On the morning of the 7th we marched back to the landing-place, in order to give the troops time to rest and refresh themselves, being by this time not a little harrassed, as may well be conceived: here we incamped, got a fresh supply of provisions, and boiled our kettles; we had not been there many hours, when a detachment of the army (to which I belonged) were sent off under Colonel Bradstreet, to dispossess the enemy of a post they had at a saw-mill, about two miles from Ticonderoga; but they did not wait for us; for, upon receiving intelligence, by their scouts of our approach, they destroyed the mill, and a bridge that lay across the river; the latter we soon replaced, and lay, upon our arms until the evening, when we were joined by the remainder of the army. I wish I could throw a veil over what is to follow; for I confess I am at a loss how to proceed:—our army was numerous, we were in good spirits, and, if I may give you my own private opinion, I believe we were one and all infatuated with a notion of carrying every obstacle, with so great a force we had, by a mere Coup de Musqueterie; to such chimerical and romantic ideas I entirely attribute our great disaster on the 8th, in which we were confirmed by the report of our chief engineer, who had reconnoitred the enemy’s works, and determined our fate, by declaring it as his opinion, that it was very practical to carry them by a general storm; accordingly, the army being formed, and every thing in readiness, we proceeded to the attack, which was as well conducted and supported as any bold undertaking ever was;—but alas! we soon found ourselves grossly deceived;—the intrenchments were different from what we had expected, and were made to believe, their breast-works were uncommonly high, and the ground in their front, for a great length of way, was covered with an Abatis de Bois, laid so close and thick, that their works were really rendered impregnable. The troops, by the cool and spirited example of the General, made many eager efforts to no purpose; for we were so intangled in the branches of the felled trees, that we could not possibly advance; the enemy were sensible of this, and remained steady at their breast-works, repeating their fire, which, from their numbers, was very weighty, and, from a conviction of their own safety, was served with great composure. Such was our situation for almost five hours, when, at length, finding our loss considerable, and no prospect of carrying our point, we were ordered to desist, and retire;—the army retreated to the ground we had occupied on the preceding night at the sawmill, and the wounded were sent off to the bateaux without delay, where the remains of our shattered forces joined us early on the ninth, and the whole re-embarked, and continued our retreat to Lake George; there we arrived the same evening and encamped. That place is computed to be about thirty miles from Ticonderoga (though I believe it is more)