American victory[2] United States Vermont Great Britain Iroquois (minus Oneida) Horatio Gates Philip Schuyler Arthur St. Clair Benedict Arnold (WIA) Benjamin Lincoln (WIA) Israel Putnam George Clinton James Clinton (WIA) John Stark James Livingston John Burgoyne William Phillips (POW) Simon Fraser † Barry St. Leger Luc de la Corne Henry Clinton Friedrich Adolf Riedesel (POW) Heinrich von Breymann † Joseph Brant The Saratoga campaign in 1777 was an attempt by the British to gain military control of the strategically important Hudson River valley during the American Revolutionary War.

It ended in the surrender of a British army, which historian Edmund Morgan argues, "was a great turning point of the war, because it won for Americans the foreign assistance which was the last element needed for victory.

The turning point of the campaign happened in August at the Battle of Bennington when militia forces from Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts defeated, killed, and captured around 1,000 Brunswick–Lüneburg and Hessian troops from Burgoyne's army.

Colonel Barry St. Leger had been assigned to move east through the Mohawk River valley on Albany, New York, but was forced to retreat during the siege of Fort Stanwix after losing his Indigenous allies.

The major expedition planned from the south was not launched due to miscommunication with London when General William Howe sent his army to take Philadelphia rather than sending it up the Hudson River to link up with Burgoyne.

[9] In December 1776, General John Burgoyne met with Lord Germain, the British Secretary of State for the Colonies and the government official responsible for managing the war, to set strategy for 1777.

[11] Howe changed his mind soon after writing this letter: the reinforcements might not arrive, and the retreat of the Continental Army over the winter of 1776–77 made Philadelphia an increasingly vulnerable target.

This, combined with rival Henry Clinton's failed attempt to capture Charleston, South Carolina, placed Burgoyne in a good position to get command of the 1777 northern campaign.

[19] In a letter from Germain to Howe dated May 18, 1777, he made clear that the Philadelphia expedition should "be executed in time for you to co-operate with the army ordered to proceed from Canada and put itself under your command."

[24] Partly as a result of this indecision, and the fact that it would be isolated from its supply lines if Howe moved north, the garrisons at Fort Ticonderoga and elsewhere in the Mohawk and Hudson valleys were not significantly increased.

[24] Schuyler took the measure in April 1777 of sending a large regiment under Colonel Peter Gansevoort to rehabilitate Fort Stanwix in the upper Mohawk valley as a step in defending against British movements in that area.

Vergennes did not think open participation in the war was diplomatically or politically feasible until Washington's army demonstrated its strength and ability to gain military victories without significant assistance.

In addition to British regulars, the troops in Quebec included several regiments from the German principalities of Hesse-Cassel, Hesse-Hanau (from whose name the common reference of Hessian comes) and Brunswick–Lüneburgers under the command of Baron Friedrich Adolph Riedesel.

As the expedition expected to travel mainly over water, there were few wagons, horses, and other draft animals available to move a large amount of equipment and supplies on the land portions of the route.

[38] General Arthur St. Clair, who had been left in command of Fort Ticonderoga and its surrounding defenses with a garrison of about 3,000 regulars and militia, had no idea on July 1 of the full strength of Burgoyne's army, large elements of which were then just 4 miles (6.4 km) away.

Unknown to the Americans, their withdrawal from an outer defensive position cleared a way for the British to place artillery on the hilltop known then as Sugar Loaf (now Mount Defiance), whose heights commanded the fort.

General Fraser and elements of Riedesel's troops faced determined resistance in Battle of Hubbardton on July 7, and that same day the vanguard of the main army met Pierse Long's retreating companies in a skirmish at Skenesboro (now Whitehall).

St. Clair issued appeals to the states for militia support, and also arranged to have as much of the area's livestock and supplies delivered to Fort Edward on the Hudson River, where the American armies would regroup.

[51] Burgoyne's decision to move the army overland via Fort Anne was a curious one, for it contradicted his own earlier commentaries on planning the expedition, in which he presciently observed that defenders could easily block the route.

His decision appears to have been motivated by two factors; the first being the perception that moving the army over water via Lake George would require a retrograde movement that could be perceived as a retreat, and the second being the influence of Philip Skene, whose property would benefit by the improved road Burgoyne would have to build.

On July 11 Burgoyne wrote to Lord Germain, complaining that the Americans were systematically felling trees, destroying bridges, and damming streams along the road to Fort Edward.

This left the Americans holding the field of battle, however, they were also forced to withdraw because of the catastrophic casualties they had suffered, including the mortal wounding of their leader, Brigadier General Nicholas Herkimer.

On July 17, Howe wrote that he was preparing to depart by sea with his army to capture Philadelphia, and that General Clinton, responsible for New York City's defense, would "act as occurrences may direct".

[78][79] News of the American successes at Bennington and Fort Stanwix, combined with outrage over the death of Jane McCrea, rallied support, swelling Gates' army to over 6,000 rank and file.

[80] This number did not include Stark's small army at Bennington, which was reduced in size by disease and the departure of some of its companies, but was also augmented by several hundred troops raised by General Benjamin Lincoln, who was assigned to make attacks against Burgoyne's supply and communications.

[45] Gates refused to carry out a general movement since he wanted to wait behind his defenses for the expected frontal attack;[90] but he did permit Arnold to send Daniel Morgan's riflemen and some light infantry out for a reconnaissance in force.

[111] Clinton followed up the victory by dismantling the chain across the Hudson and sending a raiding force up the river that reached as far north as Livingston Manor on October 16 before turning back.

The right side of the British line consisted of two earthen redoubts that had been erected on Freeman's Farm, and were manned by Brunswick–Lüneburgers under Heinrich von Breymann and light infantry under Lord Balcarres.

[139] Under the terms of the convention, Burgoyne's army was to march to Boston, where British ships would transport it back to England, on condition that its members not participate in the conflict until they were formally exchanged.

7th October, 1777 winning for his countrymen the decisive battle of the American Revolution and for himself the rank of On December 4, 1777, word reached Benjamin Franklin at Versailles that Philadelphia had fallen and that Burgoyne had surrendered.