评论
打印
148.The Army at Valley Forge, 1777~78.
148．福吉谷的部队（1777~1778年）
The sufferings of the soldiers during the following winter can never be overstated. They seldom had more than half enough to eat. Their clothes were in rags. Many of them had no blankets. Many more had no shoes. Washington did all he could do for them. But Congress had no money and could not get any. At Valley Forge the soldiers were drilled by Baron Steuben, a Prussian veteran. The army took the field in 1778, weak in numbers and poorly clad. But what soldiers there were as good as any soldiers to be found anywhere in the world. During that winter, also, an attempt was made to dismiss Washington from chief command, and to give his place to General Gates. But this attempt ended in failure.
在接下来的冬季士兵们遭受的苦难令人难以想象，他们很少能够吃到半饱，衣衫褴褛，多数人没有毛毯，更多的人没有鞋子。华盛顿竭尽全力为士兵改善生活条件，但大陆议会没有钱也不可能筹到钱。在福吉谷，普鲁士老兵巴伦·斯图本负责训练士兵，1778年这支军队上阵，他们不仅人数少，而且衣着单薄，但他们拥有与世界上最优秀士兵一样棒的斗志。而其，在那个冬季，大陆议会还尝试将华盛顿撤下来，将总司令的位子交给盖茨将军，但是这一尝试终未成行。
149.Burgoyne's March to Saratoga, 1777.
149．伯格恩远征萨拉托加（1777年）
While Howe was marching to Philadelphia, General Burgoyne was marching southward from Canada. It had been intended that Burgoyne and Howe should seize the line of the Hudson and cut New England off from the other states. But the orders reached Howe too late, and he went southward to Philadelphia. Burgoyne, on his part, was fairly successful at first, for the Americans abandoned post after post. But when he reached the southern end of Lake Champlain, and started on his march to the Hudson, his troubles began. The way ran through a wilderness. General Schuyler had trees cut down across its woodland paths and had done his work so well that it took Burgoyne about a day to march a mile and a half. This gave the Americans time to gather from all quarters and bar his southward way. But many of the soldiers had no faith in Schuyler and Congress gave the command to General Horatio Gates.
在豪威将军远征费城的同时，伯格恩将军从加拿大向南进发，最初的设想是伯格恩和豪威夺取哈得孙河航线并切断新英格兰与其他各州的联系，但是，豪威将军接到这些命令时已经太迟了，于是，他向南攻打费城。伯格恩这边开始时获得不少胜利，因为美军连续放弃了多个据点，但是，当他到达尚普兰湖南端并开始征讨哈得孙河时，他的麻烦就来了。这条路要通过一片荒野，斯凯勒将军曾经派人在丛林中伐树挡住林区的那些路，他的努力非常有效，伯格恩的大军每天大约只可以前进1.5英里。这给美国人以时间使得他们能够从四面赶来阻止伯格恩大军南下。但是，多数士兵不忠于斯凯勒，国会将他的位子交给霍雷肖·盖茨将军。
150.Bennington, 1777.
150．本宁顿（1777年）
Burgoyne had with him many cavalrymen. But they had no horses. The army, too, was sadly in need of food. So Burgoyne sent a force of dismounted dragoons to Bennington in southern Vermont to seize horses and food. It happened, however, that General Stark, with soldiers from New Hampshire, Vermont, and western Massachusetts, was nearer Bennington than Burgoyne supposed. They killed or captured all the British soldiers. They then drove back with great loss a second party which Burgoyne had sent to support the first one.
伯格恩有许多骑兵，但他们没有马，而且他们与陆军一样急需粮食，因此，伯格恩派出一支没有马的骑兵到佛蒙特南部的本宁顿夺取马匹和食物。然而，碰巧斯塔克将军比伯格恩估计的还要靠近本宁顿。斯塔克带着从新罕布什尔、佛蒙特和马萨诸塞西部招募来的士兵，杀死或俘虏所有的英国士兵，然后以沉重代价击退伯格恩派来的增援部队。
