"
The surrender of Burgoyne left the north free from foes, and
consequently with no use for great numbers of soldiers, so that Putnam
was soon in command of more than nine thousand men, mainly drafts from
Gates's army. He was then determined to carry out his twice-frustrated
scheme of marching upon New York, and was pushing forward his plans with
great confidence, when there appeared a marplot on the scene in the
person of Colonel Alexander Hamilton, at that time aide-de-camp to
General Washington, who peremptorily ordered Putnam to forward all the
new arrivals to the Commander-in-Chief and fill their places with
militia.
The order was a verbal one and delivered by a slender "snip of a boy"
scarcely out of his teens, so it received scant attention from Old Put,
who went on with his plans, while Colonel Hamilton mounted a fresh horse
and posted off to Albany, where he had also great difficulty in
impressing General Gates with the need of Washington for the best men in
his command. But he succeeded in detaching a few regiments, and then
hastened back to Peekskill, there to find, to his surprise and
indignation, that Putnam still had all his men--and what was more,
seemed inclined to keep them with him.
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