No order came from General Gates for his forces to advance, and Colonel Arnold, growing desperate, rode off to the commander's tent urging him to allow the troops to engage the enemy, until he finally gave orders for the Indians to be driven back.
Taking this as permission for a general charge, the Continentals rushed like a mountain torrent upon the foe. Arnold, with Morgan's assistance, held Fraser while he was endeavoring to reach the American rear. Here the fighting became desperate, but the patriots, encountering the British under Burgoyne, and played on by Phillips's guns, were, at three o'clock, forced back into line. For four or five hours Colonel Arnold had maintained the fight with the choicest English regiments. A lull now occurred during which both armies drew breath.
"It's been tough work, lieutenant," Dan Cushing said to Philip Schuyler, as he wiped the sweat from his brow.
"Yes," the lad replied, "an' our comrades are all right. When the fightin' ceased they went down into the ravine for a drink of water. They'll be back 'fore the lull is over."
"They will have to hurry then, for the red-coats are coming again."
"And here are the boys," was the laughing reply as the lads arrived.
The Continentals kept within their camp until their foes were close upon them, then, springing out, drove them back to the position they had occupied earlier in the day.
It was, however, not an easy task, and night came by the time it was accomplished, putting an end to the conflict. The Continentals withdrew to their entrenchments; the British lay on the battlefield. Both parties claimed the victory; but the British had failed to force their way to Albany, while the Americans held their ground. It was, therefore, a drawn battle, in which the losses of the Yankees were less than three hundred, while those of the king's troops were more than five hundred.
On the following morning the British retreated to their old camping ground, and thus each army occupied precisely the same position it did prior to the battle, but with the difference that one was disheartened, and the other was encouraged.
"It is clear we have Burgoyne in our power," Colonel Arnold said to a group of fellow officers, as he watched the movements of the red-coats.