40 



CIVIL HISTORY OF VERMONT. 



Part II. 



ADVANCE OF GEN. BURGOYNE. 



EVENTS AT TICONDEROGA. 



that Carleton should make an an attempt 

 to <T(>t possession of the place. But that 

 iudicious commander did not see fit to 

 hazard an assault; and, after spending 

 about a month in reconnoitering the 

 American works, he re-embarked his ar- 

 my at Crown Point, and returned to Can- 

 ada, and thus terminated the military en- 

 terprises on lake Champlain for the year 

 1770'. 



Section III. 



Events of 1777. ,'ldcance of Gen. Bur- 

 goijnc — Tlconilcrnga ahnndoncd hy the 

 Americans — Battle at lluhhurdlon — Kc- 

 trrAit from fort Edicard — Battle at Ben- 

 nington it Stillwater — Surrender of 



Burgoijne. 



Before tlie opening of the campaign of 

 1777, Sir Guy Carleton was superseded 

 in tlie command of the British forces, de- 

 signed to enter the United States from 

 Canada, by Lieut. Gen. Burgoyne, who 

 was a great favorite of the ministry, and 

 an officer of some reputation. He was, 

 however, unacquainted with the Ameri- 

 can character and service, and was hj no 

 means so well fitted to plan and execute 

 tlie operations in this quarter as the Gen- 

 eral whom he sujiplanted. The regular 

 force allotted to Burgoyne amounted to 

 7,173 men, exclusive of the corps of artil- 

 lery. Of these, :?, 217 were Germans and 

 the remainder British troops. This force 

 was expected to be increased on its. arri- 

 val in America bv a large number of Ca- 

 nadians and Indians, for whom arms and 

 accoutrements were forwarded from Eng- 

 land.* Burgoyne was also provided with 

 an excellent train of brass artillerv, and 

 was assisted in tlie command by Generals 

 Philips, Eraser, Powel, Hamilton, Riede- 

 sel and Specht, all of them able and expe- 

 rienced officers. 



Gen. Burgoyne arrived at Quebec on 

 the Gth of JMay, and took the command of 

 the army designed for the expedition. 

 On the 12th, he proceeded to Montreal, 

 using every possible exertion to collect 

 and forward the troops and stores to Lake 

 Champlain. Between the 17th and 20th 

 of June, his whole army was assembled 

 at Cumberland Head, at which place it 

 embarked and proceeded up the Lake 

 without opposition. June 21st, Burgoyne 

 landed his army on the west side of the 

 Lake at the mouth of the river Boquet, 

 in the present township of Willsborough, 



* See Lord Germain's Lietter to Gen. Carleton, 

 dated March 26, 1777, in Burjoyne's State of ilie 

 ExpeditioH, p. 7. Appendix. 



New York. Here he was joined by four 

 or five hundred Indians, who were to as- 

 sist in the expedition. After making for 

 the Indians a war feast according to their 

 custom, Burgoyne addressed a speech to 

 tlie chiefs and warriors, calculated to ex- 

 cite their savage ardor in the British 

 cause, and to give such directions to their 

 fierceness and cruelty as should best sub- 

 serve his designs against the Americans.* 



General Schuyler, being sup])osed most 

 fully to possess the confidence of the in- 

 habitants of this part of tlie country, had 

 been appointed to the command of the 

 northern department of tlie American ar- 

 my, but he arrived at Ticonderoga only 

 four days previous to Burgoyne's council 

 with the Indians at the river Boquet. On 

 inspecting the works, Schuyler found 

 them in many parts unfinished, and the 

 whole in a very bad condition. He like- 

 wise found that very few of tlie recruits 

 which had been ordered to that post, had 

 arrived, and that the militia ot'the neigh- 

 borhood could not be safely called in, lest 

 the provisions of the garrison should be 

 exiiausted before the arrival of supplies. 

 Leaving tiie command of this post to 

 Gen. St. Clair, Scliuyler returned to fort 

 Edward, for the jjurpose of hastening for- 

 ward re-enforcements and provisions. 



On the 30th of June, the enemy ad- 

 vanced towards Ticonderoga upon both 

 sides of the lake, and encamped for the 

 night about four miles from the American 

 lines. Tiie next day their whole army 

 and fleet proceeded forward and took 

 their position just without the reach of the 

 American cannon; the fleet. anchoring in 

 a line between tlie divisions on the east 

 and west shore of the lake. On the 2d of 

 July a party of 500 of tlie enemy under 

 Capt. Eraser attncked a picket of GO men, 

 within 200 yards of tiie American batte- 

 ries, and, forcing them to retire, advanced 

 within GO yards of the works, scattering 

 themselves along the whole front of the 

 American lines ; the right wing of the 

 British army moved" up from their posi- 

 tion on the lake at the same time, and 

 took possession of Mount Hope. 



St. Clair, supposing that an assault was 

 intended, ordered his men to conceal 

 themselves behind the parapets and re- 

 serve their fire. Eraser's party, probably 

 deceived as to the real position of the 

 American works, which were in a meas- 

 ure concealed by bushes, continued to 

 advance till an American soldier dis- 

 charged his musket, which seemed to be 

 understood as a«ignal, and the whole line 

 arose and fired a volley ; — the artillery 



* For tliia Speech and the Keply, see Williams' 

 History, Vol. 1[. p. 437. 



