USA > New York > The natural, statistical, and civil history of the state of New-York, v. 3 > Part 17
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Westfield. The right, under the command of Lord Cornwall. took the route by Woodbridge, to the Scotch Plains, and the left, under the immediate command of General Howe, marched by Metucking meeting-house. It was intended that the right should attack the left flank of the American army, at Quibble- town ; while Lord Cornwallis should gain the heights on the left of the camp at Middlebrook. Four battalions were detach- ed to Bonhamtown. About Woodbridge, the right column of the enemy fell in with one of the American parties, detached to watch their motions. Washington, on notice of this, put the whole army instantly in motion, and regained his camp at Middlebrook. Lord Cornwallis fell in with Lord Stirling, and a smart skirmish ensued, in which the latter had to retreat to the hills, about the Scotch meeting-house, and from thence to Westfield. Here Lord Cornwallis halted, and finding the passes in the mountains guarded, he retired to Amboy, and the whole British army passed over to Staten Island.
Before General Howe had developed his views, the army of General Burgoyne made its appearance on Lake Champlain, and menaced Ticonderoga. On hearing this, General Nixon, who was at Peekskill, embarked his brigade, and proceeded up the Hudson, to Albany.
Meanwhile, General Howe embarked his army, and soon after sailed for Delaware and Chesapeake bays, from whence he proposed to march to Philadelphia.
1777 .- We shall return to the north, and examine the opera- tions in that quarter. In the spring of 1777, General Bur- goyne, who had served under General Carleton, in the preced- ing campaign, returned from England, and assumed the com- mand in Canada. Every thing being in a measure ready for the invasion of New-York, he took immediate steps to carry it into execution. The regular forces allotted for this expedition, amounted to seven thousand one hundred and thirteen men, British and Germans, exclusive of the corps of artillery ; of these, the Germans amounted to three thousand two hundred and seventeen. Large additions were expected from the Cana- dians and Indians ; and arms and accoutrements were provided
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to supply the royalists, who were expected to join in large numbers. An excellent train of brass artillery was furnished for the campaign. In the execution of the proposed invasion Gen- eral Burgoyne was to be. assisted by several of the ablest and best officers then in service. . Among these were Major-gen- eral Phillips, of the artillery ; Brigadier-generals Frazer, Powel and Hamilton, of the British army, and Major-general Reidesel, and Brigadier generel Specht, of the German auxili- aries. The army, in every respect, was in the best condition that could be desired-the troops were in high spirits, healthy and well disciplined.
To facilitate the operations of the army under General Bur- goyne, an expedition was projected against the Mohawk coun- try, by the way of Oswego, the command of which was given to Colonel St. Ledger. The troops designed for this expedi- tion, amounted to eight hundred men, exclusive of a large body of Indians.
The main army under Burgoyne, embarked at St. Johns, and proceeded up Lake Champlain without interruption, and. .. soon arrived and encamped at the river Boquet, on the west side of the lake, and a little to the north of Crown Point, at the place now called Willsborough. There the Indians had also assembled, and General Burgoyne, in conformity to their customs, gave them a war-feast. On the twenty-first of June, he made a speech to them, calculated to rouse their mar- tail disposition, but he enjoined on them not to kill any except those who should be opposed to them in arms. He promised thein a liberal compensation for all prisoners they should take and bring in, but none for scalps.
The American army which was to oppose this formidable invasion, was encamped at Ticonderoga and Mount Indepen- dence. General Schuyler, on whom the sole command de- volved, after the departure of General Gates for the south, had been indefatigable during the winter and spring, in providing for the wants of the army, and in making arrangements for tie campaign. He visited, in person, the different posts, and made every exertion to meet the enemy. General Schuyler, after
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having examined the works at Ticonderoga, left the command with St. Clair, and returned to Fort Edward, a more centra! situation, where he established his head-quarters.
Ou the fourth of July, General Burgoyne issued a procla. mation, designed to act on the fears and hopes of the people of the country through which he intended to march. After a short stay at Crown Point, Burgoyne moved on with his army to Ticonderoga.
This fortress lies on the western shore of Lake Champlain, at the place where the outlet of Lake George enters, and about twelve miles south of Crown Point. Lake Champlain and the outlet of Lake George.wash it on three sides, while a marsh and ditch, with a bank, cover the other side. The Americans had strengthened the French lines with additional works and a block-house. They had erected other posts with works and block-houses, on the left, towards Lake George ; and to the right of the French lines, two new block-houses, and other works had been added. On the eastern shore of the inlet, and opposite to Ticonderoga, there is a high circular hill, which they had occupied and fortified. To this they gave the name of Mount Independence. On the summit of this bill they had constructed a star fort, enclosing a large square of bar- racks, well fortified and supplied with artillery. The foot of the hill, which, on the west side, projects into the lake, was strongly intrenched to the edge of the water, and the intrench- ments were well lined with heavy artillery. A battery, about half way up the hill, sustained and covered these lower works. These two posts had, with infinite labour, been joined together by a bridge of communication, thrown over the lake. This bridge of communication was supported by twenty-two sunk piers, of very large timber, placed nearly at equal distances ; the spaces between these were filled with separate floats, each about fifty feet long and twelve wide, strongly fastened together with chains and rivets, and as strongly connected with the sunken pillars. The north side of the bridge was defended by a boom of very large pieces of timber, fastened together by riveted bolts and double chains, made of iron, an inch and a-half
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square. By this work, a communication was not only main- tained between the posts, but all access by water was totally cut off from the northern side ; but this arduous work was not finished when the enemy arrived before the lines.
This part of Lake Champlain, and thence to its head, is a mere strait.
But, notwithstanding the apparent strength of Ticonderoga, it was effectually overlooked and commanded by a portion of the Palmertown mountain, called by some Sugar Hill, and by others Mount Defiance. This mountain, by its proximity and elevation, had such an entire command both of Ticonde- roga and Mount Independence, that an enemy might, from thence, have counted the numbers, and enfiladed every part of the works. This circumstance was well known to the American officers, and they had a consultation about fortifying this moun- . tain ; but it was declined, because their works were already so extensive that, with the addition of what would be proper on Mount Defiance, they would require ten or twelve thousand men for the defence, a much greater number than were there then. Instead of a full compliment of troops to man the ex- tensive lines, and defend the numerous works, the whole force which General St. Clair had, did not exceed three thousand five hundred men, including militia, and these not well armed.
From Crown Point, the British army advanced on both sides of the lake ; the naval force keeping its station in the · centre, the frigate and gun-boats cast anchor just out of can- non shot from the American works. On the near approach of the right wing, which advanced on the west side of the lake, on the second of July, the Americans abandoned, and set fire to their works, block-houses and saw mills, towards Lake George; and without attempting any serious opposition, suffer- ed General Phillips to take possession of Mount Hope. This post commanded the American lines in a great degree, and cut off their communication with Lake George. The enemy charged the Americans on this occasion, with supineness and want of vigor ; but this charge smees not well-founded ; they
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had not men enough to make any effectual opposition to the , powerful force which threatened to enclose them.
In the mean time, the British army proceeded with such expe- dition, in the construction of their works, the bringing up of their artillery, stores, and provisions, and the establishment of posts -- and communications, that by the fifth, matters were so far ad- vanced, as to require but one or two days more to completely invest the posts on both sides of the lake. Mount Defiance had · also been examined, and the advantages which it presented were so important, that it had been determined to take posses- sion, and erect a battery there. This work, though attended with extreme difficulty and labour, had been carried on by General Phillips with much expedition and success. A road had been made over very rough ground, to the top of the mount ; and the enemy were at work in constructing a level for a bat- tery, and transporting their cannon. As soon as this battery should be ready to play, the American works would have been completely invested on all sides.
The situation of General St. Clair was now very critical. He called a council of war, to deliberate on measures to be taken. He informed them, that their whole effective number was not sufficient to man one half of the works; that as the whole must be constantly on duty, it would be impossible for them to endure the fatigue for any considerable length of time ; that General Schuyler, who was then at Fort Edward, had not sufficient forces to relieve them ; and that, as the enemy's bat- teries were nearly ready to open upon them, and the place would be completely invested in twenty-four hours, nothing could save the troops but an immediate evacuation of the posts.
It was proposed that the baggage of the army, with such artillery stores and provisions, as the necessity of the occasion would admit, should be embarked with a strong detachment on board of two hundred batteaux, and dispatched under convoy of five armed galleys, up the lake to Skeensborough, (White Hall,) and that the main body of the army should proceed by land, taking its route on the road to Castleton, which was about thirty miles southeast of Ticonderoga, and join the boats and
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galley's at Skeensborough. It was thought necessary to keep the matter a secret till the time should come, when it was to be executed .. Hence, the necessary preparations could not be made, and it was not possible to prevent irregularity and disor- der, in the different embarkations and movements of the troops. -
About two o'clock in the morning of July the sixth, General St. Clair left Ticonderoga, and about three, the troops at Mount Independence were put in motion. The house which had been occupied by General de Fermoy, was, contrary to orders, set on fire. This afforded complete information to the enemy of what was 'going forward, and enabled them to see every movement of the Americans-at the same time, it im- pressed the latter with such an idea of discovery and danger, as precipitated them into great disorder. About four o'clock, Colonel Francis brought off the rear-guard, and conducted their retreat in a regular manner ; and soon after, some of the regi- ments, through the exertions of their officers, recovered from their confusion. When the troops arrived at Hubbardton they were halted for nearly two hours, and the rear-guard was in- creased by many who did not at first belong to it, but were picked up on the road, having been unable to keep up with their regiments. The rear-guard was here put under the com- mand of Colonel Seth Warner, with orders to follow the army, as soon as the whole came up, and to halt about a mile and a-half short of the main body. The army then proceeded to Castletou, about six miles farther-Colonel Warner, with the rear-guard and stragglers, remaining at Hubbardton.
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The retreat of the Americans from Ticonderoga and Mount Independence, was no sooner perceived by the British, than General Frazer began an eager pursuit with his brigade. Ma- jor- general Reidesel was ordered to join in the pursuit with the greater part of his Germans. General Frazer continued the pursuit through the day, and having received intelligence that the rear of the American army was at no great distance, ordered his men to lie that night upon their arms. On July seventh, at five in the morning, he came up with Colonel War-
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ner, who had about one thousand men. The British advan -. ed boldly to the att ich, and the two bodies formed within sixty yards of each other. . The conflict was fierce and bloody. Colonel Francis fell at the head of his regiment, fighting with great gallantry. Warner was so well supported by his officers and meu, that the assailants broke and gave way. They soon, however, recovered from their disorder, formed again, and charge eti the Americans with the bayonet,' when they, in their turn, were put into disorder ; these, however, rallied and returned to the charge, and the issue of the battle became dubious. At that moment, General Reidesel appeared with the advance party of his Germans: These being led into action, soon decided the for- tune of the day, and the Americans had to retreat. The loss, in this action, was very considerable on the American side. Co- Ionel Hale, who had not brought his regiment, which consisted of militia, into action,' althoughi ordered so to do, in attempt- ing to escape by flight, fell in with an inconsiderable party of the enemy, and surrendered himself, and a number of his men, prisoners. In killed, wounded and prisoners, the Americans lost in this action, three hundred and twenty four men, and the British one hundred and eighty-three in killed and wuanded.
Confiding in General Frazer to conduct the pursuit of the Americans by land, General Burgoyne undertook to direct the chase by water. The boom, and other obstructions to the travigation of the lake, not being completed, were soon cut through ; and so engaged were the British in this business, that by nine o'clock in the morning the gun boats, the Royal George, and Inflexible frigates, had passed the works. Several regiments embarked aboard the vessels and transports, and the pursuit was pushed with such vigour, that by three in the after- hton, the foremost brigade of gunboats overtook and engaged with the American galleys near Skeensborough (White Hall.) Upon the approach of the frigates, all opposition ceased ; two of the galleys were taken, and the other three blown up. The Americans not being in sufficient force to make a stand, set fire to the batteaux, mills, fort and works, and retired towards
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Fort Ann, where they were joined by a detachment which had been sent by General Schuyler from Fort Edward. This party of Americans was commanded by Colonel Long. In the mean time, Colonel Hill was detached by General Burgoyne, with the ninth regiment towards Fort Ann, with a view to inter- cept Colonel Long on his way to that fort. Ou his march, near Fort Ann, he was attacked by the, Americans under .Colo- nel Long, in front, with a heavy and well directed fire ; while another party was preparing to fall on his rear. Colonel Hill, aware of his danger, retired to a hill to prevent being surround- ed, and in this situation was vigorously attacked by such num- bers, that he was in danger of being cut to pieces, At this critical juncture, a reinforcement arrived, which rendered it necessary for Colonel Long to retire. On leaving Fort Ann, he set fire to the works and made good his retreat to Fort Edward.
General St. Clair received intelligence of the disaster at Skeensborough, about the same time that news came to him of Waruer's defeat. To avoid the enemy, it was now necessary for him to change his route, and he sent orders to Colonel Warner, to join him at Rutland. Here he fell in with many soldiers, who had been separated from the army, and two days afterwards he was joined by Colonel Warner, at the head of . about ninety men. After dispatching officers to Bennington and other places, to stop and collect the stranglers, he pro -. ceeded to join General Schuyler at Fort Edward.
The loss sustained by the Americans, in their retreat from Ticonderoga and Mount Independence, was very heavy, One hundred and twenty-eight pieces of cannon, 349,760 pounds of flour, 143,S30 pounds of salt provisions, a large drove of cattle, all their batteaux, vessels, and magazines.
At Stillwater, on his way to Ticonderoga, General Schny- ler was informed of the evacuation of that place, and Saratoga the total loss of the stores .at Skeensborough was also reported to him. From General St. Clair he had brandt nothing, and the most serious apprehensions were entertained -
for the army commanded by that officer. General Schuyler,
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on reaching Fort Edward, found himself at the head of only fifteen hundred continentals, and about the same number of militia.
After the evacuation of Fort Ann, General Burgoyne found it absolutely necessary to suspend for a time all further pursuit, in order to give his army some respite. In the active service in which they had been engaged, many of the soldiers had been two days without provisions, and they were all without tents. The troops were in some derangement ; distinct corps were intermingled, and the detachments were far apart. He, there- fore, determined to halt a few days at Skeensborough, in order to re-assemble his army and arrange it. The baggage, artik- lery, and military stores were brought up; and preparations were made, with the utmost dispatch, to move forward to Al- bany. - ·
In the present state of things, General Schuyler, being una- ble to meet the enemy, resolved to throw obstructions in his way. and thereby gain time. 1
The country between Skeensborough and Fort Edward was almost entirely unsettled, and covered with woods. In addition . to this, that part along Wood Creek was broken and intersect- ed by sharp ridges, and abounded with swamps and creeks. As far as Fort Ann, Wood Creek was navigable with batteaux, and of course was useful in the transportation of cannon, mili- tary stores, provisions, and heavy baggage.
For this purpose, the day after the action at Fort Ann, General Schuyler ordered a brigade of militia to destroy the roads ; to begin the work as near as possible to the place where the fort stood, to fall the trees across the road, take up the bridges, and throw all the obstructions in the way imaginable. On the sixteenth of July he ordered a brigade of continentals ou the same business, and these, with the militia, laboured with much industry and good success in falling trees. He was also indefatigable in causing all the cattle to be driven out of the way of the enemy, and in removing from Fort George to Fort Edward, all the military stores which had been collect- ed there, of which his army was in much need, and which it
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was very essential to remove, before the enemy could reach that post.
When General St. Clair had joined General Schuyler at Fort Edward, the American army amounted to only four thou- sand and four hundred men. While thus endeavouring to ob- struct the march of the enemy, General Schuyler was not inat- tentive to the best means of strengthening his own army.' Re- inforcements of regular troops were earnestly solicited. The militia of New-York and New England were called for, and all his influence in the surrounding country was exerted to re-ani- mate the people, and prevent their defection. As a mean of creating some additional delay in the movements of the enemy, he directed Colonel Warner to take post, with his regiment, on their left flank, in what was then termed the New Hampshire Grants, now Vermont. with instructions to raise the militia in that quarter. General Schuyler hoped, that the appearance of a respectable military force menacing their flank and rear, would induce the enemy to strengthen the garrison of Ticon- deroga, and would also retard the advance of his main army.
While at Skeensborough, (White Hall). General Burgoyne issued a second proclamation, summoning the people of the ad- jacent country to send ten deputies from each township to meet Colonel Skeen at Castleton, in order to deliberate on such measures as might still be adopted to save from destruction those who had not yet conformed to his first proclamation, and submitted to the royal authority. Apprehending some inju- ' rious effects from this proclamation, General Schuyler issued a counter one,'stating to the inhabitants the insidious designs of the enemy, warning them by the example of New-Jersey, of the danger to which their yielding would expose them; and for- bidding them, in the most solemn manner, to send deputies.
The evacuation of Ticonderoga and Mount Independence, was an event for which no part of the United States was pre- pared. Neither the strength of the invading army, nor of the garrisons had been any where understood. The opinion was common, that the enemy's forces did not exceed five thousand men. The garrisons, it was generally supposed, nearly equalled
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the enemy in numbers. A very few days before those places were invested, General Schuyler, from an inspection of the muster rolls, had stated the garrison at five thousand men, and the provisions abundant. : When, therefore, it was understood that places, on the fortifications of which much money and la- bour had been expended ; and which were considered as the keys to the northern states, and supposed to contain garrisons nearly or quite equal to the invading army, had been abandoned withi- out a siege ; that an immense train of artillery, consisting of one hundred and twenty-eight pieces, and all the baggage, military stores, and provisions, had either fallen into the hands of the enemy or been destroyed ; that the army on its retreat bad been attacked, defeated, and dispersed, astonishment per- vaded all ranks of men ; and the conduct of the officer, was universally condemned. Congress directed a recall of all the generals of the department, and an inquiry into their conduct.
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The conduct of St. Clair was very extraordinary ; he bad omitted to call in reinforcements in time ; he had delayed the evacuation of the forts, till it was impossible to remove the cannon, military stores and baggage; he had foreseen uone of the enemy's measures, nor had he taken any steps to guard against them. Hence, every step which he took after the eva- cuation was determined on, was marked with indecision and the most consummate folly. Hle seems not to have possessed a genius that finds relief in instantaneous resource, decisive coun- eil, or animating action.
In the mean time, great exertions were made to reinforce the northern army. The utmost industry was used to procure a supply of tents ; artillery and ammunition were sent from Mas- sachusetts, and the remaining troops of that state were ordered upon that service. General Lincoln was directed to raise and take command of the New England militia. General Arnold was ordered to the northern army, in the hope that his presence would serve to reanimate the troops ; Colonel Morgan, with his riflemen, was detached on the same service, and the militia of the state of New- York were called out.
Having allowed a short repose to his army, while parties
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#tre employed in bringing up the tents and provisions, Gen- eral Burgoyne, elated at the success which had hitherto attend- ed him, proceeded with ardour to complete the remaining objects of the campaign. He soon perceived the toils and delays which must be encountered before he could reach the Hudson. He found it necessary to remove the obstructions in Wood Creek, in order to ascend it with boats, and also to clear the road of the fallen timber, and render it passable from the navi- gable parts of Wood Creek to Hudson's River. These works were much more difficult than he had anticipated, and so very slow were the operations, that he did not reach the Hudson until the thirtieth day of July, although the distance is only twenty-two miles. And even after he had reached the Hudson, he had to halt until his batteaux, provisions, artillery and other materials, necessary to enable him to proceed in the expedition, arrived.
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