The Most Important Battle And Turning Point Of The Revolutionary War
Submitted by: TigerEye
The American Revolutionary War had a battle that resulted in the turning of the tide for the Americans. The battle for Saratoga was the focus of this battle. The events of this battle are described here.
The French had been in alliance with the Americans before they had a country. They were supporting the Continental Army against the British before the wars of 1776 and 1777. Not much had happened during 1776 after the Americans declared their independence from the British. General George Washington had a victory at Trenton and at Princton that helped the year end well, but not much so.
The British arrived in the North at Canada to enforce their rules onto the unruly Americans. General John Burgoyne was the commander of the British troops and his arrival prompted an evacuation of the Americans. This led to the British troops pushing soutward.
The British planned a complicated three sided attack against the Americans. The overall plan was to separate the New England colonies from the others. This would weaken the Americans. The complications would prove to be mounting, as the British would increasingly lose control of the situation.
In June of 1777 General Burgoyne began his push further into the Americans south of Canada. His nine thousand troops included three thousand German men. Indians were also present but in small numbers, about four hundred. He approached Fort Ticonderoga, which was in the control of Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold from about 1775. At the time of the arrival of Burgoyne it was under the command of General Philip Schuyler. Shortly into the skirmish of artillery fire, the Americans abandoned Fort Ticonderoga to the British. This was not a stunning defeat for the Americans.
The American side was on a retreat to Fort Edward. General Schuyler ordered trees to be cut down as obstacles to the British army. It was an effective strategy and slowed the British thoroughly. The British were also quagmired by an attitude of indifference of the generals. Not all were willing to help the others in their complicated plan to take back America for the Queen.
In June through August of 1777 the British led an offensive into the Mohawk Valley. Their commander was Colonel St. Leger. His forces reached Fort Stanwix. The British had underestimated the renewing that the Ameiricans had done to the Fort. And Oneida Indian man had warned the settlers in the area of the arrival of the British. This led to General Herkimer of the New York militia to send out a convoy. This convoy was met by other Indians and nearly massacred at Oriskany. The whole battle was considered a victory by the British.
As the continuation of the battle unfolds, Fort Stanwix is sieged, but Benedict Arnold is contacted. General Arnold decides to mount some forces to help Fort Stanwix. In an unseemly event, an agent under Arnold deceives the Indians helping the British. The result is that many of the Indians helping the British desert them. They even kill some of the British they were helping just a few days ago. By the time Arnold arrives to help, the British are retreating. The British under St. Leger retreated all the way back to Canada.
Other Generals of the British army were having problems with supplies. The untoward speech given by General Burgoyne earlier had alienated the Canadians against helping the British. General George Washington learned of the plight of the British and called for the men of the area to rise and crush the British. General Burgoyne had been expecting help from other British generals in the area. This led to his continuing to push southward towards Saratoga. The Americans changed the guard, throwing out Schuyler and putting General Gates. General Gates entrenched seven thousand of the Continental Army at Saratoga and waited. Burgoyne gathered supplies on the other side of the Hudson River from Saratoga. He had six thousand men. His Indian scouts had all but left him.
The British started their advance near Freeman's Farm. They encountered a slight resistance from the Continental Army and in the resulting fire were confused enough to start firing on their own men. Nearby at Bemis Heights, the Americans had collected a reinforcing group of about seven regiments of men. A firefight ensued. The American strategy was to hide, fire and then attack. The British strategy was to repulse with bayonets and artillery. The British were sustaining more casualties than the Americans, but they dug in at Freeman's Farm anyway.
The surrounding areas were sending in more "rebels" and soon the American side was nearly double the size of the British. By October 7th, there were nearly eleven thousand men on the Continental Army side. The British mounted some valiant effort, but for the most part would fall back to their fortification at Freeman's Farm. The British were losing two men for every one man they killed from the Continental Army. The American force was steadily growing larger.
This led to the inevitable. General John Burgoyne ended up retreating and surrendering to General Gates. The formal surrender was on October 17, 1777. General Gates became the " Hero of Saratoga ". After this battle of Saratoga, the French declared war on Britain and the British were further weakened on the world front.
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