Another crushing calamity was in store for the British. Schuyler’s policy of destroying all the crops along the line of Burgoyne’s march had important consequences. It was well known that most of the inhabitants of upper New York, along the Champlain-Hudson route, were favorable to the British cause. Burgoyne had counted on these Tories to aid him materially, especially in the matter of supplies. Now, with the maturing crops systematically destroyed before him, he was faced with difficulty in providing for his army. This led him to send an expedition of about 800 men, under Col. Friedrich Baum, to Bennington, Vt., to capture a large store of supplies which had been gathered there for the American forces. Gen. John Stark aroused the countryside, and the Vermont farmers turned out and on August 16 administered a crushing defeat to Baum’s troops. Another contingent, under Lt. Col. Heinrich Breymann, came up at this time and threatened to undo Stark’s victory, but the timely arrival of Col. Seth Warner and his Green Mountain Rangers overwhelmed Breymann, and the German commander was forced to retreat. By this blow Burgoyne lost approximately 800 men, mostly Germans, and 4 bronze cannon, which seriously weakened his army at a critical time and prevented him from obtaining much needed supplies. The electrifying news of this American victory, after a long series of defeats, not only discouraged Burgoyne’s Indian allies, but also greatly encouraged militia enlistments in the Patriot army.
Of still greater concern to Burgoyne, however, was the fact that no word had been received from Howe concerning his cooperation from the south. As a matter of fact, Howe had chosen to move southward and attack Philadelphia, even though he knew Burgoyne expected to receive his cooperation. Despite these setbacks to the British, which had greatly boosted American morale, Burgoyne, in compliance with his orders, gambling on the belated cooperation of Howe and on his own ability to smash the American force in his front, crossed the Hudson River at Saratoga on September 13. Thus he severed his communications with Canada and risked all on a push to Albany.
The monument on Bemis Heights to Thaddeus Kosciuszko, Polish military engineer who selected and fortified the American lines at Saratoga.
The American Line
The two recent American victories greatly stimulated the hopes and efforts of the colonists. Men and supplies began to pour into Schuyler’s tiny army which had now retreated as far south as Halfmoon. On August 19, just 3 days after the victory at Bennington, Maj. Gen. Horatio Gates replaced General Schuyler as the commander of the Northern Department. As the American Army increased in confidence and strength, growing from a low point of some 3,000 men, it began advancing slowly up the Hudson. Four miles from Stillwater, the British advance came upon the Americans, 9,000 strong, firmly entrenched at Bemis Heights under the command of Gates.
The American position was well chosen, for here the bluffs so converged with the river as to produce a narrow opening along the river plain through which a passage could be made only at great hazard. With a deep entrenchment blocking the river road, Thaddeus Kosciuszko, the Polish engineer and general who had volunteered in the American cause, had lost no time in establishing a strong line of defense which in appearance was like the segment of a great circle. Powerful batteries extended along the edge of the bluff. From there the line turned northwestward and followed the natural advantages of the ground to a commanding knoll near the site of the Neilson barn where it then turned south by west, terminating at the edge of a ravine approximately three-quarters of a mile distant. The extremities of this position were defended by strong batteries. Most of the line was strengthened by a breastwork, without entrenchments, constructed from the trunks of felled trees, logs, and rails.
View looking east from the American river batteries, the key to the American defensive position. It commanded the Hudson River and thus blocked Burgoyne’s advance.
At the apex of the line, Neilson’s barn was converted into a rude fort, and a strong battery was established at this point. Running in front of the right wing of the American position, in a parallel direction, was a deep, heavily wooded ravine. The area immediately in front and to the west of the center of the American line, however, had been partially cleared, so that the felled trees made an abatis difficult to penetrate. Except for a small number of scattered farm clearings, the rough and rolling ground to the north of the American position was so thickly wooded as to furnish a distinct handicap to a coordinated attack or to the proper use of artillery.