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

At Chambly all the boats and baggage were brought over the rapids, except three heavy pieces of cannon. Arnold with his little garrison of three hundred men remained at Montreal till the enemy were at twelve miles' distance from him, and having, under the plea of instructions from Schuyler, seized such parcels of goods as could be serviceable to the army, crossed safely to La Prairie. All that was left of the invading army met on the seventeenth at St. John's; one half of them being sick, almost all destitute of clothing, and having no provisions except salt pork and flour. On the eighteenth the emaciated, half naked men, broken in strength and in discipline, too weak to have beaten off an assault from the enemy, as pitiable a spectacle as could be seen, removed to Isle aux Noix, where Sullivan proposed to await express orders from Schuyler. They were languidly pursued by a column under the command of Burgoyne, who excused his inactivity by pleading instructions from Carleton to hazard nothing till the column on his right should be able to cooperate with him.

Meanwhile congress had introduced a new element of confusion. On the day on which Sullivan halted at Isle aux Noix, Gates, who enjoyed the friendship of John Adams, and had been elected a majorgeneral, was appointed to take command of the forces in Canada. The appointment could give Schuyler no umbrage, for he himself had uniformly refused to go into Canada; but no sooner had Gates reached Albany than the question arose whether the command