Detailed work on a turning point in the Revolutionary War

books:

	• Saratoga: Turning Point of America's Revolutionary War Richard M. Ketchum Holt Paperbacks, 1999 - 480 pages average customer review:based on 39 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Detailed work on a turning point in the Revolutionary War

"Gentleman Johnny" Burgoyne presented a plan to end the Revolutionary War and stifle the American colonists' bid for independence. It would involve a three-pronged campaign, with Burgoyne leading a contingent from Canada down to Albany, NY. The end result, he believes, would be the destruction of the Revolution itself.

However, as the Preface notes at the outset, "At Saratoga, the British campaign that was supposed to crush America's rebellion ended instead in a surrender that changed the history of the world." This book examines the campaign conceptualized by Burgoyne and the factors that led to his crushing defeat--and the entry of France as an ally of the colonial rebellion.

The story of Saratoga is also a story of English ineptitude. General Howe was to send troops northward toward Albany; General St. Leger was to lead a contingent from the west toward the east. The result would be a devastating defeat of the colonials. However, Howe did nothing; St. Leger was unable to make the rendezvous and turned back at Fort Stanwix. That left Burgoyne alone against the American forces.

And never did a Yankee general get so much credit for so little merit as Horatio Gates. He commanded the motley American army facing off against Burgoyne. The book well illustrates that others, such as Benedict Arnold, had a much more critical role in victory.

But the heart of the book is the factors leading up to the defeat of the British army at Saratoga. Great detail, a well portrayed narrative arc, from Burgoyne's optimistic start of the campaign to the lugubrious end. Well portrayed are the battles at Fort Ticonderoga, the disaster at Bennington, and the final denouement at Saratoga.

This is a nice portrayal of the campaign that changed the course of the war, well written and with enough detail to understand what was happening. Well worth looking at for those interested in this battle and the Revolutionary War.

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The Downfall of Gentleman Johnny

This richly textured book brings the American Revolution back to life! Ketchum brings a level of detail to his writing that may seem daunting to the general reader, but every page will be sheer delight to the true history lover! Not only does he give us the big strategic picture of the war, and the tactics utilized on the battlefield, he also gives us glimpses of the everday lives of the soldiers and civilians caught up in the campaign.
People like Burgoyne, Gates, and Arnold, not to mention many others whose names are all but forgotten live again in the pages of this book. One of Ketchum's main themes is how the grand strategy of the war was affected by British control of Canada. The Americans knew this; that's why Ketchum starts his book off with Benjamin Franklin's failed diplomatic mission to Canada to get Quebecois support for the Americans. Burgoyne saw Canada's importance better than any other British leader;hence, the seeds of his grand plan. The book very neatly comes full circle with Franklin's successful alliance negotiations with another group of Frenchmen-Louis XVI and his ministers at Versailles.
The star of this book is Burgoyne himself. Swaggering, cocky, and perhaps over-confident, he was a much better general, Ketchum argues, than most people have given him credit for. Even after his surrender, he looked much more like a conquering, as opposed to a defeated general. Ketchum's pen portrait of Burgoyne helps us understand why his troops idolized him right to the bitter end.

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Very informative

Here's what I'll say about "Saratoga": I learned a great deal from reading the book, but I can't say that it was a fast read. Part of that is because so many of the starring characters in this story were not completely familiar to me, so I had to, at times, recall whom I was reading about. There were times when the book dragged a bit and I wish it could have been written in more of a narrative style. However, I'm very glad I read it because Saratoga is a campaign that tends to be glossed over in classes while the focus is on the respective primary armies. It was an incredibly important part of the war and Ketchum explained what happened and why we should know. I'd recommend it to a history student or buff, but not someone looking for a casual read.

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A good account of a critical battle

This work ably relates a broad history of Major General John Bourgoyne's 1777 invasion, beginning as early as Franklin's 1776 secret Canadian mission. An intimate portrait of Bourgoyne (including his relations with Guy Carleton, William Howe, Henry Clinton, and others) is provided with an excellent account of the actual campaign (including the logistics, incidental episodes in retaking Lake Champlain, the Battle of Bennington, etc). Had Bourgoyne won at Saratoga, we'd probably be paying our bills in £ sterling.

Bourgoyne's mistake in using Indians as terror weapons is well related, though the author misses an opportunity to compare the lesson the Marquis de Montcalm learned 21 years earlier after using savage allies at Chouaguen (Oswego NY) in 1756 and Fort William-Henry in 1757. Bourgoyne and Montcalm, as Europeans, seem to share an ambivalence in committing to war as it was understood by native Americans.

One minor question rises in Chapter 14 (`Giving Stretch to the Indians'). The author writes on page 266-67 (Cloth edition): "...as Americans living on the frontier could testify, they (Indians) stole up on their prey as silently as foxes, fought like lions, and vanished into the forest like birds."

This passage is remarkably similar to Jérome Lalement's in the Jésuit Relations (Thwaites translation, v.45 1659-60, Chapter I ): "Moreover, in their method of warfare the Iroquois are so stealthy in their approach, so swift in their execution, and so expeditious in their retreat, that one commonly learns of their departure before gaining any knowledge of their arrival. They come like foxes through the woods, which afford them concealment and serve them as an impregnable fortress. They attack like lions, and, as their surprises are made when they are least expected, they meet with no resistance. They take flight like birds, disappearing before they have really appeared."

One might wish for a fuller discussion of Charles-Michel MOUÈT de Langlade (48, veteran of Monongahela 9 Jul 1755), René-Amable BOUCHER de Boucherville (42, a survivor of George Washington's peacetime ambush of Joseph COULON de Villiers de Jumonville's party 28 May 1754), Charles-Louis TARIEU de Lanaudière and other French Canadians (loyal to Britain during the campaign, while many of their French kinsmen were about to prove decisive on the opposite side aiding the American rebels) but those are minor points.

This is a lucid account of an important episode in American history: well worth reading and highly recommended.

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A terrific book on the Revolutionary War

I love to read Richard Ketchum who is an excellent writer. This book is, probably his best. I have re-read it four times, each time getting more out of it. If you want to know a lot about the American revolution and relationships with England during that period, you cannot go wrong with this excellent book.

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

In the summer of 1777 (twelve months after the Declaration of Indepence) the British launched an invasion from Canada under General John Burgoyne. It was the campaign that was supposed to the rebellion, but it resulted in a series of battles that changed America's history and that of the world. Stirring narrative history, skillfully told through the perspective of those who fought in the campaign, Saratoga brings to life as never before the inspiring story of Americans who did their utmost in what seemed a lost cause, achieving what proved to be the crucial victory of the Revolution.

A New York Times Notable Book, 1997
Winner of the Fraunces Tavern Museum Award, 1997

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