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BATTLE // October 17, 1777

Saratoga campaign

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Source · Wikipedia

Significance

The Saratoga campaign of 1777 was a British attempt to seize military control of the Hudson River valley, a strategically vital corridor during the American Revolutionary War. The campaign ended in the surrender of a British army, an outcome historian Edmund Morgan identifies as a great turning point of the war. According to Morgan, the defeat secured for the Americans the foreign assistance that constituted the last element needed for victory. With a British force of roughly 8,500 facing a combined American strength of approximately 25,000 under commanders including Horatio Gates and Benedict Arnold, the scale of the British loss lent the outcome sufficient weight to alter the international dimension of the conflict.

Forces & casualties

Troop strength

  • United States25,000
    medium
  • Great Britain8,500
    medium

United States fielded a 2.9 : 1 numerical advantage

Commanders (21)

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6 sibling battles · 6 factions

Last verified June 2026
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