Part 1

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UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Fred A. Seaton, _Secretary_

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE Conrad L. Wirth, _Director_

_HISTORICAL HANDBOOK NUMBER FOUR_

This publication is one of a series of handbooks describing the historical and archeological areas in the National Park System, administered by the National Park Service of the United States Department of the Interior. It is printed by the Government Printing Office and may be purchased from the Superintendent of Documents, Washington 25, D. C. Price 25 cents.

SARATOGA _NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK_ _NEW YORK_

_by Charles W. Snell and Francis F. Wilshin_

_National Park Service Historical Handbook Series No. 4_ _Washington 25, D.C., 1950_ (_Revised 1959_)

504451 O-59-2

REVISED 1959 U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1959 OF--504451

The National Park System, of which Saratoga National Historical Park is a unit, is dedicated to conserving the scenic, scientific, and historic heritage of the United States for the benefit and inspiration of its people.

_Contents_

_Page_ THE BRITISH PLAN OF 1777 3 THE BURGOYNE CAMPAIGN 4 RETREAT OF THE AMERICANS 6 THE ST. LEGER EXPEDITION 8 THE BATTLE OF BENNINGTON 10 THE AMERICAN LINE 11 COMPOSITION OF THE AMERICAN ARMY 12 THE BATTLE OF SEPTEMBER 19 12 THE BATTLE OF OCTOBER 7 19 RETREAT AND SURRENDER 24 GUIDE TO THE PARK 31 The American River Redoubts 31 Site of Fort Neilson 32 The Neilson House 32 American Powder Magazine 33 Freeman's Farm 33 Balcarres Redoubt 33 Breymann Redoubt 34 First Line of Battle, October 7 34 The Gen. Philip Schuyler Property 35 HOW TO REACH THE PARK 35 ABOUT YOUR VISIT 36 ADMINISTRATION 36 SUGGESTED READINGS 36

Few battles in world history have had a more stirring climax than Saratoga and probably none have had more far-reaching consequences. Here, a ragged but inspired rebel army convincingly demonstrated its ability to rise to brilliant victory after absorbing staggering blows. In dramatic fashion Saratoga not only rescued the colonists from almost certain defeat, but also pointed significantly to the fate which likely would befall any enemy force penetrating into the interior of America and operating independently of the sea.

Abroad, the battles served immeasurably to increase the military prestige of American arms, while at home they greatly strengthened the fighting morale and discouraged loyalist opposition. In their broad aspects the two battles of Saratoga may be considered to mark definitely the turning point of the American Revolution in that the result brought to the cause of the hard-pressed colonists the assistance of France, Spain, and Holland, thereby greatly increasing the probability of eventually winning independence. To a hesitant, vacillating France awaiting the opportune moment to strike a telling blow at the British, Saratoga brought the decision for intervention--a decision which previous diplomatic negotiations had been unable to obtain. The active entrance of France into the war in June 1778, provided the financial, military, and naval support without which the American cause would have been practically hopeless. Though three more years of fighting were necessary in order to bring ultimate victory at Yorktown, Saratoga furnished the physical and psychological impetus which brightened a desperate cause at a moment when failure would have been disastrous. Without the success of American arms at Saratoga, it is difficult to see how the struggle could long have been continued.

Writing of the significance of Saratoga, Sir Edward Creasy, the eminent English historian, said: "Nor can any military event be said to have exercised more important influence upon the future fortunes of mankind, than the complete defeat of Burgoyne's expedition in 1777; a defeat which rescued the revolted colonists from certain subjection; and which, by inducing the Courts of France and Spain to attack England in their behalf, insured the independence of the United States, and the formation of that transatlantic power which not only America, but both Europe and Asia, now see and feel."

June 17--Burgoyne leaves St. Johns June 20--Rendezvous of British Army June 21--Conference with the Indians June 25--The British land at Crown Point July 6--Ticonderoga falls July 7--Fraser defeats the Americans July 7--Burgoyne arrives at Skenesboro July 26--The British reach Fort Ann July 30--Burgoyne arrives at Fort Edward Sept. 13--Burgoyne crosses Hudson to Saratoga Aug. 16--Battle of Bennington

THE BRITISH PLAN FOR CAMPAIGN OF 1777 WAS TO DIVIDE THE REBELLIOUS AMERICAN COLONIES BY OCCUPYING THE STRATEGIC LINE OF THE HUDSON RIVER AND LAKES GEORGE AND CHAMPLAIN. A BRITISH WEDGE FROM CANADA TO THE ATLANTIC WOULD ENABLE EASY CONQUEST OF AMERICA.

THE CENTRAL POINT OF THREE COOPERATING ARMIES WAS ALBANY.

BURGOYNE SUGGESTED THAT:

1. SIR WILLIAM HOWE MOVE UP THE HUDSON RIVER FROM NEW YORK. 2. JOHN BURGOYNE MOVE SOUTH FROM CANADA. 3. BARRY ST. LEGER MOVE EAST THROUGH THE MOHAWK VALLEY FROM OSWEGO.

LACK OF COORDINATION WRECKED THE BRITISH PLAN.

HOWE NEVER SAILED UP THE HUDSON.

ST. LEGER WAS BLOCKED BY THE AMERICANS AT FORT STANWIX AND ORISKANY.

BURGOYNE, AFTER A VICTORIOUS ADVANCE THROUGH NORTHERN NEW YORK, DRIVING A DEFEATED AMERICAN ARMY FROM TICONDEROGA TO THE MOUTH OF THE MOHAWK RIVER, CROSSED TO THIS SIDE OF THE HUDSON AT OLD SARATOGA (SCHUYLERVILLE) ON SEPTEMBER 13, 1777, AND APPROACHED THIS POSITION WHERE HE WAS OPPOSED BY AN AMERICAN ARMY OF GROWING STRENGTH.

A contemporary of the event said of it, "Rebellion which a twelve-month ago was a contemptible pygmy, is now in appearance a giant." Saratoga truly must be considered as one of the cornerstones of American liberty and as one of those momentous events which shape the destiny of nations. Even in the light of the nearly two centuries that have elapsed, the significance of this epochal victory is difficult to appraise fully.

_The British Plan of 1777_

The Hudson River-Lake Champlain route for centuries has constituted a great strategic highway of the continent. Long the warpath of the powerful Iroquois, this route in pre-Revolutionary years had witnessed the ebb and flow of the tides of invasion as England and France locked in a titanic struggle for possession of the New World. Along this route the British commander, General Abercrombie, advanced in 1758 on his ill-fated attempt to seize Ticonderoga from the French. The graves of the "Black Watch" attest the blunders of his judgment. One year later his successor, Lord Amherst, followed the same route, to succeed where his predecessor had failed.

With the outbreak of the Revolutionary War the area again became the scene of active fighting, as colonial arms pushed boldly northward to seize Ticonderoga, Crown Point, and Montreal, and to storm the ramparts of Quebec. In 1776, the British launched a counterattack which, after wiping out most of the American gains, was dramatically checked by the gallant action of the American fleet under Gen. Benedict Arnold on Lake Champlain.

It was no idle chance that Britain, after 2 years of futile effort to coerce the colonies, should choose the Hudson-Champlain Valley as the route offering the greatest strategic possibilities for a quick suppression of the rebellion. Obviously, from a military standpoint, once control could be obtained of the ports and the narrow strip of coastal plain along the Atlantic seaboard, the backbone of the rebellion would be broken. By virtue of her seapower, England already had possession of the chief ports. Thus she was able to turn her attention to the second phase of her strategy. Of the 3 million American colonists, approximately three-fourths lived in the narrow border strip from Massachusetts to the northern boundary of Virginia. The key to this populous area was the Hudson-Champlain line. The dominance of this natural avenue of transportation would not only provide an effective barrier separating the New England States from the rest of the struggling colonists, but would remove any menace to the rear of the British armies operating offensively to the south. In control of this area Britain could then crush the separate armies in detail.

The British plan was conceived by Gen. John Burgoyne and approved by the King and Cabinet. It called for a double advance along the Hudson in which the army of Burgoyne moving southward from Canada would effect a junction at Albany with the army of Sir William Howe moving northward from New York City, the two to be joined by Gen. Barry St. Leger moving eastward along the Mohawk from Oswego on Lake Ontario. That this strategy would succeed appeared certain, for against an American army composed chiefly of raw recruits--ill-disciplined and poorly equipped--were matched the seasoned veterans of the British forces, led by the foremost military commanders of the time.

_The Burgoyne Campaign_

With all the pomp and pageantry characteristic of the 18th century, Burgoyne embarked from St. Johns, Canada, on June 17, 1777, with a force of approximately 9,400 men. He was directed "to proceed with all expedition to Albany and put himself under the command of Sir William Howe." The army consisted of about 4,700 British regulars, 4,200 German troops hired by the King of England, and between 600 and 700 Canadians, Tories, and Indians. It was accompanied by a splendid train of artillery made up of 138 bronze cannon. Seldom, if ever, has the American continent witnessed a more picturesque display of military splendor. To the gay, multicolored uniforms of the various British, German, Canadian, and Tory regiments were added the bright war paint and feathers of their Indian allies.

With 3 large vessels, 20 gunboats, and 200 flat-bottomed transports, Burgoyne sailed boldly along the 200-mile length of Lake Champlain to attack his first objective, Fort Ticonderoga, the American guardian of northern New York and New England. On July 1, the British Army reached Fort Ticonderoga and began the siege of this fortress, which was considered by British and Americans alike to be the strongest in North America. A number of factors, unknown to the British and most Americans, however, had caused the strength of Ticonderoga to be greatly overestimated. The lines of the fort had been laid out to be held by an army of at least 10,000 men; the American commander, Gen. Arthur St. Clair had only some 3,000 men on hand with which to defend these vast works. Due to the shortage of men, and perhaps also to neglect, the Americans had failed to fortify steep Sugar Hill (Mount Defiance) which dominated the fort from the southwest. It was the belief of the American leader that the slopes of this mountain were so steep that they would prevent the British from dragging cannon to its top. Burgoyne's engineers soon dispelled this American illusion, for on the afternoon of July 5 the Americans were horrified to see the Royal Army constructing batteries on the mountaintop. Once these cannon were in position, the American Army was in immediate danger of being completely encircled.

_Retreat of the Americans_

General St. Clair at once made plans to abandon the fortress. That night, under cover of darkness, the American Army began retreating across the bridge of boats which ran from the fort to the east shore of Lake Champlain. Here the American Army split--half of it retreated by land and the other half, with the sick, wounded, and supplies, embarked on the small American fleet and sailed down South Bay to Skenesboro (Whitehall). As the secret retreat was being successfully carried out, one of the buildings in the fort caught fire, and the flames revealed to the British on the summit of Mount Defiance the events that were taking place below.

Burgoyne ordered an instant pursuit. With great speed and energy, the British general, accompanied by the English fleet and part of his army, smashed through the floating bridge, which the Americans had hoped would retard the British pursuit, and sailed swiftly down South Bay after the retreating American fleet. At the same time Burgoyne dispatched Gen. Simon Fraser, with the remaining part of the Royal Army, in pursuit of the American forces retreating by land. On the afternoon of July 6, Burgoyne, with his fleet, overtook the Americans as they neared Skenesboro and proceeded to capture and destroy all that remained of the American fleet, taking many prisoners and supplies, while the remnants of the American Army fled into the forest.

Early on the morning of July 7, General Fraser launched an attack, near Hubbardton, Vt., on the rear guard of the section of the American Army that was retreating by land. After a fierce battle the American force was totally routed and dispersed over the mountains. Near Fort Ann, on July 8, the British also defeated a third force of American troops. Everywhere, then, the American armies were in full retreat before the advance of Burgoyne's triumphant army. Also there now swarmed ahead of the Royal Army great numbers of savage Indian warriors, terrorizing the settlers of the Hudson Valley.

By taking Fort Ticonderoga, Burgoyne had opened the gateway to the Hudson, destroyed the American fleet on Lake Champlain, captured great quantities of supplies, and taken many prisoners as well as 128 American cannon; all at a loss of less than 200 men. George III was so exultant over the news from Ticonderoga that he is said to have exclaimed: "I have beat them! I have beat all the Americans!" The fall of this fortress proved a severe shock to the American morale and served further to increase British contempt for the character of colonial resistance.

Although the roads far to the south were jammed with long lines of wagons, horses, and men of the retreating American Army and with the families of frightened settlers as they fled before the invading army, Gen. Philip Schuyler, the American commander of the Northern Department, had not yet given up the struggle. He concentrated the remnants of the fleeing American forces at Fort Edward, and from there he dispatched hundreds of axmen to fell trees, blocking the roads to the north. Bridges were destroyed, crops burned, and cattle and horses driven off along the route of the British advance. Marching 23 miles overland from Skenesboro through Fort Ann to Fort Edward on the Hudson, Burgoyne encountered innumerable delays because of the rough nature of the country and the effective retarding tactics adopted by General Schuyler. It was not until July 30 that the Royal Army was finally able to reach Fort Edward, 23 days after the battle of Hubbardton. This was an average advance of only 1 mile a day.

On his arrival at Fort Edward the British commander found himself confronted with a new problem. His Indian allies had driven off friend and foe alike, and, in territory where Burgoyne had expected to receive aid and support, he found only abandoned homes and fields. With an army of some 8,500 men, 39 remaining bronze cannon, 1,700 baggage and artillery horses, and 200 head of oxen to supply, and faced with a countryside devastated by his Indians and his foe, the British commander found it necessary to bring practically all of his provisions from Canada. This operation required the utmost efforts of his army, and it was mid-September before Burgoyne could bring forward sufficient supplies to enable him to cross the Hudson at Saratoga.

_The St. Leger Expedition_

By this time the tide of events already had started running against the British. This was first evidenced by the news of St. Leger's defeat at the bloody battle of Oriskany on August 6. St. Leger's force of about 1,600 men was made up chiefly of Tories, under the leadership of Sir John Johnston and Col. John Butler, and a number of Indians of the Iroquois Confederacy. The Iroquois were divided in their sympathies, but Joseph Brant and his Mohawk warriors and many Cayugas and Senecas joined St. Leger. The immediate objective of St. Leger was to reduce Fort Stanwix, which was held by 500 men under Col. Peter Gansevoort. As the British leader approached the fort, German settlers of the Mohawk Valley assembled under the leadership of Gen. Nicholas Herkimer and advanced to its relief. The Tories and Indians prepared an ambuscade in a ravine near Oriskany, 6 miles below Fort Stanwix, where Herkimer and his farmer militia were almost entirely surrounded. In a desperate struggle with knife, hatchet, bayonet, and clubbed rifle, Herkimer and his men finally put the Indians and Tories to flight from a field that has few, if any, equals in savage horror on the American continent. Herkimer, himself, died from the effects of a wound received on the field of carnage, and his followers were so reduced and exhausted by the ordeal that they were compelled to return to their homes. Sixteen days later St. Leger's force was dispersed by the defection and desertion of his Indian allies on receipt of news in his camp that a large force under Benedict Arnold, dispatched by General Schuyler, was approaching for the relief of Fort Stanwix. Only a few of St. Leger's troops ever found their way back to Montreal.

_The Battle of Bennington_

Another crushing calamity was in store for the British. Schuyler's policy of destroying all the crops along the line of Burgoyne's march had important consequences. It was well known that most of the inhabitants of upper New York, along the Champlain-Hudson route, were favorable to the British cause. Burgoyne had counted on these Tories to aid him materially, especially in the matter of supplies. Now, with the maturing crops systematically destroyed before him, he was faced with difficulty in providing for his army. This led him to send an expedition of about 800 men, under Col. Friedrich Baum, to Bennington, Vt., to capture a large store of supplies which had been gathered there for the American forces. Gen. John Stark aroused the countryside, and the Vermont farmers turned out and on August 16 administered a crushing defeat to Baum's troops. Another contingent, under Lt. Col. Heinrich Breymann, came up at this time and threatened to undo Stark's victory, but the timely arrival of Col. Seth Warner and his Green Mountain Rangers overwhelmed Breymann, and the German commander was forced to retreat. By this blow Burgoyne lost approximately 800 men, mostly Germans, and 4 bronze cannon, which seriously weakened his army at a critical time and prevented him from obtaining much needed supplies. The electrifying news of this American victory, after a long series of defeats, not only discouraged Burgoyne's Indian allies, but also greatly encouraged militia enlistments in the Patriot army.

Of still greater concern to Burgoyne, however, was the fact that no word had been received from Howe concerning his cooperation from the south. As a matter of fact, Howe had chosen to move southward and attack Philadelphia, even though he knew Burgoyne expected to receive his cooperation. Despite these setbacks to the British, which had greatly boosted American morale, Burgoyne, in compliance with his orders, gambling on the belated cooperation of Howe and on his own ability to smash the American force in his front, crossed the Hudson River at Saratoga on September 13. Thus he severed his communications with Canada and risked all on a push to Albany.

_The American Line_

The two recent American victories greatly stimulated the hopes and efforts of the colonists. Men and supplies began to pour into Schuyler's tiny army which had now retreated as far south as Halfmoon. On August 19, just 3 days after the victory at Bennington, Maj. Gen. Horatio Gates replaced General Schuyler as the commander of the Northern Department. As the American Army increased in confidence and strength, growing from a low point of some 3,000 men, it began advancing slowly up the Hudson. Four miles from Stillwater, the British advance came upon the Americans, 9,000 strong, firmly entrenched at Bemis Heights under the command of Gates.