Why Was The Battle Of Saratoga A Turning Point

The battle Saratoga was an important turning point in the American Revolution. After the battle of Princeton on January 3, 1777, the British forces under General Howe and Lord Cornwallis moved all of their troops to New York. Following this, another British general, John Burgoyne, who was positioned in Canada, planned to move South from Quebec, capture Ticonderoga, and then join Howe and another British force led by Lieutenant Colonel Barry St. Leger in Albany. If they were successful in doing this, then the British would have cut of the New England Colonies from the South. Burgoyne’s strategy was initially going to plan. He successfully captured Fort Ticonderoga and continued to move South, however, this is where things began to go wrong. Burgoyne had become overconfident and took a very long time to travel, giving the Patriots and opportunity to regroup and receive support, which they did. The Colonial troops assembled under Horatio Gates, and George Washington supported them by sending Benedict Arnold, his best infantry commander, Daniel Morgan with his regiment of riflemen, and two other brigades. The battle of Saratoga was actually two separate battles. The

The British were fighting a war across a sea. This meant that they had a much harder time transporting supplies and men, and the land was unfamiliar, thus giving the Americans a large advantage. The help from the Spanish and French was also crucial to the Americans’ victory because they provided many supplies and men, and in general were very useful. Lastly, the British strategy was quite poor and eventually left them split up and in shambles, whereas the American strategy, although they had struggles, proved to be successful in isolating and taking down the British