Battle at Saratoga?

Question

burgoyne did not know that Howe was bogged down in PA or that the force from western Canada had been delayed. as burgoyne made his way through NY, his badly outnumbered troops clashed with the patriots at the battle of saratoga. burgoyne suffered a major defeat to patriot troops under Generals Horatio Gates and Benedict Arnold.
burgoyne surrendered to gates.

Question---Gates and arnold-what did they do?

Answer 1

The Battles of Saratoga consisted of two main engagements, the first of these being the Battle of Freeman's Farm. The British were advancing on Saratoga, and on September 19 they ran into American forces in a clearing in the woods at Freeman's Farm. General Benedict Arnold, commanding the left wing of the American forces, ordered Colonel Daniel Morgan of the 11th Virginia Regiment and his 400 sharpshooters to assault and harass the British while they were still advancing through the woods in separate columns. Morgan charged recklessly into British General Simon Fraser's column and inflicted severe casualties before being forced back across the field. Arnold sent forward the brigades of Gen. Enoch Poor (1st NH, 2nd NH, 3rd NH, 2nd NY and 4th NY) and Gen. Ebenezer Learned (1st NY, 2nd, 8th and 9th Massachusetts Regiment) to support Morgan. Burgoyne sent forward James Inglis Hamilton and Fraser to attack the Americans across Freeman's Farm. Arnold's reinforced line repulsed the British attack with heavy losses. Arnold was angered at the American commander Horatio Gates for not sending in reinforcements to break the British lines. By the end of the battle the British and German troops (Hessian) had repulsed one last attack from the Americans, and Arnold was relieved of command. Although they had to relinquish the field, the Americans had halted Burgoyne's advance and inflicted losses the British could ill afford. Burgoyne built redoubts and fortified his current position. Two miles to the south, the Americans also built fortifications.

The second and final engagement of the Battles of Saratoga was known as the Battle of Bemis Heights which took place on October 7. Even though the British had suffered greatly at the Battle of Freeman's Farm and Gates had been receiving significant militia reinforcements from Vermont, New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts since then, Burgoyne made plans to assault the American lines in three columns and drive them from the field. The main assault would be made by the German Brunswickers (called Hessians) under Major General Riedesel against the American forces on Bemis Heights. American General Benjamin Lincoln now commanded the division of Poor's and Learned's brigades positioned on Bemis Heights. Burgoyne's troops attacked early in the morning. Holding their fire until the Brunswick troops were well within range, Poor's brigade devastated the first attack and routed the survivors in a counter attack. Colonel Morgan and his 400 sharpshooters attacked and routed the Canadian infantry and began to engage Fraser's British regulars. Fraser began to rally his division, and at that crucial moment Benedict Arnold arrived on the field (despite his prior dismissal) and ordered Morgan to concentrate his fire on the officers, particularly the generals. One of Morgan's sharpshooters fired and mortally wounded Fraser. Arnold, who had been relieved at Freeman's Farm, had no actual command. However, when the firing began, he ignored Gates and rode to the front. After finishing on Morgan's front, Arnold next rode to Learned's brigade. Learned's men, facing the Brunswickers' assault, were beginning to falter. Again at the crucial moment Arnold arrived and rallied the Americans. Then with Arnold and Learned in the lead the Americans counter-attacked. By now Poor and Morgan were closing in on either side of the Brunswickers, and their front gave way. The British retreated to their original positions. Arnold next led Learned's men in an assault on the Brunswickers' redoubt. Here Arnold fell wounded, yet the Americans took the redoubt. Before being carried off the field, Arnold tried to bring forward another brigade, but a messenger sent by Gates, reminding him he had been dismissed, finally caught up to Arnold and he was removed with the other wounded as darkness fell over the field.

The British force then retreated a few kilometers north where their retreat was blocked by colonial forces, under the command of General Horatio Gates. Surrounded and badly outnumbered, 60 km south of Fort Ticonderoga, with supplies dwindling and winter not far off, Burgoyne had little option. He decided to open discussions with the Americans. At first Gates initially demanded unconditional surrender, which the British general flatly turned down, declaring he would sooner fight to the death. Gates eventually agreed to a ‘treaty of convention’, whereby the British would technically not surrender nor be taken as prisoners, but marched to Boston and returned to England on the condition that they were not to serve again in America. Gates was concerned that a fight to the death with Burgoyne could still prove costly and was also concerned about reports of General Sir Henry Clinton advancing from New York to relieve his compatriots stranded at Saratoga. Resplendent in full ceremonial uniform, General Burgoyne led four and a half thousand red-coated British and blue-coated German troops out from his camp on October 17, 1777 and was greeted with formal cordiality by General Gates. Others lay wounded or were helping the large contingent of officers' wives prepare for captivity.

In the surrender at Saratoga 5,791 men were surrendered. Riedesel has stated that not more than 4,000 of these were fit for duty. The number of Germans surrendering is set down by Eelking at 2,431 men, and of Germans killed, wounded, captured or missing down to October 6, at 1,122 including the losses at Bennington. The total loss of the British and their German auxilaries, in killed, wounded, prisoners, and deserters, during the campaign, including those lost in St. Leger's expedition to the Mohawk, the conflict at Bennington and those who surrendered on terms at Saratoga, was not far from 9,000.

Burgoyne's troops were disarmed and should have been paroled (returned to Britain on the condition that they engage in no further conflict with the colonies), a common 18th century military practice. Instead, the American Congress refused to ratify the "convention" (the document detailing the terms of surrender agreed to by Gates and Burgoyne). Though some of the British and German officers were eventually exchanged for captured American officers, most of the enlisted men in the combined British and Brunswick "Convention Army," as it became known, were held captive in camps in New England, Virginia, and Pennsylvania until the end of the war. Another serious difficulty encounted was that Charles I, Duke of Brunswick, did not want his soldiers back fearing they would hinder future recruitment. Needless to say the Brunswickers did not appreciate this and deserted in large numbers; of 5,723 Brunswick troops sent over only 3,015 returned in 1783. Most became new American colonists. Another complicating factor was that Burgoyne himself was sent back to England in disgrace. The news that an entire British Army had been not only defeated, but captured with all its weapons, gave the revolutionists great credibility. France, in particular, threw its support behind the Revolution. Years later, French military and naval forces played a key role in the capitulation of a second British Army at the siege of Yorktown and the end of the war.

It is interesting to note that the Battle of Saratoga was the first time that both powers had a sizeable army on a battlefield at the same time. Most of the fighting done prior to Saratoga leaned heavily on "guerilla warfare" tactics on the part of the Revolutionaries. Moreover, the Battle of Saratoga would serve as the first major army-to-army clash. It was the first battle America had won without surprising British forces (See: Battle of Trenton) and it helped convince the French monarchy that they could hurt the British significantly by helping the Americans.

There are or were re-enactment groups that re-enact the Battle of Saratoga every September. Another group called "Morgans Rifles" tours Daniel Morgan's significant battle sites (there are many) in period costumes each year. There are also groups of Hessian descendants that stage battle re-enactments in period costumes using period weapons etc. All of these groups can be reached for a lot of significant information as well as an appreciation of some of our history.

On the Saratoga battlefield there is a statue of a single leg with no caption. Purportedly this represents the response Benedict Arnold got when he asked a captured American soldier what they would do if they captured him: "We would cut your leg off and bury it with full military honors for your work at Quebec and Saratoga. The rest of you we would hang." Arnold was wounded in the leg in Quebec and Saratoga and later became a traitor and fled to Britain.

Answer 2

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 19 September 1777, the American forces lost ground to the British forces under General Burgoyne. Disagreements in tactics and personalities led to a heated argument between Generals Gates and Arnold. General Gates relieved Arnold of command as a result. The Battle of Bemis Heights was the second battle of Saratoga, taking place October 7th when Burgoyne desperately attacked rebel defenses with his tired, demoralized army. At Bemis Heights, Gate's defensive tactics insured a tactical victory for the Patriots. However, Arnold saw an opportunity to seize the offensive while Burgoyne was vulnerable and led a counterattack. This bold move so badly wounded the British forces that Burgoyne surrendered days later at Saratoga.

Answer 3

ummm i totally answered this already