He thought the "insurgents" good enough fighters when
protected by trees and stones and swampy ground. But he thought,
too, that they had no real knowledge of the science of war and
could not fight a pitched battle. He himself had not shown the
prevision required by sound military knowledge. If the British
were going to abandon the advantage of sea power and fight where
they could not fall back on their fleet, they needed to pay
special attention to land transport. This Burgoyne had not done.
It was only a little more than a week before he reached Lake
Champlain that he asked Carleton to provide the four hundred
horses and five hundred carts which he still needed and which
were not easily secured in a sparsely settled country. Burgoyne
lingered for three days at Crown Point, half way down the lake.
Then, on the 2d of July, he laid siege to Fort Ticonderoga. Once
past this fort, guarding the route to Lake George, he could
easily reach the Hudson.
In command at Fort Ticonderoga was General St. Clair, with about
thirty-five hundred men. He had long notice of the siege, for the
expedition of Burgoyne had been the open talk of Montreal and the
surrounding country during many months. He had built Fort
Independence, on the east shore of Lake Champlain, and with a
great expenditure of labor had sunk twenty-two piers across the
lake and stretched in front of them a boom to protect the two
forts.
Pages:
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137