CHAP. suit the timid nature of Gates, who waited for XXIV. 1777. Sept. ammunition and more troops, till his effective men outnumbered his enemies by three or even four to one. A quarrel ensued; and Arnold demanded and received a passport for Philadelphia. Repenting of his rashness, the restless and insubordinate man lingered in the camp, but could no longer obtain access to Gates, nor a command. During the twentieth the British general encamped his army on the heights near Freeman's house, so near the American lines that he could not retreat or make a movement unobserved. With no possibility of escape but by a speedy retreat, on the twenty-first he received from Sir Henry Clinton a promise of a diversion on Hudson river; and catching at the phantom of hope, he answered that he could maintain his position until the twelfth of October. Putnam, who commanded on the Hudson, was unfit to be a general officer. Spies of the British watched his condition, and he had not sagacity to discover theirs. Connecticut had been less drawn upon for the northern army, that its militia might assist to defend the Highlands; he had neglected proper measures for securing their aid, and they were sent in great numbers to Spencer at Providence with the vain design of attacking the British troops at Newport. Meantime, Putnam, in his easy manner, suffered a large part of the New York Oct. militia to go home; so that he now had but about two thousand men. Sir Henry Clinton, with four thousand troops, feigned an attack upon Fishkill by landing troops at Verplanck's point. Putnam was XXIV. 1777. Oct. completely duped; and doing just as the British CHAP. wished, he retired out of the way to the hills in the rear of Peekskill. The sagacity of George Clinton, the governor of New York, knew the point of danger. With such force as he could collect he hastened to Fort Clinton, while his brother James took command of Fort Montgomery. Putnam should have reënforced their garrisons; instead of it, he. ordered troops away from them, and left the passes unguarded. At daybreak on the sixth of October, the British and Hessians disembarked at Stony Point; Vaughan with more than one thousand men advanced towards Fort Clinton, while a corps of about a thousand occupied the pass of Dunderberg, and by a difficult circuitous march of seven miles, at five o'clock came in the rear of Fort Montgomery. Vaughan's troops were then ordered to storm Fort Clinton with the bayonet. A most gallant resistance was made by the governor, but at the close of twilight the British, by the superiority of numbers, forced the works. In like manner Fort Montgomery was carried; but the two commanders and almost all of both garrisons escaped into the forest. A heavy iron chain with a boom had been stretched across the river from Fort Montgomery to Anthony's nose. This now fell to the British. Overruling the direction of Governor Clinton, Putnam had ordered down two continental frigates for the defence of the chain; but as they were badly manned, one of them could not be got off in time; the other grounded opposite West Point; and both were set on fire in the night. Fort Constitution, on the island opposite West Point, was abandoned, XXIV. 1777. CHAP. So that the river was open to Albany. When Putnam received large reënforcements from ConnectiOct. cut, he did nothing with them. On the seventh he wrote to Gates: "I cannot prevent the enemy's advancing; prepare for the worst ;" and on the eighth: "The enemy can take a fair wind, and go to Albany or Half Moon with great expedition and without any opposition." But Sir Henry Clinton, who ought a month sooner to have gone to Albany instead of hunting cattle in New Jersey, garrisoned Fort Montgomery, and returned to New York, leaving Vaughan with a large marauding expedition to ascend the Hudson. Vaughan did no more than plunder and burn the town of Kingston on the fifteenth, and pillage and set fire to the mansions of patriots along the river. Sept. After the battle of the nineteenth of September the condition of Burgoyne rapidly grew more perplexing. The Americans broke down the bridges which he had built in his rear, and so swarmed in the woods that he could gain no just idea of their situation. His foraging parties and advanced posts were harassed; horses grew thin and weak; the hospital was cumbered with at least eight hundred sick and wounded men. One third part of the soldier's ration was retrenched. While the British army declined in number, Gates was constantly reenforced. On the twenty-second Lincoln arrived, and took command of the right wing; he was followed by two thousand militia. The Indians melted away from Burgoyne, and by the zeal of Schuyler, contrary to the policy of Gates, a small band, chiefly of Oneidas, joined the American camp. In XXIV. 1777. Oct. the evening of the fourth of October Burgoyne CHAP. called Phillips, Riedesel, and Fraser to council, and proposed to them by a roundabout march to turn the left of the Americans. To do this, it was answered, the British must leave their boats and provisions for three days at the mercy of the Americans. Riedesel advised a swift retreat to Fort Edward; but Burgoyne still continued to wait for a coöperating army from below. On the seventh he agreed to make a grand reconnoissance, and if the Americans could not be attacked, he would think of a retreat. At eleven o'clock on the morning of that day, seven hundred men of Fraser's command, three hundred of Breymann's, and five hundred of Riedesel's were picked out for the service. The late hour was chosen, that in case of disaster night might intervene for their relief. They were led by Burgoyne, who took with him Phillips, Riedesel, and Fraser. The fate of the army hung on the event, and not many more than fifteen hundred men could be spared without exposing the camp; but never was was a body of that number so commanded, or composed of more thoroughly trained soldiers. They entered a field about half a mile from the Americans, where they formed a line, and sat down in double ranks, offering battle. Their artillery, consisting of eight brass pieces and two howitzers, was well posted; their front was open; the grenadiers under Ackland, stationed in the forest, protected the left; Fraser, with the light infantry and an English regiment, formed the right, which was skirted by a wooded hill; the Brunswickers held the centre. While Fraser sent XXIV. CHAP. foragers into a wheat-field, Canadians, provincials, and Indians were to get upon the American rear. 1777. Oct. From his camp, which contained ten or eleven thousand well-armed soldiers eager for battle, Gates resolved to send out a force sufficient to overwhelm his adversaries. By the advice of Morgan, a simultaneous attack was ordered to be made on both flanks. Just before three o'clock the column of the American right, composed of Poor's brigade, followed by the New York militia under Ten Broeck, unmoved by the well-directed and well-served grapeshot from two twelve - pounders and four sixes, marched on to engage Ackland's grenadiers; while the men of Morgan were seen making a circuit, to reach the flank and rear of the British right, upon which the American light infantry under Dearborn descended impetuously from superior ground. In danger of being surrounded, Burgoyne ordered Fraser with the light infantry and part of the twentyfourth regiment to form a second line in the rear, so as to secure the retreat of the army. While executing this order, Fraser received a ball from a sharp-shooter, and, fatally wounded, was led back to the camp. Just then, within twenty minutes from the beginning of the action, the British grenadiers, suffering from the sharp fire of mùsketry in front and flank, wavered and fled, leaving Major Ackland, their commander, severely wounded. These movements exposed the Brunswickers on both flanks, and one regiment broke, turned, and fled. It rallied, but only to retreat in less disorder, driven by the Americans. Sir Francis Clarke, Burgoyne's first aid, sent to the rescue of the artillery, was mortally |