From a photograph of a miniature furnished by Mr. F. D. Stone. It was painted near the close of the war. Daniel Goodwin, Jr., Provincial Pictures, p. 72, says there is another miniature on ivory, owned by Miss Mary R. Sheets, of Indianapolis.
A likeness by C. W. Peale hangs in Independence Hall in Philadelphia. It was drawn by J. B. Longacre, and engraved by E. Wellmore. It represents him at the time he was governor of the Northwest Territory. Cf. St. Clair Papers; Goodwin's Provincial Pictures, p.72. There is also a pencil sketch by John Trumbull given in the St. Clair Papers, and in the illustrated edition of Irving's Washington. Cf. 2 Penna. Archives, vol. x.; Lossing's Field-Book, i. 132. A view of his home is given in Egle's Pennsylvania, p. 1156.—Ed.
Meanwhile, Burgoyne and Phillips, in the fleet, broke through the boom and bridge across the lake, in chase of Colonel Long and the American flotilla, which, on the afternoon of the 7th, was overtaken and attacked at the wharves of Skenesborough. Two of the covering galleys struck their colors, and the others were blown up by their crews. The bateaux, mills, and stockade there were promptly burned, and then the detachment fled to Fort Anne, eleven miles below. Early the next morning Long sallied out and had a sharp encounter with his pursuers under Colonel Hill; but when victory was almost within his grasp, the enemy was reinforced by a number of savages sent forward by Burgoyne, who had remained at Skenesborough. Colonel Long, after burning Fort Anne, retreated sixteen miles to Fort Edward, where he met Schuyler on his way to Ticonderoga with a small reinforcement.
St. Clair, with the main body, was even less fortunate. He retreated through the wilderness to Castleton, his rear-guard of 1,200 men, under Colonel Warner, stopping over night at Hubbardton, where on the morning of the 8th it was attacked by Fraser with an inferior force. After a spirited engagement Hale's militia regiment abandoned the field, and the enemy was reinforced by the arrival of Riedesel's Brunswickers, which latter turned the American right flank and compelled their retreat to Rutland, the rendezvous appointed by St. Clair in the event of disaster. From here the remnant of St. Clair's forces, by a circuitous march of more than a hundred miles, on the 12th reached Fort Edward, where Schuyler, on the 20th, could muster only 4,467 men fit for duty. This little army was deficient in almost every requisite for battle, while Burgoyne, flushed with victory, lay within a day's forced march with his veteran army of nearly double the American force.
Schuyler was charged by Congress with "neglect of duty" in not ordering a timely retreat of the garrison from Ticonderoga, if untenable; and, if to be defended, not to have been present at the attack upon it. The court-martial, of thirteen distinguished officers, unanimously acquitted him "with the highest honor."[727]
These reverses, which closed the first act of the drama of varied events in this checkered campaign, seemed to open the way to Burgoyne's triumph, and they spread universal alarm among the patriots, who had considered Ticonderoga the closed gate to northern invasion. These disasters, however, were blessings in disguise, despite the desertion of the militia. Washington predicted ultimate success, and Schuyler was roused to great efforts to oppose the enemy's advance. Wood Creek was at once obstructed with logs and huge stones; all roads were broken up and their bridges destroyed; dry land was converted into morass, trees were felled in every direction, and the whole of this wild and savage country was stripped of cattle and supplies, for which the enemy had consequently to depend upon Canada and remoter England.
Having provided this barrier against the enemy, Schuyler, who had been joined by Arnold, fell back to Fort Miller with his artillery (brought from Fort George), where he tarried till he had ruined the road over which he passed, and thence proceeded to Stillwater to await reinforcements, making that his fortified headquarters, while his little army occupied a camp, which was intrenched on Van Schaick's Island, near the mouth of the Mohawk.
Burgoyne was so elated by his successes that he dispatched his aide-de-camp Captain Gardner to England, "with news so important to the king's service, and so honorable to the troops under his command." But while the British colors were flying over Ticonderoga, he little dreamed of the difficulties and reverses which were awaiting him. To provide garrisons for these works in his rear, to which he had sent all his surplus artillery and baggage, he was compelled "to drain the life-blood of his army", since Carleton had declined to supply the necessary troops for their defence, on the ground that his jurisdiction as governor did not extend beyond the bounds of Canada.