When the 2,000-strong Albany County militia, commanded by Brig. Gen. Abraham Ten Broeck, came up to join the fighting, the British forces, discouraged by the loss of Fraser and the turn of events, retreated to the protection of their fortified positions. Within less than an hour after the opening of the attack, Burgoyne had lost 8 cannon and more than 400 officers and men, killed, wounded, or prisoners. Flushed with victory, part of the American forces were led by Arnold in a savage and costly attack on the Balcarres Redoubt, a position of great strength which lay on the Freeman Farm.
View of the West Bank of the Hudson’s River 3 Miles above Still Water, upon which the Army under the command of Lt. General Burgoyne, took post on 20th. Sepr 1777 (Shewing General Frazer’s Funeral.)
This print, published in London in 1789, presumably shows the British position at the Great Redoubt. According to the inscription accompanying the original print, it also portrays a scene during Fraser’s funeral. The original inscription seems to contain certain inconsistencies. Courtesy Life Magazine.
When repeated attacks failed to carry this position, into which the remnants of Burgoyne’s flanking column had retreated, Arnold wheeled his horse and, dashing between the crossfire from both armies, rode northward in the direction of the Breymann Redoubt. In front of this work were American units that had circled farther to the north after the retreat of the British flanking column and had taken no part in the attack on the Balcarres Redoubt. Between the Balcarres and Breymann Redoubts stood two log cabins, held by Canadian troops. The attack on Breymann’s position was being delayed until these cabins could be overcome. At about the time that Arnold arrived at the Breymann Redoubt, an attack was launched against the front and left of the fortification. Arnold joined the men attacking the left and rear. The combined attacks rapidly drove the defending German troops from the redoubt. Only darkness saved Burgoyne from a general retreat. As Arnold entered the rear of the redoubt, just as the work fell, he was shot in the leg by a German soldier. Had he died there, posterity would have known few names brighter than that of Benedict Arnold. The fall of this redoubt, which covered the right and rear of Burgoyne’s fortified camp, forced him to order a general retreat. Colonel Breymann was killed in the assault on the redoubt that bears his name.
That night Burgoyne withdrew his army to the high ground north of the Great Ravine. Fraser’s life slowly ebbed away throughout the night, and on the evening of October 8 he was buried in the Great Redoubt, in accordance with his own request. The retreat of the army northward was held up by Burgoyne long enough to administer the last rites in an impressive ceremony as Fraser’s body was lowered into the ground. Shots from American gunners, who did not understand what was taking place, struck close and threw dust on the officiating chaplain. Early in the morning of October 9, the British Army took up its retreat to Saratoga. The British had suffered approximately 1,000 casualties in the fighting of the past 3 weeks as compared to an American loss of less than half that number.
Retreat and Surrender
An American force was already present on the east side of the Hudson, opposite Saratoga, thus blocking the crossing of the river. To continue the retreat northward in an effort to reach Fort Edward was now almost impossible for Burgoyne’s weary and badly depleted army. In a few days he was completely surrounded on the heights of Saratoga by the American force which, by this time, had grown to about 20,000 men. Hopelessly outnumbered, provisions all but exhausted, and devoid of hope of help from the south, Burgoyne was forced to surrender on October 17, 1777.
62nd British Regiment uniform: red coat (cut down), short black canvas gaiters, buff facings, waistcoat and breeches, white regimental lace with two blue and one yellow or straw-colored stripes. From an early print.