The Importance of the Battle of Saratoga in the American Revolution

The battle of Saratoga was part of a larger plan by the British led by General Burgoyne to capture New York. They planned to accomplish this conquest before the Americans could garner support from forgiven powers such as their long time enemy, the French. The British believed that if they could control the Hudson River they could cut a gaping wound in New England the main base of the Americans. An unusual circumstance for the British forces was that the American forces outnumbered them. The British launched the attack at Saratoga because they were confident that their well equipped soldiers could whip the American rabble and so they did not think their being outnumbered would be a problem.

There were three deciding factors in the defeat of the British. One reason the British were defeated is that the Americans could shoot more bullets in less time than the British could and that the Americans were more accurate in their shooting. This was because the Americans used their own weapons instead of issued weapons. The British forces used the Brown Bess a smooth bore musket that could be manufactured in large quantities though it was not a technologically advanced gun or very accurate. Most of the American forces used Kentucky Rifles which as the name implies used a rifled barrel meaning that the inside of the bore had ridges which spun the bullet and made it more accurate.

The second reason is that the British were being held from route by Scottish General Simon Fraser. Fraser inspired the men he was commanding to hold their ground and withstand the American rain of bullets. Daniel Morgan, a general for the American forces and leader of the sharpshooter regiment the "Rangers" known as "Morgan's Riflemen," was told by Benedict Arnold that the Scottish general on horseback cheering on his front line troops had to go down. He called to his best man, Tim Murphy who climbed a nearby tree with his famed double barreled rifle and squeezed off a shot at General Fraser at the remarkable distance of three hundred feet. He pegged him in the torso and he died the next day. This crushing blow struck by Murphy helped more than any other single individual action by any man in destroying the morale of the British.

The final deciding factor of the British defeat came when General Benedict Arnold led a charge that broke through the flank of the British and carried the day. This final stroke broke the rest of the resistance from the British and soon began to retreat. Arnold was still a loyal American though he was soon to be a turncoat; he was at this time a general that was highly relied upon by General Washington.

The three major results of the battle was that British General Burgoyne surrendered his entire army to the American General Horatio Gates there by ending the campaign to take New York and end the war by means of choking out New England, that the lack of credit given to Arnold made him bitter enough to become a traitor and thusly America would lose one of their few competent generals, and that the American victory showed France that Brittan could be beaten by the Americans and that they should join the war against Brittan and so ended the English hopes that a foreign power would not enter the conflict against them. Through these results it can be seen that this battle was truly pivotal in the war.

Jose Huerta
Revolutionary War Weapons
Revolutionary-war.info

American War Battles
American Revolution.com

The Battle of Saratoga
Saratoga.org
Donald Norman Moran
The Saratoga Rifleman
American Revolution.org