Few know that St. Clair was the brigadier general
who helped Gen. George Washington plan and lead the three
New Jersey victories that began with crossing the
Delaware on Christmas night, 1776.
mistakenly thought of
as a career-making
assignment.
Washington and St.
Clair's understanding
was that Fort
Ticonderoga was not
only well positioned to
defend against the
British from the north,
but it also was
defensible.
Unfortunately, this was
not the case. It was
obvious to St. Clair
when he arrived that
neither Congress nor
Washington had
received an accurate
status report in some
time. The fort was
surrounded by 12,000
British, who had
captured the high
ground with cannon.
Seeing the fort's state of
disrepair, the 2,000
St. Clair showed courage when he had the Virginia governor's agents jailed
for trying to take over Fort Pitt, above; Continental Congress President John
Hancock, left, offered St. Clair a commission as colonel in the Continental
Army in 1775.
men unfit for duty, and his meager 1,500 barely fit men
suffering and in need of food, munitions and other supplies,
he had to act quickly, for the British were poised to attack.
Knowing he would probably face court-martial, St. Clair
courageously ordered an immediate retreat under cover of
darkness, saving the lives of more than 1,000 men, many of
whom survived to defeat the British at Saratoga.
This action prompted British Gen. John Burgoyne to split
his force, sending half after St. Clair and manning the fort
with the other half. An unintended, but fortunate
consequence was that once the depleted British force was on
the march in the wilderness, they were more easily defeated.
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