Battle of Bemis Heights
Map of the battlefield of the Battle of Saratoga and views from the south, east and inside of John Neilson's house which served as the headquarters for Generals Enoch Poor and Benedict Arnold .
| date | October 7, 1777 |
|---|---|
| place | Saratoga County , New York |
| output | American victory |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| 2,000 | 5,000 |
| losses | |
|
1,000 |
500 |
The Battle of Bemis Heights on October 7, 1777, also known as the Second Battle of Saratoga , was the second and final stand of the Battle of Saratoga in the American War of Independence . American forces under Major General Horatio Gates fought off British attempts under Lieutenant General John Burgoyne to take their fortified positions on the Bemis Heights.
background
The British plan to split the American colonies along the Hudson River as far as Lake Champlain was grounded in clay. Two of the three initiatives in the Saratoga campaign had so far yielded little or no benefit. Burgoyne's expedition had failed to capture supplies; Particularly noteworthy here is the Battle of Bennington on August 16. His previous attempt to flank the Americans had failed in the first battle of Saratoga, the Battle of Freeman's Farm on September 19. With supplies dwindling and no sign of the support expected from General William Howe of New York City , he was forced to attack the Americans blocking his route to Albany .
The American armed forces had grown in number between the battles. That is why Burgoyne's attack on the American left now faced Major General Benjamin Lincoln's division. This division included General Ebenezer Learneds and Enoch Poor's Brigades, Colonel Henry Dearborn's Light Infantry Battalion, and Colonel Daniel Morgan's Riflemen. Reinforced by militia units, the division now had over 3800 men with a further 1200 militiamen on standby.
course
Burgoyne's plan was in three directions. Brigadier General Simon Fraser was supposed to push behind the American front and secure positions for the artillery. Because he was moving through wooded areas, he had light infantry, Canadian militia and rangers and allied Indians with a total of 700 men available. Friedrich Adolf Riedesel's Braunschweig troops were to carry out the main attack and take the American left, for which over 1,100 men and supporting artillery were available. Meanwhile, Major General William Phillips was to attack the American left in a left hook from the main American forces on Bemis Heights, which overlooked the Hudson River . Phillips' armed forces included just over 400 men from a grenadier battalion under Major John Dyke Acland and the Royal Artillery under Major Williams.
General Lincoln's men had spread north-west from Gates's fortifications on Bemis Heights. At the left (west) end were Colonel Morgan and Colonel Dearborn with more than 600 men. At its center was General Learned's Brigade, reinforced by more than 1,800 militiamen. In the main position was General Poors Brigade with more than 1,400 men. Behind Learned, Brigadier General Abraham Ten Broeck kept 1,200 New York militiamen in reserve.
Learning from the battle two weeks earlier, Burgoyne began his attack in the early afternoon. This should allow his troops to retreat at nightfall if they should. Fire was opened by advancing grenadiers on Lincoln's right. Poor's men didn't fire back, and the terrain rendered the fire largely ineffective. When Major Acland led a bayonet attack on their positions, the Americans opened fire at close range. Acland fell with gunshot wounds in both legs and many of the grenadiers went down as well. Their column was in total disintegration, and Poor's men advanced to capture the two commanders and capture their artillery. Those British who escaped returned to the fortifications on Freeman's farm.
At the western end, things were not going well for the British either. Morgan's men swept the Canadians and Indians aside to attack Fraser's regulars. Though slightly outnumbered, Morgan managed to thwart several attempts by the British to move west. In the meantime, Benedict Arnold was listening nervously to the noise of the battle at Gates headquarters. He had been removed from command and Gates would not let him see. Ultimately, he grabbed his horse and rode into battle. Gate's only reaction was to send Major Armstrong after him with orders to return, but Armstrong was unable to catch up with him.
Arnold rode first to the light battalions in the west of the front. Seeing Fraser repeatedly gathering his men behind him, he told Morgan, "This man is worth a regiment . " Morgan responded by ordering Fraser to be shot, and a gunman named Timothy Murphy did. Fraser fell fatally wounded, and his advance collapsed.
Next, Arnold rode to the main battlefield. Learned's men had a hard time fighting the Hessian advance and lost ground. Arnold helped rally the men and along with Learned led the counterattack. When Morgan, Dearborn, and Poor began to draw closer from their sides, the Hessians withdrew.
After about an hour of fierce fighting, the British had returned to their starting positions. Unsatisfied with just having stopped the British advance, Arnold Learned and his men led an attack on their first fortification. Arnold suffered a gunshot wound in the same leg that had been wounded during the invasion of Canada , but Learned's Brigade took over the fortification.
Although his wound prevented him from fighting, Arnold went to Brigadier General John Paterson's Brigade to encourage him to support the attacks. Here, however, Gates orders caught up with him and withdrew him from the fight. Darkness ended the battle and saved Burgoyne from greater defeat.
Aftermath
Burgoyne, already beaten 3 to 1, had lost 1,000 men, while American losses amounted to just over 500 men killed and wounded. He had also lost several of his best commanders. Not only had the maneuver failed, but his forward strategy was broken. During the night he set fire to his remaining advanced positions and withdrew under cover of darkness. So on the morning of October 8th he was back in the positions he had occupied on September 16th.
But he was weaker than before and had fewer supplies. The American armed forces grew at the same time. The following day he withdrew another 12 km to Saratoga . The stage was set for the final act of the campaign and its subsequent surrender.