After Burgoyne had been a month at Fort Edward he was face to
face with starvation. If he advanced he lengthened his line to
flank attack. As it was he had difficulty in holding it against
New Englanders, the most resolute of all his foes, eager to
assert by hard fighting, if need be, their right to hold the
invaded territory which was claimed also by New York. Burgoyne's
instructions forbade him to turn aside and strike them a heavy
blow. He must go on to meet Howe who was not there to be met. A
being who could see the movements of men as we watch a game of
chess, might think that madness had seized the British leaders;
Burgoyne on the upper Hudson plunging forward resolutely to meet
Howe; Howe at sea sailing away, as it might well seem, to get as
far from Burgoyne as he could; Clinton in command at New York
without instructions, puzzled what to do and not hearing from his
leader, Howe, for six weeks at a time; and across the sea a
complacent minister, Germain, who believed that he knew what to
do in a scene three thousand miles away, and had drawn up exact
instructions as to the way of doing it, and who was now eagerly
awaiting news of the final triumph.

Burgoyne did his best. Early in August he had to make a
venturesome stroke to get sorely needed food. Some twenty-five
miles east of the Hudson at Bennington, in difficult country, New
England militia had gathered food and munitions, and horses for
transport. The pressure of need clouded Burgoyne's judgment. To
make a dash for Bennington meant a long and dangerous march. He
was assured, however, that a surprise was possible and that in
any case the country was full of friends only awaiting a little
encouragement to come out openly on his side. They were Germans