A month therefore had not passed before he brought to the attention of Congress the importance of getting immediate possession of those posts, and a little later he succeeded in having Steuben sent out as a special envoy to obtain their surrender.

The mission was vain, as he had feared.

He was not destined to extract this thorn for many years, and then only after many trials and troubles.

Soon afterward he made a journey with Governor Clinton to Ticonderoga, and along the valley of the Mohawk, "to wear away the time," as he wrote to Congress.

He wore away time to more purpose than most people, for where he traveled he observed closely, and his observations were lessons which he never forgot.