Free Liberty 1784: The Second War for Independence by Robert Conroy

it. “Of course not,” he said.
    “Good. The merchant transports that brought your soldiers from England, along with a couple of frigates, will be sent to Charleston to gather up the men you will be getting. The fleet will then continue on to Boston and pick up those men from that garrison. The entire host will then sail up to the St. Lawrence and then down to Quebec, where the men will disembark and await your orders.”
    Burgoyne looked puzzled. “That means my army will be divided. I had intended to march it intact from here.”
    Cornwallis shook his head as if talking to a child. “I strongly recommend against it. The problem of maintaining a proper level of supplies will be simplified if there is more than one force to supply from several sources.
    “Besides,” Cornwallis added, “there is no danger from an American attack. Tarleton’s scouts from Pitt and Detroit say the Americans lack the resources and the will to attack this far to the east. I see no difficulty in your marching from here to Pitt and joining with Tarleton, while Arnold and the rest march from Quebec to Detroit.”
    “I see,” said Burgoyne, clearly unhappy at the thought of his army even temporarily fragmented and out of his control. It was also evident that he was less than thrilled that Arnold would hold an even temporary independent command.
    Cornwallis ignored Burgoyne’s displeasure. “I’ve also given directions that a number of sailing barges be constructed at Detroit and elsewhere along Lakes Erie and Ontario. I think you will find them handy if you wish to transport any or all of your army by water around the Michigan peninsula.”
    “And why would I wish to do that?” Burgoyne bristled.
    Cornwallis stood and walked to the map. “Because it may be as much as a thousand miles from here to where Fort Washington and this Liberty place may lie, and I would think you had enough of the North American wilderness the last time you tried to march through it.”
    Burgoyne swallowed and forced a smile. The distances shown on the map were misleading and the American wilderness was sometimes impenetrable, a fact he had indeed learned during his ill-fated Saratoga campaign of 1777. While he had succeeded in dragging hundreds of wagons and numerous cannon down from Canada, it had taken an eternity, exhausted his army, and permitted the Americans the opportunity to gather their damned militia and destroy him.
    “You are correct, sir,” Burgoyne admitted.
    Fitzroy was stunned. A thousand miles? Burgoyne only had to go a couple of hundred at most in his attempt to take Albany in 1777. It had ended in ignominious failure at Saratoga. Worse, on the map it looked like a trifle in comparison with the distance between New York and the rebel stronghold.
    “I’m sure you will concur, General Burgoyne, that sending men and heavy supplies by water is faster and more efficient than having your entire force plowing through the woods and devouring all their supplies as they go, which, I believe, was part of your problem the last time.”
    Burgoyne flushed at the reminder, but concurred. “I will continue construction of more of the appropriate craft as soon as we reach a suitable base. They will be similar to what are sometimes referred to as bateaux, but they will be larger and uniform in construction. Like you, I will refer to them as sailing barges, although I admit that the word ‘bateaux’ has more Gallic charm.”
    Fitzroy glanced at Danforth and saw shock and dismay on his face. A thousand miles? Building boats? What happened to the lightning strike to destroy the enemy? Fitzroy fought the urge to laugh at his new friend. Instead, he would do it later over several glasses of wine and not in the presence of two senior generals.
    Of course, he too was less than thrilled at the thought of going so far into the untracked wilderness and for what was obviously going to be a protracted period of time. But then, how untracked could it be if he