After such a message there was no longer question of surrender, and the siege was strongly pushed.  The enemy, finding that their guns had little effect on the sod-work of the fort, began a series of approaches by sapping and mining.  Colonel Gansevoort, on his part, took an important step.  Fearing that his stock of food and ammunition might give out, he determined to send a message to General Schuyler, asking for succor.

Colonel Willet volunteered for this service, Lieutenant Stockwell joining him.  The night chosen was a dark and stormy one.  Shower followed shower.  The sentinels of the enemy were not likely to be on the alert.  Leaving the fort at the sally-port at ten o’clock, the two messengers crept on hands and knees along a morass till they reached the river.  This they crossed on a log, and entered a dense wood which lay beyond.  No sentinel had seen them.  But they lost their way in the darkness, and straggled on blindly until the barking of a dog told them that they were near an Indian camp.

Progress was now dangerous.  Advance or retreat alike might throw them into the hands of the savage foe.  For several hours they stood still, in a most annoying and perilous situation.  The night passed; dawn was at hand; fortunately now the clouds broke the morning-star shone in the east, and with this as a guide they resumed their journey.  Their expedition was still a dangerous one.  The enemy might strike their trail in the morning light.  To break this they now and then walked in the bed of a stream.  They had set out on the night of the 10th.  All day of the 11th they pushed on, with a small store of crackers and cheese as their only food.  Another night and day passed.  On the afternoon of the 12th, nearly worn out with hardship, they reached the settlement of the German Flats.  Here horses were procured, and they rode at full speed to General Schuyler’s head-quarters at Stillwater.

Schuyler had already heard of Herkimer’s failure, and was laying plans for the relief of the fort.  His purpose was opposed by many of his officers, who were filled with fear of the coming of Burgoyne.  Schuyler was pacing the floor in anxious thought when he heard the low remark,—­

“He means to weaken the army.”

Schuyler turned towards the speaker, so angry that he bit into pieces a pipe he was smoking, and exclaimed,—­

“Gentlemen, I shall take the responsibility; where is the brigadier that will take command of the relief?  I shall beat up for volunteers to-morrow.”

General Arnold, one of the boldest and most impulsive men in the army, immediately asked for the command.  The next morning the drums beat, and before noon eight hundred volunteers were enrolled.  Arnold at once advanced, but, feeling that his force was too weak, stopped at Fort Dayton till reinforcements could reach him.