THE DECISIVE PERIOD OF THE WAR.

SURRENDER OF BURGOYNE AND CAPTURE OF PHILADELPHIA BY HOWE.

THE NAVAL PART IN EACH OPERATION 1777 The leading purpose of the British government in the campaign of 1777 was the same as that with which it had begun in 1776,--the control of the line of the Hudson and Lake Champlain, to be mastered by two expeditions, one starting from each end, and both working towards a common centre at Albany, near the head of navigation of the River.
Preliminary difficulties had been cleared away in the previous year, by the destruction of the American flotilla on the Lake, and by the reduction of New York.

To both these objects the Navy had contributed conspicuously.

It remained to complete the work by resuming the advance from the two bases of operations secured.