The Saratoga campaign, fought in upstate New York, permanently ended British hopes of dividing the colonies along the Hudson River. British Gen. John Burgoyne, commanding 6,000 regulars and various auxiliaries, pushed down from Canada in June 1777. His plan was to advance to Albany, where he would join forces with Barry St. Leger. The revolutionists offered feeble resistance at first, but by the time Burgoyne reached Bemis Heights, west of the Hudson, the American army had been strengthened and given a popular commanding general, Horatio Gates.
With time and terrain on the American side, Gates allowed Burgoyne to wear down the British forces with costly assaults on the patriot lines. In the first Battle of Freeman's Farm (Sept. 19, 1777), Burgoyne suffered 600 casualties to Gates's 320. At Bemis Heights, or the Second Battle of Freeman's Farm (October 7), Burgoyne's men were repulsed by Gates, Benedict Arnold, and Daniel Morgan. Once again British losses were roughly 600, four times the American casualty figure. Outnumbered, surrounded, and unable to secure relief, Burgoyne surrendered on Oct. 17, 1777, at Saratoga. The Battles of Saratoga marked a turning point in the war, motivating the French to assist the American insurgents openly.
©Author: Don Higginbotham - Permission given by the author
Picture Credit: The Granger Collection
Bibliography: Elting, John R., The Battles of Saratoga
(1977); Furneaux, Rupert, The Battle of Saratoga (1971);
Sweetman, John, Saratoga 1777 (1973).
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