before Louisburg. Gathered there were men soon to become
famous among whom were Wolfe, Montcalm, Murray and Lawrence. For gallant
conduct Arthur St. Clair received a lieutenant's commission, April 17,
1759, and was with General Wolfe in that brilliant struggle before
Quebec, in September of the same year, and soon after was made a
captain. In 1760 he married at Boston, Miss Phoebe Bayard, with a
fortune of L40,000, which added to his own made him a man of wealth. On
April 16. 1762 he resigned his commission in the army, and soon after
led a colony of Scotch settlers to the Ligonier Valley, in
Pennsylvania, where he purchased for himself one thousand acres of land.
Improvements everywhere sprang up under his guiding genius. He held
various offices, among which was member of the Proprietory Council of
Pennsylvania, and colonel of militia. The mutterings which preceded the
American Revolution were early heard in the beautiful valley of the
Ligonier. Colonel St. Clair was not slow to take action, and espoused
the cause of the patriots with all the intensity of his character, and
never, even for a moment, swerved in the cause. He was destined to
receive the enduring friendship of Washington, La Fayette, Hamilton,
Schuyler, Wilson, Reed, and others of the most distinguished patriots of
the Revolution. Early in the year 1776, he resigned his civil offices,
and led the 2nd Pennsylvania Regiment in the invasion of Canada, and on
account of the remarkable skill there displayed in saving from capture
the army of General Sullivan, he received the rank of brigadier-general,
August 6, 1776. He claimed to have pointed out the Quaker road to
Washington on the night before the battle of Princeton. On account of
his meritorious services in that battle, he was made a major-general,
February 19, 1777. On the advance of General Burgoyne, who now
threatened the great avenue from the north, General St. Clair was placed
in command of Ticonderoga. Discovering that he could not hold the
position, with great reluctance he ordered the fort evacuated. A great
clamor was raised against him, especially in the New England States, and
on account of this he was suspended, and a court-martial ordered.
Retaining the confidence of Washington he was a volunteer aid to that
commander at the battle of Brandywine. In September 1778, the
court-martial acquitted him of all the charges. He was on the
court-martial that condemned Major John Andre, adjutant-general