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148.The Army at Valley Forge, 1777~78.
148．福吉谷的部隊（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.
在接下來的冬季士兵們遭受的苦難令人難以想象，他們很少能夠吃到半飽，衣衫襤褸，多數人沒有毛毯，更多的人沒有鞋子。華盛頓竭盡全力為士兵改善生活條件，但大陸議會沒有錢也不可能籌到錢。在福吉谷，普魯士老兵巴倫·斯圖本負責訓練士兵，1778年這支軍隊上陣，他們不僅人數少，而且衣著單薄，但他們擁有與世界上最優秀士兵一樣棒的斗志。而其，在那個冬季，大陸議會還嘗試將華盛頓撤下來，將總司令的位子交給蓋茨將軍，但是這一嘗試終未成行。
149.Burgoyne's March to Saratoga, 1777.
149．伯格恩遠征薩拉托加（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.
在豪威將軍遠征費城的同時，伯格恩將軍從加拿大向南進發，最初的設想是伯格恩和豪威奪取哈得孫河航線并切斷新英格蘭與其他各州的聯系，但是，豪威將軍接到這些命令時已經太遲了，于是，他向南攻打費城。伯格恩這邊開始時獲得不少勝利，因為美軍連續放棄了多個據點，但是，當他到達尚普蘭湖南端并開始征討哈得孫河時，他的麻煩就來了。這條路要通過一片荒野，斯凱勒將軍曾經派人在叢林中伐樹擋住林區的那些路，他的努力非常有效，伯格恩的大軍每天大約只可以前進1.5英里。這給美國人以時間使得他們能夠從四面趕來阻止伯格恩大軍南下。但是，多數士兵不忠于斯凱勒，國會將他的位子交給霍雷肖·蓋茨將軍。
150.Bennington, 1777.
150．本寧頓（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.
伯格恩有許多騎兵，但他們沒有馬，而且他們與陸軍一樣急需糧食，因此，伯格恩派出一支沒有馬的騎兵到佛蒙特南部的本寧頓奪取馬匹和食物。然而，碰巧斯塔克將軍比伯格恩估計的還要靠近本寧頓。斯塔克帶著從新罕布什爾、佛蒙特和馬薩諸塞西部招募來的士兵，殺死或俘虜所有的英國士兵，然后以沉重代價擊退伯格恩派來的增援部隊。
