influenced by feelings of animosity excited by the independent stand which the latter took in the case of his friend Doctor Stringer. Major General Schuyler was the older officer of the two, and perhaps on the strict principles of military rank was best entitled to it; but when once removed, there should at least have been some grounds of complaint against his successor, to make his reappointment equitable. To these frequent removals of officers from commands, without the slightest allegation of neglect of duty, is to be attributed much of that jealously, and wrangling, which afterwards so disgraced the American army.

General Schuyler arrived at Albany, and resumed the command of the Northern army, on the 3d of June, and on the 5th, ordered Major General St. Clair to repair to Ticonderoga and take the command of that fortress. From an idea which prevailed not only in Congress, but with General Gates, that the enemy's forces in Canada would be removed to New-York, for the purpose of co-operating with Sir William Howe, Ticonderoga and the western lines dependent on it, had been left almost without the means of defence. When General St. Clair reached the scene of his command, he found his effective force little more than two thousand, and of these a large number were in want of clothing, arms, bayonets, and accoutrements; the store of provisions was sufficient for but little more than a month; the enemy were in command of the Lake; and the Indians in their service were scattered in vast hordes along the whole frontier. In truth, as General St. Clair stated in his letter to Congress, no army was ever in a more critical situation; for the lowest calculation which had been made of the number of men requisite for the de

fence of this portion of the country amounted to ten thousand. General Gates had supposed, indeed, that eleven thousand seven hundred continentals would be necessary, besides the militia.

On the 17th of June, General Schuyler himself visited Ticonderoga, and on the 20th held a council of his general officers, who merely attested the fact of the inadequacy of their means of defence, and came to the conclusion, that in the event of its being necessary to give up either of the two posts then garrisoned, Ticonderoga and Mount Independence, it would be most advisable to abandon the former. They added a resolution that immediate application be made to his excellency General Washington, for a reinforcement to be sent on, with all possible expedition." It was a council, in fact, which might as well not have been called, since they neither stated any thing that was not before acknowledged, nor suggested any thing which could be considered as a remedy for the difficulties of their situation.

Lieutenant General Burgoyne, who it will be recollected had made so many empty boasts in parliament, of his fitness to command against the Americans, had been some time before appointed to supersede Sir Guy Carleton in the command of the Canada troops. This change was probably made on account of the apparent unwillingness of General Carleton to go so far in his employment of the Indians, as the Ministry desired and directed-or he had perhaps shown himself more humane to the prisoners whose fortune it was to fall into his hands, than suited the policy which they thought it necessary to pursue. Whatever may have been the reasons of the English Cabinet, it is certain that the change could not have

proceeded from a comparison of the military talents of the two gentlemen; for though the reputation of General Burgoyne stood high, that of Carleton was unimpeached, and he had maintained his stand in Canada against some of the most vigorous efforts of the Republican army. On the 24th of June, some of Burgoyne's troops arrived at Crown Point; General Schuyler had returned to his Head Quarters at Albany, and the task of defence remained with St. Clair. He was wholly ignorant of the views of the enemy, while on the contrary he had every reason to believe that they possessed the most correct information of his weakness. In this situation, all he could do, was to make the wisest arrangement of his means, and await the result. On the 30th, a part of the enemy's vessels made their appearance before Ticonderoga, and the troops landed in three divisions, at a few miles distance from the Fort-the advanced corps on the west side of the Lake, another detachment on the east side, and a party of Indians and Canadians in front of our lines; and the whole army followed from Crown Point on the next day, the British and German troops in separate divisions.

On the approach of Burgoyne to the American lines, he issued a proclamation, threatening those who resisted with all the terrours of relentless war, and promising certain conditions to such as would either join his forces, or remain quietly at home. His promises and threats, which were couched in the most pompous terms, were alike disregarded, for not a man was either terrified by his threats or won by his promises of protection. The British General certainly entered upon this campaign under every favourable circumstance with every reasonable prospect of adding to

the fame he had already won in other countries. He had the finest train of artillery that had ever been brought into the field: his troops were in the best possible condition, well disciplined, in full health, and commanded by officers of great reputation and experience the British, by Generals Philips, Frazer, Powell, and Hamilton, and the auxiliaries by the Baron Reidesel, and General Specht.-On the 2d of July a party of the enemy consisting of Captain Fraser's marksmen, and Indians, to the number of 500 men, either through ignorance or bravado, attacked a picket of 60 men within two hundred yards of one of the American batteries, and forcing them to retire, advanced within sixty yards, scattering themselves along the whole front of the American works. In the mean time, the right wing of the British army moved up, from their position on the west side of the Lake, and took possession of Mount Hope; and General St. Clair, supposing that an assault was intended, and that Frazer had been sent forward to throw the garrison into confusion, ordered the troops to conceal themselves behind the parapets and reserve their fire. Frazer's party, still perhaps deceived as to the real situation of the American works, which were in a great measure hid by brushwood, continued to advance, until one of the American soldiers fired a musket-this seemed to be understood as a signal, and the whole line rose and fired a volley, the artillery following the example, without orders. The consequence of this mistake was, that every man of the enemy but one escaped; for the first fire was made without aim, and this produced so great a smoke, that the enemy could not be seen, until they had fled to too great a distance to be reached by the shot. General Burgoyne remain

ed quietly in his position, and but for the solitary wounded prisoner, who had fallen into our hands, General St. Clair would have remained ignorant of his strength or intentions. A ruse was resorted to, to obtain information of the prisoner, which fortunately succeeded, and his intelligence turned out to be perfectly accurate. But St. Clair still hoped that an assault would be made, against which he was determined to defend the post to the last extremity. He was unwilling to hazard his reputation for bravery by abandoning the place; though every dictate of prudence must have taught him that there could be no safety for his army but in a retreat. On the 5th, however, the enemy appeared on Sugar Loaf Hill, or Mount Defiance as it was called, from which as there could be no prospect of dislodging him, and as the American camp were much exposed to their fire on that side, and liable to be enfiladed on all quarters; and as there was every reason to expect an attack upon Ticonderoga and Mount Independence at the same time, between which places the American troops were divided; a council of the officers was called to decide whether it would be most adviseable to remove to the less exposed low grounds to wait for the attack, or remove the whole of the troops to Mount Independence and defend that post. The council were unanimously of opinion that neither of these alternatives would be safe, and that a retreat should be undertaken as soon as possible. It was effected that night, with as little loss as could be expected from the great vigilance and activity of Burgoyne; who, perceiving the movements of the Americans, divided his force and ordered pursuit. both by land and water-the elite corps under Brigadier General Frazer, and the German troops un