armies,--that in Canada and that under General Howe in New York,--was
considered the speediest mode of quelling the rebellion; and as the
security and good government of Canada required the presence of
Governor Sir Guy Carleton, three thousand men were to remain there
with him; the residue of the army was to be employed upon two
expeditions--the one under General Burgoyne, who was to force his way
to Albany, the other under Lieutenant-colonel St. Leger, who was to
make a diversion on the Mohawk River.

The invading army was composed of three thousand seven hundred and
twenty-four British rank and file, three thousand sixteen Germans,
mostly Brunswickers, two hundred and fifty Canadians, and four hundred
Indians; beside these there were four hundred and seventy-three
artillery men, in all nearly eight thousand men. The army was
admirably appointed. Its brass train of artillery was extolled as
perhaps the finest ever allotted to an army of the size. General
Phillips, who commanded the artillery, had gained great reputation in
the wars in Germany. Brigadiers-general Fraser, Powel, and Hamilton
were also officers of distinguished merit. So was Major-general the
Baron Riedesel, a Brunswicker, who commanded the German troops.

While Burgoyne with the main force proceeded from St. Johns, Colonel
St. Leger, with a detachment of regulars and Canadians about seven
hundred strong, was to land at Oswego, and, guided by Sir John Johnson
at the head of his loyalist volunteers, tory refugees from his former
neighborhood, and a body of Indians, was to enter the Mohawk country,
draw the attention of General Schuyler in that direction, attack Fort
Stanwix, and, having ravaged the valley of the Mohawk, rejoin Burgoyne
at Albany, where it was expected they would make a triumphant junction
with the army of Sir William Howe.

Schuyler was uncertain as to the plans and force of the enemy. If
information gathered from scouts and a captured spy might be relied
on, Ticonderoga would soon be attacked. This information he
transmitted to Washington from Fort Edward on the 16th, the very day
that Burgoyne embarked at St. Johns. On the following day Schuyler was
at Ticonderoga. The works were not in such a state of forwardness as
he had anticipated, owing to the tardy arrival of troops and the want
of a sufficient number of artificers. The works in question related
chiefly to Mount Independence, a high circular hill on the east side
of the lake,