Introduction
This paper covers the Saratoga campaign of the Revolutionary War. The paper describes the tactics, leaders, battles, as wells the consequences of the battle. Saratoga campaign of the revolutionary war occurred in 1777. It was as a result of the British high command attempting to gain the military control of the Hudson River.
The river valley was located in North America. The British were aiming to conquer the Americans and expand their personal interests. For example, gaining economic power and showing other nations the strength of their military. The period was marked by the American Revolutionary War (Corbett 38). It was named the American Revolutionary war because the Americans revolved against the British who were trying to colonize them.
The drive of the campaign was initiated by General John Burgoyne who was commanding a force of eight thousand soldiers. He moved from Quebec through Lake Champlain to the middle New York and down the Hudson Valley. He arrived at Saratoga where he initially had clashed small conflicts with Patriot defenders. Burgoyne failed in the battle against the Americans in October of 1777 and surrendered his army to the American general called Horatio Gates. The British government wrote to the Americans asking for peaceful negotiations. However, the independence of the Americans was not mentioned in the draft. This forced the Americans to ignore the request. The Americans wanted them to confirm that they were defeated and no more colonization could continue.
Conversely, the specific tactics that were organized in London failed following the surrender of General Burgoyne. Colonel Barry St. Leger who was assigned to move Eastwards through the valley of river Mohawk had to retreat because he lost his Indian allies. The major plans from the South never materialized because of miscommunication with London. General William Howe sent his military to Philadelphia instead of Hudson River to work together with Burgoyne. The exertion that was brought to strengthen Burgoyne from the New York arrived late, and they could not withstand the war from the Americans.
The British were defeated by the Americans during the Saratoga campaign. Additionally, they convinced France to join them. The French provided finance, military personnel, as well as weapons. The alliance fought to defeat the British all over the world. The defeat was both the political, social, and economic backgrounds. Therefore, after the Saratoga war, the exploitation of the British had gone to the grassroots level as well as their economic grounds. This was because the British corrupt ways of acquiring wealth had been stopped after the defeat.
During the revolutionary war, both the British and the Americans had their tactics. First, this paper describes the British strategies. The British strategy was planned in 1776. It began with Howe’s plans to attack Philadelphia. The British commander-in-chief in North America drafted the plans of 1777 and sent it to Germain. Howe said if he could get reinforcements from Germain, he could commence numerous offensives. Additionally, he would also send ten thousand men to Hudson River to take control of Albany. Howe was seeing it easier to move to the South to capture the US capital of Philadelphia. However, he changed his plans and drafted back to Germain explaining that the reinforcement may not appear (William and Linebaugh 17).
On the other hand, Burgoyne’s plan to capture Albany was put in place. He came up with a tactic of isolating the New England through invasion from Quebec to New York City. This had been attempted by General Carleton but failed in 1776. Carleton was criticized because of not taking advantage of the American withdrawal from Quebec. This made Germaine dislike him. Burgoyne saw this as an advantage to gain a good command of the 1777 Northern campaign.
General Burgoyne presented a drawn plan to Lord Germain, which was approved and mission order granted. The attack plan from Quebec had two strategies. He planned to command eight thousand soldiers from Montreal and the other second group of two thousand soldiers from Lake Ontario down the Mohawk River. The two troops would link up in Albany and move up to Hudson. He anticipated that taking control of George Hudson River would take away the New England from the American colonies.
Second, this paper describes the Americans tactics in the Saratoga revolutionary war. British had encamped George Washington army at Morristown, New Jersey. Both Washington and the military command did not have enough pictures of the British plans in 1777. They did not have an understanding of who had designed the British, which controlled Quebec. Therefore, it took longer before the Americans drew a strategy to attack the British. The Americans generals had disagreed on who planned the raid. Some of them got it right that it might be Howe. Americans had to make decisions on how to face the situation at that time. They placed their troops throughout New York, and one thousand five hundred troops were sent to the Mohawk River. General Israel Putnam commanded three thousand forces in Hudson River (Corbett 87).
General George Washington was the American commander during the Saratoga War. He had two assistants that helped him in commanding at the battlefield. The two generals were Gates and Arnold. He improved the Gates military situation through his concern with the movement General Howe. Having certainty that Burgoyne was also moving, Washington took the risk of sending an army to the North to counter attack the army of Burgoyne. General George commanded from the office, but he had two generals in both the left and right wings. He saw it wise to come up with this strategy so that the attack could rise on both sides to fully neutralize Burgoyne army.
Leaders of Saratoga Campaign of the Revolutionary War
The leaders that were involved in the Saratoga Campaign of the Revolutionary War were not only from British and America but also from other nations like the France. From the French, Charles Gravier was an ideal leader who was against the British colonial power in North America (Tucker 282). He explained that it would be perfect for North America to get freedom from the British because they were attempting to recover the New French, but they expected that they would face challenges from the British military. King Louis was a French leader who participated in the signing of an alliance between France and America so that they would fight British (Tucker 282).
Most of the leaders that were involved came from America and Britain. From Britain, there are military leaders like General John Burgoyne. He led military troops from Quebec and took control of the Hudson River (Heath and Sean 223). General William was also a military commander from Britain. He worked closely with Burgoyne in the capture of Philadelphia. Howe was a leader in the British army. Howe participated in drawing up of the tactics that were to be used in the war against the Americans.
American also had leaders that were involved in the war till the defeat. General Lincoln was an American military leader who led the command against the British attack. He had assistance from Gates and Arnold. The American leaders worked together although they had smaller grievances among themselves. Washington was the head of the American military that planned all the strategies that were used by the Americans to win the battle.
Friedrich Adolf Riedesel was the commander of the Braunschweiger Jager (Heath and Sean 223). He was hired by the British during the war, and he commanded the German soldiers.
The British general during the battle was Simon Fraser of Balnain. However, he was killed by Timothy Murphy who was an American. Additionally, the British had a politician and a soldier called Lord George Germain. He was a cabinet member in America, fighting for sovereignty. The British fell during his ministry. He was trying to command several colonial war groups but all failed and the major one being the defeat at the Saratoga battle.
A leader known as Arthur St. Clair was a military soldier from America. He served in the British army. Later he served in the American military during the Saratoga War. During the war, he rose to the rank of the major general in the Continental military. He later lost command after retreating from Fort Ticonderoga during the American and Britain battle (Heath and Sean 223). Additionally, Philip Skene was a military person who was arrested during the Saratoga revolution. He was serving in the British army and contributed much to the war. He was arrested with his son Andrew. The American military attacked one of his ships and used at Ticonderoga. John Adams investigated activities of Philip. John Adams was an American Patriot in the war. Abraham was a lawyer, politician, diplomat, as well as the founding father of the movement for American independence from Britain. He later became a president and vice president of the United States. During the Saratoga campaigns, George III was the King of United Kingdom (Logusz 29). He had led Britain in conquering many nations. However, he lost his command in the Saratoga War when the British lost to the Americans in 1777.
Battles of Saratoga Campaign of the Revolutionary War
At the end of 1776, many leaders had realized that the creation of peace in the New England was difficult. The Patriots could not allow it to be that easy. Therefore, London decided to detach itself from the New England and concentrate in the regions where loyalist would be found. The regions were in the Southern parts. The British were unhappy; therefore, planned the war in 1777 to attack the North America. The battle started at this point.
The battle of Saratoga campaign took several mouths. It began in the mouth of Septembers of 1777. It began with the allocation of a significant military troop of about seven thousand along the bank of River Hudson. The commander of these forces was Burgoyne from the British. He was strong during this attack because he had learned from the weaknesses of Stanwix and Howe. He had made plans to reach the winter quarters. This was to force him to either retreat to Ticonderoga or to advance to Albany (Strange 83).
Burgoyne decided to cut communications with the friends from the North. He did so to help him maintain a sequence of profoundly equipped outposts between his location and Ticonderoga. Additionally, he decided to cross Hudson River with the high military position. On the other hand, he ordered the rear army headed by Riedesel to reject the outposts from Skenesboro South and told them to cross the river to the North of Saratoga. He cautiously advanced to the South (Strange 82). This is because his Indian supporters had pulled the scout supporters they had given to him.
The movement continued in the North of Saratoga, and they reached a point that the distance between his military and that of the US was about six kilometers. At this point, a battle between them and the United States broke. Gates took Schuyler army as the commander. Much of the military of Schuyler was located towards the South of Stillwater. The troops of Schuyler moved to Stillwater with the aim of making a defense. Tadeusz Kosciuszko an engineer who worked with Schuyler realized that the military did little to the South of Saratoga and led the army to the North (Strange 81).
Reports of how Ticonderoga was making movements were reported to General Lincoln who was the right man in the American military. He was leading this troop against any military that attempted any invasion against it. On the left side, General Arnold was made the commander by General Gates. They had previously worked with Arnold; therefore, he trusted him much. General Burgoyne realized that the American military would flank them. Therefore, they sent more troops to the West to neutralize the United States of America military. During this time, a battle occurred, and the British gained the control of the freeman's Farm after it got about six hundred casualties. Gates and Arnold disagreed after the Freeman’s Farm battle (Strange 83). Gate refused to recognize Arnold's contributions to the campaign and also transferred the Morgan's company that Arnold was commanding. There was no any other attack since the Burgoyne started suffering from food shortages and arms.
The Gates American army crashed Burgoyne's army in October 1777. Burgoyne was forced to surrender and become loyal to the American military that had to issue it with commands. This marked the downfall of the British and victory to the Americans. The victory opened new pages to the American military. The Americans celebrated. However, such celebrations were not without sufferings and losses. They convinced the French and joined them in the war against the British. As mentioned in the introduction, they formed an alliance that could help them fight the British military.
Positive consequences of Saratoga Campaign of the Revolutionary War
The positive results of the Saratoga campaign revolutionary war were on the American side. The Americans celebrated the victory that the rest of the world was waiting to see. The celebration of the Americans was a definite turning point for the Americans against the British. It was considered a turning point as well as a victory because the British were the first to attack (Dick 4). The Americans convinced the rest of the world that they were the best since they brought down the world's threat. Americans built a name and became a superpower during the 1777 war. Americans also assured themselves peace and security since the threat was finished.
Additionally, other nations that were made hostile by the British build a better rapport with the Americans so that they might get their support in case of an attack from the British military. Nations like the French offered the American military support. The support was regarding food and arms. Such support was significant during any war against them.
The American trade that was continually disrupted by the British came to a halt. The Americans were feared by the British, and they could not dare cause any interference in the operations of the Americans. The control of firearms was also taken with the Americans from the British. This was a positive outcome of the defeat in the war. Conversely, the British had to take orders from the Americans, and the British surrendered the control of the economy (Dick 3).
The positive outcome of the Saratoga War that the British could have learned was their weak points. Britain as a nation could sit and examine the weakness that made the Americans Defeat it. This would be an advantage they would use while trying to continue conquering other nations. On the other hand, the strong points of the American Army could be learned and their tactics. This could be an advantage in two ways. First, when it is attacked by the Americans, it could use the opposite tactics of the Americans to fight back. Secondly, Britain could employ the American tactics in attacking other nations that it was still controlling. All these could only be done after the post-war analysis.
Adverse consequences of Saratoga Campaign of the Revolutionary War
Adverse implications of the Saratoga campaign of the Revolutionary War were shared by the Americans, British, and other nations directly or indirectly. However, the British suffered more in comparison to the Americans. Both had used resources in the war that was not bringing any economic input. Therefore, both the nation had economic growth deteriorating. In both the nations, there was the loss of life. The Americans had the members of its military loss their life as well as the British.
On the other hand, British had most of it experiencing adverse effects of war. December 1777, Burgoyne surrendered. After forty-eight hours, King Louis called for negotiations and signed a treaty that called France into the war. The British were highly defeated giving them low profiles. The lower profiles indicated that they could not threaten any nation since their military was destabilized (Dick 5). Additionally, British lost the command because of the defeat in the war. The Americans and the French leader could issue commands to their leaders, and they could obey without question. They had to surrender the control of commercial trade. The control of such trade was lost to the French and Americans. The dignity they lost made them not command any nation because every country had gained the courage to face it.
The economic power of the Britain was lost. Before the defeat, it raided the trades of Americans and the French. Before the defeat, the British had economic power. This indicated that they had to develop a shortfall in their economy. The engagement in the war meant concentration to emerge a victor. Other development initiatives came to a stop. It was a lost to all the nations taking part in the war.
Conclusion
In a nutshell, the Saratoga campaign revolutionary war was one of the best incidences that one can talk of in the history of the America and British. Such an argument holds because settling a dispute should be done once and for all. The best way of resolving the conflict between America and British was the Saratoga campaign revolutionary war. The British surrendered and accepted to take the commands from the Americans; hence, the Americans were assured of winning the battle. Besides, Saratoga campaigns created peace among the two nations that were involved in the battle. Once the British had surrendered, the Americans were at peace. This is because they did not expect any other attack from anywhere. The Americans were declared super power. The British defeat implied that the Americans had gained the authority to take peace missions all over the world. However, the Saratoga war had drawbacks. The loss of life, as well as the waste of the economic resources, occurred in both the nations. The British had suffered more because it not only wasted resources but also lost a battle that it started. The British lost even though they had drawn a strategic plan of winning the battle. Additionally, British faced shame because of surrendering in a war mission it started. It was a demonstration to the whole world that Britain was not as high as any nation had imagined. The battle outcome apparently brought out the clear picture of each nation. The defeat of British was helpful in identifying their weak points. It was up to the Britain government to go back to the drawing board to restructure its military wings. Britain had to change the tactics it formerly used to train its military men.
Works Cited
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