Battle of Saratoga
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| Saratoga campaign, 1777 |
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| Ticonderoga – Hubbardton – Fort Ann – Oriskany – Bennington – 1st Saratoga (Freeman's Farm) – 2nd Saratoga (Bemis Heights) |
The Battle of Saratoga is considered by most American historians to have been the turning point of the American Revolutionary War as well as one of the most decisive battles in history judging from its consequences. The defeat and capture of a British army in the Saratoga campaign by American forces secured the northern American states from attacks out of Canada as well as preventing New England from being isolated and defeated in detail. It also convinced the rulers of France (and later Spain) that it was worth extending a significant measure of their military, political, and diplomatic support to the rebel American colonies. The monarchies of France and Spain may not have agreed with the ideals of the American revolution, but were more than happy to help give their archenemy, Britain, an expensive black eye.
The British plan was to separate New England from the rest of the colonies by capturing the Hudson River valley, including Lake Champlain. British General John Burgoyne set out with 3,300 red-coated British regulars, 3,900 blue-coated German mercenaries from Brunswick and 650 Canadians, Tories and Indians from Canada in June, with the object of reaching Albany, New York by fall. There he planned to meet up with Col. Barry St. Leger coming down the Mohawk River Valley with a mixed force of about 600 Torys, Canadians and 1,000 Iroquois Indians and General William Howe coming up the Hudson valley with a large force from New York City. Burgoyne started by advancing from French Canada down Lake Champlain in July 1777. The British easily seized American forts at Crown Point and Fort Ticonderoga.
The Americans retreated, and in doing so embarked on a plan of sabotage; felling trees across roads, destroying all bridges, and harassing the British troops with sniper fire. Since the British needed decent road connections to transport their large baggage and supply train, they had to repair or rebuild the damaged roadways as they went. The British advance beyond the southern ends of Lakes Champlain and George were slowed to a few kilometers a day. When they finally arrived at the Hudson, Burgoyne's force was running out of supplies and was eventually blocked from further progress down the Hudson by regular soldiers and militia under General Horatio Gates in the area north of the Hudson Valley town of Saratoga, New York and just west of the Hudson River. Over the course of the summer, the colonial force had grown to roughly 15,000 men as militia poured in from Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and as far away as Virginia. The Americans were determined to make a fight of it.
On August 1, 1777 - Burgoyne's forces finally reached the Hudson River.
Background
Knowing a big battle was shaping up in 1777, Washington did what he could to strengthen Gates's Army before the fighting began. He first dispatched Maj. Gen. Benedict Arnold, his most aggressive field commander, and Maj. Gen. Benjamin Lincoln, a Massachusetts man noted for his influence with the New England militia. From the main army in Pennsylvania he ordered 750 men from Putnam's force in the New York highlands to join Gates. Then he put the word out for any available Militia groups to form up on Gates. On August 16 he detached one of his most deadly and effective forces under the already famous Col. Daniel Morgan of the 11th Virginia Regiment with his 400+ especially selected Virginia riflemen, chosen for their sharpshooting ability to join Gates. Morgan's riflemen were calculated to furnish a partial antidote for Burgoyne's Iroquois Indians who were already terrorizing the New York countryside. Morgan's men were given specific instructions to concentrate on officers and artillerymen. In the battle the sharpshooters were deadly at well over 200 yards but suffered from their long reload times--about triple that of a musket man--and their lack of bayonets for when the enemy got too close. The colonials eventually learned to mix the sharpshooters with trained men armed with muskets and bayonets to protect them. The poorly trained and equipped militia often had a reload rate that initially was laughed at by the Germans, and only a few had bayonets this early in the war; but as the Germans and British would later discover, they could and would fight.On July 23, 1777, the first big crack in Burgoyne's plan occurred when British General William Howe, commanding the British troops in New York, changed his plans and in doing so made a serious tactical error. Instead of meeting Burgoyne near Albany, he decided to sail toward the Delaware Bay and capture the American capital of Philadelphia. While he succeeded in taking the city, the nascent U.S. government simply retreated to another location and evaded capture. Due to the slow and difficult communications of the period, Burgoyne would not hear of this change in Howe's plans for several weeks; by then it would be too late.
The second major blow to British aims came on August 6, 1777, when British reinforcements, in the form of about 1,000 Iroquois Indians and 600 British loyalists advancing down the Mohawk River Valley, never joined Burgoyne. They were blocked by a successful colonial militia defense of Fort Stanwix near Rome, New York, and the hard-fought Battle of Oriskany. The 800 colonial militia in this battle were poorly trained German-American and Yankee farmers from Tyron County, New York commanded by General Nicholas Herkimer; but they could and would fight when they had to. The militia were accompanied by about 40 Oneida Indians coming to the aid of their neighbors. General Herkimer and over 160 local militia lost their lives in this engagement, which lasted almost six hours and included some intense hand to hand combat. News of the imminent arrival of General Benedict Arnold and 1000 reinforcements broke the stalemate. Col. Barry St. Leger and his forces retreated back up the Mohawk valley to Canada, minus their loot and most of their supplies which had been captured by the Fort Stanwix garrison while the fighting at Oriskany occurred. The garrison hauled as much of the supplies as they could inside their fort and destroyed the rest. This was a serious blow to Indian morale when all their booty and food disappeared.
Yet another major setback for the British came with the loss of an important battle near Bennington, Vermont. Running low on supplies, on August 11, 1777, Burgoyne detached a force of 650 men under the Brunswick Col. Friedrich Baum to forage for food, cattle, horses, and transport in the very area where Massachusetts militia General John Stark and his forces were forming up. Near Bennington on August 16 the American force of 1,500 Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts militia, led by General John Stark with aid from Colonel Seth Warner's men and the Green Mountain Boys, nearly annihilated Baum's force. Reinforcements sent by Burgoyne arrived on the field just in time to be soundly thrashed in turn. British casualties included over 200 British and Germans killed, including Baum, and 700 prisoners captured--mostly German. American losses included over 40 Americans dead and at least 30 wounded. The 500 survivors of the combined force of about 1,400 Brunswick soldiers, Canadians, Loyalists, and Native Americans were forced to retreat back to the Hudson River without fresh supplies. Burgoyne and his troops had not only failed to secure desperately-needed supplies and transportation, but also lost nearly a tenth of his command.
General Burgoyne's forces were already being whittled down while his supplies were starting to get low. In total, a combined force of about 6,000 men, British regulars and German Brunswick, under General "Gentleman Johnny" Burgoyne were trapped. An American victory at Saratoga began to look very possible to colonial military leaders. The British army found itself surrounded without any prospect of support from reinforcements or of resupply.
Coincidentally, it would be the surrender of another surrounded British army on September 17, 1781 at the Battle of Yorktown that would finally bring about an end to the bloodshed in the American Revolution--four difficult years later.
The Battle
Battle of Freeman's Farm
Main article: Battle of Freeman's FarmThe Battles of Saratoga consisted of two main engagements; the first of these being the Battle of Freeman's Farm. The British were advancing on Saratoga, and on September 19, they ran into American forces in a clearing in the woods at Freeman's Farm. General Benedict Arnold, commanding the left wing of the American forces, ordered Colonel Daniel Morgan of the 11th Virginia Regiment and his 400 sharpshooters to assault and harass the British while they were still advancing through the woods in separate columns. Morgan charged recklessly into British General Simon Fraser's column and inflicted severe casualties before being forced back across the field. Arnold sent forward the brigades of Gen. Enoch Poor (1st NH, 2nd NH, 3rd NH, 2nd NY and 4th NY) and Gen. Ebenezer Learned (1st NY, 2nd, 8th and 9th Massachusetts Regiment) to support Morgan. Burgoyne sent forward James Inglis Hamilton and Fraser to attack the Americans across Freeman's Farm. Arnold's reinforced line repulsed the British attack with heavy losses. Arnold was angered at the American commander Horatio Gates for not sending in reinforcements to break the British lines. By the end of the battle the British and German troops (Hessian) had repulsed one last attack from the Americans, and Arnold was relieved of command. Although they had to relinquish the field, the Americans had halted Burgoyne's advance and inflicted losses the British could ill afford. Burgoyne built redoubts and fortified his current position. Two miles to the south, the Americans also built fortifications.
Battle of Bemis Heights
Main article: Battle of Bemis HeightsThe second and final engagement of the Battles of Saratoga was known as the Battle of Bemis Heights which took place on October 7. Even though the British had suffered greatly at the Battle of Freeman's Farm and Gates had been receiving significant militia reinforcements from Vermont, New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts since then, Burgoyne made plans to assault the American lines in three columns and drive them from the field. The main assault would be made by the German Brunswickers (called Hessians) under Major General Riedesel against the American forces on Bemis Heights. American General Benjamin Lincoln now commanded the division of Poor's and Learned's brigades positioned on Bemis Heights. Burgoyne's troops attacked early in the morning. Holding their fire until the Brunswick troops were well within range, Poor's brigade devastated the first attack and routed the survivors in a counter attack. Colonel Morgan and his 400 sharpshooters attacked and routed the Canadian infantry and began to engage Fraser's British regulars. Fraser began to rally his division, and at that crucial moment Benedict Arnold arrived on the field (despite his prior dismissal) and ordered Morgan to concentrate his fire on the officers, particularly the generals. One of Morgan's sharpshooters fired and mortally wounded Fraser. Arnold, who had been relieved at Freeman's Farm, had no actual command. However, when the firing began, he ignored Gates and rode to the front. After finishing on Morgan's front, Arnold next rode to Learned's brigade. Learned's men, facing the Brunswickers' assault, were beginning to falter. Again at the crucial moment Arnold arrived and rallied the Americans. Then with Arnold and Learned in the lead the Americans counter-attacked. By now Poor and Morgan were closing in on either side of the Brunswickers, and their front gave way. The British retreated to their original positions. Arnold next led Learned's men in an assault on the Brunswickers' redoubt. Here Arnold fell wounded, yet the Americans took the redoubt. Before being carried off the field, Arnold tried to bring forward another brigade, but a messenger sent by Gates, reminding him he had been dismissed, finally caught up to Arnold and he was removed with the other wounded as darkness fell over the field. He had more than earned his keep that day.
Burgoyne's Surrender
The British force then retreated a few kilometers north where their retreat was blocked by colonial forces, under the command of General Horatio Gates. Surrounded and badly outnumbered, 60 km south of Fort Ticonderoga, with supplies dwindling and winter not far off, Burgoyne had little option. He decided to open discussions with the Americans. At first Gates initially demanded unconditional surrender, which the British general flatly turned down, declaring he would sooner fight to the death. Gates eventually agreed to a ‘treaty of convention’, whereby the British would technically not surrender nor be taken as prisoners, but marched to Boston and returned to England on the condition that they were not to serve again in America. Gates was concerned that a fight to the death with Burgoyne could still prove costly and was also concerned about reports of General Sir Henry Clinton advancing from New York to relieve his compatriots stranded at Saratoga. Resplendent in full ceremonial uniform, General Burgoyne led four and a half thousand red-coated British and blue-coated German troops out from his camp on October 17, 1777 and was greeted with formal cordiality by General Gates. Others lay wounded or were helping the large contingent of officers' wives prepare for captivity.
In the surrender at Saratoga 5,791 men were surrendered. Riedesel has stated that not more than 4,000 of these were fit for duty. The number of Germans surrendering is set down by Eelking at 2,431 men, and of Germans killed, wounded, captured or missing down to October 6, at 1,122 including the losses at Bennington. The total loss of the British and their German auxilaries, in killed, wounded, prisoners, and deserters, during the campaign, including those lost in St. Leger's expedition to the Mohawk, the conflict at Bennington and those who surrendered on terms at Saratoga, was not far from 9,000.
Aftermath
Burgoyne's troops were disarmed and should have been paroled (returned to Britain on the condition that they engage in no further conflict with the colonies), a common 18th century military practice. Instead, the American Congress refused to ratify the "convention" (the document detailing the terms of surrender agreed to by Gates and Burgoyne). Though some of the British and German officers were eventually exchanged for captured American officers, most of the enlisted men in the combined British and Brunswick "Convention Army," as it became known, were held captive in camps in New England, Virginia, and Pennsylvania until the end of the war. Another serious difficulty encounted was that Charles I, Duke of Brunswick, did not want his soldiers back fearing they would hinder future recruitment. Needless to say the Brunswickers did not appreciate this and deserted in large numbers; of 5,723 Brunswick troops sent over only 3,015 returned in 1783. Most became new American colonists. Another complicating factor was that Burgoyne himself was sent back to England in disgrace. The news that an entire British Army had been not only defeated, but captured with all its weapons, gave the revolutionists great credibility. France, in particular, threw its support behind the Revolution. Years later, French military and naval forces played a key role in the capitulation of a second British Army at the siege of Yorktown and the end of the war.Points of Interest
It is interesting to note that the Battle of Saratoga was the first time that both powers had a sizeable army on a battlefield at the same time. Most of the fighting done prior to Saratoga leaned heavily on "guerilla warfare" tactics on the part of the Revolutionaries. Moreover, the Battle of Saratoga would serve as the first major army-to-army clash. It was the first battle America had won without surprising British forces (See: Battle of Trenton) and it helped convince the French monarchy that they could hurt the British significantly by helping the Americans.
There are or were re-enactment groups that re-enact the Battle of Saratoga every September. Another group called "Morgans Rifles" tours Daniel Morgan's significant battle sites (there are many) in period costumes each year. There are also groups of Hessian descendants that stage battle re-enactments in period costumes using period weapons etc. All of these groups can be reached for a lot of significant information as well as an appreciation of some of our history.
On the Saratoga battlefield there is a statue of a single leg with no caption. Purportedly this represents the response Benedict Arnold (wounded in the leg in Quebec and Saratoga) got when he asked a captured American soldier what they would do if they captured him: "We would cut your leg off and bury it with full military honors for your work at Quebec and Saratoga. The rest of you we would hang."
The historian Robert Sobel, of Hofstra University, published For Want of a Nail in 1973, an alternate history novel in which Burgoyne won the Battle of Saratoga.
References
- Richard H Ketchum; Saratoga: Turning Point of America's Revolutionary War; 1997, Henry Holt & Company, ISBN 080504681X; (Paperback ISBN 0805061231)
- Max M. Mintz; The Generals of Saratoga: John Burgoyne and Horatio Gates; 1990, Yale University Press, ISBN 0300047789;
External links
- [The Saratoga National Historial Park web site]
- [War Boardgame on the Battle of Saratoga]
- [Monument to Arnold's leg at Saratoga, from pbs.org]
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