This battle is considered, by many historians, to have been the turning point of the American Revolutionary War. A force of roughly 10,000 men—mostly British regulars—under General "Gentleman Johnny" Burgoyne had advanced from French Canada in the summer of 1777 with the intention of taking Albany, New York and cutting New England off from the rest of the colonies by seizing control of the Hudson River Valley. In the spring of 1777, the British took colonial forts at Crown Point and Ticonderoga. The Americans retreated. However, a successful colonial delaying action comprising the systematic blocking of roads, destruction of bridges, and harassment of British troops with sniper fire slowed the British advance beyond the southern ends of Lakes Champlain and George to a few kilometers a day. Burgoyne's force was eventually blocked by colonial regular soldiers and militia under General Horatio Gates in the area north of the Hudson Valley town of Saratoga. Over the course of the summer of 1777, the colonial force grew to roughly 15,000 men.
Background
The British lost an important battle near Bennington, Vermont in July and were blocked from advancing down the Connecticut River valley instead of the Hudson River Valley. An attempt by the British to advance on Albany down the Mohawk River Valley was blocked by a successful colonial defense of Fort Stanwix near present day Rome, New York.
Battle
The British attempted to move on Saratoga on September 19, 1777. A day long fight over a clearing in the woods resulted, and is known as the Battle of Freeman's Farm. Unable to advance on September 19th, the British built fortifications near Bemis Heights and on October 7th attempted again to advance on Saratoga. They were defeated by colonial forces led by Benedict Arnold. Arnold had been relieved by General Gates, but raced to the front of his old command. He lead them to the center of the British lines, held by the Hessians, and broke through. At the end of the day, the British were driven from their fortifications during the battle of saratoga.
Aftermath - battle of saratoga
The British force then retreated a few kilometers north where their retreat was blocked by colonial forces, under the command of General Horatio Gates. Surrounded and badly outnumbered, 60 km South of Fort Ticonderoga, with supplies dwindling, and winter not far off, Burgoyne had little option. He surrendered on October 17, 1777.
Burgoyne's troops were disarmed and should have been paroled (returned to Britain on the condition that they engage in no further conflict with the colonies), a common 18th century military practice. Instead, the American Congress refused to ratify the "convention" (the document detailing the terms of surrender agreed to by Gates and Burgoyne). Though some of the British and German officers were eventually exchanged for captured American officers, most of the enlisted men in the "Convention Army," as it became known, were held captive in camps in New England, Virginia, and Pennsylvania until the end of the war. Burgoyne himself was sent back to England in disgrace. The news that an entire British Army had been not only defeated, but captured with all its weapons, gave the revolutionists great credibility. France, in particular, threw its support behind the Revolution. Years later, French military and naval forces played a key role in the capitulation of a second British Army at the Battle of Yorktown and the end of the revolutionary war.
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