The cabal was seriously shaken by this sudden blow.

It must have dawned upon them dimly that they might have mistaken their man, and that the silent soldier was perhaps not so easy to dispose of by an intrigue as they had fancied.

Nevertheless, they rallied, and taking advantage of the feeling in Congress created by Burgoyne's surrender, they set to work to get control of military matters.

The board of war was enlarged to five, with Gates at its head and Mifflin a member, and, thus constituted, it proceeded to make Conway inspector-general, with the rank of major-general.

This, after Conway's conduct, was a direct insult to Washington, and marks the highest point attained by his opponents.
In Congress, too, they became more active, and John Jay said that there was in that body a party bitterly hostile to Washington.