*Although Washington beat the British at Trenton and Princeton, General Howe did not seen these battles as significant losses, and he planned a major invasion of the Hudson River Valley and an attack on Philadelphia. 

*Howe placed the conquest of New York under the command of Gentleman Johnny Burgoyne, who planned on moving from Quebec, down Lake Champlain, to capture Albany and control the Hudson River.  He would be supported by Lieutenant-Colonel Barry St. Leger, who would meet him at Albany after advancing up the Mohawk River Valley.  Howe planned to capture Philadelphia himself, whereafter he would march north to meet Burgoyne along the Hudson (although Burgoyne expected him earlier).

*The Continental Army was not sure where the British would attack (although they expected Burgoyne to attack New York somehow, they thought he would come by sea and march up the Hudson), so they did not increase the garrisons at Ticonderoga or other forts in northern New York, which were under the overall command of Philip Schuyler.

*In June, Burgoyne and St. Leger set out from Canada.  Burgoyne quickly captured Ticonderoga, where 3,000 soldiers under Arthur St. Clair retreated rather than be surrounded by over 7,000 soldiers under Burgoyne.  St. Clair never commanded another force in the field during the Revolution, and Schuyler was replaced by Horatio Gates.

*At first, St. Leger did well in western New York, but an American attack on the camp of his Iroquois allies convinced most of them to go back home, while American agents (including a man claiming to be an escaped captive with false information for the British) convinced St. Leger and his remaining Indian allies that Benedict Arnold had raised a huge force to defend the Mohawk Valley with.  The rest of St. Leger’s Indians went home, and St. Leger was delayed so long that by the time he got to Ticonderoga it was too late to help Burgoyne.

*Burgoyne sent out messengers, scouting parties, and raiding parties meant to capture supplies, but many were captured and killed, particularly a large raiding party (over 900 men), captured by John Stark at the Battle of Bennington near the New York/Vermont border on 16 August, 1777.  Soon Burgoyne was cut off and low on supplies.

*As Gates arrived in New York to take command of the American Army, he and Burgoyne began to manoeuvre around each other in a series of battles known as the Saratoga Campaign. 

*One of the first major battles was at Freeman’s Farm on the American left flank on 19 September, 1777.  Benedict Arnold saw that Burgoyne planned to attack in force and finally got Gates to allow him to move men into position there. 

*Among those men were militia led by Daniel Morgan, who had survived Braddock’s expedition in 1756 (during which he received 499 lashes for punching out an officer who slapped him with the flat of his sword), other battles of the French and Indian War (in which he was shot through the neck and face, losing half his teeth), during Pontiac’s Rebellion, and in Benedict Arnold’s 1775 invasion of Canada.

*Although the British eventually gained control of the farm, Arnold inflicted serious casualties (about 600, or 10% of the total force) on them, but Gates ignored Arnold’s work and did not mention him in reports of the battle to Congress, beginning a bitter feud between the two men.

*At this point, General Henry Clinton began moving into New York to try to assist Burgoyne, but he arrived too late to do any good.

*On 7 October, 1777, Burgoyne’s men attempted to make their way past the American fortifications at Bemis Heights.  Gates wanted to stay within the fortifications in the hope that the British would make a frontal assault on it.  Arnold was afraid the British would either escape or make a flank attack on their position, but Gates had told him to not to take part in the battle. 

*Nonetheless, Arnold went into the battle, avoiding aides sent by Gates to tell him to leave the field.  Arnold had Daniel’s Morgan’s sharpshooters pick off the commander of the expedition sent to test the American lines, which badly damaged their morale.  He then led American troops against the British, rather than merely waiting for them to attack.  Arnold’s horse was shot and it fell on him, breaking his leg (which had already been shot).  Soon night fell and the battle ended, after the British lost over 900 men and the Americans about 150.

*This should have made Arnold a national hero, but Gates resented him  and tried to prevent him from getting the glory he deserved while Gates presented himself as the hero of the battle.  This made Arnold increasingly bitter.

*Burgoyne retreated to the north, but by the 13th was completely surrounded and on 17 October, 1777, surrendered his entire army:  about 6,000 men, most of whom were kept in prison camps for years to come.

*One of the most important results of the battle was that it helped Ambassador Benjamin Franklin to convince the French, who had long secretly supported America, to openly ally with the United States in 1778 now that it was clear that Americans could beat a major British army.  In years to come, Spain and the Netherlands would also declare war on Britain.  Because French help would be so important in America’s eventually victory, Saratoga is often considered the turning point of the Revolutionary War.

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