CARLETON SUPERSEDED. the two men. Carleton's military career 331 Ch. 21. 1776 Burgoyne. Burgoyne was known as a man of fashion and General as a man of letters, in addition to his military character. But he was better known as a man of 332 Ch. 21. 1776 Composition of the Army. GENERAL BURGOYNE'S ANTECEDENTS. fashion than as an author, and better known as an author than as a soldier. He had seen a little service in early life, but had found no opportunity of earning more than a reputation for bravery, which a British officer shares in common with the private. After an interval of many years, during which he passed the life of a man about town, he was employed as brigadier in Massachusetts under Howe. His account of the battle of Bunker'shill, which he viewed from the opposite eminence, shews that he had some talent for description; his comedy of The Heiress' is very agreeably written, has some dramatic situations, and dialogue which occasionally sparkles. Soon after the affair of Bunker's-hill, Burgoyne had left Boston, to push his interest at home; and while the noble veteran at Quebec was anxiously watching for the return of spring to resume those operations which, if skilfully executed, would probably result in the restoration of America to the British crown, Burgoyne, with the address of a practised courtier, was supplanting him in London. The army under Burgoyne, consisting of seven thousand good troops, English and German, assembled at Crown Point, in the month of June. Several hundred Indians were also taken into the British service, and the employment of these savages, more than any other incident of the war, embittered the conflict, and rendered reconciliation impossible. The barbarous cruelties perpetrated by them after the engagement at the Cedars, in TICONDEROGA CAPTURED. the preceding Canadian campaign, ought to have banished the natives from either army. Burgoyne, indeed, addressed these people in a bombastic harangue, professing to explain the objects of the war, and enjoined them to abstain from cruelty towards the enemy. But such an exhortation was unintelligible to native tribes, whose cruel practices, as they are termed by Europeans, are in accordance with their inveterate custom in the conduct of hostilities. 333 Ch. 21. 1776 Ticonderoga. The first object of this expedition was, of course, Siege of the reduction of the large fort of Ticonderoga, situated at the head of Lake George; and this important undertaking, for which extensive preparations had been made, was accomplished without difficulty. The American force, consisting of about three thousand men, was quite inadequate to the defence of the works. By an unaccountable negligence, the Americans had omitted to take possession of and fortify an eminence called Sugar Hill. St. Clair was of opinion that this height was not within cannon-range of his works; and that it was inaccessible to heavy guns, though the contrary had been demonstrated by Arnold and two other officers the year before. The English engineer reported that Sugar Hill commanded the whole of Fort Ticonderoga and Mount Independence within a distance of fifteen hundred yards, and that a passage for artillery might be made in b W. IRVING'S Life of Washington, vol. ii. p. 108. 334 Ch. 21. 1776 the fort. PURSUIT OF ST. CLAIR. twenty-four hours. General Phillips, who commanded on this side, immediately commenced the works; they were completed according to the calculation, and on the morning of the 5th of July, the Americans beheld the British artillerymen on the summit of this eminence erecting a battery which would soon lay Ticonderoga in ruins. Evacuation of St. Clair, with the concurrence of a council of war, determined on an immediate evacuation of the fortress. The guns and stores were shipped off with all despatch to Skenesborough, a stockaded fort about thirty miles distant, on the upper side of the lake. The army was to march for the same point by a detour overland; but their movements were not so well managed as to elude the vigilance of the enemy. The rear-guard, before they marched, set their quarters on fire, and thus revealed the retreat. The whole British force was instantly in motion. In a few hours, the royal flag was flying at Ticonderoga; two divisions, under Generals Fraser and Riedesel were in full pursuit of St. Clair; while Burgoyne accompanied the squadron which followed the American flotilla. The British gun-boats, overtaking the heavily laden transports of the enemy at Skenesborough, the fort, the storehouses, and boats were set on fire. The Americans fought their way to another fort a few miles further on; and having there received some succours from General Schuyler, they at length reached to Fort Edward, where GENERAL ST. CLAIR. they expected to find the main body under St. Clair. That unfortunate officer reached Castleton, about thirty miles from Ticonderoga, in safety, and halted for the arrival of his rear-guard. The noise of cannon was the first intimation which he received that their retreat had been interrupted. He ordered two regiments of militia, nearest the spot, to march to their assistance. The militia refused to obey, and marched in the opposite direction for Castleton. At this moment, St. Clair heard of the arrival of Burgoyne at Skenesborough, and the disaster of the flotilla. Fearing to be intercepted, he pushed on to Fort Edward, leaving orders for Warner, who commanded the rearguard, to follow him. Warner, who had gallantly maintained his ground against the British until he was deserted by a regiment of militia, was compelled to make a precipitate retreat, leaving three hundred killed and wounded. He ultimately joined St. Clair with ninety fugitives, the remnant of a body seven hundred strong, with which he had left Ticonderoga a few days before. 335 Ch. 21. 1776 St. Clair did not effect his retreat without fur- General Schuyler's ther loss; he was still hard pressed, and it was movements. with difficulty that he reached Fort Edward, where General Schuyler was stationed with the other division of the army, which had been driven from Canada. Burgoyne pressed forward on his retreating foe; but instead of making use of his transports, which would have conveyed his troops with ease and despatch to their destination, he pre |