British+are+Defeated+at+Saratoga

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** General John Burgoyne **
(24 February 1722 – 4 August 1792) British 

General John Burgoyne was born on February 24th, 1722nd in [|Sutton, Bedfordshire]. He first made his appearance in the [|Seven Years' War] in which he participated in several battles, mostly notably during the [|Portugal Campaign] of 1762. He has then been promoted to major-general and then went on to fight in the outbreak of the [|American War of Independence]. H e was appointed to a command, and arrived in [|Boston] in May 1775, a few weeks after the first shots of the war had been fired at [|Lexington and Concord]. Within a year later Burgoyne was given command of the British forces charged with gaining control of Lake Champlain and the [|Hudson River] valley. From the beginning Burgoyne was vastly overconfident. He saw his men as toys that were going to make him a national hero. Burgoyne led an invasion of New York designed to isolate New England from the rest of the colonies. The campaign ended with Burgoyne's defeat at Saratoga. Returning to England while his army marched into captivity, he met with considerable criticism and retired from active service.

General Horatio Gates
(26 July 1727 – 10 April 1806) Americans 

General Horatio Gates was a retired [|British] soldier who served as an [|American][|general] during the [|Revolutionary War]. He took credit for the American victory at the [|Battle of Saratoga]. [|Benedict Arnold], who led the attack, was finally forced from the field when he was shot in the leg [|[1] ] He tried to take credit away from Arnold, where credit was defiantly due. Historian George Bilias describes Gates as one of "the Revolution's most controversial military figures" due to his role in the [|Conway Cabal] which attempted to discredit and replace [|George Washington], the ongoing historical debate over who should receive credit for the victory at Saratoga, and Gates' actions after the defeat at Camden. It has been said that General Horatio Gates was suspected of having very little personal courage when it came to fighting. He is perhaps most noted for being in regular competition with General George Washington and hatching a plan to have him removed as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army. Having done well in the First [|Battle of Saratoga]  (also known as the Battle of Freeman's Farm), he led the men on, eventually forcing the surrender of Burgoyne in the Second Battle of Saratoga (aka, the Battle of Bemis Heights). In this battle, Gates got into an argument with Benedict Arnold. Arnold ended up disobeying Gates orders to stay in camp, charged with the men, and [|was primarily responsible for the victory at Saratoga] .

Freeman's Farm:
The divide and conquer strategy that [|John Burgoyne] presented to [|Great Britain] ministers in London was to invade America from Canada by advancing down the Hudson Valley to Albany. He had at the time 5,000 troops, ready to go. 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. Moving cautiously, since the departure of his Indian support had deprived him of reliable reports on the American position, Burgoyne advanced to the south after crossing the [|Hudson]. On September 18th the vanguard of his army had reached a position just north of Saratoga. They were about 4 miles away from the American forces. Gates had assigned the left wing of the defenses to Arnold, and assumed command himself of the right, which was nominally assigned to General Lincoln, whom Gates had detached in August with some troops to harass the British positions behind [|Burgoyne's Army]. Burgoyne ordered the army to advance in three columns. Baron Riedesel led the left column, consisting of the German troops and the [|47th Foot], on the river road, bringing the main artillery and guarding supplies and the boats on the river. General [|James Inglis Hamilton] commanded the center column. On September 19th, the two forces met up at Freeman's Farm north of Albany. The British were left on the field but suffered significantly higher casualties than the Americans, which they could ill afford. This was a battle Burgoyne had to win. Though he won, Burgoyne lost a significant more amount of soldiers than the Americans. He did not, due to the inspired generalship of the Arnold.

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Battle of Bemis Heights:
They once again met up. On October 7th, Gates and Burgoyne met up together<span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif,geneva,verdana; font-size: 14px; text-align: -webkit-left;"> 9 miles south of Saratoga, New York. Burgoyne had 1,500 men, due to the significant loss at Freeman's Farm. <span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif,geneva,verdana; text-align: -webkit-left;">This crucial position stood above the road that <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: arial,sans-serif,geneva,verdana; font-size: 14px; text-align: -webkit-left;">[|John Burgoyne] <span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif,geneva,verdana; text-align: -webkit-left;"> and his army needed to follow to reach <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: arial,sans-serif,geneva,verdana; font-size: 14px; text-align: -webkit-left;">[|Albany] <span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif,geneva,verdana; text-align: -webkit-left;">. Skirmishes between units of the two armies occurred daily. Burgoyne waited for the at Bemis Heights for the <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: arial,sans-serif,geneva,verdana; font-size: 14px; text-align: -webkit-left;">[|American forces]. He did not wait long. The Americans came in and attacked from the front and rear lines. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: arial,sans-serif,geneva,verdana; font-size: 14px;">[|Benedict Arnold] was all over the place. He was giving commands and cheering. He did not stop, until he got shot in the leg and had to leave the field. <span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif,geneva,verdana;">At the end of the day, Burgoyne’s position was critical. His small army had suffered more than 400 casualties, while the Americans reported only 150. During the night with campfires still burning, the British pulled back to the rear of the battle area. On the October 17th, Burgoyne began to retreat northward. The British had no choice but to leave their sick and injured behind, and their dead unburied. The exhausted soldiers pressed on rain and cold. He surrendered his entire army of 5,000 men to General Gates as the American band played "Yankee Doodle." People call this the turning point of the war because this is the battle that made the French realize that we could actually win this war. The French entered the war, which was a fantastic addition to the Patriots.