The Battles of Saratoga
In late 1777, the Revolutionary War was almost getting into its third year (the first battles of the war, Lexington and Concord, occurred in April, 1775) and the British wanted to crush the rebels once and for all. They were worried that foreign powers, specifically the French, would join the war. So, the British hatched a perfect plan to crush this silly, worthless, never-to-succeed American rebellion.
The plan was to send a strong force down Lake Champlain into the heart of the American armies. The British planned to have three armies converge at Albany, New York. This plan was perhaps audacious and a bit hastily arrived at. The 3 armies were to be led by General John Burgoyne, Lieutenant Colonel St. Barry Leger, and General William Howe. They thought capturing the capital of New York would be a turning point in the war.
General Burgoyne would lead his troops down from Canada. Lieutenant Colonel St. Leger would move east from Ontario. General Howe would move north from New York City.
Everything went wrong for the British, even though along the way Burgoyne captured Fort Ticonderoga. Lieutenant Colonel St. Leger travelled across Mohawk Valley but was stopped by local forces before arriving at his destination. General Howe was tied up in his campaign to capture Philadelphia, which he successfully did in September, leaving Burgoyne without any backup.
At the same time,George Washington was getting his Continental Army to the winter fields of Valley Forge… (around 25 miles away from Philadelphia). And, General Burgoyne’s army was loaded down with 30 extra wagons to support Burgoyne’s lavish lifestyle. Burgoyne loved eating, fine clothing, wine and tobacco. Along the way, the redcoats, in bright red uniforms were easy targets for colonists. The colonists shot at them and cut down trees to block the road.
While General Burgoyne and his 8000 men were making their way to Albany, a general named Lincoln (not to be confused with 16th president Abraham Lincoln) from Virginia gathered a group of about 750 men to attack Burgoyne. This gave the American troops time to set up defenses on the area called Bemis Heights, just south of Saratoga. The British needed the river to transport supplies, so Burgoyne sent a detachment of troops to a farm belonging to a loyalist by the name of John Freeman. Imagine being one of Burgoyne’s scouts and gaining the view of 9,000 patriots, all posted up around the farm! These men were under the command of General Horatio Gates, a British-born American officer. Gates, unlike Burgoyne, was receiving daily reinforcements.
Horatio Gates
The First Battle of Saratoga, or The Battle of Freeman’s Farm, took place then and there, on September 19. As the battle started, the American troops started picking off the redcoats, and many of the redcoat officers were killed or wounded. However the British drove the Patriots off of the battlefield when German reinforcements arrived. This was declared a British victory, but they had had twice as many casualties as the Americans. (600 deaths, while the colonists had 340).
At 10:00 AM, Burgoyne, finishing his crumpets and tea, waited for the fog to blow away before ordering his troops to form three columns. Burgoyne ordered a German general, Baron Riedesel, to lead the left column. Riedesel would be in charge of the boats, supplies, and artillery. Scottie James Inglis Hamilton would command the center column. He would attack the heights. General Simon Fraser, a favorite among the British for his rousing words and encouragement, led the right wing northwest of Bemis Heights.
Benedict Arnold had thought that the British and the Germans would work together to trap them, and he sent a messenger to ask permission from General Gates to move his troops down off the cliff and into the surrounding woods – for between the two sides, the American patriots were naturally far more adept at dealing with firing from within the woods. Arnold’s messenger leapt off of his horse. Gates took the letter from him and read it carefully. “That Benedict Arnold,” Gates growled. “That is a terrible idea, but if I say no, he will do it anyways.” He turned toward the messenger, muttering through gritted teeth, “Tell Arnold it’s… fine.”
As all of these columns from both sides careered towards Freeman’s Farm, one can just imagine the confusion settling into the various generals’ minds. For when Daniel Morgan’s men came near the field, they could see and hear the redcoats, and some among them could also sense approaching over a rear ravine, scrambling over broken trees and bracken, the approach of Hamilton’s column.
On the way to the battle, Riedesel was having a fit because of a huge boulder blocking the road. “THOSE REBELS! STOP THROWING THINGS AT US AND LET US GET THROUGH!” The boom of a gun pierced the air, and as Riedesel maneuvered around the rock and towards the battle, he sent a section of his troops toward the sound.
The British officers in their long and elegant topcoats, with their wigs barely askew during this onrush of combat, were in some ways totally unprepared for what was about to occur. For little did they know that Colonel Daniel Morgan had commanded his snipers to blow the heads off of the officers, leading the lower ranks to confusion. Pop! Pop! Bang! Now an officer down in the middle. Pop! Pop! Bang! Now a neighing horse comes charging through, its rider crying out encouragement. It is Simon Fraser. His troops charge, attacking Morgan’s left, scattering the patriots back into the woods. The British started to retreat back to the main column. But oh my! In what would go down in battle infamy, that exact column opened fire during the retreat, killing quite an amount of their fellow British.
The American side started to feel confident at 1 PM. Reinforcements were coming from the south, and Hamilton’s men were fighting well at the north side. Gates sent 2 regiments, or, units of an army, to Morgan to help. The battle switched between vicious fighting and the exhausted troops still attempting to fight, but resting at the same time. Morgan’s riflemen hid in the dense woods, taking down the British. They were one of the most helpful men in this battle for the Americans, helping the Americans gain control from time to time.
“I got him! I got him! Burgoyne is down!” A sharpshooter ran towards Morgan. There was an excited shout across the American army, but from across the field, Burgoyne bellowed, “I’m alive, idiots! Keep fighting!” It had been one of Burgoyne’s aides that had died. The main British line faltered: the Americans almost pushed through, but General Phillips, riding his horse, rushed into the midst and helped push the Americans back.
At 3:00 PM, Riedesel sent a messenger to Burgoyne for instructions. At 5:00 PM, the messenger came back, telling Riedesel to guard the baggage train and send as many men possible to the American’s right flank. Riedesel left 500 men to guard the baggage train (ooh, risky), and left with the rest of his troops. Following Burgoyne’s orders, Riedesel attacked the American’s right flank while Fraser attacked the left. About to be overturned, Arnold went to ask Gates for more forces, and he got them. Luckily, Arnold was not on the field at that time, and did not need to face Riedesel’s intimidating troops hounding in.
The battle had ended. The Americans retreated back to their defenses, leaving the British on the field. Burgoyne had gained the field of battle, but at a heavy cost.
Layout of the Battle of Freeman’s Farm
After the first battle, Burgoyne decided to retreat back to Saratoga to rest his wounded soldiers and wait for back-up from General Clinton, instead of advancing to Albany. While the British sat around, the American army grew to 13,000 men and Burgoyne’s army dwindled to about 5,000 men. Not quite three weeks later, on October 7, General Burgoyne received a letter from General Clinton, promising that he was coming up the Hudson with reinforcements from New York. Unfortunately, the furthest north Clinton would reach was Clermont, nearly 50 miles from Albany and 70 from Bemis Heights. Burgoyne realized that the backup would not arrive in time. He decided to launch a surprise attack on the Americans’ left flank near Bemis Heights. The two sides clashed.
Layout of the Second Battle: the Battle of Bemis Heights
Just as the American side began to falter, none other than Benedict Arnold (not yet traitorous) arrived, saving the Americans with a fresh brigade of troops behind him, driving the British back to their redoubts. The British had erected a defensive redoubt (an enclosed defensive fort) behind their forward position, called the Balcarres Redoubt. It was formidable and well-defended. Several hundred yards away was the less impressive Breymann Redoubt, defended by 200 German soldiers, which was overwhelmed by the Americans.
Soldiers squinted out from behind their redoubt, watching the fight at the Breymann Redoubt unfold. After some pops! they watched fellow soldiers collapse to the ground. The Americans triumphantly poured into the redoubt, claiming it as their own. Back in the Balcarres Redoubt, a soldier called out fearfully, “They’re coming for us next! Look what they did to our soldiers!” He pointed at the bodies strewn all over the field. The redoubt dissolved into an uproar and the Brits stampeded out into the woods. Burgoyne and his men tried to escape north, with Gates chasing, now with 20,000 men. However, the cold weather and heavy rain slowed them down. Cold, hungry, exhausted, the British stopped and prepared to fight. Within 2 days Gates surrounded Burgoyne’s army, forcing them to surrender. This battle became known as the Battle of Bemis Heights, the Second Battle of Saratoga. The British had lost another 600 men.
Benedict Arnold
On October 17, 1777, an entire army of 5,895 British and German troops surrendered to the American army.
The Battles of Saratoga were turning points in the American Revolution. It gave the Patriots a huge boost in confidence and convinced the Dutch, French, and Spanish to join the Americans’ cause. It also made Gates very popular, almost (but not quite) as popular as George Washington.