Archive for April, 2019

October 17: General Burgoyne surrenders at Saratoga, renewing American hopes and bringing France fully into the war

Posted on: April 1st, 2019 by hauleymusic No Comments

The second battle, the Battle of Bemis Heights, occurred on October 7th, when Burgoyne determined to break free from the encircling colonial forces and drive them from the field. The British troops and their German allies were devastated, and nearly lost their entrenched positions. Fighting on horseback, Benedict Arnold, received a wound in his leg during this battle; his contribution to the battle is commemorated by a statue of his boot, with no other reference to the hero turned traitor.

This defeat at Bemis Heights forced Burgoyne to withdraw north to camps in and around the present Village of Schuylerville. Burgoyne surrendered on October 17, 1777, in what would later be named Victory NY, where the Saratoga Monument memorializes that important day.
Disgraced, Burgoyne returned to England, and was never given another command. These crucial colonist victories at the Battle of Saratoga persuaded the French to support the Americans with military aid, and is considered the major turning point in the American Revolution.

Further reading:
Corbett, Theodore. (2012) No Turning Point: The Saratoga Campaign in Perspective. Norman OK: University of Oklahoma Press.

Ketchum, Richard M (1997). Saratoga: Turning Point of America’s Revolutionary War. New York: Henry Holt.

Luzader, John F. Saratoga: A Military History of the Decisive Campaign of the American Revolution. New York: Savas Beatie.

Morrissey, Brendan (2000). Saratoga 1777: Turning Point of a Revolution. Oxford: Osprey Publishing.

Murphy, Jim (2007). The Real Benedict Arnold. Houghton Mifflin.

Nickerson, Hoffman (1967) [1928]. The Turning Point of the Revolution. Port Washington, NY: Kennikat.