The American Revolutionary War.
We visited two key sites of the Revolutionary War today where battles in August and October, 1777 marked the turning point in the war of revolution against the British.
First, a word of support for the National Park Service before the pig in the Oval Office abolishes it. While both sites we visited are free, that does not mean you should avoid supporting the NPS which does a truly splendid job of maintaining our heritage and whose sites remind us of the greatness of the American Republic. At the second, staffed, site in Saratoga, NY, we got the most insightful and knowledgeable history lesson from a Park Ranger before enjoying the equally illuminating movie.
“Where are you from?” he asked me.
“London”. Faster than explaining I have been in America longer than I was in England.
“Know what the best comment I ever got from an Englishman was when I asked why he was visiting? He simply stated ‘I wanted to find out how we lost you.’ ”
And lose us the British did, after the preliminary Battle of Bennington where the revolutionaries raided British arms and supplies, for use against their opressor just weeks later. The turning point in the War of Independence was marked at the Battle of Saratoga where for the first time in history a British Army surrendered, if you exclude the Norman Conquest of 1066. This victory allowed the patriots to buy out the Hessians (German mercenaries fighting for the British under their German king, George III, like me masquerading as an Englishman) with land grants and cash. This made them newly minted Americans, now fighting for George Washington! Ah, mercenaries.
It’s impossible to convey just how moving is the experience of walking on the very battlefields where the Redcoats and the patriots had at it, the Redcoats at Saratoga again brutally mauled by Morgan’s snipers who were as used to shooting their dinner as they became accustomed to shooting the British. And with similar accuracy.
The Saratoga NPS site is exquisite, a masterpiece of understatement. Download the iPhone guide and you are directed to ten low key sites marking key strategic locations of this epic battle, one which saw General John Burgoyne surrender to General Horatio Gates and one which saw incredible leadership from General Benedict Arnold, later to migrate to the dark side. We visited on an overcast day (what else is new in New England?) and had the whole tour to ourselves.
The approach to the Bennington monument. Simple and exquisite.
Where General Stark mauled the British.
Bennington.
Colonel Nichols of the New Hampshire Regiment headed one of the two encircling actions at Bennington. Right here!
Inside the NPS Visitors’ Center at Saratoga. The British were slaughtered in the woods outside this window.
Can you see the Redcoats?
A rare example of Polish intelligence, with but one missing preposition. The military engineer Kosciuszko fabricated ramparts which totally discombobulated the British.
A tribute to Brigadier General Abraham ten Broeck and the Albany County Militia for their key rôle in the Battle of Saratoga.
The British had many of these, the Patriots none. The remaining ones not in the National Park are now on display at Westpoint.
At this, a time when our Republic has never been under graver threat, make a visit to our National Parks and their Revolutionary War monuments a priority on your vacation. And if you make your vacation in the Saratoga area you will enjoy some of the most gorgeous landscapes on the American continent.