United States -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783 -- Campaigns; Washington, George, 1732-1799
Montgomery reached Ticonderoga on the seventeenth of August. Schuyler,
then negotiating a treaty with the Six Nations, at Albany, received a
despatch from Washington, “Not a moment of time is to be lost,” and at
once joined Montgomery. They pushed for the capture of St. John’s, under
the spur of Washington’s warning; but on the sixth of September and
again on the tenth, were compelled to suspend operations for want of
artillery, having at the time a force of but one thousand men present,
instead of the three thousand promised. Schuyler’s ill-health compelled
him to return to Ticonderoga; but with infinite industry, system, and
courage he was able to forward additional troops, increasing
Montgomery’s force to two thousand men.
Ethan Allen, who had been succeeded in command of the “Green Mountain
Boys” by Seth Warner, was across the line, endeavoring to recruit a
regiment of Canadians. After partial success, regardless of order, he
dashed forward, hoping to capture Montreal, as he had captured
Ticonderoga. He was captured, and sent to England to be tried on the
charge of treason. In a letter to Schuyler, Washington thus notices the
event:
“Colonel Allen’s misfortune will, I hope, teach a lesson of prudence and
subordination in others who may be too ambitious to outshine their
general officer, and regardless of order and duty, rush into enterprises
which have unfavorable effects on the public, and are destructive to
themselves.”
On the third of November, after a siege of fifty days, St. John’s was
captured, with one hundred Canadians and nearly five hundred British
regulars, more than half the force in Canada. John André was among the
number. General Carleton, who attempted to cross the St. Lawrence river,
and come to the aid of St. John’s, was thrust back by the “Green
Mountain Boys” and a part of the 2d New York Regiment.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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