8 to 17 October 1777
Saratoga: the surrender
Burgoyne has lost over 1,000 men in the two battles and is outnumbered about three to one. American losses come to about 330 killed and wounded. He lights fires at his forward positions and withdraws under cover of darkness, back to the lines he held before 19 September and then north to Saratoga, near present-day Schuylerville.
British plan of the position Burgoyne’s army took at Saratoga and held until the convention was signed, 1777Wikimedia Commons, unknown author, Public domain (Battle of Saratoga map, September 10, 1777.jpg)
Gates follows and closes round the British camp. On 13 October, with his army surrounded, Burgoyne holds a council of war. Riedesel proposes that they lay down their arms and march back to Canada on parole, but Burgoyne asks instead to be taken to Boston and shipped to Europe. After several days of negotiation the two sides sign a convention. On 17 October the British and German troops march out with the honours of war, and Gates accepts Burgoyne’s sword and hands it back. Congress later revokes the convention and holds the Convention Army prisoner until the end of the war.
Sources
- Richard M. Ketchum, Saratoga (1997).
- Rupert Furneaux, The Battle of Saratoga (1971).
Prev: Saratoga: the redoubtsNext: Brandywine, Philadelphia and Valley Forge