by We spent a couple of hours exploring the Saratoga National Historical Park, which preserves the history of the Battles of Saratoga in 1777.
Saratoga was the site of the first significant American military victory of the Revolutionary War and the first time ever that the British army was forced to surrender.
Prior to this, France was reluctant to join forces with our young wannabe nation, but this victory helped them decide that maybe there was something to the colonies’ efforts after all. France’s contribution of funds and people were decisive factors in our overall winning the war years later.
As per usual with a battlefield visit, you’re mostly looking at fields and suggested to use your imagination about what happened here, so I don’t have very many exciting pictures. The 20-minute orientation film for the park is available on online; should you be interested, you can watch it here.
The best site at the Saratoga National Historical Park (in my opinion) is the so-called Boot Monument, which is the only war memorial in the United States that does not bear the name of its honoree.
Before he became a traitor to our country, Benedict Arnold was hailed as a hero at the Battles of Saratoga. He also suffered a terrible injury on the battlefield when he was shot in the ankle (hence the boot on the monument).
You can read more about the Arnold sites we’ve recently come into contact with here.
In nearby Schuylerville, we visited the General Philip Schuyler House.
By chance, the Battles of Saratoga ended up taking place just a few miles from Schuyler’s house, but just a few weeks earlier Schuyler had been removed from his command and later subjected to an eventual court martial inquiry as a result of his loss of Fort Ticonderoga.
Schuyler’s house here was nothing too fancy, serving as a headquarters for the operation of the family farm and other endeavors.
In fact, the house that stands here today is not the same building that stood here in 1777.
When news of the impending arrival of British forces reached Schuylerville, Schuyler’s wife, Catherine, burned the family’s crops in their fields in order to prevent the hungry British from replenishing their provisions. In turn, when they arrived, the British burned the house to the ground. The replacement on the site was rebuilt immediately after the British surrender in 1777.
We visited the fancier Schuyler mansion in Albany a few years ago. It was there that Schuyler hosted British General John Burgoyne and his staff as prisoners-of-war after their defeat at Saratoga. Burgoyne noted that Schuyler was quite hospitable!
Of course, our main interest in Schuyler is that he was the father-in-law to Alexander Hamilton, and this gave us an excuse to listen to the entire Broadway musical again. So, so great!
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