“No other campaign of the American Revolution had as many far-reaching consequences.”
By Kevin J. Weddle
IN LATE AUGUST of 1777, Great Britain’s King George III received a message that so thrilled him he burst into his wife’s chambers waving the paper in the air.
“I have beat them! I have beat the Americans!” declared the ecstatic British monarch.
The note informed His Majesty that British Lieutenant General John Burgoyne had captured Fort Ticonderoga, a strategically important American fortress located on the southern narrows of Lake Champlain.
The victory, which had been achieved with minimal casualties, convinced the ruler and his ministers that Britain’s latest military strategy to suppress the rebellion the American colonies was unfolding according to plan.
However, just two months after the George III’s impromptu celebration, and three months after the capture of Ticonderoga, British hopes would be dashed.
On Oct. 17, 1777, an outmaneuvered Burgoyne surrendered his entire army of almost 6,000 officers and men to force of Continental regulars and militia under the command of Major General Horatio Gates in eastern New York at a place called Saratoga.
The Patriot victory sent shock waves throughout Europe and changed the very character of the then two-year-old American Revolution. Not only had the British lost an irreplaceable army at Saratoga, but the rout also forced the King’s generals to reassess their entire strategy for the war.
In America, Saratoga reenergized the rebellion and instantly gave Congress the diplomatic clout to pursue an alliance with France. Eager to undermine their historic foe, the French felt secure enough in the rebellion’s prospects that they could confidently pledge financial and military support to the Continental cause.
After Saratoga, the British faced the strategic dilemma they feared most: a wider conflict that included not only fighting in North America, but a global war with France as well.
The seeds of Burgoyne’s crushing defeat were actually planted 10 months before in London and New York City as British leaders in both cities formulated what they believed was a war-winning military strategy.
Burgoyne, who was still in Britain, proposed an elaborate plan calling for three columns to converge on a central point in the strategically important Hudson River Valley: Albany. With the region safely in British hands, the Crown’s forces in North America could drive a wedge between New England and the other rebel colonies.
As part of the plan, one army would march down from Montreal to seize Fort Ticonderoga and then move south to Albany. A smaller force would drive east from Lake Ontario down the Mohawk River Valley to Albany. Meanwhile, a sizeable body of troops under General Sir William Howe would to move up the Hudson River from New York City to capture objective from the south.
Howe, the British commander-in-chief in North America, recommended that he first move his army, the primary British force in North America, by sea to seize Philadelphia hoping to lure General George Washington and the main American army into a decisive battle.
Both plans were essentially approved by the King and Lord George Germain, the secretary of state for the colonies, resulting in confusion, misunderstanding, and a dangerous lack of cooperation between the three British armies. The result was a muddled and uncoordinated campaign with no unity of command.
Burgoyne’s portion of the operation started out on a high note with the speedy capture of Fort Ticonderoga. But not long after this great success, he began to encounter logistical challenges.
The Americans rebounded surprisingly quickly from the shocking loss of their seemingly impregnable fortress on Lake Champlain and set about harassing Burgoyne’s army as it trudged south.
In the meantime, the other column from Canada – the one marching along the Mohawk Valley from Lake Ontario – encountered a determined American garrison at Fort Stanwix. The garrison there resisted a lengthy siege, forcing the British commander, Barry St. Leger, to abandon campaign and withdraw back to Canada.
To the south, Howe succeeded in capturing Philadelphia, but failed to destroy Washington’s army. Engaged in Pennsylvania, the general was unable to speed north leaving Burgoyne’s force on its own as it marched slowly towards Albany.
In the weeks after losing Ticonderoga, American leaders from George Washington and Philip Schuyler, the first commander of the American Northern Army, to his replacement, Horatio Gates, and Benedict Arnold, the mercurial but talented combat commander, made key decisions that set the conditions for the ultimate Patriot victory.
Burgoyne, his supply issues becoming severe, split his army, sending a large detachment toward Bennington, Vermont to seize cattle that were thought to be in the vicinity.
This expedition was intercepted and destroyed by an American militia force at the Battle of Bennington.
Instead of turning back after this devastating setback, Burgoyne chose to cross to the west bank of the Hudson River and continued his advance on Albany. The general soon collided with the American Northern Army dug in on high ground at a place called Bemis Heights. On Sept. 19, the opposing armies fought the Battle of Freeman’s Farm and then the Battle of Bemis Heights on Oct. 7. Both were costly affairs for all concerned, but as Burgoyne’s army grew weaker the Americans were reinforced daily with hundreds of fresh militia troops. Soon they heavily outnumbered the British.
After Bemis Heights, Burgoyne tried to retreat to Ticonderoga, but in its weakened state, the redcoat column didn’t get far. It was soon surrounded and forced to surrender to the Americans on Oct. 17, 1777.
After the surrender ceremony at Saratoga, a disillusioned British lieutenant blamed the loss in part on “blundering” by officials like Lord Germain, and Burgoyne’s stubborn insistence on “penetrating so far, as to be unable to return.” The young officer was right, but only in part. In the end, the American victory at Saratoga—a triumph that patriot James Thatcher predicted “will make one of the most brilliant pages of American history”—stemmed from faulty British strategy, but also superior Continental Army leadership. The decisions taken by leaders on both sides, from offices in Whitehall to headquarters in Canada, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York City, to tents along the Hudson River, determined the outcome of a campaign that ultimately guaranteed American independence.
The final American victory at Yorktown in 1781 would never have been possible without Saratoga. The British not only lost the troops, artillery pieces, and equipment for the duration of the war, but perhaps most importantly, their war effort was deprived of hundreds of key leaders from generals all the way down to experienced non-commissioned officers. Burgoyne’s defeat, coupled with the strategically barren Philadelphia campaign, forced Great Britain to reevaluate its military strategy and embark on one that reflected the new realities.
Saratoga gave the Americans a vital morale boost just when they needed it. Howe’s capture of Philadelphia had been a blow, but Saratoga countered it. In the wake of Gates’ understandable surge in popularity, Washington withstood a challenge to his authority and skillfully defeated the so-called Conway Cabal that sought his overthrow. Indeed, the general and future first president emerged from the post-Saratoga crisis with a strengthened grasp on his position as commander-in-chief. This enabled him to continue to pursue his war-winning military strategy.
The victory was also the catalyst that propelled the French to formally recognize American independence and conclude treaties that ensured she would enter the war, bringing her considerable naval and land forces into the fight, opening new strategic and operational possibilities for Washington.
In the summer and early autumn of 1777, America’s prospects had looked grim indeed. After Oct. 17, the very character of the war changed. Although the fighting would go on for several more years, the fate of the new nation was assured. No other campaign of the American Revolution had as many far-reaching consequences.
Kevin J. Weddle is the author of The Compleat Victory: Saratoga and the American Revolution (Pivotal Moments in American History) A professor of Military Theory and Strategy at the US Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Weddle is a West Point graduate. He served in the US Army for 28 years on active duty in command and staff positions in the United States and overseas, including Operations Desert Storm and Enduring Freedom, before retiring as a colonel.
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