George Bancroft, History of the United States from the Discovery of the American Continent, Vol. 8

[418] for military subordination; and if Washington

Chap. LXVII.} 1776. Jan. to Mar.

found it difficult to reduce them to order, if Schuyler almost threw up the attempt, if Montgomery suffered to from their querulousness even while leading them to victory, what was to be expected from fresh levies of imperfectly armed villagers who for the most part had never seen war, and, alike officers and men, could never have acquired the sentiment of soldierly obedience, or the habit of courage in danger? Moreover, the distance was an obstacle in respect to which England had the advantage; the path across the Atlantic and up the St. Lawrence was more easily traversed than the road by land from the colonies to Quebec. A real American army of ten thousand men was wanted, and by the middle of March no more than fifteen hundred had reached Montreal. The royalists in Canada began to cry victory, and were bolder than ever.

The relations with the Indians became alarming; yet Schuyler dissuaded from any attempt at employing them; and congress voted not to suffer them to serve in its armies without the previous consent of the tribes in a national council, nor then without its own express approval. But to guard against dangers from the Five Nations, James Deane was sent with the returning deputations from the Oneidas and the seven tribes in Canada. On the journey they marched in Indian file, and at sunset encamped in a grove of hemlocks, of which the boughs furnished beds. The council, in which the nations were much divided, began on the twenty eighth of March with the usual ceremonies to wipe away tears, to cleanse from blood, to lighten the grief which choked speech. The next day was