The Saratoga campaign was a major campaign of the American Revolutionary War that occurred from June to October 1777 as the British generals John Burgoyne, Barry St. Leger, and Henry Clinton planned to invade New York from three directions, capture the strategically important Hudson Valley, and destroy Horatio Gates' Northern Department of the Continental Army. St. Leger's British-Indian army was defeated at the Siege of Fort Stanwix and the Battle of Oriskany, while Burgoyne was forced to surrender to Gates following the Battles of Saratoga. The American victory was an enormous morale boost to the Patriot cause, and it convinced France to enter the war in alliance with the United States.
Background[]
Following their failure to force George Washington into total defeat in 1776, the British military commanders proposed a number of strategies to crush the rebellion. British strategy revolved around one basic assumption. To win the war against the American colonies, Commander in Chief General William Howe argued, the British must fight a single decisive battle in which the Continental Army would be destroyed. Howe proposed expeditions to gain control of the Hudson River and seize control of Philadelphia, a Patriot stronghold.
On leave in London after taking part in offensives in Canada in the fall of 1776, General John Burgoyne persuaded King George III and Lord George Germain, the government minister in charge of war strategy, to include in their plans for the coming year an audacious two-pronged attack from Canada, which would be led by him.
History[]
Burgoyne's offensive[]
The attack the British had tried to mount from Canada in 1776 failed, said General Burgoyne, only because of its commander's caution and indecision. He was sure the determined attack he proposed to mount in 1777 would turn the tide of the campaign. Burgoyne was brimming with confidence. The strategy he proposed was to advance with 7,000 of his best troops from St. John's in Quebec and cross Lake Champlain to capture the key Patriot stronghold at Ticonderoga. His forces would then push down the Hudson Valley toward Albany in Upper New York, where they would rendezvous with 2,000 men commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Barry St. Leger, who by this time would have marched eastward from Oswego to meet him.
Misguided threats[]
Burgoyne arrived back in Canada in the summer of 1777, ready to begin his planned offensive. The day before he set out, he issued a proclamation addressed to the Patriot forces under the commander-in-chief of the north, General Philip Schuyler. He warned him that if they did not abandon "the Phrenzy of Hostility," the British would create "destruction, Famine and every conmitant Horror" wherever they went. The proclamation backfired. Rather than acting as a deterrent to the Patriots, it simply stiffened their resolve. The speech Burgoyne made to 400 of his Native American allies was even more unfortunate. "Warriors, you are free," he harangued them. "Go forth and strike at the common enemies of Great Britain and America." Although he then went onto tell his audience, "I positively forbid bloodshed when you are not opposed in arms" and that he would permit the scalping only of those who were already dead, the provisos were too little and too late. The Native Americans failed to obey this directive. Unleashed, they were practically uncontrollable. Their "enthusiasm" for the fight resulted in numerous brutal killings of civilians.
Initial British success[]
The actual offensive started well enough. By 6 July, the outnumbered and outgunned Patriots had retreated from Fort Ticonderoga and then surrendered their defensive position on Mount Independence. One flabbergasted Hessian officer noted that they left "more than 50 field pieces, extraordinarily large supplies of ammunition, muskets, tents, rice, coffee, sugar, and even a new flag." As ordered by Major General Arthur St. Clair, Ticonderoga's recently appointed commander, the rebels fell back to Hubbardton some 24 miles away with the British advance guard in hot pursuit. There, the Patriot rearguard put up a spirited resistance, which allowed St. Clair to make his getaway. Meanwhile, Colonel Pierce Long, who had been put in charge of the Patriot evacuation of the fort, was making his way up Lake Champlain to Fort Edward, 16 miles farther to the south. He was pursued by Burgoyne himself.
Tactical errors[]
Had Burgoyne pressed on with his pursuit, harrying the Patriot forces before him to prevent them from reorganizing, he might have won a notable victory. Instead, he waited for his supply wagons and cumbersome artillery train to catch up, by which time General Philip Schuyler's forces had been reinforced. This was Burgoyne's first mistake. The second was to decide to take the land route to Fort Edward. This involved building a road over miles of inhospitable country. Nor were his sappers allowed to get on with the task unimpeded. Patriot tree-felling and other acts of sabotage slowed their progress to a crawl. At best, Burgoyne was now managing to advance just a mile a day. It took him three weeks to get to Fort Edward and a further ten days to gather his supplies together. Only after that was he ready to start the journey south again, aiming to cross the Hudson River at Fort Miller, 47 miles above Albany.
Confrontation at Bennington[]
On 14 August, the British commander ordered a 600-strong combined force of Hessians, Loyalists, and Native American scouts to split off from the main body of the army and march southeast toward Bennington, a Patriot supply depot. Lieutenant Colonel Friedrich Baum, the force's commander, had instructions to carry off "large supplies of cattle, horses and carriages." Instead, on 16 August, he walked into a Patriot trap sprung by Brigadier John Stark. His 2,000 New England militiamen routed Baum's heavily outnumbered troops outside the township. Stark's forces went on to destroy a column of Hessian reinforcements. The two engagements cost Burgoyne almost 1,000 men.
As Burgoyne continued southward, Howe wrote to say he would not be advancing to support him. It was clear that Burgoyne's plan was unravelling before his eyes. In addition, he would not be reinforced by St. Leger and his forces, who were marching back to Canada after having been forced to lift the siege of Fort Schuyler.
The British in Upper New York[]
The certain knowledge that General Howe's army was bound for Philadelphia and would no longer be meeting his own army at Albany in Upper New York placed General Burgoyne in an uncomfortable position. Without backup, it was unclear how he would achieve the objective of his offensive, to march on Albany. Howe, the British commander-in-chief, had left instructions for General Sir Henry Clinton in command in New York City to "act as occurrences would direct."
Although Clinton had been in London at the same time as Burgoyne the previous winter, he had not been consulted about the feasibility of Burgoyne's offensive. Nor had Howe taken Clinton into his confidence before planning his 1777 campaign. Lord George Germain, who was responsible for the conduct of the war, would have done well to seek Clinton's advice before agreeing to Howe's and Burgoyne's attacks. Clinton knew America and the Americans well - having lived there with his family for some years - and as a general, Clinton had already demonstrated substantial strategic capability. Upon hearing of Burgoyne's plan, he began to worry that dividing his forces might give the Patriots the opportunity to strike at New York and so reverse all the gains the British had made there the previous year. This fear was at the back of Clinton's mind when he received an appeal from Burgoyne, asking him to confirm that he was going to march to his support.
Failed siege[]
The harassed Burgoyne had already learned that Lieutenant Colonel Barry St. Leger was unable to rendezvous with him near Albany. St. Leger had set out from Fort Oswego on Lake Ontario immediately after hearing the news of the British capture of Ticonderoga. Entering the Mohawk Valley in mid-July, St. Leger had headed for Fort Schuyler, reaching it on 2 august. Previously known as Fort Stanwix, Fort Schuyler was occupied by about 800 Patriots under Colonel Peter Gansevoort.
Accompanied by British and Hessian regulars, Loyalist volunteers, and Canadian militia, St. Leger laid siege to the fort, but was only able to bring up his artillery to begin bombarding it on 8 August. His force included around 800 Native American warriors, mostly Mohawk and Seneca, led by Mohawk leader Joseph Brant; these warriors played a key role in the siege by winning a bloody encounter with Brigadier-General Nicholas Herkimer's 800 Patriot militiamen at Oriskany on 6 August. The ambush prevented Herkimer's men from marching to relieve the garrison at Fort Schuyler. However, St. Leger's siege eventually proved unsuccessful. Discovering that Continental reinforcements, under the command of General Benedict Arnold, were on their way to confront him, St. Leger decided to fall back. By 23 August, when Arnold reached the fort, St. Leger had already begun a roundabout journey back toward Lake Ontario and on to Canada.
Burgoyne's problem[]
Burgoyne now depended solely on Clinton. Earlier, Clinton had agreed to "try something at any rate, if it might be of use to you." He had promised that, around 22 September, he would "make a push" to get past the Patriot forts guarding the southern end of the Hudson Highlands, and move up the river toward Burgoyne with 2,000 men. However, he added a caveat. Should it prove impossible to reach Burgoyne quickly, he warned that he would retire to Manhattan "to save this important post."
Burgoyne wasted no time in replying to Clinton. "Do it, my dear friend, directly," he wrote. In the meantime, he would hold his ground in the Hudson Valley and wait for Clinton to appear. But days went by without a sign from Clinton, and with no further news of his whereabouts. Burgoyne was soon forced to cut his army's daily rations by a third. That same day, Clinton finally moved out of New York City with 3,000 men and several warships. After a feint toward Verplanck's Point on the eastern bank of the Hudson to distract the Patriot forces, he moved west of the river and took Fort Clinton and Fort Montgomery in just 72 hours, even though his attacking force had no artillery. The troops garrisoning Fort Constitution, 3 miles upstream, were so unnerved that they abandoned it without further ado, leaving all their guns and stores behind. General Israel Putnam, commanding Patriot militiamen against seasoned regulars, was forced to fall back from the river, although he maintained control of the surrounding countryside.
Lacking support[]
Clinton's advance guard got as far as Esopus but then the offensive came to a sudden halt. Clinton had received a demand from Howe for reinforcements and had to accede to the commander in chief's request. Even more to the point, a courier from Burgoyne had managed to make his way through the Patriot lines to reach him. The news he brought was alarming. Burgoyne, the courier reported, was pinned down by the Patriots - now commanded by General Horatio Gates - and cut off from his main supply base. By this stage his army was outnumbered by nearly three-to-one.
Astonishingly, Burgoyne, who had previously made much of his independent command, now asked General Clinton for orders. Clinton immediately realized that Burgoyne, staring defeat in the face, was trying to pass the buck, in the event of a calamity. Clinton was determined not to attract blame. "Sir Henry Clinton cannot presume to give any orders to General Burgoyne," he replied stiffly. "I sincerely hope this little success of ours may facilitate your Operation." He immediately readied his troops to return to Manhattan, destroying the recently-captured forts before they left.
What Burgoyne would have made of this reply is unknown, for he never received it. Clinton sent three different couriers back to him, but not one managed to make it past the Patriots. It was Gates, not Burgoyne, who would read Clinton's careful message.
The Battle of Saratoga[]
On 13 September 1777, General John Burgoyne's army crossed the Hudson River near Saratoga. As it did so, the forces of General Horatio Gates took up positions on Bemis Heights, dominating the main road from Saratoga to Albany. Gates' position was a strong one, carefully selected for him by Tadeusz Kosciuszko, a gifted Polish military engineer who had arrived in Philadelphia in 1776 to volunteer his services to the Patriots. Anchored on the right by the Hudson River and on the left by thick woods and craggy, steep bluffs, it was protected by fortifications designed by Kosciuszko - a U-shaped breastwork stretching for about three-quarters of a mile. Gates personally commanded the Continentals he stationed on the right overlooking the river. More Continentals, led by Brigadier General Ebenezer Learned, held the center, while a mixed force of Continentals and militia, under Brigadier General Benedict Arnold, was deployed on the left. Gates' plan was to hold his ground and let Burgoyne come to him. The British general obliged.
The first encounter[]
Prior to the attack, Burgoyne divided his army into three columns, with Baron von Riedesel and his Brunswick regiments on the left moving along the Hudson, Brigadier-General James Hamilton marching down the rutted road in the center, and Brigadier-General Simon Fraser in the woods to the right. At 10 AM on 19 September, a single cannon shot signaled the start of Burgoyne's advance.
By mid-afternoon, the British center had reached Freeman's Farm. Gates had been persuaded by Arnold to move troops to block the advance. The resulting battle was fought with fury. Alexander Scammel, a colonel in the Patriot militia, said it was "the hottest fire that I ever heard" while one of Burgoyne's veterans recorded that "the fire was much heavier than ever I saw it anywhere."
It was a brutal slogging match from start to finish. The British twice came close to disaster. The first time, they were saved by von Riedesel, whom Burgoyne ordered to attack the Patriot right flank, and the second by Major-General William Phillips, who led the 20th Regiment of Foot into action through a cornfield on the eastern side of the farm and so prevented a rout. The fighting went on for three hours until the fading daylight brought it to an end. The Patriots then fell back, leaving Burgoyne in possession of the field. It was, however, a hollow victory. The Patriots had prevented a British breakthrough. Moreover, British casualties amounted to more than 600 men killed and wounded - double the losses on the Patriot side. Thanks to a generous injection of military supplies by the French earlier in the year, which had encouraged new recruits to sign up to the Patriot cause, Gates was able to replenish his army fairly rapidly. Burgoyne, on the other hand, could not.
A decisive battle[]
Burgoyne was in no hurry to resume the action. He ordered his men to dig in, hoping to provoke Gates into making an attack. He thought, too, that General Sir Henry Clinton might still be moving up the Hudson to relieve him. He was wrong on both counts. Gates, whose army was growing stronger by the day, was more than ready to play a waiting game. His approach, however, infuriated Arnold, who made it clear he disapproved of his superior's caution. Gates responded by relieving Arnold of his command.
For his part, Burgoyne had to choose between two options. Either he could retreat while he was still able to do so, as von Riedesel and Fraser both urged him, or he could renew the attack. He chose the latter course. On the afternoon of 7 October, his army moved forward, signaling the start of the Battle of Bemis Heights. They advanced in three columns for about three-quarters of a mile and then deployed to form a single line stretching for about half a mile. Burgoyne's aim was simple. It was to take the bluffs that dominated the Patriot position, bring up his artillery to bombard Gates' defenses remorselessly, and then to break through the Patriot left.
Gates continued to watch and wait - much to the fury of Arnold, who appeared uninvited at the Patriot headquarters. When Gates finally sent reinforcements forward to harass the British right, they laid down a deadly fire and the British started to fall back in confusion. At this point, Arnold took a hand. Without orders, he rode into the heart of the action, leading his men in an all-out assault on a key British redoubt. The Hessians holding it broke ranks and fled. Although Arnold himself was seriously wounded in the moment of triumph - his leg was shot by enemy fire and then badly broken when his horse fell on him - the battle was over. It was a major Patriot victory.
That night, Burgoyne withdrew his beaten troops back toward Saratoga. He had lost 894 men at Bemis Heights, including two generals. the dispirited British soldiers huddled in their camp under constant Patriot fire while their commanders debated the best course of action. Having dismissed the possibility of retreating successfully, Burgoyne made the decision to ask Gates for terms.
Terms of surrender[]
On 17 October, the negotiations were finally concluded when Burgoyne formally signed the articles of surrender. Gates' first act after the surrender was to invite Burgoyne and his officers to dinner. According to a newspaper report, the meal "consisted of a ham, a goose, some beef and some boiled mutton." Under the terms of surrender, Gates agreed that Burgoyne's British and Hessian troops would march to Boston from where they would be free to return to Britain or Canada, in return for a promise never to fight in America again.
Aftermath[]
News that the Continental Army had beaten a major British force in open battle reached Europe in December. It convinced French leaders that the Americans were worthwhile allies. American representatives in Paris agreed a treaty with France in February 1778. This recognized the independence of the United States and established a military alliance. After hearing of the treaty Britain declared war on France in March. Quarrels between Patriot generals would eventually lead Benedict Arnold, the hero of Saratoga, being passed over for promotion and ultimately to his defection to the British in 1780. Burgoyne's captured troops, the so-called Convention Army, languished in America for the rest of the war.