March to Saratoga: General Burgoyne and the American Campaign, 1777

300 pp. A history of the battle that proved to be the turning point of the American Revolution, during which the colonies defeated the force of Lieutenant-General Sir John Burgoyne. "General "Gentleman Johnny" Burgoyne and his British expeditionary force swept down from Canada in 1777 with the aim of splitting the rebellious American colonies in two along the classic invasion route of the Champlain-Hudson Valley. His magnificent army-the best-equipped foreign army ever to appear on American soil- had everything in its favor when it started on its march: excellent leaders, high morale, a large body of Indian scouts, a confused and ill-organized opposition which was sorely taxed for both men and supplies. March to Saratoga tells the story of this army: how it advanced and how, through its own miscalculations and ineptitude, and the colonists' resourcefulness, it was brought down to defeat and forced to surrender. Aroused by the atrocities of Burgoyne's Indian allies, helped by several ill-considered German scouting expeditions, and blessed with the superior generalship of Horatio Gates, Benedict Arnold, and other leaders, the Americans finally stood fast at Saratoga. There in two battles in the early fall of 1777 they destroyed Burgoyne's army, and so dealt a fatal blow to Britain's attempt to subdue the colonists. Indeed, the Battle of Saratoga is acclaimed as one of the decisive battles in world history, since it assured American independence by bringing wavering France in as the colonists' active ally."