The next stop on our Grand Tour of Historic Waterways was to the Hudson River, site of the Battle of Saratoga, fought in October 1777.
Strategic Lake Champlain-Hudson River Valley
The visitor center had a great display using lights to show the major waterways of Lake Champlain-Hudson River Valley.
The 110-mile Lake Champlain, 32-mile Lake George, and 315-mile Hudson River run north and south from southern Canada into New York.
Another lit up map detailed the specific British and American movements on the battlefield that lies along the Hudson River.
British General Burgoyne’s goal explains the significance of these waterways:
I have always thought Hudson’s River the most proper part of the whole continent for opening vigorous operations. Because the course of the river, so beneficial for conveying all the bulky necessaries of an army, is precisely the route that an army ought to take for the great purposes of cutting the communications between the Southern and Northern Provinces, giving confidence to the Indians, and securing a junction with the Canadian forces.
British General John Burgoyne took advantage of the 17th century French trade route from Canada., down Lake Champlain, portage to Lake George, and then to the Hudson River, to arrive at this strategic point in Saratoga to fight the Continental Army.
If the British capture Saratoga, the heart of the Hudson River, the British cut New England from the other states.
Another major waterway running east to west along the Mohawk River
Meanwhile another group of British forces arrived from the east on another major waterway system, from Lake Ontario to the Mohawk River, then via the Hudson River, into Albany (near Saratoga) to meet up with Burgoyne’s troops.
Britain’s goal was to stop America before she would be reenforced by France or Spain.
Fortifications engineered by Thaddeus Kosciuszko
Meanwhile the Continental Army had the advantage of controlling Saratoga, as Colonel Thaddeus Kosciuszko, prepared for American victory but putting his engineering skills to work.
Under Kosciuszko’s guidance, sappers and miners prepared fortifications on the naturally raised ground of Bemis Heights, which overlooks the Hudson River.
At this site the road to Albany at a natural “bottleneck” in the river valley. The heights gave a commanding view north, where the British would be advancing from. Dense woodland and difficult ravines prevented the British from traversing the land just east of the river. Swampland and ravines directly beneath Bemis Heights restricted Burgoyne’s advance to the river and the road, both of which were highly visible and vulnerable to American forces. –Saratoga Battlefield
The Battle of Saratoga, turning point of the American Revolution for the Continental Army, resulted in France’s support of America.
General Philip Schuyler House burned by British
One of the victorious American generals at Saratoga was General Philip Schuyler, who had a country home in the nearby town of Schuylerville, where the surrender ceremonies took place (in the town).
The British burned down General Schuyler’s home as they left the Battle of Saratoga. Shortly thereafter it was rebuilt.
In fact, it had previously been burned down in the French and Indian War.
Schuyler descended from Dutch ancestors and was born in Albany, where his fancy house was located.
This house allowed him to attend to business matters in the area.
