Table Of Content

i The Compleat Victory ii PIVOTAL MOMENTS IN AMERICAN HISTORY Series Editors David Hackett Fischer James M. McPherson David Greenberg James T. Patterson Lynn Parsons Brown v. Board of Education: A Civil Rights The Birth of Modern Politics: Andrew Jackson, Milestone and Its Troubled Legacy John Quincy Adams, and the Election of 1828 Maury Klein Elliott West Rainbow’s End: The Crash of 1929 The Last Indian War: The Nez Perce Story James McPherson Glenn C. Altschuler and Stuart M. Blumin Crossroads of Freedom: The Battle of Antietam The GI Bill: A New Deal for Veterans Glenn C. Altschuler Richard Archer All Shook Up: How Rock ’n’ Roll Changed As If an Enemy’s Country: The British Occupation America of Boston and the Origins of Revolution David Hackett Fischer Thomas Kessner Washington’s Crossing The Flight of the Century: Charles Lindbergh and the Rise of American Aviation John Ferling Adams vs. Jefferson: The Tumultuous Election Craig L. Symonds of 1800 The Battle of Midway Richard Moe Joel H. Silbey Roosevelt’s Second Act: The Election of 1940 and Storm over Texas: The Annexation Controversy the Politics of War and the Road to Civil War Emerson W. Baker Raymond Arsenault A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial American Experience Justice Louis P. Masur Colin G. Calloway Lincoln’s Last Speech: Wartime Reconstruction The Scratch of a Pen: 1763 and the and the Crisis of Reunion Transformation of North America David L. Preston Richard Labunski Braddock’s Defeat: The Battle of the Monongahela James Madison and the Struggle for the Bill and the Road to Revolution of Rights Michael A. Cohen Sally G. McMillen American Maelstrom: The 1968 Election and the Seneca Falls and the Origins of the Women’s Politics of Division Rights Movement Marc Gallicchio Howard Jones Unconditional: The Japanese Surrender in World The Bay of Pigs War II iv (cid:20) Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and certain other countries. Published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press 198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, United States of America. © Oxford University Press 2021 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, by license, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reproduction rights organization. Inquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above. You must not circulate this work in any other form and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Weddle, Kevin John, author. Title: The compleat victory : Saratoga and the American Revolution / by Kevin J. Weddle. Other titles: Battle of Saratoga and the American Revolution Description: New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2021] | Series: Pivotal moments in American history | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2020041604 (print) | LCCN 2020041605 (ebook) | ISBN 9780195331400 (hardback) | ISBN 9780199912537 (epub) | ISBN 9780199715992 (epdf) | ISBN 9780197549445 (ebook other) Subjects: LCSH: Saratoga Campaign, N.Y., 1777. | Burgoyne’s Invasion, 1777. United States—History—Revolution, 1775–1783—Campaigns. | New York (State)— History—Revolution, 1775–1783. Classification: LCC E241.S2 W43 2021 (print) | LCC E241.S2 (ebook) | DDC 973.3/33—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020041604 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020041605 1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2 Printed by Sheridan Books, Inc., United States of America iii The Compleat Victory SARATOGA AND THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION Kevin J. Weddle (cid:20) v For Jeanie vi vii CONTENTS List of Maps ix Editors’ Note xi Acknowledgments xv Introduction: Fatal Ambition 1 Chapter 1: Opening Moves 7 Chapter 2: The First Invasion 25 Chapter 3: A New British Strategy 51 Chapter 4: A Question of American Command 73 Chapter 5: Laying the Groundwork 86 Chapter 6: The Fall of Fort Ticonderoga 102 Chapter 7: Defeat, Retreat, Disgrace 123 Chapter 8: Aftershocks 144 Chapter 9: Burgoyne Moves South 151 Chapter 10: The Ordeal of Philip Schuyler 164 Chapter 11: The Murder of Jane McCrea 172 Chapter 12: Not to Make a Ticonderoga of It 178 Chapter 13: Oriskany and Relief 195 Chapter 14: Cat and Mouse 219 Chapter 15: Burgoyne’s Dilemma 230 Chapter 16: The Battle of Bennington 236 Chapter 17: Gates Takes Command 258 Chapter 18: The Battle of Freeman’s Farm 272 vii viii viii Contents Chapter 19: Sir Henry Clinton to the Rescue 294 Chapter 20: The Battle of Bemis Heights 307 Chapter 21: Retreat, Pursuit, and Surrender 329 Chapter 22: British Strategic Reassessment 351 Chapter 23: The Fruits of Victory 361 Conclusion: Men and Measures 379 Appendix A: What Became of Them? 391 Appendix B: Chronology of the Saratoga Campaign, 1776–1778 395 Appendix C: Key British Letters/ Orders/ Meetings, 1776–1777 401 Appendix D: Orders of Battle 407 Notes 417 Bibliography 485 Index 497 xi LIST OF MAPS 1. Northern Theater of Operations, September 1775 through December 1776 49 2. Burgoyne’s Plan for 1777 60 3. Howe’s Plan for 1777 68 4. Saratoga Campaign, June through October 1777 97 5. Burgoyne’s Capture of Fort Ticonderoga, July 2‒6, 1777 115 6. Battle of Hubbardton, July 7, 1777 131 7. Siege of Fort Stanwix, August 2‒22, 1777 191 8. Battle of Oriskany, August 6, 1777 202 9. Battle of Bennington, August 16, 1777 247 10. Battle of Freeman’s Farm, September 19, 1777 275 11. Clinton’s Relief Expedition, October 3‒16, 1777 301 12. Battle of Bemis Heights, October 7, 1777 319 13. Burgoyne’s Final Camp at Saratoga, October 11‒17, 1777 332 ix