Counterespionage was an important function of Canada’s Secret Service. Dr. George Smyth, the service’s second-in-command, had been warned that a Canadian named Mrs. Cheshire was providing a safe haven for enemy spies. He set a trap, selecting “three cunning fellows with Old Clothes, Yankee Firelocks, a number of Vermont and Connecticut Bills & a Forged Letter which contains Instruction from, & is signed by Bailey [Vermont General Jacob Bayley] &, I hope they will soon find out Madam Cheshire & her connections.” His ruse must have succeeded, as there was no more mention of the lady in the records.28
Major Balthasar von Lücke arrived from New York City with a further 231 exchanged Brunswick soldiers, which allowed Riedesel to re-establish the original regiments of 1777, except for von Breymann’s Grenadier battalion, which had its few remaining companies distributed to the other regiments. One company went to the very badly depleted Regiment von Rhetz, as did another from Prinz Friedrich’s. Captain of Cavalry Carl von Schlagenteuffel took command of Prinz Ludwig’s Dragoon regiment; Lieutenant-Colonel Christian Prätorius retained command of Prinz Friedrich, as did Lieutenant-Colonel Ferdinand Albrecht von Barner of the Light Infantry battalion. Lieutenant-Colonel Johann Gustavus von Ehrenkrook commanded von Rhetz; Lieutenant-Colonel Friedrich von Hille took the Regiment von Riedesel, and Major von Lücke headed up the Regiment von Specht.
Riedesel noted that the regiments’ companies were about half their 1777 strength and that there was an inadequate number of non-commissioned officers — only seventy-four across all of the regiments. Consequently, only one serjeant, a quartermaster, a captain at arms, and three corporals could be allotted per company and a number of “vice-corporals” had to be appointed to offset the deficiency. As well, a great many companies lacked sufficient subalterns and those available were equally distributed.29
At Saratoga, the New Hampshire Continental general, John Stark, resumed the routine of commanding the district now that St. Leger’s expedition had retired to Canada. He notified General William Heath (Washington’s surrogate while the C-in-C was in Virginia) that he had ordered local teams to draw timber for the two blockhouses he had been ordered to construct, which he expected would be complete in a fortnight. To promote the work, he had promised the Massachusetts Levies an early discharge if they cut and drew the timber and they had fallen to work with “unremitted vigor.”
Stark asked Heath to remember the poor half-naked New Hampshire Continentals at Saratoga, many of whom were unfit for duty for want of proper clothing, noting that the surgeon had attributed their nakedness to the “inflammatory disorders epidemical in camp.”30
Governor Clinton wrote to Colonel Willett on November 8 to offer effusive praise for his “successes over the Enemy…. I am sensible of the Dangers & Difficulties you had to encounter on this Occasion & I am persuaded much is due to your Personal Exertions & that nothing was wanting on your part to have Conceived a complete Victory & I trust the vigor with which the Enemy was attacked, routed & pursued will be attended with the most salutary Consequences to the Frontier Settlements.”
Willett had earlier taken advantage of his success to criticize Stark’s removal of two companies of Weissenfel’s New York Levies from Johnstown just a few days before Ross appeared, so it was undoubtedly music to his ears when the governor commented in his letter that, from the beginning of the alarms, he had believed the enemy’s true object lay west of Saratoga, and that “being the case I leave you to judge of my sentiments respecting the Removal of Major Logan & his detachment.” Clinton had recommended that the legislature adopt “seasonable &proper Measures for the future Defence of the Frontiers,” but candidly feared these would be inadequate. He closed by asking Willett to accept reappointment as the commander of New York’s northwestern frontiers.31
On November 9, General Heath posted General Orders at his Continental Village headquarters, reporting the enemy’s failures “on the northern frontiers of this State.” He attributed the prevention of an enemy landing “on this side” of the lakes to Lord Stirling, Stark, and “the officers and soldiers of both the regular troops and militia, who, with great zeal and alertness, pressed forward to meet the enemy.” Of course, Heath was unaware of either the limitations placed on St. Leger, or of Jessup’s free reign up and down Lake George, in the face of which his report seems much exaggerated, which is not to suggest that his army’s response had not been superb.
As to Ross, Heath noted that he had been “defeated and pursued into the wilderness.” He repeated the then-common fantasy that “many of them probably will perish.” Willett was publicly acknowledged for his “address, gallantry, and persevering activity” and “the conduct of the officers and soldiers … deserves high commendation,” in particular, “Major Rowley, and the brave levies and militia under his immediate command, who, at a critical moment, not only did themselves honor, but rendered essential service to their country” — fulsome, public, well-deserved praise.32
On November 11, Mathews sent the deputy quartermaster general, Lieutenant Jacob Maurer, 2KRR, a list of the long-awaited farming utensils wanted for the settlement on the Canadian side opposite Fort Niagara. The tools were to be forwarded from Montreal.33
That same day, Lieutenant William Morison, 1KRR, wrote to Major Gray about Volunteer Thomson’s beating. Fully aware that the governor might be extremely upset over the incident, Morison was concerned that the local militia colonel’s report would reflect badly on his personal conduct. To justify his actions, he asked Gray to forward the doctor’s certificate and Helmer’s testimony to the governor through District Commander de Speth. There were four additional witnesses available to testify in court, which again begged the question of why no one had taken action to protect their fellow soldier. Were they really that concerned about earning the governor’s wrath if a Canadien was hurt?
Morison knew that the Canadien militia colonel had complained that Charlebois had been detained without a warrant; however, he reported that, although there had been no magistrate nearby, the perpetrator had been correctly apprehended. Even the local captain of militia had acquiesced in the proceeding; Charlebois had not been arrested by soldiers, nor was he confined in a guardroom. “It is notorious that Mr. Charlebois[’s] conduct has always been, overbearing & refractory to the Troops, & that those who are best acquainted with him, & who stand up for him now, were they put to the test, coud not but own, his being of a very indifferent Character, and from his being almost always Drunk, very unfit for his present employ.”34
At Niagara, Captain Gilbert Tice received a shock when he returned to the fort on November 12 from Ross’s expedition and, following his usual practice, promptly went to Colonel Guy Johnson’s office to make a verbal report and found it empty. He wrote Johnson, “My surprise on my arrival is not in my Power to express” and assured Guy that his recall to Montreal was the result of some report from “some one that knows nothing, or little of the matter.” Enclosed with his letter was his journal of the raid. He had brought sixteen prisoners and six scalps, all male, and at one point had twice that number of captives, but they