Robert Chambers was an American artist and writer. After being a successful artist Chambers began writing. He first wrote bizarre fiction short stories. His later works were romantic fiction many of which were serialized in magazines. By 1924 his writing consisted solely of historical fiction. Chambers intended to write a series of four or five romances, that covered the part of the war for independence which particularly affected the great landed families of Northern New York: the Johnsons, represented by Sir William, Sir John, Guy Johnson, and Colonel Claus; the notorious Butlers, father and son; the Schuylers, Van Rensselaers, and others. The first romance of the series, Cardigan, was followed by the second, The Maid-at-Arms in which a patroon family was disturbed by the approaching battle. There was a serious split in the Iroquois Confederacy. The Long House shattered though not fallen, the demoralization and final flight of the landed families who remained loyal to the British; and portrayed the future attitude of the Iroquois toward the patriots. The story ends with the march of the militia and Continental troops on Saratoga.