Considered one of the most decisive battles in world history, the Battle of Saratoga gave the colonists the confidence and strength as well as much needed aid from France to continue their fight for independence.
British general, John “Gentleman Johnny” Burgoyne, convinced the London high command to allow him to pursue a complex scheme. Burgoyne’s plan was to lead an army down a route of lakes from Canada to Albany. There he would meet Howe’s troops as they arrived from New York City. According to Burgoyne’s plan, the two generals would then join forces to isolate New England from the rest of the colonies.
Burgoyne set out with 4,000 redcoats, 3,000 mercenaries, and 1,000 Mohawk under his command. His had to haul 30 wagons containing 138 pieces of artillery along with extra personal items, such as fine clothes and champagne. South of Lake Champlain, swamps and gullies, as well as thick underbrush, bogged down Burgoyne’s army. Food supplies ran low.
The Continental Congress had appointed General Horatio Gates to command the Northern Department of the Continental army. Gates, a popular commander, gathered militiamen and soldiers from all over New York and New England. Burgoyne lost several hundred men every time his forces clashed with the Americans, such as when Ethan Allen and his Green Mountain Boys attacked Burgoyne at Bennington, in what is now Vermont. Even worse, Burgoyne didn’t realize that Howe was preoccupied with conquering and occupying Philadelphia and wasn’t coming to meet him. Massed American troops finally surrounded Burgoyne at Saratoga, where he surrendered his battered army to General Gates on October 17, 1777. The surrender at Saratoga dramatically changed Britain’s war strategy. From that time on, the British generally kept their troops along the coast, close to the big guns and supply bases of the British fleet. |