How he presented the matter is not known; but an hour or two later it was rumored about the encampment that he had been removed from command of his regiment, for attempting to coerce a superior officer. When this rumor crystallized into fact, the entire army was threatened with insubordination. Only the most strenuous efforts of the division and brigade commanders, ably assisted by Schuyler, their former commander-in-chief, prevented open rebellion.
“This is terrible,” Lieutenant Schuyler said to his three scouts a little later in the day. “To have our army demoralized in the face of the enemy, is a good deal like throwing the victory away after it is in our hands.”
“But, thanks to the efforts of the other officers, the worst seems to be over,” Late replied.
“For the present, yes,” Philip admitted; “but the lightest breeze may fan into a flame the smoldering fire, and who can tell what General Gates will do next?”
“General Lincoln an’ General Poor have gone to his quarters for a consultation,” Dan announced. “I’m hopin’ something may come from that.”
“So’m I,” Joe added.
Their hopes were gratified. An order was issued before nightfall for skirmishing parties to be sent out on all sides of the enemy. Within the hour the work was begun, and from that time the British were so hemmed in that it was nearly impossible for any one to enter or leave their lines without falling into the hands of the patriots.
One day Lieutenant Schuyler, at the head of a squad of men which included Dan Cushing, Latham Wentworth, and Joe Fisher, was scouring the woods to the westward of the English encampment. He soon found that his chief work was not to capture soldiers seeking to enter the camp, but those who were leaving it. Before noon so many deserters had fallen into his hands that it required more than half his force to guard the prisoners.
“If the other skirmishers are picking up as many fugitives as we,” the lieutenant said when the latest captures had been sent within the American lines, “Burgoyne’s whole army will be in our hands before the month is out.”
“Here come some more,” Dan, who was on the right of the squad, said in a low tone. Then, suddenly, he ran to the side of his leader. “There are a half dozen Tories,” he added, “an’, will you believe it, one is old David Daggett, while another, I reckon, is his grandson, Ira Le Geyt!”