreat in
+the enemy's hands. Finding himself thus cut off from the direct route to
+Fort Edward, he now marched to join Schuyler by way of Rutland,
+Manchester, and Bennington. This he succeeded in doing on the twelfth,
+with about half the men he had led from Ticonderoga. Warner, too,
+brought off the shattered remnant of his command to Bennington.
+
+On his part, Schuyler had promptly sent a reenforcement to Fort Anne, to
+protect St. Clair's retreat, as soon as he knew of it. These troops soon
+found other work on their hands than that cut out for them.
+
+[Sidenote: July 7.]
+
+Burgoyne was determined to give the Americans no time either to rally,
+or again unite their scattered bands in his front. Without delay, one
+regiment was pushed forward to Fort Anne, on the heels of the fugitives
+who had just left Skenesborough in flames. When this battalion reached
+the fort, instead of waiting to be attacked, the Americans sallied out
+upon it with spirit, and were driving it before them in full retreat,
+when the yells of some Indians, who were lurking in the neighboring
+woods, spread such a panic among the victors that they gave up the
+fight, set fire to Fort Anne, and retreated to Fort Edward with no enemy
+pursuing them. The defeated British then fell back to Skenesborough, so
+that each detachment may be said to have run away from the other.
+
+General Burgoyne had much reason to be elated with his success thus far.
+In one short week he had taken Ticonderoga, with more than one hundred
+cannon; had scattered the garrison right and left; had captured or
+destroyed a prodigious quantity of warlike stores, the loss of which
+distressed the Americans long after; had annihilated their naval
+armament on the lake, and had sown dismay among the neighboring colonies
+broadcast. It was even a question whether there was any longer a force
+in his front capable of offering the least resistance to his march.
+
+[Illustration: BLOCK HOUSE, FORT ANNE.]
+
+With these exploits, the first stage of the invasion may be said to have
+ended. If ever a man had been favored by fortune, Burgoyne was that man.
+The next stage must show him in a very different light, as the fool of
+fortune, whose favors he neither knew how to deserve when offered him,
+nor how to compel when withheld.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[22] GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER, one of the four major-generals first
+created by Congress, June, 1775. Had seen some service in the French
+War; was given command of the Northern Department, including
+Ticonderoga, Crown Point, Fort Stanwix, etc., February, 1777, as the one
+man who could unite the people of New York against the enemy. Gates
+declined to serve under him.
+
+[23] OBSTRUCTIONS AT THE BRIDGE. The Americans had stretched a boom of
+logs, strongly chained together, across the strait.
+
+[24] SETH WARNER was on the way to Ticonderoga when he met St. Clair
+retreating. The rearguard, which Colonel Francis had previously
+commanded, was then increased, and put under Warner's orders.
+
+[25] COLONEL EBENEZER FRANCIS of Newton, Mass., colonel, 11th
+Massachusetts Regiment. His bravery was so conspicuous that the British
+thought he was in chief command of the Americans.
+
+[26] FORT ANNE, one of the minor posts built during the French War to
+protect the route from Albany to Lake Champlain. It consisted of a log
+blockhouse surrounded by a palisade. Boat navigation of Lake Champlain
+began here, fourteen miles from Skenesborough, by Wood Creek flowing
+into it.
+
+
+
+
+V.
+
+FACING DISASTER.
+
+
+One of Washington's most trusted generals said, and said truly, that it
+was only through misfortune that the Americans would rise to the
+character of a great people. Perhaps no event of the Revolution more
+signally verified the truth of this saying, than the fall of
+Ticonderoga.
+
+Let us see how this disaster was affecting the Northern States. In that
+section, stragglers and deserters were spreading exaggerated accounts of
+it on every side. In Vermont, the settlers living west of the mountains
+were now practically defenceless. Burgoyne's agents were undermining
+their loyalty; the fall of Ticonderoga had shaken it still more. Rather
+than abandon their farms, many no longer hesitated to put themselves
+under British protection. Hundreds, who were too patriotic to do this,
+fled over the mountains, spreading consternation as they went. From Lake
+Champlain to the New England coast, there was not a village which did
+not believe itself to be the especial object of Burgoyne's vengeance.
+Indeed, his name became a bugbear, to frighten unruly children with.
+
+Of those who had been with the army, many believed it their first duty
+to protect their families, and so went home. Numbers, who were on the
+way to Ticonderoga, turned back, on hearing that it was taken. To
+Burgoyne, these results were equal to a battle gained, since he was
+weakening the Americans, just as surely, in this way, with entire safety
+to himself.
+
+In despair, those settlers who stood faithful among the faithless,
+turned to their New Hampshire brethren. "If we are driven back, the
+invader will soon be at your doors," they said. "We are your buckler and
+shield. Our humble cabins are the bulwark of your happy firesides. But
+our hearts fail us. Help us or we perish!"
+
+Could Schuyler do nothing for these suffering people? To let them be
+ruined and driven out was not only bad policy, but worse strategy. He
+knew that Burgoyne must regard these settlements with foreboding, as the
+home of a hostile and brave yeomanry, whose presence was a constant
+threat to him. To maintain them, then, was an act of simplest wisdom.
+Schuyler could ill spare a single soldier, yet it was necessary to do
+something, and that quickly, for all New England was in a tumult, and
+Burgoyne said to be marching all ways at once. What wonder, since
+Washington himself believed New England to be the threatened point![27]
+
+Warner's regiment had been recruited among the Green Mountain Boys of
+this very section. Schuyler posted what was left of it at Manchester, to
+be at once a rallying-point for the settlers, a menace to the loyalists,
+and a defence against Burgoyne's predatory bands, who were already
+spreading themselves out over the surrounding region. It was not much,
+but it was something.
+
+From New Hampshire, the panic quickly spread into Massachusetts, and
+throughout all New England. As usually happens, the loss of Ticonderoga
+was laid at the door of the generals in chief command. Many accused St.
+Clair of treacherous dealing. Everywhere, people were filled with wrath
+and astonishment. "The fortress has been sold!" they cried. Some of the
+officers, who had been present, wrote home that the place could have
+held out against Burgoyne for weeks, or until help could have arrived.
+This was sure to find ready believers, and so added to the volume of
+denunciation cast upon the head of the unlucky St. Clair.
+
+But these passionate outbursts of feeling were soon quenched by the
+necessity all saw for prompt action. Once passion and prejudice had
+burned out, our people nobly rose to the demands of the situation. But
+confidence in the generals of the Northern army was gone forever. The
+men of New England would not sit long in the shadow of defeat, but they
+said they would no more be sacrificed to the incompetency of leaders who
+had been tried and found wanting. Congress had to pay heed to this
+feeling. Washington had to admit the force of it, because he knew that
+New England must be chiefly looked to in this crisis, to make head
+against Burgoyne. If she failed, all else would fail.
+
+[Sidenote: P. Van Cortlandt's letters.]
+
+If we turn now to New York, what do we see? Five counties in the enemy's
+hands. Three more, so divided against themselves as to be without order
+or government. Of the remaining six, the resources of Orange, Ulster,
+and Dutchess were already heavily taxed with the duty of defending the
+passes of the Hudson; Westchester was being overrun by the enemy, at
+will; only Tryon and Albany remained, and in Tryon, every able-bodied
+citizen, not a loyalist, was arming to repel the invasion of St. Leger,
+now imminent.
+
+We have thus briefly glanced at the dangers resulting from the fall of
+Ticonderoga, at the resources of the sections which Burgoyne was now
+threatening to lay waste with fire and sword, and at the attitude of the
+people toward those generals who had so grievously disappointed them in
+the conduct of the campaign, up to this time.
+
+[Sidenote: John Marshall.]
+
+In the words of one distinguished writer, "The evacuation of Ticonderoga
+was a shock for which no part of the United States was prepared." In the
+language of another, "No event throughout the whole war produced such
+consternation, nothing could have been more unexpected."
+
+It was not so much the loss of the fortress itself,--as costly as it was
+to the impoverished colonies, that could have been borne,--but the
+people had been led to believe, and did believe, it was next to
+impregnable; nor could they understand why those who had been intrusted
+with its defence should have fled without striking a blow, or calling
+for assistance until too late.
+
+Congress immediately ordered all the generals of the Northern army[28]
+to Philadelphia, in order that their conduct might be looked into. John
+Adams hotly declared that they would never be able to defend a post
+until they shot a general. But Washington, always greatest in defeat,
+hastened to show how such a step was doubly dangerous to an army when
+fronting its enemy, and wisely procured its suspension for the present.
+He first set himself to work to soothe Schuyler's wounded pride, while
+stimulating him to greater activity. "We should never despair," he nobly
+said. And again: "If new difficulties arise, we must only put forth new
+exertions. I yet look forward to a happy change." It was indeed
+fortunate that one so stout of heart, with so steady a hand, so firm in
+the belief of final triumph, so calm in the hour of greatest danger,
+should have guided the destinies of the infant nation at this trying
+hour.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[27] THE THREATENED POINT. Baffled in his purpose of taking Philadelphia
+by Washington's success at Trenton, Sir William Howe had decided on
+making another attempt; but his manoeuvres led Washington to believe
+Howe was going to Newport, R.I., with the view of overrunning
+Massachusetts. See Note 3, "Plan of Campaign" (p. 32).
+
+[28] GENERALS OF THE NORTHERN ARMY. Schuyler and St. Clair were chiefly
+inculpated. Brigadiers Poor, Patterson, and De Fermoy, who were with St.
+Clair at Ticonderoga, were included in the order. All had agreed in the
+necessity for the evacuation, and all came in for a share of the public
+censure. Poor and Patterson nobly redeemed themselves in the later
+operations against Burgoyne.
+
+
+
+
+VI.
+
+THE MARCH TO FORT EDWARD.[29]
+
+
+It is a well-known maxim of war, that the general who makes the fewest
+mistakes will come off conqueror.
+
+In his haste to crush the Americans before they could combine against
+him, Burgoyne had overshot his mark. His troops were now so widely
+scattered that he could not stir until they were again collected. By the
+combats of Hubbardton and Fort Anne, nothing material had been gained,
+since St. Clair was at Fort Edward by the time Frazer got to
+Skenesborough, and the Americans had returned to Fort Anne as soon as
+the British left the neighborhood.
+
+After the battle of Hubbardton, Riedesel was posted at Castleton, in
+order to create the impression that the British army was moving into New
+England. By this bit of strategy, Burgoyne expected to keep back
+reenforcements from Schuyler. Riedesel's presence also gave much
+encouragement to the loyalists, who now joined Burgoyne in such numbers
+as to persuade him that a majority of the inhabitants were for the king.
+The information they gave, proved of vital consequence in determining
+Burgoyne's operations in the near future.
+
+Two routes were now open to Burgoyne. Contrary to sound judgment, he
+decided on marching to Fort Edward, by way of Fort Anne, instead of
+going back to Ticonderoga, making that his _depot_, and proceeding
+thence up Lake George to Fort Edward and the Hudson. Unquestionably, the
+latter route would have taken him to Albany, by the time he actually
+reached Fort Edward, and in much better condition to fight.
+
+Burgoyne had said he was afraid that going back to Ticonderoga would
+dispirit his soldiers. It could have been done in half the time required
+for bringing the supplies up to it at Skenesborough, to say nothing of
+the long and fatiguing marches saved by water carriage across Lake
+George.
+
+Be that as it may, from the moment Burgoyne decided in favor of the Fort
+Anne route, that moment the possession of Fort Anne became a necessity
+to him. Had he first attacked it with fifteen hundred men, instead of
+five hundred, he would have taken it; but even if he had occupied it
+after the fight of the eighth, the Americans would have been prevented
+from blocking his way, as they subsequently did with so much effect. In
+Burgoyne's case, delays were most dangerous. It seems only too plain,
+that he was the sort of general who would rather commit two errors than
+retract one.
+
+Let us see what Burgoyne's chosen route offered of advantage or
+disadvantage. The distance by it to Fort Edward is only twenty-six
+miles. By a good road, in easy marches, an army should be there in two
+days; in an exigency, in one. It was mostly a wilderness country,
+and, though generally level, much of it was a bog, which could only be
+made passable by laying down a corduroy road. There were miles of such
+road to be repaired or built before wagons or artillery could be dragged
+over it. Indeed, a worse country to march through can hardly be
+imagined. On the other hand, of this twenty-six miles, Wood Creek, a
+tributary of Lake Champlain, afforded boat navigation for nine or ten,
+or as far as Fort Anne, for the artillery, stores, and baggage.
+
+[Illustration: OLD FORT EDWARD.
+
+A, Magazine. B, Barracks. C, Storehouse. D, Hospital.]
+
+But while Burgoyne was getting his scattered forces again in hand, and
+was bringing everything up the lake to Skenesborough, the garrison of
+Fort Edward had been spreading themselves out over the road he meant to
+take, and were putting every obstacle in his way that ingenuity could
+devise or experience suggest. Hundreds of trees were felled across the
+road. The navigation of Wood Creek was similarly interrupted. Those
+trees growing on its banks were dexterously dropped so as to interlock
+their branches in mid-stream. Farms were deserted. All the live-stock
+was driven out of reach, to the end that the country itself might offer
+the most effectual resistance to Burgoyne's march.
+
+Burgoyne could not move until his working parties had cleared the way,
+in whole or in part. From this cause alone, he was detained more than a
+week at Skenesborough. This delay was as precious to the Americans as it
+was vexatious to Burgoyne, since it gave them time to bring up
+reenforcements, form magazines, and prepare for the approaching
+struggle, while the enemy's difficulties multiplied with every mile he
+advanced.
+
+[Sidenote: July 25.]
+
+At length the British army left Skenesborough. It took two days to reach
+Fort Anne, and five to arrive at Fort Edward, where it halted to allow
+the heavy artillery, sent by way of Lake George, to join it; give time
+to bring up its supplies of food and ammunition, without which the army
+was helpless to move farther on; and, meanwhile, permit the general to
+put in execution a scheme by which he expected to get a supply of
+cattle, horses, carts, and forage, of all of which he was in pressing
+want.
+
+Still another body of savages joined Burgoyne at Fort Edward. Better for
+him had they staid in their native wilds, for he presently found himself
+equally powerless to control their thirst for blood, or greed for
+plunder.
+
+[Sidenote: July 21.]
+
+Not yet feeling himself strong enough to risk a battle, Schuyler decided
+to evacuate Fort Edward on the enemy's approach. He first called in to
+him the garrison at Fort George. Nixon's brigade, which had just been
+obstructing the road from Fort Anne, was also called back. All told,
+Schuyler now had only about four thousand men. With these he fell back;
+first, to Moses's Creek, then to Saratoga, then to Stillwater.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[29] FORT EDWARD, a link in the chain of forts extending between Canada
+and the Hudson,--first called Fort Lyman, for Colonel Phineas Lyman, who
+built it in 1755,--stood at the elbow of the Hudson, where the river
+turns west, after approaching within sixteen miles of Lake George, to
+which point there was a good military road. The fort itself was only a
+redoubt of timber and earth, surrounded by a stockade, and having a
+casern, or barrack, inside, capable of accommodating two hundred
+soldiers. It was an important military position, because this was the
+old portage, or carrying-place, from the Hudson to Lake George, though
+the fort was no great matter.
+
+
+
+
+VII.
+
+BEFORE BENNINGTON.
+
+
+[Sidenote: Frazer advances.]
+
+On the 9th of August, Frazer's corps moved down to Duer's house, seven
+miles from Fort Edward, and seven from Saratoga. This was done to cover
+the expedition Burgoyne had planned; first, to confirm the belief that
+he was about to fall on New England, and, next, for supplying his army
+with horses, cattle, carts, provisions, forage--everything, in short, of
+which he stood in want. Both objects would be gained at once, since fear
+of the first would make easy the second.
+
+[Sidenote: Real object of the Bennington raid.]
+
+Burgoyne ached to strike a blow at New England. The successes he had
+just met with tempted him on toward his wishes; yet he dared not go too
+far, because the king's orders forbade his turning aside from his main
+object, to march into New England, as he himself had asked for
+discretionary power to do, when laying his plan before the ministers.
+Still, as New England was to be the final object of the campaign,
+Burgoyne was impatient to set about humbling her in good earnest. Events
+were working so favorably for him, that he now saw his chance to go at
+least half way toward his desires. So the expedition to Bennington was
+certainly far from being the effect of any sudden decision on
+Burgoyne's part, or wholly due to the pressing want of supplies. It
+would, we think, have been undertaken in any event.
+
+On the other hand, the victualling of his army was the one obstacle to
+Burgoyne's advance to Albany. So long as every pound of bread and meat
+had to be brought from Quebec to Skenesborough, and from Skenesborough
+to his camp, the farther the army marched, the greater the difficulty of
+feeding it became. It was now living from hand to mouth, so to speak.
+Nobody but Tories would sell it a pound of beef or an ear of corn. What
+gold could not buy, Burgoyne determined to take by force. If enough
+could be gleaned, in this way, from the country round, he could march
+on; if not, he must halt where he was, until sufficient could be brought
+up over a road every day growing longer and more dangerous. Burgoyne
+would never submit to the last alternative without trying the first.
+
+For the moment then, the problem, how to feed his army so as to put it
+in motion with the least possible delay, was all-important with General
+Burgoyne. The oldest, and most populous, of the Vermont settlements lay
+within striking distance on his left. He knew that rebel flour was
+stored in Bennington. He had been told that half the farmers were loyal
+at heart, and that the other half would never wait for the coming of
+British veterans. Burgoyne was puffed up with the notion that he was
+going to conjure the demon of rebellion with the magic of his name.
+Already he saw himself not only a conqueror, but lawgiver to the
+conquered. On the whole, the plan seemed easy of accomplishment.
+Burgoyne was like a man starving in the midst of plenty. Supplies he
+must have. If they could be wrung from the enemy, so much the better.
+
+An expedition chiefly designed to rob barnyards, corn-cribs, and
+henroosts promised little glory to those engaged in it. This may have
+been the reason why Burgoyne chose to employ his Germans, who were
+always excellent foragers, rather than his British soldiers. Perhaps he
+thought the Germans would inspire most fear. Be that as it may, never
+did a general make a more costly mistake.[30]
+
+[Sidenote: Baum marches for Bennington.]
+
+The command was given to Colonel Baum, who, with about a thousand
+Germans, Indians, Canadians, and refugee loyalists, started out from
+camp on his maraud, on the eleventh, halted at Batten-Kill on the
+twelfth, and reached Cambridge on the thirteenth. He was furnished with
+Tory guides, who knew the country well, and with instructions looking to
+a long absence from the army.
+
+Burgoyne then began manoeuvring so as to mask Baum's movements from
+Schuyler.
+
+[Sidenote: Frazer crosses the Hudson.]
+
+Frazer was marched down to Batten-Kill, with his own and Breyman's
+corps. Leaving Breyman here to support either Baum or himself, in case
+of need, Frazer crossed the Hudson on the fourteenth, and encamped on
+the heights of Saratoga that night. The rest of the army moved on to
+Duer's, the same day. By thus threatening Schuyler with an advance in
+force, of which Frazer's crossing was conclusive proof, Burgoyne
+supposed Baum would be left to plunder at his leisure, but he seems to
+have thought little of the opposition which Baum, on his side, might
+meet with from the settlers themselves; though this too was provided
+against in Baum's orders, and by posting Breyman on Baum's line of
+march.
+
+[Illustration: POSITION OF BELLIGERENTS BEFORE BENNINGTON.]
+
+If Baum succeeded to his wishes, Burgoyne meant to throw the whole army
+across the Hudson immediately. Already Frazer was intrenching at
+Saratoga, with the view of protecting the crossing. Having now so placed
+his troops as to take instant advantage of Baum's success, of which he
+felt no manner of doubt, Burgoyne could only sit still till Baum should
+be heard from.
+
+Meanwhile, the New England militia were flocking to Manchester in
+squads, companies, or regiments. Washington had said they were the best
+yeomanry in the world, and they were about to prove their right to this
+title more decisively than ever. Ministers dismissed their congregations
+with the exhortation, "He that hath no sword, let him sell his garment,
+and buy one." Some clergymen even took a musket and went into the ranks.
+Apathy and the numbness that succeeds defeat were dissipated by these
+appeals and these examples.
+
+It was Washington's policy to keep a force on Burgoyne's flank, which
+might be used to break up his communications, cut off his provision
+trains, or otherwise so harass him as to delay his march. In General
+Lincoln[31] he found an officer, at once capable and brave, who had the
+confidence of the New England people. Lincoln was, therefore, sent to
+take command of the militia now mustering at Manchester.
+
+At the same time, New Hampshire called upon the veteran Stark[32] to
+lead her forces into the field. Stark had left the army in disgust,
+because Congress had promoted other officers over his head, not more
+worthy than himself. He was still smarting under the sense of wrong,
+when this command was offered him. He was like Achilles, sulking in his
+tent.
+
+Stark said that he asked nothing better than to fight, but insisted that
+he would do so only upon condition that the State troops should be
+exclusively under his orders. To agree to this would be practically an
+exercise of State sovereignty. But time pressed, Stark's name was a host
+in itself: it was thought best to give his wounded vanity this sop; for,
+by general consent, he was the only man for the crisis.
+
+[Sidenote: Aug. 6.]
+
+Lincoln found six hundred men assembled at Manchester, most of whom
+belonged to Stark's brigade. On the seventh, Stark himself arrived with
+eight hundred more. By Schuyler's order, Lincoln desired Stark to march
+them to the main army at once. Stark replied that, being in an
+independent command, he would take orders from nobody as to how or where
+he should move his troops.
+
+Though plainly subversive of all military rules, Stark's obstinacy
+proved Burgoyne's destruction; for if Schuyler had prevailed, there
+would never have been a battle of Bennington.
+
+Though undoubtedly perplexed by the situation in which he found himself
+placed, of antagonism to the regularly constituted military authority of
+the nation, Stark's future operations show excellent military judgment
+on his part. He was not going to abandon Schuyler, or leave Vermont
+uncovered; still less was he disposed to throw away the chance of
+striking Burgoyne by hanging on his flank, and of thus achieving
+something on his own account. Stark's sagacity was soon justified to the
+world.
+
+[Sidenote: Aug. 9.]
+
+He determined to march with part of his force to Bennington, twenty-five
+miles south of Manchester, and about the same distance from Stillwater.
+In this position he would easily be able to carry out either of the
+objects he had in view, assist Schuyler, cover Bennington, or get in a
+telling blow somewhere, when least expected.
+
+Burgoyne's expectation of surprising Bennington was thus completely
+frustrated.
+
+[Sidenote: Aug. 14.]
+
+Baum learned at Cambridge that the Americans were at Bennington, to the
+number of eighteen hundred. He immediately wrote Burgoyne to this
+effect. On the next day, he marched to Sancoic, a mill-stream falling
+into the Walloomsac River in North Hoosac, and after again writing
+Burgoyne, confirming the account he had previously sent about the force
+in his front, moved on toward Bennington, under the impression that the
+Americans would not wait to be attacked.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[30] A COSTLY MISTAKE to give the command to an officer who could not
+speak English; still another, to intrust an expedition in which celerity
+of movement was all-important, to soldiers loaded down with their
+equipments, as the Germans were, instead of to light troops. Colonel
+Skene went with Baum. See note 4, p. 18.
+
+[31] GENERAL BENJAMIN LINCOLN, born at Hingham, Mass., 1733. Made a
+major-general, February, 1777. Joined Schuyler, July 29, at Fort Miller,
+while our army was retreating; sent thence to Manchester. One of those
+captains who, while seldom successful, are yet considered brave and
+skilful commanders.
+
+[32] GENERAL JOHN STARK, born at Londonderry, N.H., 1728, had seen more
+active service than most officers of his time. He had fought with
+Abercromby at Ticonderoga, against Howe at Bunker Hill, and with
+Washington at Trenton. Notwithstanding this, he was passed over in
+making promotions, perhaps because he had less education than some
+others, who lacked his natural capacity for a military life. Congress
+first censured him for insubordination, and then voted him thanks, and
+promotion to a brigadiership for his victory over Baum.
+
+
+
+
+VIII.
+
+BATTLE OF BENNINGTON.[33]
+
+
+Burgoyne's movements convinced Schuyler that he would shortly be
+attacked by the whole British army, as Burgoyne had intended and
+foreseen. Schuyler therefore again urged Stark to come to his assistance
+without more delay, if he would not have the burden of defeat lie at his
+own door. This appeal took present effect.
+
+Nothing happened till the thirteenth. Meantime, Stark had decided to go
+to Schuyler's assistance. His brigade was under arms, ready to march,
+when a woman rode up in haste with the news that hostile Indians were
+running up and down the next town, spreading terror in their path. She
+had come herself, because the road was no longer safe for men to travel
+it. Stark quickly ordered out two hundred men to stop the supposed
+marauders, and gain further intelligence.
+
+This detachment soon sent back word that the Indians were only clearing
+the way for a larger force, which was marching toward Bennington. Swift
+couriers were instantly despatched to Manchester, to hurry forward the
+troops there to Stark's aid.
+
+[Sidenote: Aug. 14.]
+
+The next day Stark moved out toward the enemy, in order to look for his
+detachment. He soon fell in with it, fighting in retreat, with the enemy
+following close behind. Stark halted, formed his line, and gathered in
+his scouts. This defiance brought the enemy to a stand also.
+
+Seeing before him a force as strong as, or stronger than, his own, Baum
+was now looking about him for ground suitable to receive an attack upon;
+making one himself was farthest from his thoughts, as Burgoyne had given
+him express orders not to risk an engagement, if opposed by a superior
+force, but to intrench, and send back for help at once. This was
+precisely Baum's present situation. He therefore lost no time in sending
+a courier to headquarters.
+
+On his part, Stark did not wish to fight till Warner could come up, or
+delay fighting long enough for the enemy to be reenforced. Baum's
+evident desire to avoid an action made Stark all the more anxious to
+attack him, and he resolved to do so not later than the next morning, by
+which time he confidently reckoned on having Warner's regiment with him.
+Though small, it had fought bravely at Hubbardton, and Stark felt that
+his raw militia would be greatly strengthened by the presence of such
+veterans among them.
+
+[Sidenote: Aug. 15.]
+
+Rain frustrated Stark's plan for attacking the next day, so there was
+only a little skirmishing, in which the Americans had the advantage.
+Baum improved the delay by throwing up a redoubt of logs and earth on a
+rather high, flat-topped hill, rising behind the little Walloomsac
+River. In this he placed his two field-pieces. His Canadians and
+loyalists took up a position across and lower down the stream, in his
+front, the better to cover the road by which his reenforcements must
+come, or the Americans attempt to cut off his retreat. These
+dispositions were all that time, the size of his force, and the nature
+of the ground, would permit.
+
+[Illustration: BATTLE OF BENNINGTON.
+
+August 16, 1777.]
+
+Rain also kept back the reenforcements that each side was so impatiently
+expecting. Stark chafed at the delay, Baum grew more hopeful of holding
+out until help could reach him. Burgoyne had, indeed, despatched Breyman
+to Baum's assistance at eight o'clock in the morning, with eight hundred
+and fifty men and two guns. This corps was toiling on, through mud and
+rain, at the rate of only a mile an hour, when an hour, more or less,
+was to decide the fate of the expedition itself. The fatigue was so
+great, that when urged on to the relief of their comrades, the weary
+Germans would grumble out, "Oh, let us give them time to get warm!"
+
+Warner's regiment could not leave Manchester till the morning of the
+fifteenth, but by marching till midnight, it was near Bennington on the
+morning of the sixteenth. Breyman put so little energy into his
+movements that he was nowhere near Baum at that hour. Stark, however,
+was strengthened by the arrival of several hundred militia from
+Massachusetts, who came full of fight, and demanding to be led against
+the enemy without delay. Stark's reply was characteristic: "Do you want
+to go out now, while it is dark and rainy?" he asked. "No," the
+spokesman rejoined. "Then," continued Stark, "if the Lord should give us
+sunshine once more, and I do not give you fighting enough, I will never
+ask you to turn out again."
+
+[Sidenote: Aug. 16.]
+
+The day broke clear and pleasant. Both parties prepared for the coming
+battle. Stark had the most men, but Baum the advantage of fighting
+behind intrenchments, and of having artillery, while Stark had none.
+
+At midday, Stark formed his men for the attack. All were yeomanry, in
+homespun, rudely equipped with pouches and powder-horns, and armed with
+the old brown firelocks, without bayonets, they had brought from their
+homes. Some had served in the preceding campaign, but not one in fifty
+had ever fired a shot in anger; while many were mere lads, in whom
+enthusiasm for their leader and cause supplied the want of experience.
+The work now required of them was such as only veterans were thought
+capable of doing. They were to storm intrenchments, defended by the
+trained soldiers of Europe; yet not a man flinched when Stark, with a
+soldier's bluntness and fire, pointed his sword toward the enemy's
+redoubt and exclaimed, "There, my lads, are the Hessians! To-night our
+flag floats over yonder hill, or Molly Stark is a widow!"
+
+His men answered with loud cheers, grasped their weapons, and demanded
+to be led against the enemy. Stark then gave the wished-for order to
+march.
+
+Meanwhile, dismay reigned in Bennington. Every man who could load a
+musket had gone out to fight with Stark. Their household goods had been
+loaded upon wagons, ready to move off in case the day went against them.
+Their wives and little ones stood hand in hand along the village street,
+throughout that long summer afternoon, listening to the peal of cannon
+and musketry, in fear for those who had gone forth to the battle, and
+expecting the moment that was to make them homeless wanderers.
+
+The story of the battle is soon told. Stark so divided his force as to
+attack the enemy in front, flank, and rear, at once. The nature of the
+ground was such as to hide the march of the several detachments from
+Baum's view, but he had no other idea than to keep close in his
+intrenchments.
+
+At three in the afternoon, firing began in Baum's rear. This was the
+signal that the several attacking columns had reached their allotted
+stations. All the Americans then rushed on to the assault. Baum found
+himself everywhere assailed with unlooked-for vigor. Never had he
+expected to see raw rustics charging up to the muzzles of his guns. In
+vain he plied them with grape and musketry. The encircling line grew
+tighter and tighter; the fire, hotter and hotter. For an hour he
+defended himself valiantly, hoping for night or Breyman to come. At last
+his fire slackened. The Americans clambered over the breastworks, and
+poured into the redoubt. For a few moments there was sharp hand-to-hand
+fighting. The Germans threw down their muskets, drew their broadswords,
+and desperately attempted to cut their way out. Most of them were
+beaten back or taken. A few only escaped. The Tories and Canadians
+fared no better. The victory was complete and decisive.
+
+Now, at the eleventh hour, Breyman was marching on the field to the
+sound of the firing. He had taken thirty-two hours to get over
+twenty-four miles. Supposing the day won, Stark's men were scattered
+about in disorder. Not even Stark himself seems to have thought of a
+rescuing force. Some were guarding the prisoners, some caring for the
+wounded, and some gathering up the booty. All had yielded to the
+demoralization of victory, or to the temptation to plunder. Most
+opportunely, Warner's men now came fresh into the fight. This gallant
+little band flung itself boldly in the path of the advancing foe, thus
+giving Stark the time to rally those nearest him, and lead them into
+action again.
+
+At first Breyman gained ground. With steady tread his veterans fired and
+moved on, pushing the Americans back, toward the scene of the first
+encounter; but Baum was no longer there to assist, the scattered
+militiamen were fast closing in round Breyman's flanks, and Stark had
+now brought one of Baum's cannon to bear, with destructive effect, upon
+the head of the enemy's advancing column.
+
+In no long time the deadly fire, poured in on all sides, began to tell
+upon Breyman's solid battalions. Our marksmen harassed his flanks. His
+front was hard pressed, and there were no signs of Baum. Enraged by the
+thought of having victory torn from their grasp, the Americans gave
+ground foot by foot, and inch by inch. At last the combatants were
+firing in each other's faces; so close was the encounter, so deadly the
+strife, that Breyman's men were falling round him by scores, under the
+close and accurate aim of their assailants. Darkness was closing in. His
+artillery horses were shot down in their traces, his flanks driven in,
+his advance stopped.
+
+As soon as they perceived their advantage, the Americans redoubled their
+efforts. The firing grew tremendous. It was now Breyman who was forced
+back. Soon all order was lost. Favored by the darkness, he began a
+disorderly retreat. In an instant his guns were taken. Exhausted by
+fighting two battles in one afternoon, no longer able in the darkness to
+tell friend from foe, the Americans soon gave over the pursuit. But, for
+the second time, they stood victors on the hard-fought field. All felt
+it to be a narrow escape from defeat, for if Breyman had loitered by the
+way, he had fought like a lion in the toils of the hunter.
+
+Thus Washington's sagacity had been vindicated, Stark's insubordination
+nobly atoned for, Schuyler's worst fears set at rest, by the fortunes of
+a single day.
+
+Four cannon, one thousand stand of arms, and seven hundred prisoners,
+were the trophies of this victory. The enemy left two hundred of his
+dead on the field. Baum's corps was virtually destroyed, Breyman's badly
+cut up, Burgoyne's well-laid plans scattered to the winds.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[33] BATTLE OF BENNINGTON. Both actions actually occurred in the town of
+Hoosic, N.Y. (we cannot be held responsible for the absurd variations in
+spelling this name), though the troops were formed for the attack within
+the limits of Bennington, and Stark's despatch announcing his victory is
+dated at this place. A battle monument, designed to be three hundred and
+one feet high, is now being built on a commanding site at Bennington
+Centre, which is the old village. No more beautiful spot than this
+hill-environed valley, overlooked by Mount Anthony, could possibly
+commemorate to future centuries one of the decisive conflicts of the War
+for Independence.
+
+
+
+
+IX.
+
+AFTER BENNINGTON.
+
+
+Stark had, indeed, dealt Burgoyne a stunning blow. In a moment all his
+combinations were overthrown. Efforts were made to keep the disaster a
+secret from the army, but the movements made in consequence of it told
+the story but too plainly.
+
+[Sidenote: Aug. 17.]
+
+In the first place, the whole army was hurried up to Batten-Kill in
+order to cover Breyman's and Frazer's retreat,[34] for Frazer had been
+ordered to recross the Hudson at once. Frazer's position was most
+critical; his bridge had been broken by a freshet, and for one whole day
+he was cut off from the main army.
+
+[Sidenote: Aug. 18.]
+
+As soon as Breyman's worn-out men had straggled into camp, Burgoyne's
+fell back to Duer's again. Meantime, Frazer had repaired his bridge and
+hastily recrossed the Hudson. Riedesel's corps was sent back to Fort
+Edward. The whole army had thus made a retrograde movement in
+consequence of the defeat at Bennington, and now lay in _echelon_[35]
+from Fort Edward to Batten-Kill, in the camps it had occupied before the
+advance was begun; it had retreated upon its communications; it was put
+on the defensive.
+
+Burgoyne had now no choice left but to hold fast his communication with
+the lakes, and these could not be called safe while a victorious enemy
+was threatening his flank. From this time forward, he grew wary and
+circumspect. His councils began to be divided. The prestige of the army
+was lowered, confidence in its leaders visibly shaken. Even the soldiers
+began to grumble, criticise, and reflect. Burgoyne's vain boast that
+this army would not retreat, no longer met the conditions in which it
+stood. It had retreated.
+
+As if to prove the truth of the adage that misfortunes never come
+singly, most of Burgoyne's Indians now deserted him. So far from
+intimidating, their atrocities had served to arouse the Americans as
+nothing else could. As soldiers, they had usually run away at the first
+fire. As scouts, their minds were wholly fixed upon plundering. Burgoyne
+had sharply rebuked them for it. Ever sullen and intractable under
+restraint, their answer was at least explicit, "No plunder, no Indians;"
+and they were as good as their word.
+
+We find, then, that the battle of Bennington had cost Burgoyne not far
+from two thousand men, whether soldiers or Indians. More than this, it
+had thrown him back upon his second alternative, which, we remember, was
+to halt until supplies could be brought from Canada. This was easily
+equivalent to a month's delay. Thirty days of inaction were thus forced
+upon Burgoyne at a time when every one of them was worth five hundred
+men to the Americans. Such were some of the substantial results of the
+victory at Bennington.
+
+To the Americans, the moral and material gains were no less striking or
+important. At once confidence was restored. Men no longer hesitated to
+turn out, or feared for the result. A most hopeful sign was the alacrity
+with which the well-to-do farmers went into the ranks. There was general
+appreciation of the fact that Burgoyne had seriously compromised himself
+by advancing as far as he had; in short, the re-action was quite as
+decisive as that which had followed the victory at Trenton.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[34] BREYMAN'S RETREAT. The express from Baum arrived at headquarters at
+5 A.M. of the fifteenth. Orders were immediately given Breyman to march.
+News of Baum's defeat reached Burgoyne during the night of the
+sixteenth. The 20th regiment, British, was immediately marched to
+Breyman's support. Burgoyne's anxiety was so great, that he followed it
+until Breyman's corps was met on the road.
+
+[35] ECHELON, the French word for step-ladder, by adoption a universal
+military term, well describes the posting of troops, belonging to one
+army, at stated intervals apart, so as to be moved forward or backward
+step by step, always keeping the same relative distances between the
+separate bodies. In marking out such positions on the map, the columns
+would look like the rounds of a ladder, hence the term.
+
+
+
+
+X.
+
+ST. LEGER'S EXPEDITION.
+
+
+Burgoyne's hopes now chiefly turned upon the promised cooeperation of St.
+Leger from Oswego, and of Sir William Howe from New York.
+
+[Sidenote: Refer to "Plan of Campaign."]
+
+Convinced that the enemy would shortly invade the Mohawk Valley,
+Schuyler had sent Colonel Gansevoort[36] to put Fort Stanwix,[37] the
+key to this valley, in a state of defence, before it should be attacked.
+
+[Illustration: ST. LEGER'S ROUTE TO FORT STANWIX.]
+
+St. Leger's force was the counterpart of Burgoyne's, in that it
+consisted of regular troops, loyalists, and Indians. Many of the
+loyalists, and most of the Indians, had lived in this valley, so that
+St. Leger had no want of guides, who knew every foot of ground, or of
+spies acquainted with the sentiments of every settler.
+
+[Sidenote: Aug. 3.]
+
+A scanty supply of provisions had just been brought into the fort when
+St. Leger's scouts opened fire upon it. The garrison shut the gates and
+returned the fire. Instead of finding Fort Stanwix defenceless, St.
+Leger was compelled to lay siege to it.
+
+The news of St. Leger's appearance in the valley roused the settlers in
+arms. Near a thousand men, all brave, but without discipline, promptly
+marched, under General Herkimer,[38] to the relief of Fort Stanwix.
+Gansevoort was notified, and was to aid the movement by making a sortie
+from the fort, at the proper moment.
+
+St. Leger's spies soon discovered Herkimer's men coming. All the
+rangers, and most of the Indians, went out to waylay them in the thick
+forests. Not far from Oriskany, Brant,[39] the Mohawk chief, and
+Johnson,[40] the loyalist leader, hid their men in a ravine, through
+which the Americans would have to pass, in a thin line, over a causeway
+of logs.
+
+[Sidenote: Aug. 6.]
+
+Meantime, the Americans were heedlessly pressing on, without order, to
+the rescue of their comrades. In their impatience, even ordinary
+precautions were neglected. When the van entered the ravine, a terrible
+fire mowed down the front ranks by scores; those in the rear fled in a
+panic from the field. It was downright butchery.
+
+After the firing had continued some time, those Americans whom panic had
+not seized, threw themselves into a posture of defence, and resolved to
+sell their lives dearly. Herkimer, their leader, had been struck down by
+a bullet, among the first; but, notwithstanding his wound was a
+disabling one, he continued to direct his men, and encourage them by his
+firm demeanor to fight on. In the face of overwhelming odds they
+gallantly stood their ground, until the enemy was alarmed by hearing
+firing in its rear, and drew off, leaving Herkimer's little band of
+heroes to retire unmolested from the field.
+
+The firing had been heard at Fort Stanwix, and the cause easily guessed.
+While the battle was raging at Oriskany, the garrison of the fort
+sallied out upon the besiegers' camps. They met with little opposition,
+as most of the defenders had gone out to fight Herkimer. The firing,
+however, had called off the savages from Herkimer, to the defence of
+their own camps. The sortie was gallantly made, and entirely successful;
+but the attack on Herkimer rendered it of so little avail, that the
+battle of Oriskany left Gansevoort hardly better off than before.
+
+Two hundred of Herkimer's men were killed. He, too, soon died of his
+wounds.
+
+Though this attempt to relieve Fort Stanwix had so signally failed,
+Schuyler was much too sensible of the importance of holding it, not to
+make another effort to raise the siege. He could ill afford to spare the
+troops necessary for the undertaking, since Burgoyne was now
+manoeuvring in his front; but the gravity of the situation could not
+be overlooked. He therefore sent Arnold, with Learned's brigade, to
+retrieve Herkimer's disaster in the valley.
+
+[Sidenote: Aug. 22.]
+
+Gansevoort was still holding out against St. Leger as stubbornly as
+ever. His situation was, however, growing desperate, when, one day,
+without apparent cause, the besiegers suddenly decamped in headlong
+haste, leaving their tents standing, their baggage in their tents, and
+their artillery in the trenches.
+
+This inglorious and unlooked-for flight was brought about by emissaries
+from Arnold, who spread the report among St. Leger's Indians, that the
+Americans were coming with forces as numerous as leaves on the trees.
+Arnold, whom no one will accuse of want of courage, was really undecided
+about advancing farther with his small force. His stratagem, however,
+took effect. Grown weary of the siege, the Indians now made no scruple
+of deserting their allies on the spot. In vain St. Leger stormed and
+entreated by turns; stay they would not. He therefore had no choice but
+to follow them, in mortification and disgust, back to Oswego. In the
+belief that Arnold was close upon them, everything was left behind that
+could impede the march. The siege was abandoned in disgrace, and Fort
+Stanwix saved by a simple stratagem.
+
+[Sidenote: Aug. 28.]
+
+Six days later, Burgoyne was informed of St. Leger's retreat. He had now
+no other resource than in the promised advance up the Hudson, and in the
+strength of his artillery. By acting in detachments, his immediate force
+had been so seriously weakened that a forward movement on his part,
+without full assurance of active support from New York, savored far
+more of recklessness than sound military judgment.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[36] COLONEL PETER GANSEVOORT, born at Albany, 1749, had fought with
+Montgomery at Quebec.
+
+[37] FORT STANWIX, also called Schuyler, built by General Stanwix of
+Abercromby's army in 1758.
+
+[38] GENERAL NICHOLAS HERKIMER, a leading settler of the Mohawk Valley.
+
+[39] JOSEPH BRANT, or Thayandanega, sometime pupil of Dr. Wheelock's
+school (since Dartmouth College), was by all odds the most active,
+intelligent, and implacable enemy to the Americans that the war produced
+among his people. With Johnson, he held most of the Six Nations at
+enmity with us during the Revolution. (See Note 5.)
+
+[40] SIR JOHN JOHNSON was the son of Sir William, who gained wealth and
+a title by his victory over Dieskau at Lake George, 1755. He was also
+the king's superintendent over the Six Nations, and had his residence at
+Caughnawaga, since called Johnstown in his honor. Sir John succeeded to
+his father's title and estates. He took sides with the Royalists, raised
+a body of Tory followers, and with them fled to Canada. Out of these
+refugees, he raised a corps of rangers called Royal Greens, with whom he
+joined St. Leger, in the hope of crushing out his enemies in the valley.
+
+
+
+
+XI.
+
+OUR ARMY ADVANCES.
+
+
+[Sidenote: Refer to Chapter V., "Facing Disaster."]
+
+[Sidenote: Aug. 4.]
+
+We remember that the united voice of the army and people had demanded
+the recall of those generals whose want of foresight or energy, or both,
+had caused the disasters with which the campaign had opened. Congress
+chose General Gates[41] to command in room of Schuyler, who, with St.
+Clair, was ordered to report at headquarters. With the methods of travel
+then in use, Gates was nearly two weeks in getting from Philadelphia to
+Albany. This fact will sufficiently illustrate the difficulties which
+attended the movement of reenforcements from one army to another, before
+the day of railways and steamboats.
+
+All that lay in the power of man to do, Washington had done for the
+Northern army. Though fronting an enemy greatly superior to himself, he
+had still found time to so direct operations in the North, that his hand
+may almost be said to have guided the course of events in that quarter.
+He had soothed Schuyler's wounded self-love, commended his efforts,
+strengthened his hands in the field, and nobly stood between him and his
+detractors in Congress. When Congress had suspended all the generals of
+the Northern army from command, it was Washington who interposed to
+save them and the army from the consequences of such blindness and
+folly. To Schuyler he had said, "Burgoyne is doing just what we could
+wish; let him but continue to scatter his army about, and his ruin is
+only a question of time." Schuyler urgently called for more troops.
+Brigade after brigade had gone from Washington's own army to swell
+Schuyler's ranks. "I care not where the victory is won, so we do but
+gain it," Washington said. Schuyler again pleaded his want of general
+officers. Washington sent him Arnold, the dare-devil of the army, and
+Lincoln, a man of sound head, steady hand, and even temper, as a
+counterpoise to Arnold's over-confident and impetuous nature. Thanks to
+these efforts, we had created a new army on the ruins of the old.
+
+Schuyler's deportment toward the Massachusetts authorities at this time
+was neither conciliatory nor conducive to the interests of the service.
+He knew their feelings of distrust toward him, and in making application
+to them for reenforcements showed his resentment in a way that called
+forth an acrimonious response. He upbraided them for their shortcomings;
+they entreated him to look nearer home. Thus we find General Schuyler
+and the Massachusetts Council engaged in an exchange of sarcasms at a
+time when the exigency called for something besides a war of words
+between the commander of an army and the executive head of a powerful
+State.
+
+[Sidenote: Aug. 19.]
+
+Gates took command just after the Battle of Bennington was won. He
+found the army in much disorder, but pleased with the change of
+commanders. Gates was a thorough disciplinarian and organizer. In his
+hands, the efficiency of the army daily increased. Old jealousies were
+silenced, and confidence restored. Letters from the soldiers show the
+change in temper and spirit to have been instant and marked. One of them
+says, "When we came to Albany, things looked very dark for our side, for
+there were officers in town who had left camp, and would not go back as
+long as Schuyler had the command. Both officers and soldiers were
+determined not to fight under him, and would tell him so to his head.
+But General Gates came to town, and then the tune was turned, and every
+face showed a merry heart."
+
+The hostile armies now lay, quietly gathering up their strength for the
+decisive struggle, within sound of each other's evening guns.
+
+[Sidenote: Sept. 9.]
+
+Gates was the first to act. Having been joined by Morgan's rifle
+corps,[42] and by large numbers of militia, the whole army now moved up
+to Stillwater, within a dozen miles of the enemy, who still remained
+intrenched behind the Batten-Kill. This movement put new life into our
+soldiers, and was not without its effect upon the enemy, whose spirit
+was aroused at finding the antagonist it had been pursuing suddenly
+become the aggressor. The Americans had a well-served though not
+numerous artillery, but the presence of Morgan's corps more than made
+good any deficiency in this respect. The great drawback to the
+efficiency of the army was the want of cordiality between Gates and
+Arnold. The breach between them was daily widening that was presently to
+become an impassable gulf.
+
+Gates purposed taking up a strong position, and awaiting Burgoyne's
+attack behind his intrenchments. Either Burgoyne must risk an assault,
+under conditions most favorable to the Americans, or retire discomfited
+under conditions highly unfavorable to a successful retreat.
+
+The country between Saratoga and Stillwater, covered with woods and
+intersected by ravines, was wholly unsuited to the free movement of
+troops. All the shore of the Hudson is high ground, rising to a nearly
+uniform level next the river, but gradually ascending, as the river is
+left, to the summit of the streams falling into it. Long slopes or
+terraces are thus formed, furrowed here and there by the ravines, which
+serve to drain off the water from above into the river below. Puny
+rivulets where they begin, these watercourses cut deeper as they run on,
+until, at the river, they become impassable gulches. The old military
+road skirts the foot of the heights, which sometimes abut closely upon
+the river, and sometimes draw back far enough to leave a strip of meadow
+between it and them.
+
+[Sidenote: Sept. 12.]
+
+[Sidenote: Bemis' Heights.]
+
+Kosciusko,[43] Gates's engineer, chose the ground on which to receive
+Burgoyne's attack, at one of these places where the heights crowd upon
+the river, thus forming a narrow defile, which a handful of men could
+easily defend against an army. At this place the house of a settler
+named Bemis stood by the roadside. Our army filed off the road here, to
+the left, scaled the heights, and encamped along a ridge of land,
+running west as far as some high, rough, and woody ground, which formed
+the summit.
+
+[Sidenote: Freeman's Farm.]
+
+[Sidenote: Sept. 13.]
+
+Except two or three clearings, all the ground in Gates's front was
+thickly wooded. One settler, called Freeman, had cleared and planted
+quite a large field in front of the American centre and left, though at
+some distance beyond, and hid from view by intervening woods. This field
+of Freeman's was one of the few spots of ground lying between the two
+armies, on which troops could be manoeuvred or artillery used with
+advantage. The farm-house stood at the upper edge of it, at a distance
+of a mile back from the river. Our pickets immediately took post there,
+as no one could enter the clearing without being seen from the house.
+Accident has thus made this spot of ground, Freeman's Farm,[44] famous.
+The Americans were at work like beavers, strengthening their line with
+redoubts, felled trees, and batteries, when the enemy was discovered
+marching against them.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[41] GENERAL GATES had resigned his command at Ticonderoga, rather than
+serve under Schuyler. There was no good feeling between them.
+
+[42] MORGAN'S RIFLEMEN was the most celebrated corps of the Continental
+Army. The men were unerring marksmen, and on that account greatly feared
+by the British. All were expert woodsmen, devoted to their leader, who
+held them under strict discipline.
+
+[43] THADDEUS KOSCIUSKO came to this country to offer his services to
+Congress. "What can you do?" asked Washington. "Try me," was the laconic
+reply. In course of time, he was sent to Schuyler as engineer of his
+army.
+
+[44] FREEMAN'S HOUSE was made use of by Burgoyne, during the battle of
+September 9, as his headquarters. After this battle it was included
+within the British lines.
+
+
+
+
+XII.
+
+BATTLE OF BEMIS' HEIGHTS.[45]
+
+(_September 19, 1777._)
+
+
+Burgoyne, at Batten-Kill, had only a choice of evils to make. Either he
+could save his army by retreating to Fort Edward, and thus give up all
+hope of seeing the ends of the campaign fulfilled, or he might still
+make a bold push for Albany, and so put everything at the hazard of
+battle.
+
+But to fall back when he had promised to go forward, when the doing so
+meant ruin to his reputation, and possibly to the cause of his king, was
+not only a bitter alternative, but a responsibility heavier than he was
+prepared to take.
+
+On the other hand, should he now cross the Hudson, with intent to bring
+on a decisive battle,--and his crossing meant just this,--Burgoyne knew
+that he must drop his communications with Canada, because he could not
+afford the guards necessary to keep them open. Already he had been
+weakened by the loss of more than fifteen hundred men, without counting
+the Indians who had so basely deserted him; St. Leger had failed him in
+his utmost need. On his left, the Americans were watching their chance
+to strike a blow in his rear. Burgoyne therefore felt that, from the
+moment he should put the Hudson between his army and its only way of
+retreat, all must be staked on the doubtful issue of battle. He decided
+to make the gambler's last throw.
+
+Burgoyne himself has said that his orders left him no choice but to go
+on. It is evident he construed them to his own wishes. He still believed
+his six thousand excellent soldiers, with their superb artillery, would
+prove themselves more than a match for twice their own number of
+undisciplined yeomanry. He would not admit even the possibility of
+defeat. He felt confident of beating Gates with ease.
+
+In choosing to fight, rather than retreat, Burgoyne, perhaps, acted from
+the impulse of a brave nature, rather than the promptings of his sober
+judgment, as he was bound to do; since he had known for some time that
+Sir William Howe had gone to Pennsylvania, without making any definite
+preparations to come to his assistance. Notwithstanding this assurance,
+that a most important part of the plan of campaign had failed, through
+no fault of his, Burgoyne seems to have put his trust in the chapter of
+accidents, rather than remain inactive until it was certain he would be
+supported from New York. Not one solitary circumstance, except faith in
+the valor of his troops, favored a further advance at this time. But his
+gallant little army was ready to follow him, the enemy was within
+striking distance, and so Burgoyne marched on, bemoaning his ill luck,
+but with the pluck characteristic of the man.
+
+On the thirteenth the British army crossed the Hudson, by a bridge of
+boats, to Saratoga. Burgoyne took with him provisions for five weeks,
+which were loaded in bateaux and floated down the river as he advanced.
+As yet he knew comparatively nothing of what preparations the Americans
+were making to receive him, and but little about the country he was in.
+But he did know that the patriot army had at last faced about, and that
+was enough to rouse the spirit of his soldiers to the highest pitch.
+
+[Illustration: BURGOYNE'S ORDER OF BATTLE.
+
+19th September.
+
+[_Pen and ink sketch by a British officer._]
+
+A, The Line Formed. B, The Columns in March.]
+
+[Sidenote: Sept. 15.]
+
+On the fifteenth the British Army began its march southward in three
+divisions. The only road had to be given up to the baggage and
+artillery. To protect it, the left, or German division, marched along
+the meadows, next the river. The centre, or British division, kept the
+heights above; while Frazer's corps moved at some distance, on the right
+of it, with Breyman's following just behind in support. Two divisions
+were therefore marching on the heights, and one underneath them.
+
+[Sidenote: Sept. 17.]
+
+What with the delays caused by broken bridges on the road, bridging the
+ravines on the heights, or forcing a way through thick woods, which it
+was necessary always to reconnoitre with care,--the royal army could get
+over but six miles in two days. Being then near the enemy, a halt was
+made to prepare for battle.
+
+[Sidenote: Sept. 19.]
+
+On this day, Burgoyne continued his march in the same order as before,
+with skirmishers thrown out well in advance of each column. The centre,
+which he directed in person, would, in following the direction it was
+taking, very shortly find itself at Freeman's Farm.
+
+On his part, Gates had sent out Morgan's rifle corps to feel the enemy,
+in order to learn what they were doing or intending to do. Morgan had
+advanced as far as our outpost at Freeman's house, when the British
+skirmishers came out of the woods into the clearing. They were instantly
+fired upon and returned the fire. It was therefore here that the action
+of September 19 began.
+
+Morgan's hot fire soon drove the enemy back to cover again, with loss.
+Our riflemen dashed into the woods after them, got into disorder, and,
+before they were aware, fell upon the supporting battalions, by whom
+they were defeated and scattered, in their turn. This division then
+advanced into the clearing, from which by this time the Americans had
+decamped. Burgoyne thus gained the ground about Freeman's house, whence
+his pickets were first attacked and driven in.
+
+At this place, Burgoyne formed his line, facing towards the woods into
+which Morgan's men had retreated. He rightly judged the enemy to be
+there, though threats failed to extort any information from the
+prisoners he had taken. When Frazer told one of Morgan's captains he
+would hang him up to the nearest tree, unless he would point out the
+place where his comrades were posted, the man undauntedly replied, "You
+may, if you please."
+
+Knowing that Gates could not be attacked on his right, Burgoyne meant to
+make the trial on the left. If that wing could be turned, Gates would
+have to retreat from his works, or be driven into the river. This was
+all the simple plan of attack, but as yet, Burgoyne did not know where
+the American left was posted. The woods effectually masked the American
+position, and all was now quiet.
+
+Burgoyne now prepared to go forward again. From what had just taken
+place, he supposed the troops now with him would strike the American
+line first. It was therefore arranged that when he became fully engaged,
+Frazer was to charge the American flank, and crush it, making the centre
+division his pivot. With his right, Burgoyne meant to turn the American
+left.
+
+Burgoyne had with him four battalions of the line, and four guns. He
+would have brought more guns if more could have been used with effect in
+the woods, as he greatly relied upon this arm. Frazer had twenty
+companies of grenadiers and light infantry, the 24th British regiment,
+Breyman's Germans, and all the Canadians, loyalists, and Indians now
+left with the army; he also had four pieces of artillery. About four
+thousand men were thus in readiness to engage. The left wing was now in
+motion along the river road, under the heights, but was too far off to
+be of much use in reenforcing the right. It was, however, of service in
+preventing Gates from sending troops away from his right, to fight
+Burgoyne on the left.
+
+Though Burgoyne did not know the American position, which thick woods
+everywhere masked from his view, he had disclosed his own very clearly
+to Morgan, who sent an urgent request for reenforcements.
+
+Gates wished to receive the attack in his works, not make one himself.
+He therefore ordered only one or two battalions from his left to go to
+Morgan's assistance, and withstood the entreaties of his officers to be
+allowed to meet the enemy in the open field.
+
+At between two and three o'clock, as Burgoyne had just finished his
+dispositions for attacking, a heavy fire broke from the woods in
+Frazer's front. This came from Morgan and the troops sent to his
+support. Making no impression on Frazer, whose cannon held them in
+check, the assailants suddenly shifted their attack over to the left,
+where Burgoyne commanded in person. And thus it was that, instead of
+attacking, Burgoyne found himself assaulted; instead of turning Gates's
+left, his own was being assailed, with the purpose of separating the two
+wings of his army.
+
+On finding a battle actually in progress, Gates reenforced the troops
+who were fighting against odds, with driblets of a regiment at a time.
+Instead of going on the field himself, or letting Arnold go,[46] he
+pretended to believe that his own right was the real object of attack,
+and kept in his quarters. This day's battle was therefore fought wholly
+by his subordinates, against the British general-in-chief, seconded by
+his ablest lieutenants.
+
+Having found the enemy's left, the Americans chiefly turned their
+attention to that flank, as has just been said. The 62d British regiment
+was posted here with two guns. This flank was crushed, and its artillery
+silenced by a superior fire. Its defeat caused the whole British line
+to give way, leaving part of their artillery in our hands.
+
+[Illustration: FIRST BATTLE OF BEMIS' HEIGHTS.
+
+[_Pen and ink sketch by a British officer._]
+
+A, Americans Attacking. B, British Positions.]
+
+So far the battle had gone in our favor. Any demonstration from our
+right, upon the enemy's left, would, unquestionably, have rendered the
+victory complete. As nothing of the kind was attempted, the British were
+able to bring up reenforcements from that wing, without opposition, and
+the golden opportunity was lost.
+
+From the river road, Riedesel, by making a roundabout march, brought two
+of his regiments into action. Phillips hurried with four guns taken from
+the reserve artillery to the front. Frazer turned part of his force upon
+the American flank, thus relieving Burgoyne from the pressure laid upon
+him, and enabling him to form a second line. When this was done, the
+whole British force advanced again as far as their first position, while
+the Americans, for want of fresh troops to meet them, were compelled to
+fall back under cover of the woods again. The combat had now lasted four
+hours. Darkness put an end to it, nearly on the spot where it had begun.
+The British were indeed masters of the field; but instead of attacking,
+they had always been attacked, and instead of advancing, they had been
+everywhere stopped; their artillery alone had saved them from defeat.
+Our army lost three hundred and nineteen killed and wounded; the
+British, more than five hundred,--the difference being due to superior
+marksmanship. Our losses could easily be made good; the British could
+not. All the real advantages, therefore, were clearly on the side of the
+Americans.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[45] BATTLE OF BEMIS' HEIGHTS. Bemis' Heights formed part of the
+American position, but not of the battle-ground. Freeman's Farm would
+have been a more accurate designation. Stillwater locates it anywhere
+within a township of many miles in extent.
+
+[46] ARNOLD'S PART in this battle has been long a matter of dispute.
+Gates was jealous of him because he was the idol of his soldiers. Arnold
+had no high opinion of Gates. After Arnold turned traitor, every one
+seems to have thought it a duty to give him a kick. This feeling is
+unfortunately conspicuous in the only detailed account from the American
+side we have of this battle, which was written by Wilkinson, Gates's
+adjutant-general, and given to the world nearly forty years (1816)
+afterwards. Wilkinson seems to have fully shared his commander's likes
+and dislikes, and has treated Arnold shabbily. The battle was almost
+wholly fought by Arnold's division, and it is equally incompatible with
+his duty and temper to suppose he would have remained in camp when his
+troops were engaged, though he was probably held back until a late hour
+in the day.
+
+
+
+
+XIII.
+
+LINCOLN'S RAID IN BURGOYNE'S REAR.
+
+
+Much to Burgoyne's chagrin, he had been obliged to garrison Ticonderoga
+with troops taken from his own army, instead of being allowed to draw
+upon those left in Canada, under command of General Carleton. About a
+thousand men were thus deducted from the force now operating on the
+Hudson.
+
+Ever since the battle of Bennington, Lincoln had been most industriously
+gathering in, and organizing the militia, at Manchester. All New England
+was now up, and her sons were flocking in such numbers to his camp, that
+Lincoln soon found himself at the head of about two thousand excellent
+militia.
+
+Guided by the spirit of Washington's instructions, he now determined on
+making an effort to break up Burgoyne's communications, capture his
+magazines, harass his outposts, and, perhaps, even throw himself on the
+British line of retreat. There is a refreshing boldness and vigor about
+the conception, something akin to real generalship and enterprise. It
+was a good plan, undertaken without Gates's knowledge or consent.
+
+[Sidenote: Sept. 13.]
+
+On the same day that Burgoyne was crossing the Hudson, Lincoln sent
+five hundred men to the head of Lake George, with orders to destroy the
+stores there; five hundred more to attack Ticonderoga; and another five
+hundred to Skenesborough, to support them in case of need. Unknown to
+Lincoln, Burgoyne had now wholly dropped his communications with the
+lakes, but these movements were no less productive of good results on
+that account.
+
+The first detachment, under command of Colonel Brown,[47] reached Lake
+George landing undiscovered. The blockhouse and mills there were
+instantly taken. Mount Defiance and the French lines at Ticonderoga[48]
+were next carried without difficulty. In these operations, Brown took
+three hundred prisoners, released over one hundred Americans from
+captivity, and destroyed a great quantity of stores.
+
+The second detachment having, meantime, come up before Mount
+Independence, Ticonderoga was cannonaded, for some time, without effect.
+Unlike St. Clair, the British commander would neither surrender nor
+retreat, even when the guns of Mount Defiance were turned against him.
+
+Failing here, the Americans next went up Lake George, to attack
+Burgoyne's artillery depot, at Diamond Island. They were not more
+successful in this attempt, as the enemy was strongly fortified and made
+a vigorous defence. After burning the enemy's boats on the lake, Brown
+returned to Skenesborough.
+
+General Lincoln was about to march from Skenesborough to Fort Edward,
+with seven hundred men, when he received a pressing request from Gates,
+dated on the morning of the battle, to join him at once.
+
+Abandoning, therefore, his own plans, Lincoln retraced his steps with so
+much speed, that he arrived in Gates's camp[49] on the twenty-second.
+Gates immediately gave him command of the right wing[50] of the army.
+
+The road between Skenesborough and Fort Edward was now constantly
+patrolled by parties of American militia; so that it was truly said of
+Burgoyne, that the gates of retreat were fast closing behind him.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[47] COLONEL JOHN BROWN, of Pittsfield, Mass.,--who had been with Allen
+at the taking of Ticonderoga in 1775, and with Montgomery at
+Quebec,--Colonels Warner, Woodbridge, and Johnson cooeperated in this
+expedition.
+
+[48] TICONDEROGA was garrisoned at this time by one British and one
+German battalion, under command of General Powell.
+
+[49] GATES'S CAMP. By this time, Gates also had connected his camp with
+the east bank of the Hudson, by a floating bridge, to facilitate the
+crossing of reenforcements to him.
+
+[50] THE RIGHT WING was composed of Nixon's, Glover's, and Patterson's
+Continental brigades, with a certain proportion of militia. The left
+wing of Poor's and Learned's brigades, Dearborn's Light Infantry, and
+Morgan's corps, with a like proportion of militia.
+
+
+
+
+XIV.
+
+SECOND BATTLE OF FREEMAN'S FARM.
+
+(_October, 1777._)
+
+
+Convinced that another such victory would be his ruin, Burgoyne now
+thought only of defending himself until the wished-for help should come.
+To this end, he began intrenching the ground on which he stood. The
+action of September 19 had, therefore, changed the relative situation of
+the antagonists, in that from being the assailant, Burgoyne was now
+driven to act wholly on the defensive.
+
+On the day following the battle, a courier brought Burgoyne the welcome
+news that forces from New York would soon be on the way to his relief.
+Word was instantly sent back that his army could hold its ground until
+the 12th of October, by which time it was not doubted that the relieving
+force would be near enough at hand to crush Gates between two fires.
+
+[Sidenote: At Wilber's Basin.]
+
+Burgoyne, therefore, now threw his bridge across the Hudson again,
+posted a guard on the farther side, made his camp as strong as possible,
+and waited with growing impatience for the sound of Sir Henry
+Clinton's[51] cannon to be heard in the distance. But Clinton did not
+move to Burgoyne's assistance until too late. The blundering of the War
+
+[Sidenote: Oct. 4.]
+
+Office had worked its inevitable results. By the time Clinton reached
+Tarrytown, thirty miles above New York, Burgoyne's army had been put on
+short rations. With the utmost economy the provisions could not be made
+to last much beyond the day fixed in Burgoyne's despatch. Foraging was
+out of the question. Nothing could be learned about Clinton's progress.
+All between the two British armies was such perilous ground, that
+several officers had returned unsuccessful, after making heroic efforts
+to reach Clinton's camp.
+
+While Burgoyne was thus anxiously looking forward to Clinton's energetic
+cooeperation, that officer supposed he was only making a diversion in
+Burgoyne's favor, a feint to call off the enemy's attention from him;
+and thus it happened that in the decisive hour of the war, and after the
+signal had been given, only one arm was raised to strike, because two
+British commanders acted without unison; either through misconception of
+the orders they had received, or of what was expected of them in just
+such an emergency as the one that now presented itself.
+
+Perhaps two armies have seldom remained so near together for so long a
+time without coming to blows, as the two now facing each other on the
+heights of Stillwater. The camps being little more than a mile apart,
+brought the hostile pickets so close together, that men strayed into the
+opposite lines unawares. Day and night there was incessant firing from
+the outposts, every hour threatened to bring on a battle. Half
+Burgoyne's soldiers were constantly under arms to repel the attack,
+which--in view of the desperate condition they found themselves placed
+in, of the steady progress from bad to worse--was rather hoped for than
+feared.
+
+Two weeks passed thus without news of Clinton. Burgoyne's provisions
+were now getting alarmingly low. If he staid where he was, in a few
+days, at most, he would be starved into surrendering. Again the ominous
+word "retreat" was heard around the camp-fires. The hospital was filled
+with wounded men. Hard duty and scant food were telling on those fit for
+duty. Lincoln's raid announced a new and dangerous complication. It was
+necessary to try something, for Gates's do-nothing policy was grinding
+them to powder.
+
+A council was therefore called. It is a maxim, as old as history, that
+councils of war never fight. Some of Burgoyne's generals advised putting
+the Hudson between themselves and Gates, as the only means now left of
+saving the army; none, it is believed, advocated risking another battle.
+
+Burgoyne could not bring himself to order a retreat without first making
+one more effort for victory. He dwelt strongly upon the difficulty of
+withdrawing the army in the face of so vigilant and powerful an enemy.
+He maintained his own opinion that even in order to secure an honorable
+retreat it would be necessary to fight, and it was so determined.
+
+It is evident that Burgoyne nourished a secret hope that fortune might
+yet take a turn favorable to him; otherwise, it is impossible to account
+for his making this last and most desperate effort, under conditions
+even less favorable than had attended his attack of the 19th of
+September.
+
+Fifteen hundred men and ten guns were chosen for the attempt. In plain
+language, Burgoyne started out to provoke a combat with an enemy greatly
+his superior in numbers, with less than half the force his former
+demonstration had been made with. His idea seems to have been to take up
+a position from which his cannon would reach the American works. After
+intrenching, it was his intention to bring up his heavy artillery, and
+open a cannonade which he was confident the enemy could not withstand,
+as their defensive works were chiefly built of logs. And out of this
+state of things, Burgoyne hoped to derive some substantial benefit.
+
+This plan differed from that of the 19th of September, in that it looked
+chiefly to obtaining a more advantageous position; while on the former
+occasion it was attempted to force a way through or around the American
+left. The lesson of that day had not been lost on Burgoyne, who now
+meant to utilize his artillery to the utmost, rather than risk the
+inevitable slaughter that must ensue from an attempt to carry the
+American lines by storm.
+
+Everything depended upon gaining the desired position before the
+Americans could make their dispositions to thwart the attempt.
+
+The importance to the army of this movement induced Burgoyne to call his
+three best generals to his aid; so that nothing that experience could
+suggest, or skill attempt, should be left undone. It was kept a profound
+secret till the troops who were going out to fight were actually under
+arms. The rest of the army was to remain in the works; so that, if worst
+came to worst, the enemy might not reap any decided advantage from a
+victory gained over the fighting corps.
+
+[Sidenote: Oct. 7.]
+
+It was near one o'clock, on the afternoon of the seventh, when Burgoyne
+marched out from his own right, toward the American left. He had reached
+an eminence rising at the right of the late battle-ground, and not far
+removed from Frazer's position on that day, when the pickets of Arnold's
+division discovered his approach, and gave the alarm. Having gained a
+favorable position for using his guns, Burgoyne halted, and formed his
+line.
+
+Upon hearing that the British had advanced to within half a mile of his
+left, and were offering battle, Gates decided to accept the challenge,
+as he now felt strong enough to do so without fear for the result, and
+the behavior of his own troops in the previous battle had been such as
+to put an end to his doubts about their ability to cope with British
+soldiers. Morgan was therefore ordered to make a _detour_ through the
+woods, and fall on the British right flank, while other troops were
+attacking on its left.
+
+These movements were gallantly executed. At three o'clock, Burgoyne's
+artillery opened the battle; at four, the Americans charged the British
+position under a heavy fire of cannon and musketry. Again and again,
+the Continentals met the British bayonet without flinching. Never was a
+battle more manfully fought. Burgoyne faced death like the meanest
+soldier in the ranks. After some discharges, the British cannoneers were
+shot down at their pieces, and the hill on which they stood was carried
+at the point of the bayonet.
+
+On his part, Morgan grappled with the British right, overthrew it after
+a fierce struggle, and drove it back upon the centre. In vain Frazer[52]
+tried to stem the tide of defeat by throwing himself into the thickest
+of the fight. "That man," said Morgan, pointing him out to his marksmen,
+"must die." A rifle bullet soon gave the gallant Scot his death wound,
+and he was led from the field.
+
+The combat had lasted scarce an hour. All Burgoyne's guns were taken. Of
+the fifteen hundred soldiers he had led into action, four hundred lay
+dead or dying around him. Frazer's fall had carried dismay among those
+who were still stubbornly yielding the ground to the victorious
+Americans. A retreat was sounded. The Americans followed on with loud
+shouts. For a few moments a rearguard fight was kept up, then the
+retreat became a rout, the rout a race, to see who should first reach
+the British lines.
+
+Thus far the action had been maintained on our part, by the same troops
+who had fought the battle of September 19, and in part on the same
+ground. It was now to be transferred to the enemy's own camp.
+
+Hardly had the British gained the shelter of their works, when the
+Americans, led on by Arnold, stormed them with reckless bravery. Gates
+had held Arnold back from the field from motives of envy and dislike;
+but Arnold, to whom the sound of battle was like the spur to the mettled
+courser, at last broke through all restraint. Leaping into the saddle,
+he spurred into the thickest of the fight before Gates could stop him.
+
+The point of attack was strongly defended by artillery, and the
+Americans here suffered their first repulse. Other troops came up. The
+assault soon began again all along the British line. Beaten off in one
+place, Arnold spurred over to the enemy's extreme right, where Breyman
+was posted behind a breastwork of logs and rails, that formed a right
+angle with the rest of the line. Calling on the nearest battalion to
+follow him, Arnold leaped his horse over the parapet. The Germans fired
+one volley and fled. Our troops took guns and prisoners. By this success
+they had gained an opening on Burgoyne's right and rear, precisely as he
+had meant to do by them. In this last assault Breyman was killed, and
+Arnold wounded.
+
+The day was now too far spent for further efforts to be made on either
+side. Little by little, the angry roll of musketry sunk into silence.
+The battle was over.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[51] SIR HENRY CLINTON then commanded at New York, under the orders of
+Sir William Howe. Not having received orders to assist Burgoyne in any
+event, until he was about to engage with Washington for the possession
+of Philadelphia, Howe turned over the matter of assisting Burgoyne to
+Clinton, who was compelled to wait for the arrival of fresh troops, then
+on the way from England, before he could organize an expedition to
+attack our posts in the Highlands of the Hudson. See Introduction; also
+Note 1, "Facing Disaster" (p. 60).
+
+[52] GENERAL SIMON FRAZER was of Scotch birth, younger son of Frazer of
+Balnain. His actual rank on joining Burgoyne was lieutenant-colonel,
+24th foot. With other field officers assigned to command brigades, he
+was made acting brigadier, and is therefore known as General Frazer,
+though Burgoyne was notified that this _local rank_ would cease when his
+army joined Sir William Howe. Frazer's remains were disinterred and
+taken to England. The spot where he was wounded is marked by a monument,
+and indicates where he endeavored to make a stand after being driven
+from his first position. Anburey and Madame Riedesel give graphic
+accounts of his death and burial.
+
+
+
+
+XV.
+
+RETREAT AND SURRENDER.
+
+
+Burgoyne had been everywhere foiled by the battle of the seventh.
+Instead of turning Gates's flank his own had been turned. Instead of
+thrusting Gates back upon the river, he would surely be forced there
+himself, in a few hours, at most. Instead, even, of dealing Gates such a
+blow as would favor a retreat, Burgoyne's situation was now more
+precarious than ever: it was more than precarious; it was next to
+hopeless.
+
+It is again but too plain that Burgoyne had not taken defeat--such a
+defeat--seriously into account, or he would never have led out that
+gallant little column of fifteen hundred men; first, for victory, then,
+for an honorable retreat. His army was now like the wounded lion, whose
+expiring struggles the hunter watches at a distance, without fear, and
+without danger. All had been lost but honor.
+
+The first and only thing to be done now was promptly to form a new line
+of defence, behind which the army could mask its retreat. This was
+skilfully and quietly done on the night after the battle, our troops not
+attempting to do more than hold the ground already won. In the morning
+they occupied the deserted works.
+
+[Illustration: THE RETREAT TO SARATOGA.]
+
+Burgoyne's new position stretched along the heights next the river, so
+as to cover the road to Saratoga. He had merely drawn back his centre
+and right, while his left wing remained stationary; and he now stood
+facing west, instead of south, as before the battle.
+
+[Sidenote: Oct. 8.]
+
+The day passed in skirmishing, reconnoitring, and artillery firing. The
+Americans were feeling their way along the enemy's new front, while
+Burgoyne's every effort was limited to keeping them at a distance, with
+his superior artillery, till night. On our side, his intentions were
+rather guessed than certainly known. His great problem was how to get
+his army over the Hudson undiscovered. It was supposed that he would
+attempt to retreat across his bridge as soon as it was dark. Our
+artillery, therefore, tried to destroy it with shot. Moreover, fourteen
+hundred men were crossed over to the east bank, and now stood ready to
+dispute Burgoyne's passage from that side of the river.
+
+At sunset, General Frazer was buried[53] inside a battery, on the brow
+of the heights, according to his dying wish. Chaplain Brudenell read the
+burial service, with our balls ploughing up the earth around him, and
+our cannon thundering the soldier's requiem from camp to camp.
+
+At nine o'clock, the British army began its retreat along the river
+road, leaving its camp-fires burning behind it; profound silence was
+enjoined. To avoid confusion, the different corps simply moved off in
+the order in which they stood on the lines, or by their right. Upon
+finding that his crossing would be opposed by the troops who had passed
+over to the east bank, Burgoyne had decided to go back the way he came
+as far as Saratoga, and on fording the river at that place. Orders were
+therefore given to destroy the bridge. Just before day, his rearguard
+set fire to it, and marched off without interference. All the sick and
+wounded were left behind.
+
+In view of the fact that all of the enemy's movements announced a rapid
+retreat, the Americans seem to have shown a want of vigor in pushing the
+advantages they had won by the late battles. This hesitation may be in
+part accounted for by the other fact that both Arnold and Lincoln were
+disabled. Lincoln had been wounded while reconnoitring the enemy's
+right, on the eighth, with a view of passing a force round in his rear.
+Gates was thus deprived of his most efficient lieutenants at the moment
+when they were most needed. The British army could hardly have been
+placed in a more critical position; but, by keeping up a bold front, it
+managed to extricate itself without the loss of a man.
+
+[Sidenote: Oct. 9.]
+
+[Sidenote: Dovegat, now Coveville.]
+
+Rain began falling early the next morning. Burgoyne had marched but six
+miles, yet dallied till afternoon on the spot where he had halted early
+in the day. He then saw, to his inexpressible dismay, the same body of
+Americans[54] whom he had seen opposite his encampment at Stillwater,
+now marching abreast of him, with the evident design of seizing the
+Saratoga ford before he could get to it. The road he meant to take was,
+therefore, already as good as in the enemy's hands.
+
+The discovery that he was being everywhere hemmed in hastened
+Burgoyne's departure. Much baggage and many wagons and tents were
+burned, in order that the army might march the faster. Like a ship,
+laboring with the gale, it was relieving itself of all unnecessary
+burdens.
+
+Pelted by the storm, in silence, and with downcast looks, the soldiers
+plodded wearily on, through mud and water, ankle deep. No tap of drum or
+bugle-call put life into their heavy tread. The sense of defeat and
+disgrace brooded over the minds of officers and men, as they stole away
+in darkness and gloom from an enemy for whom they had but lately felt
+such high disdain. Grief, shame, and indignation were the common lot of
+high and low. No word was spoken, except when the curt "Forward" of the
+officers passed along the ranks. All knew instinctively, that this
+retreat was but the prelude to greater disaster, which, perchance, was
+not far off.
+
+The same evening, the bedraggled and footsore soldiers waded the
+Fishkill[55] where the bridge had been, but was now destroyed, and
+bivouacked on the heights of Saratoga.[56] Too weary even to light
+fires, to dry their clothing, or cook their suppers, they threw
+themselves on the wet ground to snatch a few hours' sleep; for, dark as
+it was, and though rain fell in torrents, the firing heard at intervals
+throughout the night told them that the Americans were dogging their
+footsteps, and would soon be up with them. It seemed as if the foe were
+never to be shaken off.
+
+[Sidenote: Oct. 10.]
+
+It was not till after daylight that the British artillery could ford
+the Fishkill with safety. The guns were then dragged up the heights and
+once more pointed toward the advancing enemy. Numbness and torpor seem
+to have pervaded the whole movement thus far. Now it was that Frazer's
+loss was most bitterly deplored, for he had often pledged himself to
+bring off the army in safety, should a retreat become necessary. He had
+marked out, and intrenched this very position, in which the army now
+found its last retreat. Almost twenty-four hours had been consumed in
+marching not quite ten miles, or at a much slower rate of progress than
+Burgoyne had censured Breyman for making to Baum's relief, at
+Bennington. Burgoyne seemed to find satisfaction in showing that he
+would not be hurried.
+
+The army took up its old positions along the heights into which the
+Fishkill cuts deeply, as it runs to the Hudson. Being threatened in
+front, flank, and rear, Burgoyne had to form three separate camps,
+facing as many different ways. One fronted the Fishkill and commanded
+the usual fording-place. A second looked east at the enemy posted across
+the Hudson; a third faced the west, where the ground rose above the
+camps, and hid itself in a thick forest.
+
+Though he secured his camps as well as he could, Burgoyne meant to make
+no delay here. But it was no longer in his power to control his own
+acts. The want of energy shown in the retreat had given the Americans
+time to close every avenue of escape against him.
+
+Let us note how the fate of armies is decided. Active pursuit did not
+begin until the morning of the ninth, when the retreat was first
+discovered. A start of ten hours had thus been gained by the British.
+Their artillery had so cut up the roads as to render them next to
+impassable for our troops. Frequent halts had to be made to mend broken
+bridges. From these causes, even so late as the morning of the tenth,
+our army had advanced but three miles from the battle-ground. But
+Burgoyne had marched, when he marched at all, like a general who means
+to be overtaken. Four thousand men were being pushed around his right;
+an equal number followed in his rear; while fourteen hundred more
+menaced with destruction any attempt he might make to ford the river.
+
+No choice being left but to continue the retreat by the west bank,
+pioneers were sent out, under a strong escort, to make the road
+passable.
+
+But the golden moment had already flown. By this time Gates's van had
+come up with Burgoyne. Morgan's corps had crossed the Fishkill at a
+point above the British camps, had taken post within rifle-shot, and had
+thus fastened upon the enemy a grip never more to be shaken off.
+
+As a last resort, the British general decided to attempt a night
+retreat, leaving behind the artillery he had so persistently dragged
+after him when the fate of his army was hanging on its speed alone.
+Before this desperate venture could be put to trial, worse news came to
+hand. It was learned that Stark, with two thousand men, was in
+possession of Fort Edward, and of all the fords below it. Turn what way
+he would, Burgoyne found a foe in his path.
+
+[Sidenote: Oct. 13.]
+
+Even General Burgoyne now saw no way open but surrender; either he must
+do this, or let his soldiers be slaughtered where they stood. Cannon and
+rifle shot were searching every corner of his camp; retreat was cut off;
+his provisions could be made to last but a day or two longer at most;
+the bateaux were destroyed; his animals were dying of starvation, and
+their dead bodies tainting the air his soldiers breathed; water could
+only be had at the risk of life or limb, as the American sharpshooters
+picked off every one who attempted to fetch it from the river; and no
+more than thirty-five hundred men could be mustered to repel an
+assault;--a crisis had now been reached which loudly called on the
+British general, in the name of humanity, to desist from further efforts
+to maintain so hopeless a struggle.
+
+Burgoyne called his officers together in council. The absence of such
+men as Frazer, Baum, Breyman, Ackland, Clarke, and others from the
+meeting, must have brought home to the commanding general, as nothing
+else could, a sense of the calamities that had befallen him; while the
+faces of the survivors no less ominously prefigured those to come. A
+heavy cannonade was in progress. Even while the council was
+deliberating, a cannon-ball crashed through the room among them, as if
+to enjoin haste in bringing the proceedings to a close. The council
+listened to what was already but too well known. Already the finger of
+fate pointed undeviatingly to the inevitable result. A general lassitude
+had fallen upon the spirits of the soldiers. The situation was
+manifestly hopeless to all.
+
+There could be but one opinion. Enough had been done for honor. All were
+agreed that only a surrender could save the army.
+
+[Sidenote: Oct. 14.]
+
+Without more delay, an officer was sent to General Gates. At first he
+would listen only to an unconditional surrender. This was indignantly
+rejected. Two days of suspense followed to both armies. Indeed, the
+vanquished seemed dictating terms to the conqueror. But if the British
+dreaded a renewal of hostilities, the Americans knew that Clinton's
+forces[57] were nearing Albany from below. Gates lowered his demands.
+The British army was allowed the honors of war, with liberty to return
+to England, on condition of not serving against the United States during
+the war. These terms were agreed to, and the treaty was duly signed on
+the seventeenth.
+
+Burgoyne's situation when gathering up his trophies, and issuing his
+presumptuous proclamation at Ticonderoga, compared with the straits to
+which his reverses had now brought him--a failure before his king and
+country, a captain stripped of his laurels by the hand he professed to
+despise, a petitioner for the clemency of his conqueror--affords a
+striking example of the uncertain chances of war. It really seemed as if
+fortune had only raised Burgoyne the higher in order that his fall might
+be the more destructive at last.
+
+[Illustration: WHERE THE SURRENDER TOOK PLACE.]
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[53] FRAZER'S BURIAL would not have been molested had our artillerists
+known what was going forward. Seeing so many persons collected in the
+redoubt, they naturally directed their fire upon it.
+
+[54] THIS BODY OF AMERICANS was led by Colonel John Fellows, whom Gates
+had ordered to seize the fords as high up as Fort Edward.
+
+[55] FISHKILL, or Fish Creek, is the outlet of Saratoga Lake. Though a
+rapid mill-stream, there were several fords. The precipitous banks were
+a greater obstacle to troops than the stream itself.
+
+[56] HEIGHTS OF SARATOGA are in what is now called Schuylerville, a
+village owing its prosperity to the water-power of the Fishkill. At the
+time of the surrender, there were only a few houses strung along the
+river road. Schuyler's house stood in the angle formed by the entrance
+of the Fishkill into the Hudson. On arriving at Saratoga, Burgoyne
+occupied this house as his headquarters, but burned it to the ground
+immediately on the appearance of the Americans. On the opposite (north)
+bank of the Fishkill was old Fort Hardy, built during the French War, to
+cover the ford of the Hudson at this place. Within this fort, Burgoyne's
+army laid down its arms, October 17, 1777. On the heights back of the
+river a granite obelisk, one hundred and fifty-four feet high, has been
+built to commemorate the event.
+
+[57] CLINTON'S FORCES carried Forts Montgomery and Clinton, in the
+Highlands, by assault on the sixth. Having thus broken down all
+opposition to their advance up the Hudson, they reached Kingston
+(Esopus) on the thirteenth, burned it, and were within a few hours' sail
+of Albany when news of Burgoyne's surrender caused them to retreat down
+the river.
+
+
+
+
+XVI.
+
+THE SEVENTEENTH OF OCTOBER, 1777.
+
+
+The closing scene of this most memorable campaign is thus described by
+one of the actors in it. He says,--
+
+"About ten o'clock we marched out, according to treaty, with drums
+beating, and the honors of war; but the drums seemed to have lost their
+former inspiriting sounds, and though we beat the Grenadiers' March,
+which not long before was so animating, yet now it seemed by its last
+feeble effort as if almost ashamed to be heard on such an occasion.
+
+"I shall never forget the appearance of the American troops on our
+marching past them. A dead silence reigned through their numerous
+columns. I must say their decent behavior to us, so greatly fallen,
+merited the utmost praise.... Not one of them was uniformly clad. Each
+had on the clothes he wore in the fields, the church, or the tavern;
+they stood, however, like soldiers, well arranged, and with a military
+air, in which there was but little to find fault with. All the muskets
+had bayonets, and the sharpshooters had rifles. The men all stood so
+still that we were filled with wonder. Not one of them made a single
+motion as if he would speak with his neighbor. Nay, more, all the lads
+that stood there in rank and file, kind nature had formed so trim, so
+slender, so nervous, that it was a pleasure to look at them, and we were
+all surprised at the sight of such a handsome, well-formed race. The
+whole nation has a natural turn for war and a soldier's life.
+
+"The generals wore uniforms, and belts which designated their rank, but
+most of the colonels were in their ordinary clothes, with a musket and
+bayonet in hand, and a cartridge-box or powder-horn slung over the
+shoulder. There were regular regiments which, for want of time or cloth,
+were not yet equipped in uniform. These had standards, with various
+emblems and mottoes, some of which had a very satirical meaning for us."
+
+The number of regular troops, British and German, who laid down their
+arms at Saratoga was 5,591. The camp-followers amounted to two hundred
+more. Forty-two pieces of artillery, nearly five thousand muskets, with
+ammunition for both, fell into the victors' hands.
+
+
+
+
+XVII.
+
+THE CONSEQUENCES OF DEFEAT.
+
+
+We come now to the reasons why Burgoyne's surrender proved decisive to
+the cause of American independence.
+
+Our opening chapter states that England took Canada from France in 1759,
+and annexed it to her own dominions in 1763. This conquest came about
+through what is known in history as the Seven Years' War, which had not
+only raised all Europe in arms, but had lighted the flames of war
+throughout our own continent also. The great battle was fought on the
+plains of Quebec. Victory decided for England. Defeated France had, at
+last, to give up Canada to her ancient enemy.
+
+France came out of this conflict sorely humbled. She was brooding over
+her defeat, when the American colonies took up arms. The colonists at
+once turned with confidence to France; now was her chance to cripple
+England, to get back what she had lost, to gain the friendship of a
+grateful people, and make them her debtor for all time. But France would
+not go to war unless assured that her doing so would turn the scale
+against England. The memory of her humiliation was too recent, the
+chances of the contest too doubtful, to admit of any other course of
+conduct on her part. Meanwhile, she gave us much secret help, but none
+openly. The course of events was, however, closely watched, and when
+Burgoyne's surrender was known in Paris, it was seen that the day of
+revenge had come at last. Doubt and hesitation gave way before the
+general demand for war. Franklin was openly received at Versailles.
+Within three months, the French court had acknowledged our independence.
+Her armies and fleets prepared to give us active aid, and it was not
+doubted that her example would soon be followed by Spain and Holland.
+
+Thus, Burgoyne's surrender gained for us at once recognition as a
+nation, and the alliance of the first military power of Europe.
+
+The effect of the surrender in England is thus described by Gibbon, the
+historian, who was then sitting in Parliament: "Dreadful news indeed! An
+English army of nearly ten thousand men laid down their arms, and
+surrendered, prisoners of war, on condition of being sent to England,
+and of never serving against America. They had fought bravely, and were
+three days without eating. Burgoyne is said to have received three
+wounds; General Frazer, with two thousand men, killed; Colonel Ackland
+likewise killed. A general cry for peace."
+
+England now gave up the colonies for lost. In truth, it needed no
+prophet to foretell that what England could not do before, she could do
+still less now, with France against her. From this time forward, the war
+was carried on more to save the nation's pride than with any hope of
+success. The military policy underwent an instant change; it now looked
+rather to destroying our commerce and ports, than to marching large
+armies into the interior of the country, to meet with a like fate to
+Burgoyne's. Howe was ordered to evacuate Philadelphia. In Parliament, a
+plan was hurriedly put forth to grant everything the Americans had asked
+for, except independence. As Gibbon well said, the two greatest
+countries of Europe were fairly running a race for the favor of America.
+
+The movements taking place on the continent showed everywhere a feeling
+hostile to England. No nation was ever so friendless as she, none had so
+richly deserved the coldness with which the other powers now treated
+her. Spain and Holland were getting ready to follow the lead of France.
+It was well known that England could not carry on the war without the
+aid of mercenaries. The King of Prussia and the Empress of Austria now
+refused to permit any more German soldiers to go to America. In the
+threatening condition of affairs at home, England could not spare
+another army for so distant a field. Whichever way England looked, she
+saw either open enemies or half friends. Everywhere the sky was dark for
+her, and bright for us.
+
+At home the surrender of Burgoyne thrilled the whole land, for all felt
+it to be the harbinger of final triumph. The people went wild with joy;
+salvos of artillery, toasts, bonfires, illuminations, everywhere
+testified to the general exultation. The name of France was hailed with
+acclamations. At once a sense of national dignity and solidity took the
+place of uncertainty and isolation. Now and henceforth, the flag of the
+United States was known and respected; abroad as at home, on the sea as
+on the land.
+
+Burgoyne's disaster has been charged to the grossest carelessness on the
+part of some under official of the British War Office. It is said that
+the orders for Sir William Howe were never put in the despatch bag at
+all, but lay forgotten until the catastrophe at Saratoga brought them to
+light. On such trifles does the fate of nations sometimes hang.
+Certainly, greater unity of purpose in the two generals might have given
+the history of the campaign a different reading. But all such
+conjectures must fall before the inexorable logic of accomplished
+results. The world has long since passed upon the merits of the great
+conflict which set America free. Its verdict is recorded. The actors are
+but as dust in the balance.
+
+
+
+
+INDEX.
+
+
+  ALLEN, ETHAN, takes Ticonderoga, 17;
+    goes before Montgomery, 19.
+
+  ARNOLD, BENEDICT, marches to Canada, 19;
+    takes command of our flotilla, and fights the enemy, 22; 25, _note_;
+    sent to relieve Fort Stanwix, and does it by a stratagem, 92;
+    part at Bemis' Heights, 112;
+    storms the enemy's intrenchments, 121, 122;
+    wounded, 122.
+
+
+  BATTEN-KILL, British take post at, 70, 87.
+
+  BAUM, FREDERIC, commands British expedition to Bennington, and
+      marches, 70;
+    composition of his force, 70;
+    hears the Americans are waiting for him, 75;
+    notifies Burgoyne, and goes on, 75;
+    discovers Stark, and intrenches himself on the Walloomsac, 78, 81;
+    defeated, 83, 132.
+
+  BENNINGTON, VT.; Burgoyne's plan to seize stores at, 68;
+    Baum marches for, 72;
+    Battle of Bennington, 83, 84, 85;
+    trophies of, 85; 86, _note_;
+    results of the battle, 88, 89.
+
+  BEMIS' HEIGHTS; position of the army described, 99;
+    battle of September 19, 106, 107, 108, 111; 112, _note_.
+
+  BOUQUET RIVER; Burgoyne halts at, 37.
+
+  BRANT, JOSEPH, at Oriskany, 91; 94, _note_.
+
+  BREYMAN, HEINRICH C., posted in support of Baum, 70;
+    marches to Baum's aid, 81;
+    his slowness fatal to Baum, 84;
+    defeated, and badly cut up, 85;
+    his retreat to camp, 89;
+    part in Battle of Bemis' Heights, 105;
+    killed, 122.
+
+  BROWN, JOHN, attacks Ticonderoga, 114; 115, _note_.
+
+  BURGOYNE'S ARMY, composition of, 33, 34;
+    passes Lake Champlain, 35; 36, _notes_ 1 and 2;
+    invests Ticonderoga, 40, 43;
+  fights at Hubbardton, 47, 48;
+    at Fort Anne, 52;
+    joined by loyalists, 61;
+    concentrated, and leaves Skenesborough, 66;
+    arrives at Fort Edward, 66;
+    joined by savages, 66;
+    compelled to halt for provisions, 66, 69;
+    is moved forward to support the expedition to Bennington, 70;
+    falls back after the defeat of Baum, 87;
+    its losses, 88;
+    crosses the Hudson, 102;
+    order of march from Saratoga to Bemis' Heights, 105;
+    slow advance, 105;
+    gives battle to Gates, 106;
+    troops in action, 107;
+    on the defensive, 116;
+    on short rations, 117;
+    inactivity of, 117;
+    ordered to fight Gates again, 118;
+    troops selected, 119;
+    meets defeat, 121;
+    camp assaulted and turned, 122;
+    forms new line, 124;
+    retreats, 127;
+    soldiers dispirited, 129;
+    reaches Saratoga, 129;
+    makes a last stand, 130;
+    its camps, 130;
+    compelled to surrender, 133;
+    numbers at this time, 138.
+
+  BURGOYNE'S CAMPAIGN discussed, 10-14;
+    demand for re-enforcements, 11;
+    deficiency of transportation service, 12;
+    cause of failure, 13;
+    plan of, 26-32;
+    results in surrender, 133;
+    effect of it in Europe, especially in France, 140;
+    effect at home, 141;
+    said to have failed through blundering in the War Office, 142.
+
+  BURGOYNE, JOHN; his personal traits, 9;
+    his plan of campaign, 26 _et seq._;
+    his army, 33;
+    his proclamation, 38;
+    aims to cut off St. Clair from Schuyler, 45;
+    takes Skenesborough, 51;
+    follows up his successes, 52;
+    _resume_ of his campaign thus far, 52;
+    sends Riedesel to Castleton, 61;
+    chooses the Fort Anne route to Albany, 61;
+    his reasons, 62;
+    march obstructed, 65;
+    reaches Fort Edward, 66;
+    plans how to provide for his army, 68;
+    desire to strike New England, 68;
+    orders the expedition to Bennington, 70;
+    how composed, 70;
+    combinations overthrown by Baum's defeat, 87;
+    his losses up to this time, 88;
+    his Indians desert him, 88;
+    compelled to halt again, 90;
+    hears of St. Leger's retreat, 93;
+    his choice of evils, 101;
+    decides to cross the Hudson, 102;
+    marches in search of Gates, 105;
+    order of march, 105;
+    gives battle, 106 _et seq._;
+    troops in action, 107;
+    holds his position, but makes no advance, 113;
+    brings on another battle, 118, 119;
+    calls his three best generals to his aid, and commands in person,
+      119;
+    is defeated, and driven into his works, 121;
+    orders a retreat, 127;
+    finds a force confronting him on the east bank of the Hudson, 128;
+    loses valuable time, 128;
+    burns his baggage, 129;
+    arrives at Saratoga, 129;
+    finds retreat cut off, 131;
+    his camp untenable, 132;
+    surrenders his army, 133;
+    scene described by eyewitnesses, 135, 138.
+
+
+  CANADA'S alliance desired, 15;
+    invasion of begun, 19;
+    attitude toward the colonies, 25, _note_.
+
+  CARLETON, GUY; attitude toward Burgoyne, 11, 12;
+    gains a naval victory over Arnold, 22, 25.
+
+  CASTLETON, VT.; Riedesel posted there by Burgoyne, 61.
+
+  CHAMBLY, FORT; position of, 16;
+    taken by Americans, 19;
+    burnt, 20.
+
+  CLINTON, SIR HENRY, notifies Burgoyne that he is coming to his relief,
+      116;
+    thinks he is only to make a diversion, 117; 122, _note_;
+    is near Albany when Burgoyne surrenders, 133; 134, _note_.
+
+  CROWN POINT, position of, 16;
+    when built, 18, _note_;
+    Americans fall back to, 20;
+    evacuated, 20;
+    naval battle near, 22.
+
+
+  DIAMOND ISLAND, unsuccessful attack upon, 114.
+
+  DUER'S HOUSE, Frazer's corps at, 68;
+    British army posted at, 70, 87.
+
+
+  FELLOWS, JOHN, commands a detachment to watch Burgoyne, 134.
+
+  FISHKILL CREEK, 129; 134, _note_.
+
+  FORT ANNE, N. Y.; Americans retreat to, from Skenesborough, 51;
+    Schuyler re-enforces them, 52;
+    combat at, 52;
+    burnt and abandoned, 52;
+    described, 55, _note_;
+    importance to Burgoyne, 62;
+    neighborhood described, 62, 63.
+
+  FORT EDWARD, position of, 16;
+    Schuyler at, 51;
+    is joined by St. Clair, after Ticonderoga falls, 51;
+    Burgoyne arrives at, 66;
+    Schuyler evacuates it, 66;
+    described, 66, _note_.
+
+  FORT GEORGE, position of, 16;
+    Americans evacuate it, 66;
+    and British occupy it, 66.
+
+  FORT OSWEGO, position of, 30.
+
+  FORT STANWIX, position of, 30;
+    St. Leger's force, 35;
+    garrisoned and defended, 90, 91;
+    attempt to relieve fails, 91;
+    garrison makes a sally, 92;
+    siege raised, 93; 94, _note_.
+
+  FRANCIS, EBENEZER, covers retreat from Ticonderoga, fights Frazer at
+      Hubbardton, but is killed, 51; 55, _note_.
+
+  FRAZER, SIMON, commands a corps under Burgoyne, 34, 35;
+    takes Mt. Hope, 40;
+    pursues St. Clair, 46;
+    comes up with the Americans at Hubbardton, and fights them, 47;
+    on the point of defeat is re-enforced, and gains the day, 48;
+    crosses the Hudson, and takes post at Saratoga, 70;
+    recrosses the Hudson, 87;
+    is posted on the right at Bemis' Heights, 105;
+    his force, 107;
+    killed, 121; 123, _note_;
+    buried, 127; 134, _note_.
+
+  FREEMAN'S FARM, position of, 99; 100, _note_, 105;
+    first collision at (Sept. 19), 106;
+    second battle at, 120-122.
+
+
+  GANSEVOORT, PETER, at Fort Stanwix, 90;
+    sallies out upon besiegers, 91; 94, _note_.
+
+  GATES, HORATIO, takes command of the Northern Army, 20;
+    his rank, 25, _note_; supersedes Schuyler, 95;
+    good effect on the army, 97;
+    orders an advance to Stillwater, 97;
+    want of confidence in Arnold a drawback to success, 98;
+    posts the army on Bemis' Heights, 98; _note_, 99;
+    sends Morgan to feel the enemy, 106;
+    re-enforces in driblets, 108;
+    his camp and army, 115, _note_s 1 and 2;
+    accepts battle again, 120;
+  is victorious, 121, 122;
+    dilatory pursuit of the enemy, 131;
+    comes up with Burgoyne, 131;
+    dispositions for attacking, 131;
+    receives Burgoyne's surrender, 133.
+
+
+  HERKIMER, NICHOLAS, marches to relieve Fort Stanwix, 91;
+    is waylaid and defeated, 91, 92;
+    dies of his wounds, 92; 94, _note_.
+
+  HESSIAN MERCENARIES, 36, _note_.
+
+  HOWE, SIR WILLIAM, participation in the campaign discussed, 14;
+    driven from Boston, 29;
+    George III. disappointed in him, 29;
+    gets his orders too late, 31.
+
+  HUBBARDTON, VT., garrison of Ticonderoga retreats to, 44;
+    St. Clair's rearguard overtaken at, 47;
+    battle of, 47, 48, 49.
+
+
+  JOHNSON, SIR JOHN, at Oriskany, 91; 94, _note_.
+
+
+  KOSCIUSKO, THADDEUS, marks out the lines on Bemis' Heights, 98; 100,
+      _note_.
+
+
+  LAKE CHAMPLAIN, the gateway of the north, 16;
+    naval battle on, 22;
+    Burgoyne's advance, 35;
+    shores of, 37;
+    Americans driven from, 51.
+
+  LINCOLN, BENJAMIN, sent to Manchester, 74;
+    sketch of, 76, _note_;
+    makes a raid in Burgoyne's rear, 113;
+    joins Gates, 115;
+    wounded, 128.
+
+  LYMAN, PHINEAS, builds Fort Edward, 66.
+
+
+  MANCHESTER, VT., Warner posted at, 57;
+    rendezvous for militia, 73;
+    Lincoln and Stark at, 74.
+
+  MOHAWK VALLEY, plan for invading it, 30, 35.
+
+  MONTGOMERY, RICHARD, leads an army to Canada, 19;
+    killed, 20;
+    sketch of, 25, _note_.
+
+  MORGAN'S RIFLEMEN, 99, _note_;
+    attack Burgoyne, 106;
+    part in the battle of October 7, 120, 121.
+
+  MOUNT INDEPENDENCE described, 16;
+    named, 21;
+    Americans retreat from Ticonderoga to, 44.
+
+  MOUNT DEFIANCE, the key of Ticonderoga, 43;
+    seized by Burgoyne's engineers, 43;
+    compels the evacuation of Ticonderoga, 43;
+    retaken by the Americans, 114; 115, _note_.
+
+  NEWPORT, R. I., held by the enemy, 30;
+    Howe's strategy, 60, _note_.
+
+  NEW YORK, plans for its invasion, 26, 29, 30;
+    resources of for resisting Burgoyne, 58, 59.
+
+
+  ORISKANY, N. Y., Americans marching to Fort Stanwix are defeated at,
+      91.
+
+
+  PHILLIPS, WILLIAM, commands Burgoyne's artillery, 34;
+    brings up artillery at Bemis' Heights, 111.
+
+
+  RIEDESEL, BARON VON, commands Burgoyne's German contingent, 34;
+    at Ticonderoga, 40;
+    pursues the retreating Americans, 46;
+    turns defeat to victory at Hubbardton, 48;
+    is posted at Castleton, Vt., 61;
+    falls back to Fort Edward, 86;
+    supports Burgoyne at Bemis' Heights, 111.
+
+
+  SARATOGA, occupied by Burgoyne, 70;
+    country below described, 98;
+    Burgoyne's army crosses over to, 102;
+    falls back to, after being defeated, 129; 134, _note_.
+
+  ST. CLAIR, ARTHUR, commands at Ticonderoga, 39;
+    evacuates it, 43;
+    military record of, 44, _note_ 2; also _note_ 5;
+    marches for Skenesborough, 45;
+    halts at Hubbardton, 46;
+    hears Burgoyne has occupied his proposed line of retreat, and now
+      marches for Bennington, 51;
+    joins Schuyler at Fort Edward, 51;
+    accused of treachery, 58;
+    and ordered to Philadelphia, 60.
+
+  ST. JOHN'S, FORT, position of, 16;
+    taken by Americans, 19;
+    burnt, 20;
+    British build a fleet at, 21.
+
+  ST. LEGER, BARRY, combination with Burgoyne, 13;
+    his part, 30, 31;
+    his force, 35, 90;
+    lays siege to Fort Stanwix, 91;
+    Arnold's stratagem compels him to raise the siege, 93;
+    and retreat to Oswego, 93.
+
+  SCHUYLER, PHILIP, at Fort Edward, 51;
+    St. Clair joins him, 51;
+    sends a force to Fort Anne, 52;
+    military record of, 55, _note_;
+    holds Warner at Manchester, 57;
+    evacuates Fort Edward on Burgoyne's approach, 66;
+    state of his army, 66;
+    urges Stark to join him, 77;
+    sends Gansevoort to Fort Stanwix, 90;
+    then Arnold, 93;
+    superseded by Gates, 95.
+
+  SECOND BATTLE OF FREEMAN'S FARM, 120-122.
+
+  SKENESBOROUGH taken by Americans, 17;
+    described, 18, _note_;
+    made a dockyard, 21;
+    Americans retreat to, from Ticonderoga, 44;
+    set fire to, and abandoned, 51.
+
+  STARK, JOHN, appointed to sole command over New Hampshire militia, 74;
+    musters his brigade at Manchester, 74;
+    refuses to join Schuyler, 74;
+    his perplexity, 75;
+    marches to Bennington, 75;
+    sketch of, 76, _note_;
+    decides to join Schuyler, 77;
+    but hears of the enemy's approach, and sends out scouts, 77;
+    sends for Warner, 78;
+    re-enforced, 81;
+    his force, 82;
+    gains the victory of Bennington, 83;
+    and defeats Breyman also, 84, 85;
+    at Fort Edward, 132.
+
+  STILLWATER, position of the American army described, 98.
+
+
+  TICONDEROGA, position of described, 16;
+    taken by Americans, 17; 18, _note_;
+    Montgomery there, 19;
+    Burgoyne's landing, 39;
+    garrison of, 40;
+    invested by Burgoyne, 40, 43;
+    evacuated, 44;
+    effects of its fall, 56, 57;
+    Americans attack it unsuccessfully, 114.
+
+  TRENTON, N. J., victory at, 32, _note_.
+
+
+  VALCOUR ISLAND, naval battle at, 22.
+
+  VERMONT, people of addressed by Burgoyne, 38;
+    state of settlements in, 44, _note_;
+    critical situation of after the fall of Ticonderoga, 57.
+
+
+  WARNER, SETH, in command at Hubbardton, 47; 55, _note_;
+    surprised there, 48;
+    retreats to Bennington, 51;
+    posted at Manchester, 57;
+    his Green Mountain Boys, 57;
+    Stark calls on him for assistance, 77;
+    gets to Bennington in time, 81;
+    attacks Breyman, 84.
+
+  WASHINGTON, GEORGE, sets about retrieving the disaster at Ticonderoga,
+      60;
+    his views how to retard Burgoyne's march, 73;
+    sends Lincoln to carry them out, 74;
+    his policy vindicated, 85;
+    efforts to strengthen the northern army, 95, 96;
+    considerate treatment of Schuyler, 96.
+
+
+
+
+    +-----------------------------------------------+
+    |             Transcriber's Note:               |
+    |                                               |
+    | Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the  |
+    | original document have been preserved.        |
+    |                                               |
+    | Typographical errors corrected in the text:   |
+    |                                               |
+    | Page    5  126 changed to 124                 |
+    | Page    5  143 changed to 139
+    | Page  143  followes changed to follows        |
+    | Page  144  Fellow's changed to Fellows        |
+    +-----------------------------------------------+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Burgoyne's Invasion of 1777, by Samuel Adams  Drake
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BURGOYNE'S INVASION OF 1777 ***
+
+***** This file should be named 31206.txt or 31206.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        http://www.gutenberg.org/3/1/2/0/31206/
+
+Produced by Barbara Kosker and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was
+produced from images generously made available by The
+Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
+
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+http://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need, are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+http://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at http://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit http://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations.
+To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     http://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
diff --git a/31206.zip b/31206.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8761766
--- /dev/null
+++ b/31206.zip
diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6312041
--- /dev/null
+++ b/LICENSE.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements,
+metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be
+in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES.
+
+Procedures for determining public domain status are described in
+the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org.
+
+No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in
+jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize
+this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright
+status under the laws that apply to them.
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2beb690
--- /dev/null
+++ b/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #31206 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/31206)