Burgoyne, after the battle of Bunker Hill, had suggested to Lord Rochefort, Secretary of State for the colonies, that, as there was "no probable prospect of bringing the war to a speedy conclusion with any force that Great Britain and Ireland could supply", there should be employed "a large army of such foreign troops as might be hired, to begin their operations up the Hudson River; another army, composed partly of old disciplined troops and partly of Canadians, to act from Canada; a large levy of Indians and a supply of arms for the blacks, to awe the Southern provinces, conjointly with detachments of regulars; and a numerous fleet to sweep the whole coast,—might possibly do the business in one campaign." The importance of securing the control of the Hudson, thereby to separate the New England from the Middle and Southern States, was eminently correct; but the proposed mode of accomplishing it was, as the sequel proved, entirely wrong. Burgoyne, like many other Englishmen, had held American prowess in contempt, and ridiculed the enrolment of provincials as "a preposterous parade of military arrangement." His later experience probably changed his views, for when he had supplanted that noble soldier Sir Guy Carleton in the command of the British army in Canada, through "family support" more than from "military merit", he took good care to secure a strong and veteran force, commanded by officers of noted skill and long experience. Burgoyne's army, which took the field in July, 1777, had a total, rank and file, of 7,902, of which 4,135 were British, 3,116 Germans, 148 Canadian militia, and 503 Indians. The artillery corps and train were of the most serviceable character, "probably the finest and most excellently supplied as to officers and private men that had ever been allotted to second the operations of any army." The commander-in-chief was a polished gentleman, a popular dramatist, an effective speaker, a useful member of Parliament, and a gallant officer who had won laurels in Portugal; Major-General Phillips, the second in command, was a distinguished artillerist who had earned a high reputation in Germany; Major-General Riedesel had been selected because of his long experience, especially in the Seven Years' War; Brigadier-General Fraser, who commanded the light brigade, was a knightly soldier, ambitious of glory, who had seen much service in America; Hamilton and Powel, who commanded brigades, had been twenty years on active duty; Lord Balcarras and Major Acland, commanding respectively the light infantry and grenadiers, were soldiers of high professional attainments; La Corne St. Luc, the commander of the Indians, had been an active partisan of the French in Canada wars, and "was notorious for brutal inhumanity;" and the many staff and regimental officers were already men of mark, or subsequently rose to high positions.