Table Of Contenti
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)
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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
