Details
HANCOCK, John. Letter signed ("John Hancock Presid[en]t," with flourish) as President of Congress, to Major General Arthur St. Clair (1736-1818), Philadelphia, 30 April 1777. 1 page, folio, browned, scattered lighter stains, tears to margins and fold intersections patched, partially affecting two words text, St. Clair's docket on verso: "The Presdt. of Congress...enclosing an Order to repair to Tyconderoga."
HANCOCK ORDERS ST. CLAIR TO TAKE COMMAND AT TICONDEROGA
St. Clair, who had served under Washington at Trenton and Princeton, was promoted to Major General and appointed by Congress to succeed Horatio Gates as commander on Lake Champlain, based at Fort Ticonderoga. Here, Hancock transmits Congress's official orders: "The Congress having received Intelligence of the Approach of the Enemy towards Ticonderoga, have thought proper to direct you to repair thither without Delay. I have it therefore in Charge to transmit the enclosed Resolve [not present], and to direct that you immediately set out on the Receipt thereof..."
In spite of the fact that Hancock directs St. Clair to proceed "immediately" to Ticonderoga, he did not arrive to take command until 12 June, less than a month before Burgoyne's powerful expeditionary force ascended the Lake to attack the crucial outpost. St. Clair's garrison was woefully inadequate to hold the fort and its dependencies; more seriously, he had neglected, in spite of the recommendation of other officers, to erect defenses on a commanding hill, Mt. Defiance. Beginning in late June, Burgoyne and his army moved down both sides of the Lake and invested the fort from the land; on 4 July, British artillery were manhandled to the summit of Mount Defiance, commanding the Fort. St. Clair and his officers decided, in a council of war, to abandon the fort. A later court-martial acquitted St. Clair of responsibility.
HANCOCK ORDERS ST. CLAIR TO TAKE COMMAND AT TICONDEROGA
St. Clair, who had served under Washington at Trenton and Princeton, was promoted to Major General and appointed by Congress to succeed Horatio Gates as commander on Lake Champlain, based at Fort Ticonderoga. Here, Hancock transmits Congress's official orders: "The Congress having received Intelligence of the Approach of the Enemy towards Ticonderoga, have thought proper to direct you to repair thither without Delay. I have it therefore in Charge to transmit the enclosed Resolve [not present], and to direct that you immediately set out on the Receipt thereof..."
In spite of the fact that Hancock directs St. Clair to proceed "immediately" to Ticonderoga, he did not arrive to take command until 12 June, less than a month before Burgoyne's powerful expeditionary force ascended the Lake to attack the crucial outpost. St. Clair's garrison was woefully inadequate to hold the fort and its dependencies; more seriously, he had neglected, in spite of the recommendation of other officers, to erect defenses on a commanding hill, Mt. Defiance. Beginning in late June, Burgoyne and his army moved down both sides of the Lake and invested the fort from the land; on 4 July, British artillery were manhandled to the summit of Mount Defiance, commanding the Fort. St. Clair and his officers decided, in a council of war, to abandon the fort. A later court-martial acquitted St. Clair of responsibility.
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