USA > New York > Warren County > History of Warren County [N.Y.] with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 18
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The command of the northern department was again, by the vacillation of Congress, placed in the hands of General Schuyler, only to deprive him of it the second time on the first of the following August. The immediate com- mand of Ticonderoga and its dependencies was given to General Arthur St. Clair, an officer of ability and experience, but destined to misfortune. Here should have been concentrated an army of ten thousand men; yet Schuyler could muster but half that number in his whole department, while but three thousand were given to St. Clair. But the works were vastly stronger than when they were so heroically defended by Montcalm. The old lines had been fortified by the erection of a block-house, and new works erected at the saw- mills and the Lake George landing, all of which were, however, only occupied by feeble detachments. A small fort was erected on Mount Hope, while Mount Independence, on the eastern shore of the lake, directly opposite the main fort, was effectively fortified by a star fort enclosing barracks; the base of the hill and its sides were entrenched and supplied with artillery. Ticonder- oga and Mount Independence are about fifteen hundred yards apart. Let us quote a little further from the journal of Dr. Thacher : -
" According to authentic reports, the plan of the British government for the present campaign is that General Burgoyne's army shall take possession of Ticonderoga, and force his way through the country to Albany ; to facili- tate this event, Colonel St. Leger is to March with a party of British, Ger- mans, Canadians and Indians, to the Mohawk River, and make a diversion in that quarter. The royal army at New York, under command of General Howe, is to pass up the Hudson River, and calculating on success in all quar- ters, the three armies are to form a junction at Albany. Here, probably, the three commanders are to congratulate each other on their mighty achieve- ments, and the flattering prospects of crushing the rebellion. This being ac- complished, the communication between the Southern and Eastern States will be interrupted, and New England, as they suppose, may become an easy prey.
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"Judging from the foregoing detail, a very active campaign is to be ex- pected, and events of the greatest magnitude are undoubtedly to be unfolded. "The utmost exertions are now making to strengthen our works at Ticon- deroga, and, if possible, to render the post invulnerable. Mt. Independence, directly opposite to Ticonderoga, is strongly fortified and well supplied with artillery. On the summit of the mount, which is table land, is erected a strong fort, in the center of which is a convenient square of barracks, a part of which are occupied for our hospital. The communication between these two places is maintained by a floating bridge, which is supported on twenty-two sunken piers of very large timber. The spaces between these are filled with separate floats, each about fifty feet long and twelve feet wide, strongly fastened together with iron chains and rivets. A boom composed of large pieces of timber, well secured together by riveted bolts, is placed on the north side of the bridge, and by the side of this is placed a double iron chain, the links of which are one and a half inch square. The construction of this bridge, boom and chain, of four hundred yards in length, has proved a most laborious undertaking, and the expense must have been immense. It is, however, supposed to be admir- ably adapted to the double purpose of a communication and an impenetrable barrier to any vessels that might attempt to pass our works.
"July Ist. - We are now assailed by a proclamation of a very extraordinary nature, from General Burgoyne.1 The militia of New England are daily com- ing in to increase our strength ; the number of our troops and our ability to defend the works against the approaching enemy, are considerations which be- long to our commanding officers. One fact, however, is notorious, that when the troops are directed to man the lines, there is not a sufficient number to occupy the whole extent. It appears, nevertheless, so far as I can learn, to be the prevalent opinion, that we shall be able to repel the meditated attack and defeat the views of the royal commander; both officers and men are in high spirits and prepared for the contest."
In spite of the conclusions of this eye witness, it is clear that St. Clair was in no condition to repel an assault from such a force as that under command of Burgoyne. He knew this to be the fact. On the 25th of June he commu- nicated to Schuyler the perilous circumstances by which he was surrounded and the inadequacy of his resources; but he was given no alternative other than to hold the position to the last, when an early evacuation might have averted the misfortune that overtook him. The commander-in-chief and Congress were still clinging to the belief and hope that Burgoyne's movements were pretexts
1 Let not people consider their distance from my camp; I have but to give stretch to the Indian forces under my direction - and they amount to thousands - to overtake the banded enemies of Great Britain. If the frenzy of hostility should remain, I trust I shall stand acquitted in the eyes of God and man in executing the vengeance of the State against the wilful ontcasts. - From Burgoyne's Proclama- tion.
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to cover other operations. Mt. Defiance, the real key to success in operations against Ticonderoga, was still unfortified and unoccupied.1
On the first of July Burgoyne's army appeared before Ticonderoga. The small garrison at Crown Point had fallen back to this point, and Burgoyne es- tablished there a hospital, magazine, store-house and base of supplies. He disposed his forces with light infantry, grenadiers, Canadians, Indians and ten pieces of artillery, under command of General Frazer, on the west side of the lake at Putnam's Creek. This force was moved up to Five Mile Point. On the east side of the lake were the Germans, under Riedesel and Breyman ; they were moved up to a point nearly opposite, while the remainder of the army were on board of the gunboats and the frigates Royal George and Inflexible, under the immediate command of Burgoyne himself. This fleet was anchored between the wings of the army and just out of cannon shot from the fort.
On the second the right wing of the British was extended on the flank, threatening St. Clair's outposts, whereupon the small force on Mt. Hope and at the landing was ordered to burn the mills and the public property and fall back within the American lines. Mt. Hope was immediately seized by the British and, it is said, received its name from General Phillips, as expressive of his feelings at that time. St. Clair's communications with Lake George were now severed and the eminence was at once further fortified and artillery con- veyed to its summit by almost incredible toil, which operations were carried on under a cannonade from St. Clair's guns. During these operations Bur- goyne's engineer, Lieutenant Twiss, reconnoitered what was then called "Sugar Loaf Hill," the lofty eminence rising seven hundred and fifty feet from the con- fluence of Lake Champlain and the outlet and directly commanding both Ticonderoga and Mt. Independence. The engineer reported, in accordance with his belief, that the eminence was not only unoccupied, but could be reached by a road for transportation of cannon in twenty-four hours. This road was cut out during the night of the fourth, the sound of the choppers' axes being drowned by a cannonade from Mt. Hope, the Americans remaining in blissful ignorance of the operation. Before morning several pieces of artil- lery, which had been landed from the Thunderer, were transported to the top of the mountain. Holes were drilled directly into the rocks to which the guns were chained; 2 they comprised eight pieces, twelve pounders and eight-inch howitzers. When the sun rose on the fifth, the British looked down on the strongest fortress of the Americans, confident that they could destroy its gar- rison and demolish its walls with the plunging shots from their guns. They thereupon, as it is said, called the eminence Mt. Defiance, the name it still bears.
1 The imagined impregnability of these works would at once fail, in the event of this eminence being occupied by a hostile battery. St. Clair had been apprised of this momentous fact by the examination of the preceding year. Pont Le Roy, the engineer of Montcalm, evidently referred to it. And we cannot doubt that the possession of Ticonderoga during more than eighteen years, had disclosed the military value of this position to the British commanders. - WATSON.
2 These holes are still visible.
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The astonishment and anxiety of the Americans when the morning mists swept back from the mountain and revealed the battery almost over their heads, may be imagined. St. Clair saw that the position was doomed. A council of officers was called; but there could be but one decision, if the army was to be saved - evacuation.
Even this alternative was threatened with disaster, as General Riedesel was menacing the only avenue of escape by stretching his force around Mount In- dependence to command the narrow water passage towards Skenesborough. Situated, as they were, in full view of the British on Mount Defiance, it was clear that the retreat must be made in the night, and preparations were at once begun. At dusk a heavy cannonade was opened from the outer lines to cover their movements while the garrison gathered stores of all kinds, which, with the sick and wounded, were placed in two hundred boats, with a guard of six hundred men and embarked for Skenesborough, in charge of Colonel Long and accompanied by five armed vessels. At three o'clock on the morn- ing of the 6th the troops began to cross the bridge. At this juncture, and in contradiction of express orders, a building was set on fire on Mount Indepen- dence by General De Fermoy. The brilliant illumination spread over the en- tire scene, the British were aroused and preparations for immediate pursuit begun. St. Clair had not the time to destroy the bridge which had cost so much money and labor, and Frazer hurried across it with a strong detach- ment in pursuit of the fleeing Americans. Within the next few hours Bur- goyne so broke up the bridge as to admit the passage of two ships and several of his gunboats, which were crowded on after the American flotilla. Of the moonlight voyage of the latter, Dr. Thacher vividly wrote as follows: -
" At about twelve o'clock on the night of 5th instant I was urgently called from sleep, and informed that our army was in motion, and was instantly to abandon Ticonderoga and Mount Independence. I could scarcely believe that my informant was in earnest, but the confusion and bustle soon convinced me that it was really true, and that the short time allowed demanded my utmost industry. It was enjoined on me immediately to collect the sick and wounded and as much of the hospital stores as possible, and assist in embarking them on board the bateaux and boats at the shore. Having with all possible dis- patch completed our embarkation, at three o'clock in the morning of the 6th, we commenced our voyage up the South Bay to Skeensboro, about thirty miles. Our fleet consisted of five armed galleys and two hundred bateaux and boats, deeply laden with cannon, tents, provisions, invalids and women. We were accompanied by a guard of 600 men, commanded by Colonel Long, of New Hampshire.
" The night was moonlight and pleasant, the sun burst forth in the morn- ing with uncommon lustre, the day was fine, the water's surface serene and
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unruffled. The shore on each side exhibited a variegated view of huge rocks, caverns and clifts, and the whole was bounded by a thick, impenetrable wilder- ness. My pen would fail in the attempt to describe a scene so enchantingly sublime. The occasion was peculiarly interesting, and we could but look back with regret and forward with apprehension. We availed ourselves, however, of the means of enlivening our spirits. The drum and fife afforded us a favorite music; among the hospital stores we found many dozen bottles of choice wine, and, breaking off their necks, we cheered our hearts with the nectarous contents.
" At three o'clock in the afternoon we reached our destined post at Skeens- boro, being the head of navigation for our galleys. Here we were unsus- picious of danger ; but, behold ! Burgoyne himself was at our heels. In less than two hours we were struck with surprise and consternation by a discharge of cannon from the enemy's fleet, on our galleys and bateaux lying at the wharf. By uncommon efforts and industry they had broken through the bridge, boom and chain, which cost our people such immense labor, and had almost overtaken us on the lake, and horribly disastrous indeed would have been our fate. It was not long before it was perceived that a number of their troops and savages had landed, and were rapidly advancing towards our little party. The officers of our guard now attempted to rally the men and form them in battle array ; but this was found impossible; every effort proved unavailing; and in the utmost panic they were seen to fly in every direction for personal safety. In this desperate condition, I perceived our officers scampering for their baggage; I ran to the bateaux, seized my chest, carried it a short dis- tance, took from it a few articles, and instantly followed in the train of our re- treating party. We took the route to Fort Anne, through a narrow defile in the woods, and were so closely pressed by the pursuing enemy, that we fre- quently heard calls from the rear to ' March on, the Indians are at our heels.'
" Having marched all night we reached Fort Anne at five o'clock in the morning, where we found provisions for our refreshment. A small rivulet called Wood Creek is navigable for boats from Skeensboro to Fort Anne, by which means some of our invalids and baggage made their escape ; but all our cannon, provisions, and the bulk of our baggage, with several invalids, fell into the enemy's hands."
While Burgoyne was engaged in these successful operations St. Clair pur- sued a forced and disorderly march towards Castleton, which he reached in the following night. The three regiments constituting the rear guard of the Americans, under Warner, Francis and Hale, halted at Hubbardton to reor- ganize and collect the stragglers who had fallen out on the hurried retreat. They occupied a favorable position and there awaited an expected attack. Frazer was near at hand, having lain on his arms the preceding night, and, without waiting for the expected arrival of Riedesel, attacked the American
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lines with vigor. Frazer had but eight hundred and fifty regulars, while the opposing force numbered about thirteen hundred ; but this disparity was soon equalized by the retreat of Hale's regiment.1 A long and bloody engagement followed, in which victory seemed alternately to belong to either side. Francis fell at the head of his regiment. Warner succeeded in joining Schuyler at Fort Edward. Six miles from this battle-field lay St. Clair with his detach- ment, the co-operation of which might have turned defeat into victory. That he did not move for that purpose is attributed by his apologists to the fact that his militia refused to march.
The capture of Ticonderoga caused deep consternation and regret through- out the colonies and general rejoicing in England. It had been looked upon as an impregnable stronghold, and to see it fall without a battle filled the Amer- icans with despondency and gloom. Charges of baseness and treachery were freely indulged in towards St. Clair and Schuyler, and the latter was again superseded. Even the serene mind and cool judgment of Washington was disturbed.2 The truth is, the actual force and condition of St. Clair's army had been over-estimated, both by army officers at a distance and the general public.
Burgoyne's advance was temporarily checked at Fort Anne by Colonel Long, but the latter was forced to retreat ; setting fire to the fort, he fled to Fort Edward. Here was General Schuyler, his provisions nearly exhausted and with little ammunition. Being in no condition to offer effective resistance, the whole force was compelled to fall back to Albany. It was in this crisis that the soul of Washington arose to that height of hopefulness, patience and calm strength so seldom reached. Said he in a letter to Schuyler, " This stroke is severe indeed, and has distressed us much. But, notwithstanding things at present have a dark and gloomy aspect, I hope a spirited opposition will check the progress of General Burgoyne's army, and that the confidence derived from his success will lead him into measures that will, in their consequences be favorable to us. We should never despair, our position has before been un- promising, and has changed for the better ; so, I trust, it will again."
It is not out of place here to digress from our general subject to mention an incident that occurred about this time- an incident whose terrible details.
1 Hale's regiment was largely composed of sick and convalescent soldiers, and after a sharp skirm- ish continued the retreat to Castleton; but he was intercepted by a British detachment and himself and nearly his whole'regiment captured. Hale has been charged with misconduct on this occasion, but the testimony of those who were present in the engagement and of other patient investigators is to the ef- fect that his action was justified by the circumstances by which he was surrounded.
2 The evacuation of Ticonderoga and Mt. Indepenence is an event of chagrin and surprise, not ap- prehended nor within the compass of my reasoning. I know not upon what principle it was founded, and I should suppose it still more difficult to be accounted for, if the garrison amounted to five thousand men, in high spirits, healthy, well supplied with provisions and ammunition, and the eastern militia marching to their succor, as you mentioned in your letter on the 9th 10 the council of safety of New York. - Washington to General Schuyler, July 15, 1777.
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carried a shock of horror to the hearts of all men, whether royal or provincial, while on the part of the latter a feeling of indignation was engendered that no excuses could calm. While Burgoyne was slowly making his way to the Hud- son, Jane McCrea, an attractive young woman, was visiting friends at Fort Edward. While her friends were staunch defenders of freedom, she was so much of a royalist as to have become the betrothed of a young tory whose home was in the vicinity of Fort Edward, but who, at this time, was with Bur- goyne's forces. When the army of Burgoyne had reached a point near Fort Edward, a squad of Indians, who were scouting in advance of the troops, en- tered the house of her friends and seized Miss McCrea, and, placing her on a horse, attempted to take her to Burgoyne's camp. As soon as information of the abduction reached the fort, a detachment was started off to rescue her. The Indians with their captive were soon overtaken, but instead of turning to fight, they made the best speed possible to escape. This brought a volley of bullets from their pursuers, one of which struck the poor girl and she fell dead to the ground. Before the Americans could reach them, the Indians, seeing that she was killed, scalped her and bore her sunny lock to the British camp as a trophy. Her lover was so shocked by the deed that for a time his reason tottered ; he finally, after securing by purchase the mournful relic of her death, went to Canada, where he lived alone, a melancholy man, to his death at an ad- vanced age. Miss McCrea's body was buried near Fort Edward, whence, a few years since, it was removed to a cemetery between Fort Edward and Sandy Hill. Many wild and romantic versions of the atrocious deed have been written, but this is the true one. At the time the story, being repeated fromn mouth to mouth, became enlarged and distorted to one of abduction and cold murder and raised in the bosoms of hundreds of young men a burning indig- nation against the British, and Burgoyne in particular, for employing the mer- ciless savages to fight against their countrymen, and caused many to join the army with a determination to avenge the bitter wrong.
Contemporaneously with Burgoyne's operations thus far described, was Colonel Barry St. Leger's march from Montreal to Oswego, to form a junction with the Indians and tories collected under Johnson and Brant, whence they hoped to penetrate to the Mohawk River by way of Oneida Lake and Wood Creek, with the ultimate view of joining Burgoyne at Albany. To the office of general history must be resigned the details of this unsuccessful cam- paign, the failure of which formed a part of the general calamity that was to overtake Burgoyne.
Gates was now again at the head of the northern military department. General Stark was at Bennington, with part of a brigade. At this point the Americans had collected a large quantity of stores, which Burgoyne, finding himself short of provisions, determined to capture, and at the same time secure loyalist volunteers. An expedition was fitted out for this purpose, under com-
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mand of Colonel Baume, about the middle of August. On the 14th they ap- proached the American position and entrenched. Stark had collected a large number of fugitives from the Hubbardton disaster and Warner joined him on the 15th. The next day Stark made a brilliant attack on the British and the ensuing battle of Bennington ended with a loss of less than one hundred Amer- icans, while the Hessians lost in killed, wounded and prisoners nearly a thou- sand.
Burgoyne's progress was slow, harassed as he was by the desolation Schuyler had wisely left in his way and continued attacks by the Americans. Gates formed a fortified camp on Bemis's Heights, on the Hudson, where he was attacked by Burgoyne September 19th. The battle was indecisive, the British retiring to their camp on Saratoga Heights (now Schuylerville), to await the hoped for approach of Sir Henry Clinton from the south. The latter captured the fortifications on the Hudson Highlands and burned Kingston. Burgoyne now again attacked Gates at Bemis's Heights, but was defeated and again retired to his camp. Here, harassed by defeat on all sides, his supplies failing and finding it impossible to move forward and equally impossible to make a successful retreat, he surrendered his entire army on the 17th of Octo- ber. At the opening of the campaign Burgoyne's army numbered nine thou- sand two hundred and thirteen men. When he laid down his arms, his Indians having already abandoned him, he surrendered five thousand, seven hundred and fifty-two.1
While Burgoyne was proceeding southward, as detailed, Lincoln was en- gaged in collecting a force of four thousand militia at Manchester, Vt., by which the flank of the British army was seriously menaced. A portion of this force was then detailed for an important movement which was intended should sever Burgoyne's communications and possibly seize Ticonderoga. Colonel John- son, with a party of about five hundred men was detached and sent against Skenesborough and Fort Edward, and with the special object of covering the retreat of the other detachments. One of these was commanded by Brown (about the same strength as the first named), and was ordered to proceed to the landing on Lake George and rescue the prisoners held there, which accom- plished he was to act upon his best judgment. Crossing Lake Champlain at the narrows above Ticonderoga, his band marched all night, kept together by signals imitating the hooting of owls and after severe toil among the rugged fastnesses of the mountains that separate the two lakes for a distance of four- teen miles, he fell upon the enemy by a complete surprise just as day was break- ing. Three hundred British troops were captured without resistance, with the works on Mount Hope and at the landing, two hundred bateaux, an armed
1 " It was, perhaps, no fault of General Gates that he had been placed in command at the north just at the auspicious moment (August ist, joining the army the 19th) when the discomfiture of Burgoyne was no longer problematical. He was ordered by Congress to the station, and performed his duty well. But it is no less true that the laurels won by him ought to have been harvested by Schuyler."
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sloop and a number of gunboats stationed here to protect the landing. One hundred American prisoners were liberated, which was the primary object of the expedition. Captain Ebenezer Allen was detached by Brown with a small force to assail the works on Mount Defiance. The precipitous acclivity was scaled and the battery captured without firing a gun. Early the following morning Colonel Johnson joined Brown before Ticonderoga. These united forces invested the fortress and called on the commander, General Powell, to surrender. A defiant reply was returned and after cannonading the works for four days, the attack was abandoned, the walls being impregnable to the small guns in possession of the Americans. At the landing Brown embarked a body of troops in the captured boats and ascended Lake George, with the design of seizing Diamond Island, where Burgoyne had deposited a quantity of stores.
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