A few days later, as some of Arnold's own men arrived from Berkshire, he sailed down Lake Champlain, and captured St. John's with its garrison; but the British recovered it in the course of the summer, and planted such a force there that in the next autumn we shall see it able to sustain a siege of fifty days. [Illustration: PLAN _of the New_ _FORT AND REDOUBTS,_ _at_ NEW CROWN POINT ] [Illustration: FACSIMILE OF ETHAN ALLEN'S LETTER ANNOUNCING THE CAPTURE OF TICONDEROGA] Neither Connecticut nor Massachusetts had any authority over these posts save through right of conquest. As it was Connecticut that had set Allen's expedition on foot, Massachusetts yielded the point as to the disposal of the fortresses and their garrisons. Dr. Warren urged the Connecticut government to appoint Arnold to the command, so that his commission might be held of both colonies; but Connecticut preferred to retain Allen, and in July Arnold returned to Cambridge to mature his remarkable plan for invading Canada through the trackless wilderness of Maine. His slight disagreement with Allen bore evil fruit. As is often the case in such affairs, the men were more zealous than their commanders; there were those who denounced Arnold as an interloper, and he was destined to hear from them again and again. [Illustration: WASHINGTON AT THE AGE OF FORTY] [Sidenote: Second meeting of the Continental Congress, May 10, 1775] [Sidenote: Appointment of Washington to command the Continental army]