Saratoga: Turning Point of America's Revolutionary War

Richard M. Ketchum is as good a writer as there is. This account of the Battle of Saratoga during the American Revolution could just be THE definitive work on this subject.
As the preface to this book states, at Saratoga the British campaign that was supposed to crush America's rebellion ended instead in a surrender that changed the history of the world. Those 24 words are as succinct as it gets. Who could have guessed that those ragged farmers could have at first cut off and then captured a complete British army in the field? Yet that is exactly what occurred. Along with Yorktown and Cowpens this was one of the few times American forces faced English regulars in a stand up, toe to toe fight and won.
Saratoga signaled the ability of American arms and the ferociousness of the American spirit. It destroyed an intricate British campaign to separate New England from the rest of the States and ultimately secured French recognition of American Independence.
This is one richly detailed literary effort that truly does describe the turning point of America's Revolutionary War.

"Saratoga" is the third book written by historian Richard M. Ketchum on major battles of the American Revolution. Using letters and other first-hand accounts from both American and British sources, Ketchum skillfully, impartially, and with great detail narrates the events which occurred in upstate New York during the spring, summer and autumn of 1777. These included the early British victories at Fort Ticonderoga and Hubbardton; the later American victories at Bennington and Freeman's Farm; and the surrender of all British forces by their commander, Lieutenant General John Burgoyne, at Saratoga, New York, on October 17, 1777.

For me, this was a fairly well written account of the battle commonly described as "the turning point of the American Revolution." Ketchum's descriptions of the various personalities and battles are vivid and colorful, and almost transported me to the battlefield. However, "Saratoga" is not as good as his earlier works "Decisive Day" and "The Winter Soldiers." The pace of the narrative is slower, especially at the beginning. Here Ketchum seems to go into too much detail setting the stage for battles to come. (For instance, I kept wondering why so many pages were devoted to the author's description of the Franklin-Carroll mission to persuade Canada to join the rebellion.) "Saratoga" could also have benefited from more maps and illustrations of better quality. These are, however, relatively minor reservations about an overall excellent book, one which I heartily recommend to anyone seeking a greater understanding of one of the most important battles ever fought on North American soil.

I have always been interested about Burgoyne's ill-fated 1777 campaign to divide the colonies. Over the years the campaign and battles have been the subject of many articles and short descriptions, but relatively few full length of books on the subject. Ketchum is trying hard here to be a Steven Ambrose or David McCullough it seems. He is writing a history for the general reader, and not the military historian.

The detail of this book is great, but often the digressions the author launches into are hard to follow. I don't understand why over 50 pages were devoted in the beginning to Benjamin Franklin's silly diplomatic mission to Montreal. Don't we have enough amusing Franklin antedotes in other books without adding to them here. There seemed no point to this long introduction because he reaches Montreal and finds the American invasion has floundered anyway!

Like several other readers here I found the lack of detailed maps very bothersome. With all the descriptions of terrian and movements described here, not to have several good maps to keep track of the action just buries the reader in a lot of needless details. To get to the actual battles of Freemans Farm and Bemis Heights we have to plow through a lot of endless stories and details before the real action starts. Again, I would have liked less on background and more on the actual events themselves.

There are also some confusing references to units in action. At Hubbardton Ketchum mentions an offcier from the 53rd British Grenadiers. This is a confusing reference as no such unit exists. What is really meant here is the detached grenadier company from the 53rd foot which forms part of Acland's combined grenadier battalion. Ketchum describes earlier that this unit was formed from elite companies of parent regiments that were left back in Canada, but with a confusing reference like this the reader can easily get mixed up. The correct reference would have been an officer from the detached grenadier company of the 53rd. This way we know that its a detached company from that parent unit, and not another whole battalion that has suddenly gott'en into Burgoyne's command! Perhaps this was an editing mistake, but its sloppy none the less. Again, details about Franklin we don't need, but details about correct regimental names are important here. Little mistakes like this detract from an otherwise impressive work. Ketchum is also weak on describing a lot of tactical details of battle. Like many Civil War historians the emphasis seems to be more on story telling and human interest than on important details of combat of the period.

The long narrative does make it difficult to keep track of the momentum of the campaign. Ketchum would have done well to cut back on a lot of superflous details, and given us the action on page 150 instead of 300. I would recommend the reader to have reference to several shorter articles on the Saratoga campaign to support this lengthy study. Otherwise its easy to get lost in the thick woods of the book.

Richard M. Ketchum has done such an outstanding job of historical research and non-fiction writing that it's as if readers are there at the scene, watching events unroll before their very eyes. In "Saratoga" he goes way beyond a simple reciting of troop movements and statistical results; he takes us behind the lines and into the minds of the officers. Who were these men and what prompted them to make the decisions that led to Britian's devastating defeat and a major turning point in the Revolutionary War in favor of the Americans?
Ketchum spends a lot of ink setting the stage: Who was "Gentleman Johnny" Burgoyne and how did he come to lead the British invasion of New England from Canada? Who were the Germans, often inaccurately referred to exclusively as "Hessians," and why were they there supporting the British? How did Burgoyne's decision to employee Canadian and--more relevant--Iroquois Indians to assist the British invasion affect the campaign? Who were the American officers and how did they get a rag-tag crew of citizen soldiers to defeat arguably the greatest army on earth at the time? Ketchum fleshes out his character portraits and explanations of the ensuing action with generous use of quotes from actual correspondence of the day by many parties involved, officers and enlisted men alike.
The action chronicles Burgoyne's interminable advance down Lakes Champlain and George to the Hudson River where he is to meet General Howe's northbound Army--a pincer move that will divide the New England and southern colonies and win the war. Their auspicious start--fair weather, fast movement, high morale, superior numbers and weaponry--culminates in the shockingly easy victory over the American's prize northern fort at Ticonderoga with nary a shot fired when St. Claire decides (wisely) to retreat. But from there the fun is over. Nasty weather, brutal wilderness, unruly Indians, incompetent officers, unwieldy supply lines, dwindling troop counts, desertion and disease, and, of course, the tenacious and heroic efforts of the seemingly overmatched American Continentals and militias eventually spell doom for the invasion force in the train wreck called the Battle of Saratoga. Ketchum sketches in fine detail the whole excruciating campaign.
One of the startling obstacles of waging 18th-Century warfare was the slow speed of communication, not just with troops deployed across a broad battlefield, but with distant command structure. Never was this more evident than with British efforts to wage war from across the Atlantic, where instructions, supplies, and reinforcements took literally months to appear on scene. With perfect hindsight it's hard to imagine how Burgoyne's campaign had any chance of success, unless he were to charge relentlessly toward Albany, regardless of the condition of his troops; or unless Generals Howe or Clinton had moved to support him in time, as originally conceived. Time and delay were Burgoyne's greatest enemies.
History books are often tedious. Not so with "Saratoga." Ketchum has set the table for plenty of exciting what-if play by armchair generals. I couldn't put this exciting volume down! --Christopher Bonn Jonnes, author of BIG ICE and WAKE UP DEAD

Well written, with a clear understanding of the strategy and tactics of the battle. Ketchum builds suspense into his narrative, making this a 'page-turner' (if such a thing exists in the military history genre). I have to say, I loved this book. I highly, highly recommend it.

Like Ketchum's other book "Decisive Day" on the Battle of Bunker Hill this book provides a detailed account of the problems and complexities experienced by both sides at Saratoga. Once again the author builds the scene by giving details not normally found in history books and gives the reader a real sense of what occurred through the use of first hand accounts. The Battle of Saratoga and the Burgoyne Campaign are some of the most interesting and exciting events of the American Revolution. This book details these events in a way that gives the reader a real sense of what happened. I highly recommend it.

The late Richard Ketchum is one of our finest chroniclers of the American Revolutionary War. I read Saratoga in the late 1990s shortly after it was published. I considered one it of the very best military campaign books I had ever read. I thought - what a wonderful TV miniseries it would make (it covering too sprawling a campaign to cram into a Hollywood movie). The prose is lucid and with touches of eloquence and lyricism. His description of the weather and landscape for example reflect that Ketchum was no ordinary writer but was a true wordsmith. Even as a relative novice back then, I knew I wanted to explore the Revolutionary War further, which I have done in the more than 20 years since I read this treasure of a book.

I am embarking on a group tour of the Saratoga campaign in June. As I do for any military history tour, I read a number of books on the subject so as to immerse myself and to appreciate what I am seeing firsthand (and to ask intelligent questions of the tour leader(s)!). I of course decided it was time to reread this classic work, which some have described as definitive, so that when I read other books on Saratoga I have a traditional account by which to measure others. After just finishing it, I can say it still sets a high bar by which to judge other works.

There is no need to be an expert on the Saratoga campaign or even the American Revolutionary War to enjoy this book. One can easily be a novice, as I was when first reading this book in the 90s, as Ketchum sets the table quite nicely in providing enough background material to situate the reader comfortably for what is to come.

Ketchum provides interesting background material on all the major characters on both sides, from their physical profile, temperament, military experience (the French & Indian War being an important component for many), skill, and judgement. Some new to reading on the Revolutionary War might be surprised that George Washington is a bit of a side player in this narrative. Still, references to him in this book show his continued interest and efforts to assist Patriot forces in the Hudson Valley. We are treated to a colorful cast of lesser-known characters, some of whom played prominent roles at Bunker Hill and many of whom would continue to be heard from as the war progressed to its conclusion.

The British strategy on the surface might appear to be a sound one – cut off the northern colonies from the southern colonies by controlling the Hudson Valley and adjoining northern lakes and rivers up to the St. Lawrence River. British Lt. General John Burgoyne was tasked with taking his army south from Canada and joining forces at Albany with an army led by British General William Howe. Unfortunately for Burgoyne, due internal politics and jealousies, Howe seems to have had no intention to cooperate with Burgoyne. Instead, he moved away from the Hudson, took a lengthy voyage down the Atlantic coast and up the Chesapeake Bay (rather than take the far shorter land route) to attack and occupy Philadelphia, then the seat of Congress.

Burgoyne’s expedition was therefore doomed from the start. The further south down the rivers and lakes his army traveled to Albany the more overextended his supply lines became. And of course, he had to detail segments of his army along the way to guard his supply lines, forts and other important points, thus weakening his strength of numbers. In addition, as the going got tough further into the campaign, he suffered significant departures/desertions from his Canadian forces, Loyalists, and Indian allies. He was severely disappointed that the promise of huge numbers of Loyalists joining his army never materialized.

The most disturbing allies Burgoyne recruited were a large number of Indian tribes deliberately designed to strike fear into the hearts of colonists and Patriot soldiers. These warriors were not selected from peaceful Indian communities. Instead, they came from very warlike tribes. Their only motivation for joining Burgoyne’s army was the explicit promise of scalps and plunder. Burgoyne naively believed he could keep the Indians from in engaging in indiscriminate killings and plundering of noncombatants. Burgoyne soon realized the folly of this belief and grasped how uncontrollable they were. The descriptions of their horrors are not for readers of the faint of heart. While the Indians were effective scouts and certainly terrorized Patriot soldiers, their effectiveness was outweighed by their sheer lack of discipline. As the fighting got tougher and involved standup battles, many of the Indians headed home after suffering more casualties than they expected and suspecting the campaign was not going well.

The Patriot forces were initially led by Philip Schuyler and Arthur St. Clair. They essentially started from scratch, especially finding Fort Ticonderoga to be a ruin. Congress refused repeated entreaties to send more troops and supplies. States were also reluctant to send their militias. They built up the defenses of Ticonderoga and constructed fortifications across the river at Mt. Independence. Unfortunately, a suggestion by a Patriot officer to fortify a nearby hill went unheeded (though I have some doubt whether it would have ultimately made a difference).

When Burgoyne’s army started to surround the Patriot forces in July 1776, St. Clair realized a retreat was in order and evacuated the fortifications and headed south. Although there were negative repercussions for Schulyer and St. Clair for the retreat, it set up the ultimate defeat of Burgoyne at a date and on ground far more favorable to the Patriots (and with many more Rebel soldiers joining the fight) around Bemis Heights in September and October. A staunch defense by the Rebel rear guard at Hubbardton blunted the British pursuit of the retreating American army. The Rebels roughly handled the British forces at the battle of Bennington on August 16th.

Had Burgoyne more aggressively pursued the Patriot forces, he may have been able to do more damage. Instead, he paused for weeks to consolidate his forces and supply lines. His army was terribly short of food, clothing, horses, forage for his animals, and other critical supplies. Part of this dilemma was of course his own doing for not better preparing for his supply needs on such a deep expedition into New York. Still, Burgoyne was expecting and even pleading for help from his brother generals, which was not forthcoming.

Burgoyne’s army was deteriorating from illness, combat losses, and desertions. Winter was coming, and his men were not clothed for such weather. Rebel forces were in his rear causing destruction and preventing some supplies from reaching him. He realized he needed to move forward and take Albany before the weather caught up with him.

Schuyler had Burgoyne in a bad place with an army bleeding in strength and opportunities. Realizing the urgency of the situation, Congress and the states finally acted sending many soldiers his way. Nevertheless, just prior to the battle of Bennington, he and St. Clair were finally advised (as they expected) that they would be replaced and were to report when relieved to Congress in Philadelphia to account for the decision to abandon Fort Ticonderoga.

Horatio Gates, an enemy of Schuyler’s, succeeded him and found himself in a position of gathering strength. His scouts located Bemis Heights as an excellent defensive location from which to meet southbound Burgoyne. Most Americans hearing the name “Benedict Arnold,” to the extent they associate him with the Revolutionary War only think of him as being a traitor to the Patriot cause. They have long forgotten (perhaps the just punishment due him) Arnold’s many contributions to the Patriot cause. Students of the war recognize him as one of the American’s finest combat commanders. Here at Saratoga, at the two battles of Freeman Farm and the Wheatfield, Arnold dramatically inspired the Rebels to defeat the British in two drawn-out and brutal fights. The latter fight caused a serious wound to a prior wound to his left leg from another battle, which ironically seems to have been a factor in his subsequent attempt to betray the Patriot cause at West Point. Ketchum handles all the battle action in a dramatic and through manner.

Burgoyne then found himself surrounded and out of options. Hoping that Howe and his subordinate, Henry Clinton, might still be on the way to rescue him, Burgoyne forlornly attempted to stall during the surrender talks and even after agreeing to surrender terms dallied before finally being given ten minutes to surrender or be attacked. He and his troops were treated magnanimously by Gates and his troops. It is almost incredible to learn that when the British (and their allies, the Germans) walked past the Americans, the latter showed respect to them and did not heckle them as they walked by.

Ketchum perceptively explains the explosive effect this American victory had on American morale and on Benjamin Franklin’s ability to convince the French to come to the aid of the American rebels, aid that bore fruit at Yorktown. Recognizing the folly of what occurred, the British never mounted a similar attempt. They also focused their attempts on the American south, again chasing the fool’s gold of reports of strong Loyalist sentiment there.

The author is to be praised for his prodigious research, which is all the more impressive as it was done largely in the infancy of the internet when access to online resources was so limited.

Ketchum has produced a masterpiece of American Revolution history in this book. He also uniquely ends his story with a fascinating vignette of a Patriot captain freeing an enslaved African-American woman and her child from British forces. Unlike many tedious and dry history books, Saratoga captivates the reader. In short, this wonderful account of the Saratoga campaign stands the test of time.

My only complaint about the book is the relatively skimpy maps provided. The fine narrative deserved much better maps.

I will next read The Compleat [not a spelling error!] Victory: Saratoga and the American Revolution by Kevin Weddle and providing a review here on Amazon to compare and contrast it with Ketchum’s excellent work.

This richly textured book brings the American Revolution back to life! Ketchum brings a level of detail to his writing that may seem daunting to the general reader, but every page will be sheer delight to the true history lover! Not only does he give us the big strategic picture of the war, and the tactics utilized on the battlefield, he also gives us glimpses of the everday lives of the soldiers and civilians caught up in the campaign.
People like Burgoyne, Gates, and Arnold, not to mention many others whose names are all but forgotten live again in the pages of this book. One of Ketchum's main themes is how the grand strategy of the war was affected by British control of Canada. The Americans knew this; that's why Ketchum starts his book off with Benjamin Franklin's failed diplomatic mission to Canada to get Quebecois support for the Americans. Burgoyne saw Canada's importance better than any other British leader;hence, the seeds of his grand plan. The book very neatly comes full circle with Franklin's successful alliance negotiations with another group of Frenchmen-Louis XVI and his ministers at Versailles.
The star of this book is Burgoyne himself. Swaggering, cocky, and perhaps over-confident, he was a much better general, Ketchum argues, than most people have given him credit for. Even after his surrender, he looked much more like a conquering, as opposed to a defeated general. Ketchum's pen portrait of Burgoyne helps us understand why his troops idolized him right to the bitter end.

I love to read Richard Ketchum who is an excellent writer. This book is, probably his best. I have re-read it four times, each time getting more out of it. If you want to know a lot about the American revolution and relationships with England during that period, you cannot go wrong with this excellent book.

A splendid, splendid narrative, intricately crafted and extremely readable.Mr. Ketchum has captured the grand panorama of the politicians' and generals' war, and overlayed it with the sufferings and emotions of the individual soldier. With words drawn from contemporary letters and diaries, the author has succeeded in infusing the narrative with the flavor and character of the era , such that the complete package plays out like a finely crafted symphony. "Saratoga-Turning Point of the Revolutionary War" should be read for its clarity, its history and its prose, and should satisfy both the history lover and the general reader.