[FN-4] Address of Chancellor Kent before the New-York Historical Society, Dec. 1828. The calumnies directed against St. Clair and Schuyler, in regard to the fall of Ticonderoga, were so gross as to exceed belief in their propagation. These officers were denounced as traitors to the country, acting in concert with the enemy, and the ignorant and credulous were led to believe that they had received an immense treasure in silver balls, fired by Burgoyne into St. Clair's camp, and by his order picked up, and transmitted to Schuyler at Fort George. Wilkinson, who was Gates's Adjutant General, avers that respectable people questioned him with much gravity as to the fact! These slanders were, for factious purposes, countenanced by respectable men, and the consequence was, general defection and desertion, in the early part of the Summer, so that, at one time, the Northern army was reduced to less than three thousand, and the militia to less than thirteen hundred—and these subject to no effectual restraint.
The Commander-in-chief paid no heed to the advisory epistle from the New England delegates, but in a respectful letter to the President of Congress, declined the honor of making the selection. [FN] Had he not thus excused himself, it is not presumption to intimate, that, influenced by the peculiar attitude which Gates had even then begun to assume, and acting, as Washington ever did, under the stern behests of conscience, he would have made a different selection from that proposed to him by the Eastern representatives, and which ultimately prevailed.
[FN] "At the same time that I express my thanks for the high mark of confidence which Congress has been pleased to repose in me by their resolve, authorising me to send an officer to command the Northern army, I should wish to be excused from making the appointment. For this, many reasons might be mentioned, which, I am persuaded, will occur to Congress on reflection. The Northern department in a great measure has been considered as separate, and more peculiarly under their direction; and the officers commanding there always under their nomination. I have never interfered farther than merely to advise, and to give such aids as were within my power, on the requisitions of those officers. The present situation of that department is delicate and critical, and the choice of an officer to the command may involve very interesting and important consequences."—Letter of Washington to the President of Congress, Aug. 3, 1777.
General Gates, however, did not join the Northern army until the 19th of August; and as the time was not specified within which he was required to report himself at head-quarters, General Schuyler was allowed to remain at the North, with the approbation both of Congress and the Commander-in-chief, until after the campaign had been closed by the surrender of the British commander and his army. Nor were his exertions the less active, or his counsels the less freely proffered, in the cause of his country, because of the injustice by which his pride had been wounded. [FN]
[FN] "The zeal, patriotism, perseverance, and salutary arrangements of General Schuyler, had roused the spirit of the country, and vanquished the prejudices excited against him by artifice, intrigue, and detraction."—Wilkinson's Memoirs.
After the evacuation of Fort Edward, [FN-1] as mentioned in a former chapter, General Schuyler fell down the river to Stillwater, on the 3d of August, and began to entrench his camp there on the 4th. Burgoyne's ill-conceived expedition to Bennington, under Colonel Baum, deprived him of one-sixth of his effective force on the 16th. It was not until near a month afterward, during which period the American army had been greatly strengthened at Stillwater, that Burgoyne was again prepared to advance. Having at length, by dint of almost incredible labor, brought up from Fort George a supply of provisions for thirty days, and thrown a bridge of boats over the Hudson, the British commander with his army crossed on the 13th and 14th of September, and encamped on the heights and plains of Saratoga. On the night of the 17th, Burgoyne encamped within four miles of the American army; and about noon on the 19th, advanced in full force against it—the latter having, in the mean time, advanced toward the enemy three miles above Stillwater. Burgoyne commanded his right wing in person, covered by General Frazer and Colonel Breyman, with the grenadiers and light-infantry, who were posted along some high grounds on the right. The front and flanks were covered by Indians, Provincials, and Canadians. The enemy's left wing and artillery were commanded by Generals Phillips and Riedesel, who proceeded along the great road. Colonel Morgan, who was detached to observe their motions, and to harass them as they advanced, soon fell in with their pickets in advance of their right wing, attacked them sharply and drove them in. A strong corps was immediately detached by the enemy against Morgan, who, after a brisk engagement, was in turn compelled to give way. A regiment being ordered to the assistance of Morgan, whose riflemen had been sadly scattered by the vigor of the attack, the battle was renewed at about one o'clock, and was maintained with spirit, though with occasional pauses, for three hours—the commanders on both sides supporting and reinforcing their respective parties. By four o'clock the battle became general, Arnold, with nine Continental regiments and Morgan's corps, having completely engaged the whole right wing of the enemy. [FN-2] The contest, accidentally commenced, in the first instance, now assumed the most obstinate and determined character. It was maintained four hours longer—the soldiers being often engaged hand to hand. The approach of night terminated the battle—the Americans retreating to their encampment, but not from other necessity than the darkness. The enemy were provided with artillery, but the ground occupied by the Americans would not allow the use of field-pieces. The fluctuations of the battle were frequent during the day, and although the British artillery fell into the hands of the Americans at every alternate charge, the latter could neither turn them upon the enemy nor bring them off. "The wood prevented the last, and the want of a match the first, as the lint-stock was invariably carried away, and the rapidity of the transitions did not allow the Americans time to provide one." [FN-3]
[FN-1] It was during a skirmish before Fort Edward, when the Americans were flying from a party of thirty or forty Indians, that the late General Matthew Clarkson, of New-York—then Major Clarkson and aid to General Arnold—was wounded by a ball which passed through the muscular integuments of the throat. The wound was supposed to be fatal at the time, but he soon recovered.