When was the saratoga campaign

Several hundred yards north is the Breymann Redoubt, defended by only German soldiers and officers. It is no match for the Americans. With Gen. Benedict Arnold riding out in front to rally the troops, the patriots capture the redoubt.

Arnold is seriously wounded in the left leg. On October 8, the British army attempts to escape north, but a cold, hard rain forces them to stop and encamp near the town of Saratoga.

Hungry, weary, and out of options, they dig in and prepare to defend themselves, but within two days the Americans have them surrounded. On October 17, after a week's negotiation, Burgoyne's army surrenders. After the British humiliation at Saratoga, Horatio Gates earns widespread public support and runs a brief clandestine campaign to replace George Washington as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army. The plot fails, and Washington maintains his post.

General Burgoyne marches his defeated army back north and returns to England. He is severely criticized for his actions at Saratoga and receives no future commands in the British Army. The Spanish and Dutch later provide support to the Americans as well, hoping to weaken British domination in Europe.

At Saratoga, Arnold and his commander, Horatio Gates, had a difference of opinion about how aggressive to be in fighting off the British advance on September 19, Gates ordered his Northern Army to be patient and wait until the British got closer before launching a counterattack. Arnold argued that American troops must meet the column of British troops heading toward them. The Americans were able to inflict heavy casualties on the British that day, but the delay in the counterattack caused the Americans to fall back.

After their argument at Saratoga, Gates did not give Arnold the proper credit for his actions in the battle in his report to Congress. Arnold, who performed heroically in that and other battles, felt slighted by his treatment. He claimed that he had unjustly been passed over for promotion by the Continental Congress and that others took credit for his accomplishments. Although Washington rectified Arnold's squabble over rank after the battles at Saratoga. Arnold's marriage to Peggy Shippen, a Loyalist, in , may have pushed the already angry soldier to abandon the patriot cause.

Had his plot worked, the British would have controlled the Hudson Valley in New York and the war would have taken a different turn. Though exposed as a traitor, Arnold avoided capture and trial by the Continental Army and served as a British officer. He and Peggy eventually left the United States to reside in London. These actions demonstrated to the British officers that the Americans were capable of putting up stiff resistance.

Burgoyne's army was reduced by about 1, men as a result of the Ticonderoga actions. He left men to garrison the magazine at Crown Point and another to defend Ticonderoga. The bulk of St. Clair's army retreated through the New Hampshire Grants present-day Vermont. On July 10 , Burgoyne issued orders for the next series of movements. Most of the army was to take the rough road from Skenesboro to Fort Edward via Fort Anne, while the heavy artillery was to be transported down Lake George to Fort Edward.

Riedesel's troops were sent back up the road toward Castleton, primarily as a diversion intended to suggest that he might be aiming for the Connecticut River. Schuyler immediately rode to Fort Edward, where there was a garrison of about regulars and 1, militia. He decided to make Burgoyne's passage as difficult as possible by chopping down and leaving large trees in the Burgoyne's path. This brought Burgoyne's advance to a crawl, tiring his troops and forcing them to use up supplies.

On July 11 , Burgoyne wrote to Lord Germain, complaining that the Americans were systematically felling trees, destroying bridges, and damming streams along the road to Fort Edward. Schuyler also employed scorched earth tactics to deny the British access to local provisions.

Schuyler's tactics required Burgoyne to build a road through the wilderness for his guns and troops, a task that took about two weeks. He found that Schuyler had already abandoned it, in a retreat that ended at Stillwater, New York. Before he left Skenesboro, Burgoyne was joined by about Indians from the Great Lakes region under the leadership of St. Luc de la Corne and Charles Michel de Langlade. Leger sailed up the St. Lawrence River and crossed Lake Ontario to arrive at Oswego.

He had about regulars, supported by Canadian and Loyalist militia, and they were joined by 1, Indians led by John Butler and the Iroquois war chiefs Joseph Brant , Sayenqueraghta, and Cornplanter. They began besieging Fort Stanwix on August 2. About members of the Tryon County militia and their Indian allies marched to relieve the siege, but some of St. Leger's British and Indians ambushed them at the Battle of Oriskany.

He expected to recruit members of the Tryon County militia when he arrived at Fort Dayton. He could only raise about militia. He staged the escape of a Loyalist captive, who convinced St. Leger that Arnold was coming with a much larger force than he actually had. On this news, Brant and the rest of St. Leger's Indians withdrew. Leger was forced to raise the siege and head back to Quebec. The advance of Burgoyne's army to Fort Edward was preceded by a wave of Indians, which chased away the small contingent of troops left there by Schuyler.

These allies became impatient and began indiscriminate raids on frontier families and settlements, which had the effect of increasing rather than reducing local support to the American rebels. In particular, the death at Indian hands of the young Loyalist settler Jane McCrea was widely publicized and served as a catalyst for rebel support, as Burgoyne's decision to not punish the perpetrators was seen as unwillingness or inability to keep the Indians under control. On August 3 , messengers from Howe finally succeeded in making their way through the American lines to Burgoyne's camp at Fort Edward.

The messengers did not bring good news. On July 17, Howe wrote that he was preparing to depart by sea with his army to capture Philadelphia, and that Clinton, responsible for New York City's defense, would " act as occurrences may direct ". Realizing that he now had a serious supply problem, Burgoyne decided to act on a suggestion that Riedesel had made to him in July.

Riedesel observed that the area was rich in draft animals and horses, which might be seized for the army's benefit. Most of Baum's detachment never returned from the August 16 Battle of Bennington , and the reinforcements he had sent after them came back after they were ravaged in the same battle, which deprived Burgoyne of nearly 1, men and the much-needed supplies.

What Burgoyne had been unaware of was that St. Clair's calls for militia support following the withdrawal from Ticonderoga had been answered, and Brigadier General John Stark had placed 2, men at Bennington.

Stark's force enveloped Baum's at Bennington, killing him and capturing much of his detachment. It also ordered states from Pennsylvania to Massachusetts to call out their militias. On August 19 , Gates arrived at Albany to take charge. He was cold and arrogant in manner, and excluded Schuyler from his first war council. Schuyler left for Philadelphia shortly after, depriving Gates of his intimate knowledge of the area.

Throughout August and continuing into September, militia companies arrived at the Continental Army camps on the Hudson River. These were augmented by troops Washington ordered north from the Hudson Highlands as part of Arnold's operation to relieve Fort Stanwix.

Those troops arrived at the end of August and included the sharpshooters of Daniel Morgan's rifle corps. News of the American successes at Bennington and Fort Stanwix, combined with outrage over the death of Jane McCrea, rallied support, swelling Gates' army to over 6, rank and file. This number did not include Stark's small army at Bennington, but was also augmented by several hundred troops raised by Brigadier General Benjamin Lincoln , who was assigned to make attacks against Burgoyne's supply and communications.

The "Battle of Saratoga" is often depicted as a single event, but it was actually a month-long series of maneuvers punctuated by two battles. At the beginning of September , Burgoyne's army was located on the east bank of the Hudson. He had learned of St. Leger's failure at Fort Stanwix, and even earlier that Howe would not be giving him substantial support. Faced with the need to reach defensible winter quarters, which would require either retreat back to Ticonderoga or advance to Albany, he decided on the latter.

By October 7, with supplies dwindling fast, Burgoyne realized waiting for backup was in vain. The Americans got wind of the movement, however, and forced the British to withdraw.

Burgoyne decided to take his army north to safety, but heavy rain and frigid temperatures slowed their retreat. Out of supplies and out of options, Burgoyne surrendered his army to Gates on October Despite being wounded in the leg in the Battle of Quebec and then helping delay a British invasion of New York in late , Arnold was passed up for promotions.

Frustrated, he resigned his commission in July , but General George Washington , commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, refused his request and ordered him north to serve under General Gates. At best, Arnold and Gates strongly disliked each other and often argued. He severely wounded his leg again during the attack. Yet his heroics at the Battle of Saratoga complicate his legacy. The Redcoats had planned a divide-and-conquer attack against the Americans in upstate New York.

The Battle of Saratoga was a turning point in the American Revolution. But the victory of General Horatio Gates at Saratoga also led to a serious but ultimately unsuccessful effort to replace Washington with Gates as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army. The battle of Saratoga took place on the fields of upstate New York, nine miles south of the town of Saratoga.

Burgoyne had under his command an army of 7, troops with which he hoped to establish British dominance throughout the state of New York. Opposing Burgoyne was General Horatio Gates with a force of 9, soldiers, later joined by 2, additional troops. The ensuing battle was divided into two encounters, the first on September 19 and the second on October 7.

Because Benedict Arnold anticipated the British maneuver, however, a significant contingent of American forces had been placed between the British and the main body of the American army. While the British managed in the end to overrun the Americans, their losses were significant. Almost British soldiers were killed or wounded, which was roughly twice the American losses. Before the second battle occurred, Burgoyne waited in vain for reinforcements, and by October 7, concluding he wait no longer, he launched a second attack.