New York corps called the Queen's rangers, and a regiment of cavalry. Seventeen battalions, with a regiment of light horse, and the remainder of the new corps of loyalists, were left for the protec tion of New York and the neighboring islands. Rhode Island was occupied by seven battalions. It was said that general Howe intended to have taken a greater force with him upon this expedition; but that upon the representation of general Clinton, who was to command in his absence, of the danger to which the islands would be exposed, from the extensiveness of the coasts, and the great number of posts, that were necessarily to be maintained, he acknowledged the force of these considerations by relanding several regiments.

Thus, England, by the error of her ministers, or of her generals, had in America, instead of a great and powerful army, only three separate corps, from which individually no certain victory could be expected. At this moment, in effect, one of these corps was in Canada, another on the islands of New York and Rhode Island, and the third was on its way by sea, destined to act against Philadelphia.

But perhaps it was imagined that in a country like that which furnished the theatre of this war, continually interrupted by lakes, rivers, forests, and inaccessible places, three light armies were likely to operate with more effect separately, than united in a single mass, incumbered by the number of troops, and multitude of baggage. This excuse would, perhaps, be valid, if the English generals, instead of operating as they did, without concert and without a common plan, had mutually assisted each other with their counsels and forces to strike a decisive blow, and arrive together at the same object.

However this may be viewed, the rapid progress of general Burgoyne towards the sources of the Hudson, the apprehension of an approaching attack on the part of general Howe, and the uncertainty of the point it menaced, all concurred to maintain a general agitation and alarm throughout the American continent. Great battles were expected, and no one doubted they would prove as fierce and sanguinary, as they were to be important and decisive.

END OF BOOK SEVENTH.

BOOK EIGHTH.

1777. THE British ministers, as we have before related, had long since formed the scheme of opening a way to New York by means of an army, which should descend from the lakes to the banks of the Hudson, and unite in the vicinity of Albany with the whole, or with a part, of that commanded by general Howe. All intercourse would thus have been cut off between the eastern and western provinces, and it was believed that victory, from this moment, could no longer be doubtful. The former, where the inhabitants were the most exasperated, crushed by an irresistible force, would have been deprived of all means of succoring the latter. These, consequently, however remote from the Hudson, would also have been constrained to submit to the fortune of the conqueror, terrified by the reduction of the other provinces abounding with loyalists, who would have joined the victor, and also swayed perhaps by a jealousy of the power of New England, and irritated by the reflection that it was her obstinacy which had been the principal cause of their present calamities. This expedition, besides, presented few difficulties, since, with the exception of a short march, it might be executed entirely by water. The French themselves had attempted it in the course of the last war. It was hoped that it would have

been already effected by the close of the preceding year; but it had failed in consequence of the obstacles encountered upon the lakes, the lateness of the season, and especially because while general Carleton advanced upon Ticonderoga, and consequently towards the Hudson, general Howe, instead of proceeding up the river to join him, had carried his arms to the west, against New Jersey.

At present, however, this scheme had acquired new favor, and what in preceding years had been only an incidental part of the plan of campaign, was now become its main object. The entire British nation had founded the most sanguine expectations upon this arrangement; nothing else seemed to be talked of among them but this expedition of Canada, which was shortly to bring about the total subjection of America. The junction of the two armies appear ed quite sufficient to attain this desired object; the Americans, it was said, cannot oppose it without coming to a general battle, and in such case, there can exist no doubt of the result. The ministers had taken all the measures whi h they deemed essential to the success of so important an enterpr.se; they had furnished with profusion v hatever the generals themselves had required or suggested.

. General Burgoyne, an officer of uncontested ability, possessed of an exact knowledge of the country, and animated by an ardent thirst for military glory, had repaired to England during the preceding winter, where he had submitted to the ministers the pian of this expedition, and had concerted with them the means of carrying it into effect. The ministry, besides their confidence in his genius and spirit, placed great hope in that eager desire of renown by which they knew him to be goaded incessantly; they gave him therefore the direction of all the operations. In this appointment, little regard was manifested for the rank and services of general Carleton; what he had already done in Canada, seemed to entitle him to conduct to its conclusion the enterprise he had commenced. No one, assuredly, could pretend to govern that province with more prudence and firmness. He possessed also an accurate knowledge of the country, as he had resided in Canada for several years, and had already made war there. But perhaps the ministers were dissatisfied with his retreat from Ticonderoga, and the repugnance he was said to have manifested to employ the savages. Perhaps also his severity in the exercise of his command had drawn upon him the ill will of some officers, who endeavored to represent his actions in an unfavorable light. Burgoyne, impatient to make his profit of the occasion, was arrived in England, where, being well received at cour*, and besieging the ministers with his importunities, he made such magnificent promises, that in prejudice of Carleton he was intrusted with the command of all the troops of Canada. But the governor, finding himself, contrary to his expectation, divested of all military power, and restricted in his functions, requested leave to resign.

General Burgoyne arrived at Quebec in the beginning of the month of May, and immediately set himself to push forward the business of his mission. He displayed an extreme activity in completing all the preparations which might conduce to the success of the enterprise. Meanwhile, several ships arrived from England, bringing arms, munitions, and field equipage, in great abundance. General Carleton, exhibiting an honorable example of moderation and patriotism, seconded Burgoyne with great diligence and energy; he exerted in his favor not only the authority with which he was still invested as governor, but even the influence he had with his friends and numerous partisans. His zealous co-operation proved of signal utility, and every thing was soon in preparation for an expedition which was to decide the event of the war, and the fate of America. The regular force placed at the disposal of general Burgoyne, consisting of British and German troops, amounted to upwards of seven thousand men, exclusive of a corps of artillery, composed of about

five hundred. To these should be added a detachment of seven hundred rangers, under colonel St. Leger, destined to make an incursion into the country of the Mohawks, and to seize Fort Stanwix, otherwise called Fort Schuyler. This corps consisted of some companies of English infantry, of recruits from New York, of Hanau chasseurs, and of a party of Canadians and savages. According to the plan of the ministers and of the general himself, the principal army of Burgoyne was to be joined by two thousand Canadians, including hatchetmen, and other workmen, whose services, it was foreseen, would be much needed to render the ways practicable. A sufficient number of seamen had been assembled, for manning the transports upon the lakes and upon the Hudson. Besides the Canadians that were to be immediately attached to the army, many others were called upon to scour the woods in the frontiers, and to occupy the intermediate posts between the army which advanced towards the Hudson, and that which remained for the protection of Canada; the latter amounted, including the Highland emigrants, to upwards of three thousand men. These dispositions were necessary, partly to intercept the communication between the enemy and the ill affected in Canada; partly to prevent desertion, to procure intelligence, to transmit orders, and for various other duties essential to the security and tranquillity of the country in the rear of the army. But these were not the only services exacted from the Canadians; a great number of them were assembled to complete the fortifications at Sorel, St. Johns, Chambly, and Ile aux Noix. Finally, they were required to furnish horses and carts, to convey from the different repositories to the army all the provisions, artillery stores, and other effects of which it might have need. Under this last head was comprehended a large quantity of uniforms, destined for the loyalists, who, it was not doubted, would, after victory, flock from all quarters to the royal camp.

But it was also thought that the aid of the savages would be of great advantage to the cause of the king; the government had the~}fore ordered general Carleton to use his utmost weight and influence to assemble a body of a thousand Indians, and even more if it was possible. His humanity, which could ill endure the cruelty of these barbarians, and experience, which had taught him that they were rather an incumbrance than an aid, in regular operations, would have induced him to decline their alliance; but, in obedience to his orders, he exerted an active zeal in bringing them forward to support the expedition. His success was answerable to his efforts. Whether by the influence of his name, which was extreme among these tribes, from their avidity to grasp the presents of the English, or from their

innate thirst for blood and plunder, their remote as well as near nations poured forth their warriors in such abundance, that the British generals became apprehensive that their numbers might render them rather a clog than any real addition of strength to the army. They hastened therefore to dismiss such as appeared the least proper for war, or the most cruel or intractable. Never, perhaps, was an army of no greater force than this accompanied by so formidable a train of artillery, as well from the number of pieces as from the skill of those who served it. This powerful apparatus was considered eminently requisite to disperse without effort an undisciplined enemy in the open country, or to dislodge him from strong and difficult places. The generals who seconded Burgoyne in this expedition, were all able and excellent officers. The principal were, major-general Phillips, of the artillery, who had distinguished himself in the wars of Germany; the brigadier-generals Frazer, Powel, and Hamilton, with the Brunswick major-general baron Reidesel, and brigadier-general Specht. The whole army shared in the ardor and hopes of its chiefs; not a doubt was entertained of an approaching triumph, and the conquest of America.

The preparations being at length completed, and all the troops, as well national as auxiliary, having arrived, general Burgoyne proceed ed to encamp near the little river Bouquet, upon the west bank of Lake Champlain, at no great distance to the north of Crown Point. As the time for commencing hostilities was near at hand, and dreading the consequences of the barbarity of the savages, which, besides the dishonor it reflected upon the British arms, might prove essentially prejudicial to the success of the expedition, he resolved to assemble those barbarians in congress, and afterwards, in compliance with their customs, to give them a war feast. He made a speech to them on that occasion, calculated, in terms of singular energy, to excite their ardor in the common cause, and at the same time to repress their ferocious propensities. To this end, he endeavored to explain to them the distinction between a war carried on against a common enemy, in which the whole country and people were hostile, and the present, in which the faithful were intermixed with rebels, and traitors with friends. He recommended and strictly enjoined them, that they should put none to death but such as actually opposed them with arms in their hands; that old men, women, children, and prisoners, should be held sacred from the knife or the tomahawk, even in the heat of action; that they should scalp only those whom they had slain in battle; but that under no pretext, or color of prevarication, should they scalp the wounded, or even the dying, and much less kill them, by way of evading the injunction. He prom