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A Picture from History: Burgoyne’s Blunders

Surrender of General Burgoyne by John Trumbull
British General John Burgoyne takes on American troops during the Revolution and learns a hard lesson about these scrappy fighters.
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    A series of defeats left Americans fighting in the War of Independence with little hope. Since the British planned a three-pronged attack on New York, it looked like the North might fall. 

    The Battle of Bennington by Don Troiani
    The Battle of Bennington by Don Troiani

    British General John Burgoyne, a well-known politician and gambler, led the attack, bringing his men toward Albany.

    But though Burgoyne operated well up in the north, everything went south for him…very quickly. 

    General John Burgoyne, painted by Joshua Reynolds
    General John Burgoyne, painted by Joshua Reynolds

    One of Burgoyne’s resupply columns — 1,000 men strong — headed up to Vermont for resupply. But the Americans stopped them.

    Then, all of the Native Americans that had been fighting for Burgoyne faded off into the woods.

    And to top it off, he received word that Americans off at Fort Stanwix to the west halted the British movement from that direction. 

    Burgoyne was alone…

    Welcome to America.

    As he moved forward toward his end destination, he was met by General Horatio Gate’s soldiers holding the high ground at Bemis Heights, just south of Saratoga. 

    Horatio Gates, painted by Gilbert Stuart
    Horatio Gates, painted by Gilbert Stuart

    In a stroke of genius, Gates had his men place cannons atop the hill, completely in range of any British troops on the ground or the river below.

    Burgoyne had been using the river to move his supplies, and he needed the road to move his troops.

    The vegetation was too thick aside the road for Burgoyne to maneuver out into the woods, and so he was forced into a fatal funnel. Not only did he not have his Vermont resupply, but his supply chain had been cut off. 

    The Battle of Saratoga

    On September 19, 1777, the fighting started. 

    Battle of Saratoga by Johann Martin Will
    Battle of Saratoga by Johann Martin Will

    The field went back and forth throughout the day. But it was the addition of 500 German mercenaries, called Hessians, that the British hired to kill Americans that helped the Brits take the field by the end of Day 1.

    It was the only day of advantage they would have. 

    Hessian Private, Erb Prinz Fusileer Regiment of Hesse-Cassel by Charles M. Lefferts
    Hessian Private, Erb Prinz Fusileer Regiment of Hesse-Cassel by Charles M. Lefferts

    Now, essentially trapped in the New York wilderness, Burgoyne decided that his only option was to entrench his men and wait for reinforcements.

    What he didn’t realize was that those reinforcements would never come.

    Should’ve Stayed Home

    By October 7, the British were still there, but that’s not the case forever.

    It was on this day that Benedict Arnold (not yet a traitor) led his men to take the Breymann Redoubt, a German mercenary-held position held by 200 men.

    By the end of the day, the Redoubt was in American hands. 

    Arnold wounded as troops take the Breymann Redoubt
    Arnold wounded as troops take the Breymann Redoubt

    By October 8, Burgoyne decided that help wasn’t coming. His only shot? To fight his way out.

    As he led his men for an attack, a cold, hard rain began to fall, forcing him back to the town of Saratoga.

    The sudden rain gave the Americans all the time they needed to move in, and 13,000 soon surrounded Burgoyne’s position. Burgoyne surrendered to Gates two days later, and the Battle of Saratoga was over. America won.

    This is a new style of article for Pew Pew Tactical, if you liked it — let us know in the comments! If you didn’t enjoy it…well phooey. To catch up on previous Pictures from History, click on over to our History Category.

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    4 Leave a Reply

    • Stubbie

      Great history article. Keep them coming.

      January 9, 2023 7:11 am
    • JESSE

      Interesting article. Not being a particularly knowledgeable historian, I found it information and thought provoking.

      January 9, 2023 6:56 am
    • Bruce Crawford

      There’s an important piece Mr. Tate left out. During the Battle of Bemis Heights, one of Morgan’s Riflemen took out Gen. Fraser, some believe from a distance as rifles were more accurate than more common muskets. Fraser was Burgoyne’s top tactician, & this led to disarray. 3.5 yrs. later at Battle of Cowpens, Gen. Morgan had my 4th g-gf, Capt. Jas. Gilmore, position his men in Rockbridge Rifles in front. They had orders to wait until Brits were in close, shoot for the epaulets (officers), then draw back behind a mound. The Brits thought they were fleeing. This is depicted in “The Patriot”.
      My wife & I visited Saratoga Nat’l Battle field in Oct., 2017, 240 yrs. after battle. If I could post pics, I could show how Gen. Gates’ cannons had advantage over Brit supply ships on Hudson Rvr.

      January 8, 2023 3:33 pm
    • HENRY HARRISON HAGGERTY

      GREAT article on Battle of Saratoga

      January 8, 2023 3:12 pm
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