dred killed and wounded.

Arnold's march to the relief of Fort Stanwix was slower than suited
his ardent and impatient spirit. He was detained in the valley of the
Mohawk by bad roads, by the necessity of waiting for baggage and
ammunition wagons, and for militia recruits who turned out
reluctantly. Conscious of the smallness of his force, he had resorted
to stratagem, sending emissaries ahead to spread exaggerated reports
of the number of his troops, so as to work on the fears of the enemy's
Indian allies and induce them to desert. The most important of these
emissaries was one Yan Yost Cuyler, an eccentric, half-witted fellow,
known throughout the country as a rank tory. He had been convicted as
a spy, and only spared from the halter on the condition that he would
go into St. Leger's camp, and spread alarming reports among the
Indians, by whom he was well known. To insure a faithful discharge of
his mission, Arnold detained his brother as a hostage.

On his way up the Mohawk Valley, Arnold was joined by a New York
regiment, under Colonel James Livingston, sent by Gates to reinforce
him. On arriving at the German Flats he received an express from
Colonel Gansevoort, informing him that he was still besieged, but in
high spirits and under no apprehensions.

All this while St. Leger was advancing his parallels and pressing the
siege; while provisions and ammunition were rapidly decreasing within
the fort. St Leger's Indian allies, however, were growing sullen and
intractable. This slow kind of warfare, this war with the spade, they
were unaccustomed to, and they by no means relished it. At this
juncture, scouts brought word that a force one thousand strong was
marching to the relief of the fort. Eager to put his savages in
action, St. Leger, in a council of war, offered to their chiefs to
place himself at their head, with three hundred of his best troops,
and meet the enemy as they advanced. It was agreed, and they sallied
forth together to choose a fighting ground. By this time rumors stole
into the camp doubling the number of the approaching enemy. Burgoyne's
whole army were said to have been defeated. Lastly came Yan Yost
Cuyler, with his coat full of bullet-holes, giving out that he had
escaped from the hands of the Americans, and had been fired upon by
them. His story was believed, for he was known to be a royalist.
Mingling among his old acquaintances, the Indians, he assured them
that the Americans were close at