A British Invasion from Canada with Savage Allies

EARLY in May (1777), Burgoyne, who went to England the previous autumn, returned to Quebec, bearing the commission of lieutenant-general and commander-in-chief of the British forces in Canada. In June, he had gathered about seven thousand men at St. Johns, on the Sorel, for an invasion of the province of New York, with ample supplies, and boats for transportation. His force was composed of British and German regulars, Canadians and Indians. The Germans were commanded by Major-General Baron de Riedesel, and Burgoyne's chief lieutenants were Major-General Phillips and Brigadier-General Fraser.

At dawn, on the morning of the 20th of June, the drums in the camp at St. Johns beat the generale instead of the reveille, and very soon afterward the army were on the vessels, Burgoyne making an ostentatious display as he entered the schooner Lady Mary. The wives of many of the officers accompanied their husbands, for they expected a pleasant journey to New York, Burgoyne having sent word to Howe that he should speedily meet him on the navigable waters of the Hudson. The departure of the fleet was signalized by the Indians, who having spilled the first blood in the campaign, brought in ten scalps as trophies of their savage warfare. So was begun the execution of the ministerial measure for spreading terror over the land by means of savage atrocities.

Before a fair wind the great armament moved up the lake, with music and banners. At near the mouth of the Raquet River, Burgoyne went on shore and there feasted about four hundred savages, to whom he made a speech, praising them for their fidelity to the king; exhorting them to "strike at the common enemy of their sovereign and America," whom he called "parricides of the State," and forbidding them to kill excepting in battle, or to take scalps excepting from the dead. This speech he caused to be published. His own commentary on it may be found in a threatening proclamation issued at Crown Point a few days afterward, in which he said: "Let not people consider their distance from my camp. I have but to give stretch to the Indian forces under my direction--and they amount to thousands--to overtake the hardened enemies of Great Britain. If the frenzy of hostility should remain, I trust I shall stand acquitted in the eyes of God and man in executing the vengeance of the State against the willful outcasts."

The whole invading army (a part of it on land) reached Crown Point on the 26th of June, and menaced Ticonderoga, where General St. Clair was in command. The invading force then numbered something less than nine thousand men, with a powerful train of artillery manned by veterans. The garrisons at Ticonderoga and Mount Independence opposite, had an aggregate force of not more than thirty-five hundred men, only one in ten of them possessing a bayonet. Schuyler had too few troops (mostly militia) below to spare a reinforcement for St. Clair, without uncovering points which, left unprotected, might allow the invaders to gain the rear of the lake fortresses. Besides, he was compelled to make provision for meeting St. Leger's invasion of the Mohawk Valley. There were strong outposts around Ticonderoga, but there were not troops enough to man them; and there were eminences that commanded the fort that were left unguarded for the same reason. Between Ticonderoga and Mount Independence was a floating-bridge and boom which the Americans thought might effectually obstruct the passage of the British vessels, but these utterly failed in the hour of need. St. Clair perceived the web of peril that was weaving around him, but he kept up courage, declaring that he would totally defeat the enemy.

At Crown Point, Burgoyne issued a pompous proclamation to the inhabitants of the Upper Hudson Valley, which contained the threat above alluded to. He acted promptly as well as boasted. At the beginning of July he moved from Crown Point upon the upper lake fortresses with his whole army and navy. Riedesel led the Germans on the eastern side to attack the works on Mount Independence, while Phillips and Fraser pressed on to the outworks of Ticonderoga. They seized an eminence that commanded the road to Lake George; also mills in the rear of the fort. This was speedily followed by taking possession of and planting a battery of heavy cannon upon Mount Defiance, where plunging shot might be hurled into Fort Ticonderoga from a point several hundred feet above it. St. Clair, perceiving that the fort was no longer tenable, called a council of war, when it was resolved to evacuate it. On the evening of the 5th of July, the invalids and convalescents under Colonel Long, with stores and baggage, were sent off in bateaux for Skenesborough (now Whitehall); and two o'clock on the morning of the 6th, the garrison, having spiked the guns which they could not take with them, silently crossed the floating-bridge to Mount Independence under cover of a brisk cannonade from that eminence. With the garrison there, the began, just before the dawn, a flight through the forests southward to the rugged hills of Vermont. The light of the waning moon was too feeble to reveal their movements, and the Americans hoped to leave their enemies far in their rear before their flight should be discovered. Unfortunately a building on Mount Independence was set on fire, and the light thereof betrayed the flying troops. Pursuit was immediately ordered. Fraser pressed forward with grenadiers and took possession of Ticonderoga, while Riedesel seized and occupied Mount Independence. The former crossed the floating-bridge before sunrise, and with the Germans began a hot pursuit of the fugitive army.