While Allen had nothing but praise for himself and his Green Mountain Boys, Colonel Arnold warned Congress that the militia leader lacked the judgment and character to turn his wild backswoodmen into disciplined soldiers.
"“There is here at present near one hundred men, who are in the great confusion and anarchy, destroying and plundering private property, committing every enormity and paying no attention to public service . . .. There is not the least regularity among the troops, but every thing is governed by whim and caprice- the soldiers threatening to leave the garrison on the least affront . . .. Colonel Allen is a proper man to head his own wild people, but entirely unacquainted with military service; and as I am the only person who has been legally authorized to take possession of this place, I am determined to insist on my right, and I think it is my duty to remain here against all opposition until I have farther orders.”"
Col. Benedict Arnold, to the Second Continental CongressCommanger and Morris, “The Spirit of Seventy-Six” p. 105.