Freeman's Farm (Saratoga)

The British campaign plan was to send General John Burgoyne from Canada, down the Hudson River and General Henry Clinton, up the Hudson River to capture Albany, which would spell the end of the American Resistance in the Hudson River …

1777-09-19

3

The British campaign plan was to send General John Burgoyne from Canada, down the Hudson River and General Henry Clinton, up the Hudson River to capture Albany, which would spell the end of the American Resistance in the Hudson River valley. Burgoyne’s march south was more difficult than expected giving the Continentals time to set up a defensive position on Bemis Heights. On the morning of the 19th, Burgoyne was within a few miles of the heights and ordered the army to advance. Fraser would turn the American left flank by negotiating the heavily wooded high ground north and west of Bemis Heights while Hamilton would make a frontal attack on the heights. Arnold realized such a flanking maneuver was likely, and petitioned Gates for permission to move his forces forward from the heights to meet this potential flanking movement. Gates grudgingly permitted Arnold a reconnaissance force, which met the British advance near Freeman’s Farm. The battle went through phases alternating between intense fighting and breaks in the action. It finally turned in favor of the British, when Riedesel and the German troops arrived and threatened to turn the Continentals flank. But as darkness began to set in, the Continentals retired back to their defenses, leaving the British on the field.

Saratoga, New York

The Battles of Saratoga marked the climax of the Saratoga campaign, giving a decisive victory to the Americans over the British in the American Revolutionary War. British General John Burgoyne led a large invasion army southward from Canada in the Champlain Valley, hoping to meet a similar British force marching northward from New York City and another British force marching eastward from Lake Ontario; the southern and western forces never arrived, and Burgoyne was surrounded by American forces in upstate New York. He fought two small battles to break out which took place 18 days apart on the same ground, 9 miles (14 km) south of Saratoga, New York. They both failed.

Wikipedia: Battles of Saratoga

Continental Army

Great Britain