Freeman's Farm
"Both armies seemed determined to conquer or
die"
--General Glover
The Battle
of Freeman's Farm
September 19
Burgoyne was faced with two tough choices in trying to reach Albany. He could "either continue
down the east bank of the Hudson and cross the river opposite the town, or he
could cross in the vicinity of Fort Miller and march south along the west
bank" (Ketchum, 341). Since neither option was good and since he had
few Indian scouts, he chose the latter option with provisions for four
weeks.
Burgoyne and the British Army began their march on September 13th. By September
16th they were fifty yards from the Hudson River.
General Horatio Gates, who had taken over command, waited on the west side of
the river at Bemis
Heights. There
Gates had over 10,000 men. On September 19th Burgoyne marched towards Bemis Heights.
As the British and Germans advanced on the Americans’ position, Gates was
willing to sit tight while they wore themselves out and died on the
fortifications his men had taken their time to build. This defensive
strategy seemed prudent enough; however, to completely destroy the enemy,
offensive measures would have to be used. Additionally, if given time the
British Army could flank Bemis
Heights and take it from
the rear. These two thoughts gave Arnold, who joined Gates at Bemis Heights
after his Fort Stanwix success, much grief. He
pleaded with Gates to allow him to go out with any others he could spare and
hit the British as they advanced.
"Benedict Arnold argued
that the enemy should not be allowed to seize the initiative: if the British
moved onto the heights instead of making a frontal assault along the river
road, they would be in a good position to outflank Gates's army and would
certainly take advantage of those cleared fields, using their cannon to blast
holes in the American earthworks before following through with a bayonet
charge. He wanted to attack them in the woods, where the redcoats would
be at a disadvantage and the rebels would be at their best. This was mean
rough country, and if you could get those regulars climbing over clumps of brush,
roots, and rocks, and fallen limbs, it wouldn't be long before the
parade-ground formations would break apart and scatter and the redcoats'
ability to mount a bayonet charge would be greatly reduced. What was
more, even if Gates's men were beaten at this game, they could fall back to
their entrenchments and fight on" (Ketchum, 356).
It
must also be noted that this was the best option because the British and
Germans were moving in enemy territory without first performing a proper
scouting job (they were probably doing the best they could do with the few
Indians they had). They marched towards an enemy they knew was present
but did not know much about how the Americans were positioned due in large part
to the thick gullied forest through which they were advancing. After
argument, Gates relented and allowed Daniel Morgan to advance supported by
light troops.
Burgoyne's army advanced in order of battle in three divisions: "Germans
on the left, the British line in the center, and Brigadier Fraser's advanced
corps on the right" (Ketchum, 356). Fraser would move farther to the
west in order to flank the Americans and push them towards the river and the
Germans. To do this, Burgoyne's three divisions were going to be spread out,
but it could work, provided the Americans cooperated. As stated, because
of Arnold's
insistence, they did not. The British pushed through all the foliage and
ravines and arrived at the jumping-off points, amazingly enough, at about the
same time. However, just as Fraser's men advanced through a cleared field
close to Freeman's Farm, Morgan's Rangers fired on them for they had, by minutes,
beaten the British Army there. British officers were the primary targets,
and many were hit with the first shots of battle. Morgan's men, with
their ire up, charged the confused and retreating British, unaware that the
main line was close behind. Fraser rushed up light infantry and hit
Morgan's men in their exposed left flank. Morgan quickly called back his
men to avoid complete disaster. In the confusion, the British opened fire
on their own retreating men. 
Gates learned later that day that the entire British force was advancing.
He dispatched more men in support of Morgan, with Arnold being among those men. Up to
that point, the battle had been a skirmish, but it was "as intense as any
full-scale battle, and Farmer Freeman's clearing was now piled with the bodies
of rebels and redcoats..." (Ketchum, 363). As the battle exploded in
full on Freeman's Farm, the main objective of the Americans was to capture the
British artillery. The Americans would advance and take it for a moment
but could not move it because they had no horses, so the British would advance
and take it back. Thus the middle of the British and American lines, with
Arnold and Burgoyne, were embroiled in severe combat. The Americans would
need more men if they were to break the British center; Gates dared not commit
more men. However, the German right of the British line was practically
unengaged. Burgoyne ordered that they come up to the aid of the
hard-pressed center of the British line. The Brunswickers, under General
Riedesel, were more than happy to oblige and slammed into the exposed right
flank of the American lines with a bayonet charge. The Americans were
saved by the onset of night and their orderly withdrawal.
The British would call it a victory. If it was, however, it was a Pyrrhic
victory; the British had 160 dead, 364 wounded, and 42 missing. These
losses could not be replaced, and the American forces were still firmly
encamped on Bemis
Heights. This
inspired the Americans because "in four hours of hand-to-hand combat the
Americans had held their own against the best troops in the world"
(Ketchum, 372). With the Americans confident and Burgoyne still believing
there was a chance of victory, another fight would come.
Click here for interactive map of Freeman's Farm.
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