The battle of Saratoga was the turning point of the Revolutionary War. The scope of the victory is made clear by a few key facts: On October 17, 1777, 5,895 British and Hessian troops surrendered their arms. General John Burgoyne had lost 86 pervent of his expeditionary force that had triumphantly marched into New York from Canada in the early summer of 1777.
the DIVIDE-AND-CONQUER strategy that Burgoyne presented to British ministers in London was to invade America from Canada by advancing down the Hudson Valley to Albany, There, he would be joined by other British troops under the command of Sir William Howe. Howe would be bringing his troops north from New Jersey and New York City. Burgoyne believed that this bold stroke would not only isolate New England from the other American colonies, but achieve command of the Hudson River and demoralize Americans and their would-be-allies, such as the French.
In June 1777, Burgoyne's amry of over 7,000 men (half of whom were British troops and the other hald Hessian troops from Brunswick and Hesse-Hanau) Departed from St.Johns on Lake Champlain, bound for Fort Ticonderoga, as the southern end of the lake. As the army proceeded southward, Burgoyne drafted and had his men distribute a proclamation that, among other things, included the statement "I have but to give stretch to the Indian forces under my direction, and they amount to thousands," Which implied that Britian's enemies would suffer attacks from Native Americans allied to the British.
More than any other act during the Campaign, this threat and subsequent widely reported atrocites such as the scalping of Jane Mccrea stiffened the resolve of the Americans to do whatever it took to assure that the threat did not become reality. the American forces at Fort Ticonderoga recognized that once the British mounted artillery on high ground near the fort, Ticonderoga would be indefensible. A retreat from the Fort was ordered, and the Americans floated troops, cannon, and supplies across Lake Champlain to Mount Independence. From there the army set out for Hubbardton where the British and German troops caught up with them and gave battle. Round one to the British.
