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Battle of Saratoga
The overarching lesson is that the battle of Saratoga was a turning point in the American revolution was the battle of Saratoga. Fought in Saratoga County, New York, this battle helped secure things like foreign support and boosted American morale. -
The first battle of Saratoga
After a few days of building up forces the British Army commanded by General Burgoyne. The British had around 9,000 men and were divided into three columns. At around 12:30 PM the British engaged with the Americans at Freeman's Farm. Due to the thick forest, Burgoyne took significant loses and waited for reinforcements. Even if the Americans lost the field, they only took 90 casualties that day and this boosted moral. -
Building Up Forces
Burgoyne requested for reinforcements and he never got an answer. On October 3, another British general headed away from Burgoyne and that marked the end of the chance of reinforcements for Burgoyne. This allowed for the Americans to build up their forces. -
The second battle of Saratoga
Occurred when Burgoyne felt like he could not wait for reinforcements and attacked American forces at 3 PM. He first attacked using 1,500 men in three columns. When the American lines began to falter, Benedict Arnold came in on horseback with a fresh brigade and pushed back on British forces. In one hour from opening the clash the British had already lost 400 officers and men and were overwhelmed. -
British retreat
Burgoyne decided to retreat after being overwhelmed by American forces. Up to this point which was 3 weeks the British had suffered over 1,000 losses compared to the America losing around 500. But as the retreat started to happen Gates had amassed 20,000 troops and surrounded the British. -
British surrender
Burgoyne surrendered to the Americans due to being pressured. They were marched out of camp, and they put all their weapons on the Hudson river. What was different about the conditions of the surrender were that all the men were returned if they would not serve in the war. It boosted American morale and changed the course of the war. Gates wrote to John Hancock regarding the role of the USA afterwards saying "Genl Burgoyne acquainting me that he left his whole Hospital to my protection". -
France joins the war
Without the Battle of Saratoga the French might have never saw the colonies having a chance to win. France signed a pair of treaties with America to have direct participation in the war. Benjamin Franklin was the one to convince King Louis XVI to sign the treaty. Benjamin Franklin used the battle of Saratoga as a talking point to have direct participation in the war. Marking a turning point in the American revolution.