America's Victory at Saratoga
A timeline of events that led up to the first surrender of a British army and the turning point in America's fight for independence.
The Northern Campaign of 1777 called for British General John Burgoyne to head south from Canada, advancing along Lake Champlain and the Hudson River to Albany.
This was one of a two-pronged attack to capture Fort Ticonderoga and control Lake Champlain before moving south to Albany. British Colonel Barry St. Leger would advance from the west via New York’s Mohawk Valley, as a diversionary force.
With an initial 9,000 troops leaving Québec with Burgoyne and allegedly more coming from the south and west, the Battles of Saratoga should not have led to a British defeat.