Contingency on the Battlefield

The War in the North, 1776-1778

Benedict Arnold

American Crisis

• Washington’s army shrank due to defeat• Publication of American Crisis• Battle of Trenton, 26 December 1776—

948 Hessians and Regulars captured• Battle of Assunpink Creek, 2 December

1777• Battle of Princeton, Jan. 3, 1777• Wintering in Morristown—British pushed

back to vicinity of New York

Emmanuel Gottlieb Leutze--1850

Saratoga

• Burgoyne’s grand plan/flawed execution• Battle of Ft. Ticonderoga, July 5-6, 1777• Battle of Hubbardton, July 7, 1777• Battle of Bennington, August 16, 1777• Battle of Oriskany, August 6, 1777• Siege of Ft. Stanwix lifted August 1777• Battle of Freeman’s Farm, Sept. 19, 1777 (First

Saratoga)• Battle of Bemis Heights, October 7, 1777 (Second

Saratoga)• Surrender, October 17, 1777 (5,791 surrendered—they

were not paroled and most remained in captivity until 1781)

Franco-American Alliance, 1778• Calculation, not revenge, motivated France—that is, to reverse the

outcome of the Treaty of Paris was viewed in geopolitical terms.• Covert aide through Rodrigue Hortalez et Compagnie since 1776• Charles Gravier, Comte de Vergennes and Etienne Choiseul

wanted to use war to alter balance of power in France’s favor; kept issue before Louis XVI.

• France’s failure to aide Austria in War of Bavarian Succession made it very difficult for France to support U. S.

• Silas Deane, Arthur Lee, and Benjamin Franklin were able to use Saratoga to convince France the U. S. could win and France would not need allies were it to aid U. S.

• February 6, 1778, official alliance—France recognized independence of U. S.; U. S. agreed not to seek a separate peace with Great Britain; France did not send troops until 1780, but extended credits and used its fleet in Caribbean to harass Great Britain.

Armaments

• Brown Bess

• Charleville Mustket

• Rappahannock Ford Musket

• Pennsylvania Kentucky Rifle

Field Cannon

Other Military Matters

• “War of Posts”

• Conway Cabal

• Winter at Valley Forge

• Battle of Monmouth