Eager as the redcoats were to catch the illusive forces of "the fox," as the British somewhat suggestively had named Washington, the American commander was equally eager to hold them where they were, or in the vicinity of New York. For the campaign, as it had been planned this year by the British, was one that aroused the keenest anxiety among the American leaders. John Burgoyne, with his great army of redcoats, militia, and Indians, was striving to force his way from Montreal, up Lake Champlain and Lake George, and then on to Albany. At the same time Colonel Barry St. Leger was marching with another army of redcoats and redmen from Oswego, in the hope of sweeping away every vestige of opposition as he proceeded on his way through the Mohawk Valley toward Albany, where he fondly hoped that his forces would join the victorious troops of John Burgoyne.
At the same time, up the Hudson from New York it was believed that Howe or Clinton would come with adequate forces to drive away all opposition, and when the three armies had united at Albany, then the American colonies would be effectively cut asunder, and all that the victorious British would have to
