Battlefield Atlas

American Revolution · 1777 Battlefield Enjoyer American Marksman episode

Saratoga, 19 September & 7 October 1777

In the autumn of 1777, General John Burgoyne's army, advancing south from Canada to cut New England off from the other colonies, was stopped by Horatio Gates's Americans on Bemis Heights near Saratoga, New York. At Freeman's Farm on 19 September the British held the field but at heavy cost; at Bemis Heights on 7 October their attack was beaten back and Benedict Arnold stormed the Breymann redoubt. Burgoyne retreated, was surrounded at Saratoga, and surrendered his whole army on 17 October. The victory persuaded France to enter the war as an American ally in 1778, often seen as the turning point of the Revolution.

Open the interactive map7 stages on modern satellite imagery and terrain, with 3D elevation

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"Surrender of General Burgoyne" (Trumbull) — "Surrender of General Burgoyne" (Trumbull) — John Trumbull, 1821 — Public domain

The battle, stage by stage

Morning, 19 Sept 1777
Burgoyne advances in three columns
Burgoyne's army, cut off from Canada and short of food, marches south toward Albany. Fraser swings west with the light infantry, grenadiers, 24th and Germans to seize the high ground; Hamilton's four British regiments march through the centre with Burgoyne; Riedesel's Germans follow the river road. Gates's army waits behind Kosciuszko's entrenchments on Bemis Heights.
1 PM
Morgan strikes at Freeman's Farm
Gates lets Arnold send out Morgan's riflemen and Dearborn's light infantry. At the Freeman farm clearing they shoot down the officers of Forbes's advance pickets, then charge headlong into Hamilton's main line and are scattered. Arnold begins feeding Poor's brigade forward.
3 PM
The fight for the clearing
The 1st, 2nd and 3rd New Hampshire and the Connecticut militia fight Hamilton's regiments back and forth across the Freeman field. The 62nd Foot is cut to pieces; British artillerymen are shot down at their guns. Fraser holds the British right but cannot turn the American flank.
5 PM
Learned joins the line
Learned's New York regiments extend the American left against Fraser and the Jaegers. Hamilton's line is close to breaking — the 62nd has lost over half its men — when Riedesel arrives from the river road with his Germans and two guns.
Dusk
Riedesel saves Burgoyne
Riedesel's attack on the American right ends the fighting at dark. The Americans withdraw to Bemis Heights; the British hold the field but have lost about 600 men to the Americans' 300, and Burgoyne digs in at Freeman's Farm to wait for Clinton.
7 Oct, about 2 PM
The reconnaissance in force
With no relief coming, Burgoyne sends 1,500 picked men with ten guns to probe the American left at the Barber wheatfield. Gates attacks at once: Morgan hits Fraser's right flank, Poor's brigade the grenadiers on the left, Learned the Germans in the centre.
7 Oct, late afternoon
Arnold storms Breymann's redoubt
Acland's grenadiers are routed and Fraser is mortally wounded by one of Morgan's riflemen. Arnold, without command, leads Learned's men against the Balcarres redoubt and then round to Breymann's redoubt, which falls at dusk; Arnold is shot in the leg. Burgoyne retreats to Saratoga (Schuylerville) and surrenders his army on 17 October — the turning point that brought France into the war.

On American Marksman

American Marksman · DOPE HISTORY

Morgan's riflemen and Timothy Murphy's shot ≈300 yd

On 7 October 1777, as General Simon Fraser rallied the British right near the Barber wheatfield, one of Daniel Morgan's riflemen shot him from the woods to the west. Tradition names the rifleman as Timothy Murphy, firing from a tree at around 300 yards; Fraser died the next morning and Burgoyne's line gave way. The target point is the park marker where Fraser was struck; Murphy's position follows the traditional distance and direction.

Watch on YouTube See the shot on the map (stage 5)

Paintings and photographs

"Surrender of General Burgoyne" (Trumbull) — "Surrender of General Burgoyne" (Trumbull) Trumbull's painting of Burgoyne surrendering his sword to Gates on 17 October 1777, at Saratoga (now Schuylerville), about 8 miles north of the battlefield. It hangs in the Capitol Rotunda. John Trumbull, 1821 — Public domain · source

Arnold wounded at the Breymann redoubt — Arnold wounded at the Breymann redoubt Benedict Arnold, without a command, led the assault on Breymann's redoubt on 7 October and was shot in the same leg wounded at Quebec. Engraving, 1860 — Public domain · source

The burial of General Fraser — The burial of General Fraser General Simon Fraser, mortally wounded by one of Morgan's riflemen on 7 October, was buried at sunset in the Great Redoubt as American shot fell around the burial party. After John Graham, c. 1800 — Public domain · source

The Neilson house — The Neilson house Benson Lossing's sketch of the Neilson farmhouse, used as headquarters by American officers inside the Bemis Heights lines. Benson John Lossing, 1851 — Public domain · source

Sources and method

Battles of Saratoga: Freeman's Farm (19 September) and Bemis Heights (7 October) 1777. Regiment positions on 19 September are traced from the US Military Academy (West Point) maps for 1, 3 and 5 PM; 7 October positions from the "Field Array at Bemis Heights" map (both via Wikimedia Commons). The Bemis Heights map is georeferenced to the Hudson, the Neilson house, the Great Redoubt and Bemis Tavern (about 50 m); the 19 September maps are pinned to the Freeman farm at their printed scale, so treat those positions as good to roughly 150 m. Opening and closing positions on 19 September (columns on the march, the American camp) are approximate.

How to use: pick one entry under "The battle". Tall blocks moved since the previous map, flat yellow outlines show where they came from, arrows join them, low grey blocks are everyone else. Red = British and German, blue = American.