The British Commander-in-Chief entertained no doubts of the success of Burgoyne’s invasion from Canada. His reiterated appeals to Britain for reënforcements were not heeded, and he certainly knew that troops could not be furnished up to his demand. But he still hoped that the invasion from the north would so drain New England and New York of their able-bodied militia, as to render it impossible for either section to forward its respective full quota to the Continental army of Washington. Two campaigns into New Jersey had sufficiently satisfied him that he never could bend Washington to his knees; and yet he must get Washington away from his position near New York, and then defeat that army utterly, before British supremacy could be restored. This conviction, once before noticed, was reflected in a letter to Lord Germaine, from which extracts have interest. He had “not overlooked New England,” but says in this letter, that “Burgoyne’s movement would draw Washington’s army northward, where the population was dense and the spirit of defence was animated.” “In Connecticut,” he continues, “there was no object for which he would be willing to risk a general action; and only two or three places upon the coast of Long Island Sound could be kept in the winter.” But he adds that, if his “reënforcements had been forthcoming, New England would have had a share in the general operations of the campaign, while the main army acted toward the southward.” “To have moved up the Hudson, in force, would have imperiled New York, or sacrificed all other operations to a union with Burgoyne, who was expected to force his own way to Albany.” “To enter Pennsylvania, was not only to assail the capital, but attempted the surest road to peace, the defeat of the rebel army.” All these considerations, thus tersely communicated to the British Government, were sound in military policy; and yet all of them had been anticipated by the American Commander-in-Chief, as prudent on the part of General Howe. Even very insignificant incidents were weighed by him, as of determining value in a nearly balanced scale; so that the number, character and distribution of pickets from the New York garrison became valuable indications to the keen espionage with which Washington conducted his search for the real intent of General Howe’s published or unpublished designs. The British fleet had actually sailed from New York before Washington received Howe’s letter of the second. Clinton returned to the city on the tenth. On the fifteenth, an express from Burgoyne informed General Howe of the capture of Ticonderoga, and stated, that “his army was in good health, and [which was never realized] that Ticonderoga would be garrisoned by troops from Canada, which would leave his force complete for further operations.” Howe’s expedition southward left New York on the twenty-third of July, and did not arrive off the Delaware until the thirtieth.