The Battle Of Saratoga Essay Research Paper

The Battle Of Saratoga Essay, Research Paper

The American victory at Saratoga was a turning point in history ( Boorstin 86). But also it was the major turning point in the American Revolution. The Revolution itself was started by the growing differences between England and the colonies. It was fought because the Americans wanted to have independence for their colonies. They wanted to preserve the rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. With the Battle of Saratoga a series of events happened which allowed the colonies to accomplish those goal. This battle was able to prove to the whole world that the untrained American army was a force able to defeat the highly trained and highly regarded British army, in a major battle. This battle was able to show that the British army was not undefeatable and the American army was more powerful than most thought. As a result of this successful battle, many other nations took interest in the cause of the Americans and began to support them in numerous ways. These nations helped supply America with money, soldiers, supplies and most importantly a navy. All of this help was able to secure America the victory, but if not for the Battle of Saratoga, America would be without their help. The beginning of the American Revolution mostly consisted of British dominance on the battle field. Battle after battle the British were able to show why they were at that time, the most powerful country in the world. Slowly but surely the Americans began to gain on the British. Soon the Americans were beginning to show that they were not going to give up and that they were willing to fight for what they believed in. But not until the Battle of Saratoga did the British really begin to worry about losing the war to America. Because at this battle the Americans were able to build up all their courage and strength and have an all out fight with Britain. The British did not expect the inexperienced American army to match up with all their trained soldiers. The British drew up an elaborate plans for the military campaigns of the summer of 1777 ( Boorstin 84). John Burgoyne thought that the plan would crush all effective American resistance (Volume 2 2222). Three armies were ordered to invade New York and unite at Albany. Pleasure-loving “Gentleman Johnny” Burgoyne was to come down from Montreal by way of Lake Champlain and the upper Hudson ( Boorstin 84). By controlling the Hudson River they would shut off New England from the other colonies ( Boorstin 84). Burgoyne believed that the Hudson River valley was the key to the war (Volume 2 2222). A second army, under General Barry St. Leger was to enter western New York from Canada over Lake Ontario and sweep in from the west (Volume 2 2222). General Howe would be expected to direct the third element of the attack. According to the plan, Howe would direct General Henry Clinton to move northward along the Hudson River and join up with Burgoyne in Albany. The goal of this plan was to isolate and destroy the American forces in New England. Unfortunately for the British, the plan did not work (Volume 2 2222). This scheme showed how little the British had learned from Braddock’s defeat of twenty years earlier ( Boorstin 84). Because it totally disregarded the conditions of the travel in northern and western New York. This miscalculation by the British was the main reason why the British were unable to defeat the American army at the Battle of Saratoga. Nevertheless, at first the British plan appeared to be working. Burgoyne’s army continually pushed back the Americans southward along the Hudson River with only minor casualties. In an attempt to slow the British advances, the American General Philip Schuyler sent out 1000 men under the command of Major General Benedict Arnold. This force moved west to stop St. Leger’s eastward advance along the Mohawk River. Arnold returned with his army after stopping St. Leger in time to serve in the Battle of Saratoga. At the Battle of Freeman’s Farm, the new commander of the Northern Department of the American army, General Horatio Gates, lost an indecisive battle. During this First Battle of Saratoga, fought September 19, 1777, the American forces lost ground to the British forces under General Burgoyne. The Americans initiated fires at about noon with the expert marksmanship of Colonel Morgan’s Virginia Riflemen, picking off all of the officers around the cabin on Freeman’s Farm (wpi.edu). The battle swayed back and forth over the farm for more than three hours ( cyhaus.com ). Then, as the British lines began to waver in the face of deadly fire from the numerically superior Americans, German reinforcements arrived from the military road ( cyhaus.com ) . With the German’s attack, the British were able to force the Americans to retreat back to their camp. Except for this timely arrival and the near exhaustion of the Americans’ ammunition, Burgoyne might have been defeated that day ( cyhaus.com ) . The tactics and personalities displayed here led to a heated argument between generals Gates and Arnold. Gates then relieved Arnold of command as a result of this. Which is ironic because Benedict Arnold played a crucial part for the Americans winning the the battles of Freeman’s Farm and Bemis Heights.

After waiting several weeks for developments from General Henry Clinton’s campaign along the Hudson River, British commander Lieutenant General John Burgoyne finally took the offensiv