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der Baron Reidesel, were detached after the main body which retired through the wilderness to Hubbartown; while Burgoyne himself, after taking possession of the abandoned post, at which he left the 62d regiment and the German regiment of Prince Frederick, pursued our sick, convalescent, baggage and stores, which had been sent by water to Skeenesborough, or Whitehall. The first party arrived at Hubbartown, a distance of twenty four miles, about one o'clock the next day, where they halted for the rear guard until five and then pursued their march to Castletown, where they arrived at dusk, having marched a distance of thirty miles. Colonel Long and his regiment who had accompanied the flotilla with the sick and baggage, was overtaken by the enemy at Whitehall: two of our armed vessels were captured, and Colonel Long found himself compelled to destroy the others, together with all the stores, baggage, and provisions, and to make a rapid retreat to Fort Ann, about ten miles distant, leaving Burgoyne in possession of White.

hall.

Colonel Warner, with about 150 men, had been left at Hubbartown to wait until the rear guard came up, with positive orders immediately to follow with them, to a position within one mile and a half of the main body at Castletown, and to encamp there for the night. But upon the arrival of the rear guard under Colonel Francis, instead of advancing as he had been ordered, they both determined to remain where they were, until the next morning; the consequence of which was, that Brigadier General Frazer came up with them just as they were preparing to move. A skirmish immediately ensued, in which both Warner and Francis discovered great bravery, but being overpow

ered by numbers, they were compelled to give up the ground, after an obstinate resistance of forty minutes. The Americans lost, in this affair, about two hundred, killed, wounded, and missing. Colonel Francis was among the killed. The enemy's loss was reported at 222. Both sides fought with the most vigorous courage; and the contest would have terminated in the defeat and capture of the pursuers, who were the flower of Burgoyne's army, but for the cowardly and disorderly conduct of the militia who composed the chief of the main body under General St. Clair, who could by no efforts be brought to retrace their steps to the aid of Warner. The firing was distinctly heard at Castletown; and St. Clair, than whom there never was a more brave or more unfortunate officer, instantly determined to send off two regiments to the support of the disobedient colonels, but before it was possible to persuade or force them into any thing like a feeling of sympathy with their engaged fellow citizens, the skirmish was over, and Warner on the retreat.

A party, in the mean time had been sent by Burgoyne, in pursuit of Colonel Long, who finding himself hard pressed, turned upon his pursuers, and with his small corps of one hundred and fifty men, (all the others who accompanied him being sick and convalescent) made it necessary for Colonel Hill, the pursuing officer, to "change his position," according to the phraseology of General Burgoyne, or in other words to make a rapid retrograde movement, in which he would have been certainly made prisoner, had not Colonel Long's ammunition unfortunately given out.

General St. Clair, having been diverted from his original intention by the hostile occupation of Skeens

borough, was compelled to retreat by a circuitous route to Fort Edward, on the Hudson, where he found General Schuyler, actively employed in collecting a force to resist the further progress of the enemy, but miserably deficient in means of every sort. His whole force, until joined by St. Clair, continental troops and militia, did not amount to one thousand men; he had thirty-one boxes of musket-balls, not quite three hundred pounds of lead, and three thousand five hundred flints, and thus situated was within little more than a days's march from the head of the Lake, where Burgoyne lay with upwards of five thousand fresh troops, giving every demonstration of an intention to attack.

VOL. IF.

5

1

CHAP. II.

The events of 1777 continued.-Reflections on St. Clair's retreat. General Schuyler removes to Stillwater-Fort Stanwix invested by Colonel St. Leger-Brave and patriotic conduct of General Herkimer. Arnold volunteers to go to the relief of Colonel Gansevoort. Successful sortie of the latter. - Arnold resorts to stratagem, and forces St. Leger to raise the siege.-Battle at Bennington, and defeat of Colonel Baume. General Schuyler again superceded in his command by General Gates.-Movements of Washington-the enemy enter the Chesapeake.-Surprise and capture of General Prescott.-Expedition of General Sullivan and Colonel Ogden on Staten Island. -Conduct of the Quakers. Battle of Brandywine.-Proceedings of Congress Northern army-Advantages under which Gates took the command. Correspondence of Gates and Burgoyne, relative to prisoners. Miss McCrea-Movements of the two armies.-Action of the 19th September.

THE abandonment of Ticonderoga, which was considered as the strong hold of the northern department, excited against General St. Clair the most clamorous and undeserved censure, which, though he was honourably acquitted of all blame by the solemn decision of a competent tribunal, left a stain upon his reputation, which no subsequent event ever entirely removed. The reader has seen the difficulties and dangers with which he was surrounded, and it must be acknowledged, that he used the only means, and the only moment allowed him, of saving his army. If the evil consequences of defeat could have been confined to the simple loss of that army, it might with more show of propriety have been regarded as cowardly to fly from the threatened danger; but the army of General St. Clair,

small and ill appointed as it was, was the only one, to defend the whole state of New York and the Hampshire grants, (as the state of Vermont was then called) from the incursions of the enemy: for we have already seen, that, though General Schuyler was commander in chief of the department, and had himself taken the field, his whole force was short of a thousand men. The loss of St. Clair's division would have reduced even this number, for it cannot be supposed that the militia, which made a considerable portion of it, could have been induced to stand before the victorious troops of Burgoyne, after he had destroyed their strongest ground of reliance. There would have been no nucleus, around which to collect another army, and Burgoyne would have marched without interruption to Albany. The reasons which General St. Clair assigned to Congress, in his letter from Fort Edward, were sufficient to satisfy the minds of all, but jealous rivals, that his retreat was the result of the soundest judgment and prudence. "It was my original design," says he, "to retreat to this place, that I might be between General Burgoyne and the inhabitants, and that the militia might have something in this quarter to collect to. It is now effected, and the militia are coming in, so that I have the most sanguine hopes that the progress of the enemy will be checked, and I may have the satisfaction to experience that although I have lost a post I have eventually saved a state."

The censure of the people did not rest upon General St. Clair alone. By some means or other, a report prevailed, wholly unfounded, that the retreat of the army had been made by order of Major General Schuyler; and he therefore came in for a full share of the disgrace, which it was attempted to fix upon St.

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