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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 were allowed to escape from the main guard and, he thought, had compromised the expedition. He made an observation about native participation that was remarkably at odds with Ross’s vitriolic rhetoric:
[T]he Indians did not attempt to meddle with any Women, Children, old men, or men not in arms, neither was any man or person killed by them, or striped of what they had on, only in the engagement, except one man who fired his piece at an Indian that Broke open the Door of his House, they took him out, and shot him, but did not as much as scalp him, which I think is remarkable.35
After bearing months of delays and participating in a major expedition, officers were at last appointed to the Royal Yorkers’ second battalion on November 12. Of the seven captains, the senior was Robert Leake, whose independent company (which had operated with 2KRR since its inception) was to be absorbed. Deservedly, Thomas Gumersall, who had managed the second battalion’s troops in lower Canada while upholding his responsibilities as captain-lieutenant of the first battalion’s Colonel’s Company, became second senior captain. Jacob Maurer was third senior, but would continue as the province’s DQMG. William Redford Crawford, who had served with distinction in the Quebec Indian Department and earlier in the year had been active in patrolling and raiding, was seventh. Four lieutenants entered from Leake’s. Five 1KRR ensigns, who had performed special duties in the Indian Department and Secret Service, were promoted to lieutenant and transferred. Two others came from the smaller loyalist corps and one was a patronage appointment. These promotions resulted in changes in the first battalion in which the senior lieutenant was promoted to captain-lieutenant, five ensigns to lieutenant, and seven Volunteers to ensign.
Officers were also appointed to the yet-unnamed “Corps of Loyalists to be Commanded by Major Edward Jessup.” As major-commandant, Edward would continue to nominally command a company. As noted above, two companies — one of invalids, the other of pensioners — were ostensibly captained by the two ex-lieutenant-colonels, Eben Jessup and John Peters. Of the five captains named, Justus Sherwood (who was to continue in the Secret Service) was senior; two others were from the KLA. William Fraser and Peter Drummond, who had recently commanded independent companies, had previously served in McAlpin’s American Volunteers.36
The same day, Major Gray forwarded to headquarters all the records relating to the unfortunate John Thomson and added a postscript, “The Soldier is still in danger of His Life from the Beating he has got from the Lt of Militia.”37
The fact that General Cornwallis’s southern army had been forced to submit at Yorktown had still not been confirmed by reliable sources in Quebec. On November 12, Riedesel wrote to the governor to offer a perceptive appreciation of the situation:
I think as you do, my dear General, about the state of our affairs in the South, and the paper I send you persuades me that we touch on the most interesting period of this unfortunate war. Although I believe that news that the Rebels publish so much, is exaggerated to sway the people, it appears however, that Lord Cornwallis is in a very critical situation, lacking, probably, provisions and the means of getting them. In this case his destiny will depend on the ship, if ours could be reinforced, and arrive in time enough at the mouth of the Chesapeake to properly give battle to the combined fleet, before Lord Cornwallis is reduced to the extremity, chance could be turned to our favor; and we, given a superiority by sea, can re-establish our affairs and end this war. But if the opposite happens, I can easily forsee unpleasantness to follow. I await news from New York with impatience. The Chiefs of Vermont appear very well disposed toward us, but the populace is always in agreement with Congress.38
On November 13, the prisoners that Ross had taken on his raid (a captain, subaltern,
