The Battle of Saratoga

In the fall of 1777, English Major General John Burgoyne moved his army south through the rebel colony of New York, toward Albany, in the main advance of a three-pronged offensive . Instead of victory, Burgoyne found frustration, hardship, and finally surrender after a series of battles, ending at the Battle of Saratoga.

Data of the Battle of Saratoga

• Who: British General John Burgoyne (1722-1792) and a force of 8,000 British regulars, Indians, and German mercenaries faced 7,000 Continental soldiers and Frontier Riflemen under the command of General Horace Gates (1727-1793) and his subordinates Benedict Arnold (1741-1801) and Daniel Morgan (1736-1802).
• How: At the height of this fateful campaign, Burgoyne was forced to surrender the remnants of his army at Saratoga after the defeats at Freeman Farm and Bemis Heights.
• Where: Eastern New York, in the Hudson River Valley, north of Albany.
• When: October 17, 1777.
• Why: The British determined a grand strategy to separate New England, the hotbed of revolutionary zeal, from the remaining colonies.
• Result: A turning point in the American War of Independence, the surrender of an entire British army in the Saratoga camp convinced France to intervene in the conflict on the side of the Americans.

Battle of Saratoga Background

With the colonial rebellion in its third year, the Continental Army under General George Washington (1732-1799) had made little progress against loyal British . The redcoats occupied New York City and had seized the initiative. Only small victories at Trenton and Princeton in the previous December lifted the rebels' morale, offsetting memories of repeated battlefield reverses and a harsh winter encampment at Morristown, New Jersey. What the British could not destroy from without, rivalry and jealousy among American commanders threatened to destroy from within. Revolutionary leader John Adams (1735-1826) called 1777 the "year of the hangman" because he looked like three gallows. However, as long as there were rebel armies in the countryside, the struggle for independence would remain alive . From the British perspective, the occasion seemed perfect for a decisive campaign to divide the colonies and ultimately defeat them.

Grand Strategy at the Battle of Saratoga

For some time, British strategists, both political and military, had advocated a bold push from supply bases in Canada to New York's Hudson River valley . An effective effort would isolate New England from the rest of the colonies and hasten the defeat of the "high-strung" colonists. Major General John Burgoyne offered a tactical script for such an undertaking:he proposed a coordinated offensive from three directions.
He intended to personally take command of a force that included more than 4,000 English regulars, 3,000 German mercenaries, and several hundred French-Canadian militiamen and Indians. Since there were almost no roads along his anticipated line of advance, Burgoyne would take his army by ship from near Montreal across Lake Champlain and then overland to Albany. A second British force, numbering 800 Redcoats and Canadians under the command of Colonel Barry St. Leger, would advance southwest up the St. Lawrence River, cross Lake Ontario, and advance up the Mohawk River Valley to meet with Burgoyne in Albany . The third British advance would be undertaken by General William Howe (1729-1814) and a part of the 16,000 soldiers of the New York City garrison. Howe would advance north along the Hudson and pin down any American troops that might be singled out to engage Burgoyne. Howe was not expected to cover the entire distance to Albany, some 200 miles away.

El fuerteticonderoga

On June 13, 1777, Burgoyne set out on his expedition along Lake Champlain. Three weeks later, their combined force reached the first barrier to advance:Fort Ticonderoga, built by the French in 1755. In the spring of 1775, Americans under the command of Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold had captured the fort, and now a 2,500-man garrison under General Arthur St. Clair opposed the British offensive.
Although Fort Ticonderoga itself was a formidable obstacle, it was clear to commanders on both sides that the position was vulnerable to artillery bombardment from the surrounding hills, which commanded the approaches to the fort. St. Clair's force was too small to adequately defend Ticonderoga, much less the surrounding hills. When Burgoyne gave orders to drag the artillery up neighboring Mount Defiance, St. Clair had no choice but to evacuate.
On July 6 Fort Ticonderoga fell virtually without a single shot. The next day, three regiments from St. Clair's rear, under Colonel Seth Warner, were surprised by British units under General Simon Fraser at Hubbardton, southeast of Ticonderoga. An American regiment was crushed and the remaining settlers regrouped and fought in small groups from the woods . When Fraser ordered a flank move, it became clear that the Americans might be trapped, and Warner directed his men to flee the area and head for Manchester individually.
Burgoyne continued his march south, first along Wood Creek to Fort Ann and then to Fort Edward on the Hudson . The colonists' hit-and-run tactics harassed the British every step of the way, and they spent nearly four weeks on the trail.

Bennington

When they emerged from the wilderness at Fort Edward, Burgoyne's exhausted troops were short of food and supplies. Lieutenant Colonel Friedrich Baum, who commanded the Brunswick Dragoons, a mercenary unit, proposed a supply expedition to a region called the New Hampshire Concessions. Although Burgoyne expected Baum's force of 800 men to meet little resistance, Colonel John Stark had assembled a rebel army of some 1,500 men at Bennington during the first week of August.
When Baum learned of Stark's presence, he ordered his troops to dig trenches and called for reinforcements. The American commander was determined to attack and created an elaborate plan to double-envelop the enemy position. On August 16, Stark ordered attacks on both British flanks, shouting "We will defeat them before tonight or Molly Stark will be a widow!"
With over 1,000 men, Stark charged into the British trenches, and both British flanks were forced back. The center, however, where the dragoons were stationed, held firm. However, when an American musket ball felled Baum, his men were disorganized and gave way. Burgoyne had detached another 600 German soldiers to reinforce Baum, though they arrived too late to save their comrades from him. However, the Americans had themselves become unnerved during the pursuit of their enemy, and the relief force almost succeeded in turning the shots on Stark.
At an opportune moment, Warren appeared in the field with 300 settlers, and the Americans resumed their assault . The Germans disbanded and fled in panic, leaving behind 200 dead and up to 700 prisoners. US casualties were only 30 killed and 40 wounded. Burgoyne was shocked by Bennington's loss, but his whole plan was beginning to unravel.

Oriskany

As Burgoyne trudged through the wilderness of the New York countryside, St. Leger embarked from Fort Oswego on July 25. Eight days later, his troops arrived at the recently reinforced Fort Stanwix, in the modern city of Rome, New York, which also had several weeks' worth of supplies. American Colonel Peter Gansevoort refused a British request for surrender, and St. Leger prepared for a siege .
Two American relief columns were advancing towards Fort Stanwix, one with 900 soldiers under the command of Benedict Arnold and the other with 800 colonial militiamen recruited from the surrounding region and under the command of Colonel Nicolas Herkimer. When St. Leger realized a fight was brewing, he dispatched 400 Indians and Loyalists to ambush Herkimer in a wooded ravine about 10 km from Fort Stanwix. Meanwhile, Gansevoort sent a raiding party to attack the British camp.
On the morning of August 6, Indians and loyalists fell on Herkimer . For an hour, they got the best of it. Afterward, the Americans regrouped and struck back. Under the pressure of the numerical superiority of their enemies, the Indians and loyalists fell back. Both sides had suffered more than 150 dead in what is now remembered as the Battle of Oriskany.
When Gansevoort had sent out his raiding party, many of the British soldiers under St. Leger were busy clearing brush from the banks of Wood Creek, intending to establish a solid line of communication with Fort Oswego . The assailants destroyed a good part of the British camp, especially damaging that of the Indians, who decided to withdraw. St. Leger's force was greatly diminished; he was also aware of Arnold's advance towards Fort Stanwix.
Therefore, his only alternative was to lift the siege and retrace his steps towards Fort Oswego.
Back in New York, Sir William Howe was under no obligation to follow Burgoyne's plan to the letter. Instead of advancing up the Hudson Valley, Howe decided to attack George Washington's army near Philadelphia. Howe's subordinate, Sir Henry Clinton (1738-1795), sent a message to Burgoyne offering to go up the Hudson with a relatively small force.
Clinton proceeded to capture two American forts along the Hudson and forced the rebels to burn a small fleet they had amassed upriver. When a third fort fell to the British, Clinton had played his last card. . The obstacle of distance turned out to be the one he couldn't overcome. It was October, and Burgoyne was still more than 100 miles away.