Burgoyne's men were badly battered by the attack, and he made the decision to retreat; his companion General Simon Fraser, however, had been cut down by an American bullet late on the evening of the 21st, during a desperate last-minute attempt to rout the rebels, though he would survive his wounds.
The revolutionaries had become optimistic, but General Schuyler had made a couple of very unfortunate mistakes, however; not only had he not sent enough men, but also, the revolutionaries realized they had only brought enough ammunition for a few days' worth of battle, and hadn't taken into account possible future conflicts. The General's mistakes would came back to hurt them on the 25th, when Baron von Riedesel, formerly the rear flank commander, drove the surviving portions of Burgoyne's army and some volunteers back into the area, dispatching a number of the remaining of the rebels before moving back north to recapture Fort Ticonderoga.[FN4] Schuyler had been injured during the attack and partly thanks to this, gave full command of the army to General Gates on August 10th .
Gates quickly realized that he needed to replenish his ranks with fresh blood, so in later in August, he requested that General Washington send some aid his way. Washington obliged and did just that; on August 26th, both Major Generals Benedict Arnold, and Benjamin Lincoln, a Massachusetts native well-respected by the Yankee militias, reported to their new post in what is now northern Rensselaer County. Along with them came about 1,250 men, 750 from Israel Putnam's forces stationed in the highlands of New York, and 500 specially trained riflemen, mainly from Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, from Daniel Morgan's army, who had been chosen for their sharpshooting abilities. After two weeks of preparation, General Gates's army began to move northward on the morning of September 7th.
Burgoyne, meanwhile, had lost support from his Indian allies, and was deprived of reliable reports on the American position, partly thanks to this. On September 17, the Royal Army had come just a few miles north of Saratoga, about 8 miles north of the American defensive line, and a number of small skirmishes occurred between Burgoyne's men and some of the American scouting parties.[FN5]
Back in the American camp, General Arnold had returned from Fort Stanwix the following day. Gates and Arnold, while not always in agreement with each other, had been on reasonably decent terms with on another, even taking their notable egos into account. Arnold, however, had begun to annoy Gates with his increasing preference, and hiring of, staff officers friendly to Schuyler, which dragged him into the escalating feud between the other two Generals. The arguments would not yet reach a boiling point for some time, but the events of the 18th would contribute to the problem.
On the 19th, General Gates assumed control of the right flank of the army, while Arnold was assigned to the left; the latter position had originally been taken by General Lincoln, but he had been detached the previous month and was sent to distract some of the British positions behind Burgoyne and his men.[FN6]
Both sides understood the importance of the Americans' left flank, due to the fact that it was largely situatied on hilly terrain, which could prove significantly advantageous. On the morning of the 20th,
Burgoyne ordered three of his companies to advance to meet the Americans. Baron Von Riedesel
led the left column consisting of German soldiers and the 47th Foot Regiment, along with artillery on the road alongside the left bank of the Hudson; General James Inglis Hamilton was the commander of the center column, containing the 9th, 20th, 21st, and 62nd Regiments which would be headed towards the hills; and General Simon Fraser, recently having recuperated from his July battle wounds, was to lead the right flank with the 24th Regiment and some light infantry and grenadier companies, with the aim of turning the American left flank by maneuvering through the high ground to the north and west of the Bemis Heights area.
The American General Benedict Arnold had come to realize that the British might attempt to outflank the Revolutionaries' left column, so he requested that General Gates allow him to move his forces from the hills to the forest, to try and repel any such British manuever, and where the Americans would be at an advantage. Gates, though expecting mainly a full frontal assault, reluctantly agreed to this, and assigned a small reconnaissance team headed by Daniel Morgan and Henry Dearborn, to intercept the incoming British. When they arrived, only Hamilton's army had reached them and only a few of them were advancing forward. Colonel Morgan ordered his men to pick off the advancing soldiers, and they did so with rather impressive accuracy. Unfortunately, however, just as the first group of British soldiers had been picked off, a couple of Morgan's men had been spotted by a British scout and they were now forced to battle the survivors. The Colonel ordered two of his men to send for reinforcements while they defended their position. Amazingly, Morgan's company was able to handle them with little recourse, and they began to believe that they had won an easy victory. Unfortunately, however, they were to learn otherwise just as their reinforcements had arrived; it turns out that Hamilton's supposed mistake was actually a clever ruse(though it hadn't worked out quite as well as planned), for right after the American reinforcements arrived, so did rest of Burgoyne's army.
The Americans spent three long, desperate days trying to fend off the much larger Burgoyne contingent and had to rely on all sorts of guerilla tactics to hold their position. General Gates requested urgent assistance from several other companies, but only Enoch Poor's men and the 1st Canadian Regiment made it to the scene; all the others were either still grouping up, or engaged elsewhere.
The battle itself largely alternated between constant and intense combat, sometimes close-quarters at that, and stillness and relative tranquility. As hopeless as it may have seemed for the Americans, Morgan's men did manage to effectively snipe many British officers and artillerymen, and occasionally even managed to requisition a few of the field pieces, though they were usually taken back relatively quickly.
Confusion also reigned through much of the fracas; there were various reports that were often hard to confirm; one American actually thought that he had shot General Burgoyne, only to discover that only a trusted aide of his had been the real victim. On the other side, the captain of a British artillery company claimed to have killed Benedict Arnold, although Arnold was actually nowhere near the encampment that was levelled. There were also times where it seemed like neither side could gain any real traction at all.
On the other hand, there were moments in which it seemed the battle might end: Burgoyne had actually considered backing down and going back to camp after the Americans nearly broke through the line and inflicted dozens upon dozens of casualties on the 22nd. The line held, however, due to the efforts of General Philips and the American offensive began to fall apart and they once again found themselves on the defensive as the British began to push them back.
After this, the Patriots suffered setback after setback; Daniel Morgan was felled by a British bullet on the afternoon of the 23rd, and his company began to fall apart without their leader. They were only propped up by the initiative of Israel Putnam, who quickly seized control of the situation and reorganized them. The desperate Americans, under the orders of General Gates, began an evasive manuever, moving their positions frequently in an effort to hold off for as long as possible. While this frustrated Burgoyne and his men, it was becoming clear that the British were winning the fight, and the General ordered his men onwards to secure their victory. Colonel Morgan wasn't to be the last American leader to fall; Enoch Poor followed him in death on the 24th, his tent blown to bits by a Royalist artillery shell.
Horatio Gates and the other American generals faced a very difficult decision at the end of the day: either surrender or keep on fighting, to the last man if necessary. Benjamin Lincoln suggested that they begin what is now called a 'fighting retreat', that is, continue engaging the British as much as possible while retreating to a safer distance. After some debate, they agreed to do so, though not without some dissent. That afternoon, the long and difficult retreat began; the Americans sought to flee down the Hudson River, though some companies would go off in other directions as well, to prevent a total loss of manpower, and in hopes of continuing the campaign in some form; There were over 200 more American soldiers who wouldn't survive the night; General Abraham Ten Broeck was amongst them, shot by one of Burgoyne's elites and protected by an aide until his final breath. But they did get a few parting shots; Baron von Riedesel was killed by an American sniper, possibly Timothy Murphy, if the 1865 account by William Tennyson is to be believed.[FN7]
The Americans regrouped about 25 miles south of the battle site. Once at their destination, Gates again sent for assistance. Finally, on the 26th, the reinforcements that Gates had long been waiting for had at last come to him, along with several more volunteer units from New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts(including the Maine district), and Connecticut, as well as a few from the fledgling Vermont Republic[FN8], although by this time, it was too late to prevent the British from securing the Saratoga area and surrounding environs. Even so, Gates decided that he would not take a defeat sitting down if it could be helped, and later in the day, he gathered all the other generals to discuss a final plan of action before either retaking Saratoga or permanently retreating southwards further into downstate New York for the time being.
However, Gates noticed that one general was missing; Benedict Arnold had been nowhere in sight since the morning and no-one knew where he had gone. Gates sent for a scout to find him, and bring him back, if possible. Gates then continued the meeting and ultimately, it was decided that one last rush to Saratoga was to be in order. Early the next morning, Gates's scout came back with the final news on Benedict Arnold: He was alive, and well, in fact. But he hadn't been kidnapped as some speculated; the truth of the matter was, General Arnold had actually traveled to Saratoga County of his own free will and was negotiating his surrender with Burgoyne himself! The news proved to be a blow to the Patriots, but even so, he had been one of their more valuable generals; Benjamin Lincoln suggested that they try to retrieve Arnold, alive, from the British camp somehow while they fought Burgoyne's men.
There was some discussion, but ultimately, it was agreed that they would try to recapture Saratoga one last time.
While the Americans had been somewhat better off than in the first battle, they had perhaps no more than 4,000 troops ready for deployment, and at least 1,500 of them had been the volunteer reinforcements from New England as well as New York and New Jersey; losses from the first battle had been severe. General Gates decided to try a surprise attack by a few forward companies on the British left flank, distracting them long enough to bring in some of their own field pieces to attack both the right and center positions. Because Arnold was now indisposed, Gates took over the left wing himself, while Ebenezer Learned commanded the central position and Benjamin Lincoln the right wing. Over the next week, 800 more men joined the ranks of the Patriots, and by October 3rd, they were ready to strike.
The British under Burgoyne, though they too, had taken a good thrashing at the hands of the determined Patriots, now had 10,000 men at their command, and had both manpower and experience to their advantage. Their only problem was that they had gotten somewhat complacent in the days after the last battle and so many of them were unprepared for yet another battle.
The Patriots left their post between 9:30 and 10 am to advance to Burgoyne's encampment, stopping about a mile south of it. At around 2 pm, after one last respite, they charged forward; Gates ordered all companies to open fire the minute they saw British men. Burgoyne's men had been very much caught off guard and had been forced to ready themselves in a hurry. But when they did, the Americans once again found themselves in deep trouble. They were outnumbered and outgunned, but even so, the Patriots fought like they'd never done before. Snipers hounded the Redcoats' left flank while artillery pieces continually assaulted the middle and right flanks; one shell landed right in front of General Williams, killing him and several regulars right next to him. Major Acland, leading the grenadiers, lost both of his kneecaps to an American sniper.
As the intense battle continued through the 4th, though, the Americans were still unable to gain a permanent advantage over the British, and before the end, Israel Putnam would lose his life to a British sniper bullet, and Benjamin Lincoln was severely injured by an artillery shell, that nearly cost him his right leg.
Despite their valiant efforts, the Patriots lost the Second Battle of Saratoga. They had lost over 1,600 men and two of their finest generals, and most of Gates' surviving men were in no shape, or mood to fight any longer. Gates himself was captured late that evening, but many of his men were able to take to the hills to the northwest before then.....including one John Brown[FN9].
The British victory, however, had not been without its price: 2,800 of the Redcoats had died, and several of Burgoyne's generals had been killed by Americans in various ways. Ironically enough, Simon Fraser, who had nearly perished during the July skirmish at Ticonderoga, was one of the few British leaders to survive other than Burgoyne himself, along with Heinrich von Breymann, Lord Balcarres, and a few others. A Pyrrhic victory, indeed...
Once the news of the Patriots' defeat at Saratoga reached Europe, France's King Louis XVI, who had reluctantly considered giving support to the Americans(but only after constant clamoring from the people), decided against it, believing their cause to be lost. And in Britain, King George III threw a lavish party in Westminster Hall celebrating the Redcoat victory, believing that his troubles would soon be over. Otherwise, the international reaction was largely indifferent; America was but just one part of a very large and expansive world, and an insignificant one at that, in the eyes of many.
However, though, the war wasn't won yet, far from it in fact. In fact, the Americans, though starting to become increasingly disorganized, were only just beginning to fight; the amount of guerilla tactics used by the Americans multiplied by ten fold....