HISTORY OF VERMONT. 7f 



the army was to take a situation that could not 

 be easily reduced by the enemy ; and it was the 

 unanimous opinion of a council of war, not to 

 erect fortifications, or make their stand at Crown 

 Pohit, but to take their post on the strong ground 

 opposite to the east point of Ticondefoga. By 

 the end of July their affairs began to bear a more 

 encouraging aspect,. A general hospital was 

 fstabhshed at fort George, at the south end of 

 that lake. Those that were ill with the small 

 pox were sent to the hospital, and the army be- 

 gan to be free from that disorder. To avoid 

 the contagion, the recruits wer^ directed to as- 

 semble at Skeensborough, and by the end of 

 July they began to come in, m considerable 

 Jiumhers. On the sixth of August, a body of 

 ^ix hundred men arrived from New Hampshire ; 

 and the army was constantly improving in health, 

 discipline and numbers ; and were active and 

 vigorous in enlarging and improving tlieir works 

 of defence. 



In addition to the labor and expence of put- 

 ting Ticonderoga into a proper situation for de- 

 fence, another object of equal importance en- 

 gaged their attention at the same time : It was 

 equally necessary to preserve the command of 

 lake Champlain, by the construction of a supe- 

 rior n;3val force. In the prosecution of this bu- 

 siness the Americans labored with uncommon 

 diligence and perseverance, but under compli- 

 cated and immense difficulties. Their timber 

 was to l)e cut down in the woods, and dragged 

 by the men to the place of use ; much of their 

 artillery, their ammunition, stores, and most of 

 the- materials for a naval equipment, were to be 



