The Turning Point:
The Campaigns of 1777-1778
The Continental Army
- In September 1776, the Continental Congress asked the states to raise
88 battalions of troops.
- These soldiers were to serve for three years or the duration of the war.
- Congress would later authorize:
oAn enlistment bonus of $20.
o100 acres for each man upon discharge.
- Congress hoped to raise 75,000 men.
- Only 34,000 enlisted.
- One difficulty: Only the state governments had the authority to raise
troops.
British Strategy
- The formulation of British strategy for the 1777 operations was marked
by indecision, confusion, and personality clashes.
- In November 1776, General William Howe wanted to fall back on the
plan to subdue New England.
- In December, as he was pushing into New Jersey, he hit on the idea of
taking Philadelphia.
- This was risky, as such a move would leave the northern army
unsupported.
- The British command structure in North America remained divided.
- Germain supplanted Sir Guy Carleton with General John Burgoyne.
- Burgoyne planned the two-pronged northern offensive.
- Germain approved the plans of both Howe and Burgoyne
The Philadelphia Campaign
- Assembling the logistical support for the expedition took the British
most of the summer.
- Howe’s force embarked on 23 July with 19,000 men and 250 ships.
- Storms delayed their landing in Maryland until 25 August.
The Battle of Brandywine
- Washington deployed 11,000 troops along Brandywine Creek west of
Philadelphia.
- On 11 September, Howe launched a force around Washington’s right
flank.
- The Continentals fought well enough to execute an orderly withdrawal.
oAmerican total losses: About 1,000 men.
- Washington was forced to abandon Philadelphia.
The Battle of Germantown
- Washington was determined to strike the British.
- On 4 October, he launched an attack on 9,000 British troops at
Germantown.
- His plan for using four columns was too complex for his army to
execute.
- The British rallied and managed to drive the Continentals back.
The Retreat to Valley Forge
- Howe was not able to take advantage of his victory and pursue
Washington.
- From 26 September to 16 November, an American garrison held on to
Fort Mifflin on an island in the Delaware River.
oUntil the British took the fort, their navy could not sail to
Philadelphia.
- The siege allowed Washington to retreat unmolested.
- To keep an eye on the British in Philadelphia, Washington chose a
settlement called Valley Forge for the army’s winter encampment.
The Saratoga Campaign
- British General John Burgoyne planned to march south from Canada
into New York to join up with Howe’s force.
- One of the more flamboyant characters of the War for American
Independence:
oMember of Parliament
oPlaywright
oGambler
oPlayboy
- Burgoyne’s plan called for three thrusts:
oThe main body under his personal command:
8,000 redcoats and Hessians
150 French Canadian militia
100 Loyalist volunteers
400 Indian warriors
oThis force would drive south and take Fort Ticonderoga.
oA second unit under LTC Barry St. Leger at Ft. Oswego on Lake
Ontario:
900 redcoats, Hessians, Loyalists, and French Canadians
1,000 Iroquois warriors
oThis force would drive east along the Mohawk River.
oBritish troops would drive north from New York.
- The three columns would converge on Albany.
The Six Nations of the Iroquois
- Germain ordered Howe and Carleton to enlist Native American
assistance.
oBoth officers were reluctant to do so.
- After two years of neutrality, the chiefs of four tribes of the Iroquois
Confederacy sided with the British.
- While invaluable as scouts and guerrillas in wilderness conditions,
Indian aid was problematic for the British:
oFought primarily for gifts and loot.
oTended to come and go as they pleased.
oCommitted atrocities against non-combatants as part of their
rituals of warfare.
The Northern Department
- The Americans faced numerous problems of their own:
oBritish threats on multiple fronts.
oA divided command structure:
Northern Department commander Major General Philip
Schuyler (upper left) and the primary field commander,
Major General Horatio Gates (lower left), intrigued against
each other.
oShortages of soldiers, supplies, and provisions.
The Fall of Fort Ticonderoga
- Burgoyne’s army of over 8,000 troops landed near Fort Ticonderoga on
1 July 1777.
- Only 3,500 Continental troops and militia under Major General Arthur
St. Clair held the fort and surrounding works.
- The British easily forced St. Clair to retreat when they positioned
artillery on an unoccupied hill.
The Battle of Bennington
- After advancing to the Hudson River, Burgoyne’s army halted.
- General Friedrich von Riedesel, the Hessian commander, advised a
foray into Vermont for supplies.
- On 11 August, Lt. Col. Friedrich Baum led a column of 700 troops to
raid the town of Bennington.
- Vermont general John Stark waited for him with 2,000 militia.
- On 16 August, Stark ambushed Baum from all sides.
- Both Baum’s unit and a relieving force were cut to pieces.
- The British-Hessians lost 200 dead and 700 prisoners.
The Siege of Fort Stanwix and Battle of Oriskany
- The British attempt to occupy the Mohawk River valley likewise ended
in disaster.
- Col. Barry St. Leger’s force began a siege of Fort Stanwix, the major
Patriot stronghold in the area.
- Gen. Nicholas Herkimer rallied the local militia.
- On 6 August, his force of 800 was ambushed at Oriskany by 500 Tories
and Indians.
- Herkimer rallied his men and fought off the attackers
- Once again, Benedict Arnold engineered an unlikely victory for the
American cause.
- He advanced with 950 troops to relieve the siege of Fort Stanwix.
- On the march, his men captured Loyalist leader Hans Yost Schuyler.
- Arnold had Schuyler and an Oneida warrior infiltrate the Iroquois and
spread the rumor that 3,000 soldiers led by “The Dark Eagle” were on
their way.
- The Indians fled and St. Leger had to abandon the siege.
The Battles of Saratoga
- By late August, Burgoyne knew his army of 7,200 was in danger.
- He dug in south of Saratoga, New York, and sent for help to Henry
Clinton in New York.
- Gates had assembled 9,000 men in a strong position on Bemis Heights.
- The First Battle of Saratoga (or Freeman’s Farm) was fought on 19
September 1777:
oA British attempt to turn Gates’s left flank was spotted by
Benedict Arnold.
oHe deployed a force, including Brigadier General Daniel Morgan’s
riflemen, to intercept the British.
oMorgan’s men threw the British back with heavy losses.
- For 18 days, Burgoyne awaited help from Clinton.
- On 7 October, in a desperate attempt to break out of the trap, he
launched the Second Battle of Saratoga (Bemis Heights):
oBurgoyne again tried to turn the American left flank.
oHis force was hit from all sides and forced back to its own lines.
oArnold led a determined counterattack.
oLate in the day, his troops took a key redoubt on the British right
that forced them to abandon their position.
oArnold was seriously wounded in his left leg (lower left).
Burgoyne’s Surrender
- Burgoyne was now hopelessly outnumbered and surrounded.
- On 17 October 1777, he surrendered his remaining 5,000 troops to
Gates.
French Intervention
- Louis XVI and his ministers had been observing Britain’s troubles with
the American Colonies with great interest.
- When hostilities broke out, the French looked to support the Americans
with arms, ammunition, and other military supplies.
- French playwright Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais (right)
established Rodrique, Hortalez et Cie as a front for smuggling.
- After the ratification of the Declaration of Independence, the
Continental Congress dispatched Benjamin Franklin to Versailles.
- His mission: Negotiate an alliance and persuade France to enter the
war.
Marquis de Lafayette
- In 1777, the nineteen-years-old Marquis de Lafayette was a newly-
minted captain on garrison duty in eastern France.
- He was determined to make a mark serving the American cause.
- After a series of harrowing adventures, he arrived in Philadelphia.
- Congress commissioned Lafayette a major-general.
- He served with great distinction throughout the war.
- Lafayette and Washington forged a close bond.
The Franco-American Alliance
- The French foreign minister, Count Vergennes, strongly pushed for
France to enter the war.
- The American victory at Saratoga convinced Louis XVI and his other
advisors that the Americans had a legitimate chance to win the war.
- On 7 February 1778, France and the United States signed a treaty of
alliance
- At a stroke, the strategic nature of the War of American Independence
was changed.
- The British had to redeploy troops and ships from North America to
defend Britain and the empire.
- The Caribbean (below) would become the main theater of operations
for the British, French and the Spanish.
The British Reaction to the Franco-American Alliance
- Whitehall was stunned by this turn of events:
oLord Germain: Pull the British army out of America and fighting a
naval war.
oThe Opposition in Parliament was rejuvenated.
oLord North announced a peace commission would be sent to
negotiate with the Americans.
- Gen. William Howe resigned as commander-in-chief.
oLeft America hated by Patriots and Tories alike.
The Valley Forge Encampment
- The sufferings of the Continental Army at Valley Forge became the stuff
of legend.
- There were two major obstacles to keeping the army supplied:
oThe area had been largely picked clean by foraging parties.
oLocal farmers sold their produce to the British for gold currency.
- A German officer, Wilhelm Steuben, offered his services to the
Americans.
- During the winter encampment, he trained Washington’s troops so
they could fight the British on more equal terms.
The “Conway Cabal”
- After the loss of Philadelphia to the British, many American leaders
were questioning whether Washington should remain as commander-
in-chief.
- One of their number was Irish-born Brigadier General Thomas Conway.
- He and several civilian leaders, including Benjamin Rush and (possibly)
Samuel Adams, discussed replacing Washington with Horatio Gates.
- To what extent the “Conway Cabal” existed is one of the mysteries of
the American Revolution
The Battle of Monmouth
- Washington and his army of 13,000 came out of the Valley Forge
encampment eager to fight the British.
- The new British commander-in-chief, Gen. Henry Clinton, evacuated
Philadelphia and moved his army to New York.
- Washington marched to intercept Clinton.
- The Continental Army caught up to the British at Monmouth.
- Washington ordered General Charles Lee to attack the British rear
guard.
oLee opposed this maneuver, not believing the Continentals could
fight the British on equal terms.
- On 28 June 1778, Lee advanced with 4,000 men.
- He found himself fighting the main body of the British army.
- Lee ordered a retreat.
- An enraged Washington galloped to the front.
- He relieved Lee of command and personally led his men against the
British.
- The two armies fought to a draw.
- The legend of Molly Pitcher (lower right) came out of this battle.
The Newport Campaign
- The British had seized Newport, Rhode Island in the fall of 1776.
- The arrival of a French fleet commanded by Admiral d’Estaing in
summer 1778 presented the Americans with an opportunity to retake
the city.
- Gen. John Sullivan mustered 10,000 Continentals and militia.
- On 29 July 1778, Admiral Richard Howe deployed his ships against the
French.
- A storm swept in, scattering both fleets.
- Howe received reinforcements and reassembled his ships.
- D’Estaing withdrew to Boston to refit.
- Unsupported by sea, Sullivan was compelled to retreat.
- After refitting, d’Estaing sailed for the West Indies.
oThe Americans were furious.
Stalemate in the North
- The battle of Monmouth and the Newport campaign were the last
major military operations in the north during the War for American
Independence.
- Washington’s Continentals maintained positions in New Jersey and New
York to observe Clinton’s army in New York City.
oAn “army of observation”
- The reduced British force was limited to conducting local raids.
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