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A Little History: Turning Point in the American Revolution
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o In the fall of 1777 Fighting between British forces & colonial patriots on Bemis Heights & at (old) Saratoga would help to decide, most often by hand-to-hand combat, if there would even be a self-ruling Union formed from 13-colonies that were currently under the control of an English King & British Parliament.

o At the Bemis Heights battlefield, a group of colonial “rebels” made a battle charge under the leadership of Gen. Benedict Arnold that was won and turned the tide of victory in the patriots’ favor.

o Some historians have ranked what happened here in this Upstate NY wilderness as one of the top-ten all-time battle victories of world history because it turned the tide for the formation of a new country.

o British Gen. Burgoyne developed a plan to split the New England Colonies from the rest of the colonies by conquering Albany

o At first, victories came easily for Burgoyne’s troops at forts in northern NY - Crown Point., Fort Ticonderoga, Fort Ann, & Fort Edward; plus Hubbardton now in VT.

o With just 40 miles to Albany, Burgoyne needed to get past patriot forces on Bemis Heights that held commanding views & defenses of the Hudson River & the Albany Road, the most direct route to Albany.

o On Sept. 19, 1777 he attacked with ~7,200 troops against ~9,000 colonials

o On Oct. 7, he again attacked the colonial lines with only ~6,600 against a growing force of patriots, now ~12,000. Both attempts failed.

o Winter was approaching, & the death of his most trusted field commander, Gen. Fraser, Burgoyne tried to retreat back north to Fort Ticonderoga, But he became trapped. His forces tried to withstand the continuous artillery & sniper fire for about a week but with patriot forces that surrounded him continuing to grow with fresh minutemen & units swelling their ranks to ~ 14,000, Burgoyne asked for terms.

o The surrender agreement called for British arms to be stacked on the grounds of the old Fort Hardy, on Sunday, Oct. 17, 1777.

o Oct. 19, 1781, four-years & two days after Saratoga. The final end came with the signing of the Treaty of Paris on Sept. 3, 1783, nearly six-years after the Battle of Saratoga, but 8 ½ years following initial fighting at Lexington & Concord (Apr. 19, 1775), & the battle on Breed’s Hill in defense of Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775.

Highlights of the Walk

Participants will be traversing hallowed fields of battle: Part I – Bemis Heights Battlefield; &
Part II – British Battle Encampment at Victory Woods, & Surrender at Saratoga (now Schuylerville).

Saratoga Battlefield Walk – All participants will go to each of the locations cited below, as well as others, along the three-trails of this walk. There are no photo records of these events at Saratoga, but each site has information tablets with artists’ renditions of the happenings. To see photos & additional background info of the sites, using your computer or Smartphone from home, or while on the trail: Go to http://sara.toursphere.com; select “Begin Tour”. In walk order, start with: “Battlefield Tour Road”, then Stops 2, 3, 77, & 9; then, go back & select in same order of the walk directions: Saratoga Monument; Victory Woods, & Gen. Phillip Schuyler House. For participants’ extra info, this resource will be available during the walk via your Smartphone.

Stop 2: 1777 Neilson Farm House – This location was selected by generals Benedict Arnold & Enoch Poor as their headquarters on Bemis Heights, highest ground in the area.

Stop 3: American River Fortifications – Located on Bemis Heights, it overlooks & defended the Albany Road & the Hudson River making possible for deadly artillery & sniper fire.

Stop 7: “The Boot” Monument – A tribute to “…most brilliant soldier of the Continental Army. General Benedict Arnold’s name was never added to his monument due to his traitor behavior in the West Point incident.

Stop 9: British River Fortifications – This location was for the “Great Redoubt” on the British highest ground in support of their army’s attempting to force patriot units off these hills, as well as protecting their hospital below & behind this position, and their supplies lines following along the Hudson River & the road to Albany.

Started in 1856 dedication in 1912 Saratoga Monument - A 155’ obelisk, delayed in construction due to the Civil War, commemorates the British surrender, This “turning point” in war helped lead to establishment of a new nation.

Oct 17, 1777 - surrender date - Victory Woods – This area in Victory Mills, NY shows just one site in (old) Saratoga (now Schuylerville) where British forces got trapped for about a week being bombarded by patriot artillery & snipers.

1745 Gen. Phillip Schuyler's House - First house burned down in 1745, French-Indian War; 2nd burned down in 1777 by Burgoyne in his retreat from Saratoga so patriot forces could not use it. His surrender followed 10-days later. Present structure, in part, rebuilt in Nov. 1777 by some British prisoners, believed on foundation of house just destroyed a month earlier.