from Skenesborough to Fort Edward,
with seven hundred men, when he received a pressing request from Gates,
dated on the morning of the battle, to join him at once.

Abandoning, therefore, his own plans, Lincoln retraced his steps with so
much speed, that he arrived in Gates's camp[49] on the twenty-second.
Gates immediately gave him command of the right wing[50] of the army.

The road between Skenesborough and Fort Edward was now constantly
patrolled by parties of American militia; so that it was truly said of
Burgoyne, that the gates of retreat were fast closing behind him.

FOOTNOTES:

[47] COLONEL JOHN BROWN, of Pittsfield, Mass.,--who had been with Allen
at the taking of Ticonderoga in 1775, and with Montgomery at
Quebec,--Colonels Warner, Woodbridge, and Johnson cooeperated in this
expedition.

[48] TICONDEROGA was garrisoned at this time by one British and one
German battalion, under command of General Powell.

[49] GATES'S CAMP. By this time, Gates also had connected his camp with
the east bank of the Hudson, by a floating bridge, to facilitate the
crossing of reenforcements to him.

[50] THE RIGHT WING was composed of Nixon's, Glover's, and Patterson's
Continental brigades, with a certain proportion of militia. The left
wing of Poor's and Learned's brigades, Dearborn's Light Infantry, and
Morgan's corps, with a like proportion of militia.

XIV.

SECOND BATTLE OF FREEMAN'S FARM.

(_October, 1777._)

Convinced that another such victory would be his ruin, Burgoyne now
thought only of defending himself until the wished-for help should come.
To this end, he began intrenching the ground on which he stood. The
action of September 19 had, therefore, changed the relative situation of
the antagonists, in that from being the assailant, Burgoyne was now
driven to act wholly on the defensive.

On the day following the battle, a courier brought Burgoyne the welcome
news that forces from New York would soon be on the way to his relief.
Word was instantly sent back that his army could hold its ground until
the 12th of October, by which time it was not doubted that the relieving
force would be near enough at hand to crush Gates between two fires.

[Sidenote: At Wilber's Basin.]

Burgoyne, therefore, now threw his bridge across the Hudson again,
posted a guard on the farther side, made his camp as strong as possible,
and waited with growing impatience for the sound of Sir Henry
Clinton's[51] cannon to be