ABSTRACT
The two frigates, the Inflexible and the Royal George, with General Sir John Burgoyne on board the latter, sailed to just beyond gunshot of the fort, which stood on the western bank of the lake, across the narrows from the recently fortified Mount Independence. Realizing that his men on Mount Hope were too exposed for safety, St Clair ordered its garrison to withdraw, a movement he sought to protect by a sortie. Thus, within five days of the occupation of Mount Defiance, Burgoyne had captured forts Ticonderoga and Independence, and had pursued the Americans who had fled down Lake Champlain, destroyed their boats, captured their guns, and had forced them to retreat to Fort Edward, the post on the Hudson River. Burgoyne landed his troops between South Bay and Wood Creek with the intention of enveloping the log fort at Skenesborough, where the Americans had taken refuge.
