Saratoga Campaign

SARATOGA CAMPAIGN

SARATOGA CAMPAIGN. Stung by their inability to end the American rebellion in 1776, the British government ordered an invasion of the colonies from Canada, meant to surgically separate New England from the other colonies. Unfortunately, General Sir William Howe, insistent on invading Pennsylvania from his base in New York, left the army sent from Canada, under General John Burgoyne, unsupported as it marched south. Marching out of Quebec in July 1777, Burgoyne's 9,000 men faced the enormous problems inherent in a 350-mile march: river crossings, hostile Indians, and poor support from French Canadians, as well as transporting an overloaded baggage train and heavy artillery. Although he displaced the Americans from Fort Ticonderoga, Burgoyne delayed en route to the Hudson River in order to gather supplies, allowing the rebels time to place obstacles along the route and plan an attack, which came when a detachment under Lieutenant Colonel Friederich Baum was defeated by rebels while on a foraging mission in Bennington, Vermont.

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Advancing towards Albany, New York, Burgoyne learned that an American army under Horatio Gates had entrenched itself at Bemis Heights, also called Freeman's Farm, and had approximately the same number of men (5,500) as himself. The first battle of Saratoga, fought on 19 September 1777, began when Burgoyne ordered his army to attack the American fortifications. While Gates kept his troops behind their entrenchments, his more flamboyant second in command, Benedict Arnold, sent his left wing to fight in the woods in front of the entrenchments. The battle ended in a curious situation—although the British held the field, they had lost 600 men, while the Americans, unable to advance against the artillery commanded by Hessian General Friederich Riedesel, retreated to their fortifications on Bemis Heights and gathered more men and supplies.

Eighteen days later, while Gates waited for the British to weaken through lack of supplies and attrition from sniping, Burgoyne waited with increasing desperation for help from General Sir Henry Clinton in New York. Reaching the end of his patience on 7 October, Burgoyne sent out a reconnaissance force of 1,500 men to push the left wing of the American fortifications on Bemis Heights. Attacked by the Americans under the command of Arnold, who had been relieved of command after arguing with Gates, Burgoyne's men were routed. Burgoyne began a costly retreat back to Canada, but was surrounded by Gates's army on 12 October and compelled to negotiate a surrender.

These battles, later collectively known as Saratoga, were a major turning point in the Revolutionary War. The capture of a British army raised morale at a time when George Washington's army had been defeated by Howe in Pennsylvania. When news reached Europe, the American victory encouraged open French and Spanish aid to the rebels. The campaign also sparked the differences between Arnold and the American command, which were later to lead to his defection to the British. On the British side, the defeat led to the replacement of Howe with Clinton, and after the loss of so many men and resources, the British turned increasingly to the Royal Navy to press their advantage on the American coastline, particularly in the southern colonies.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Elting, John R. The Battles of Saratoga. Monmouth Beach, N.J.: Philip Freneau Press, 1977.

Ketchum, Richard M. Saratoga: Turning Point of America's Revolutionary War. New York: Holt, 1997.

Mintz, Max M. The Generals of Saratoga: John Burgoyne and Horatio Gates. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1990.

Margaret D. Sankey

See also Revolution, American: Military History .