4.3 STRUGGLING TOWARD SARATGOA
CHAPTER 4, SECTION 3
STRUGGLING TOWARD SARATOGA
MAIN IDEA: After a series of
setbacks, American forces won at
Saratoga and survived.
WHY IT MATTERS NOW:
Determination, resilience, and unity
have become part of the American
character.
OBJECTIVES:
1. Trace the progress of the war through
the turning point at Saratoga and winter
at Valley Forge.
2. Examine the colonial economy and civilian
life during the Revolution.
One American’s Story:
Most people predict that the rebellion would
not last:
2-1/2 million in the colonies vs. 10 million
in British empire
Albigense Waldo (surgeon at Valley Forge)
reports on the men – underfed and
underclothed. A lowpoint for Washington’s
troops, but the morale began to improve,
along with their hopes of winning.
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4.3 STRUGGLING TOWARD SARATGOA
BEAUCRATIC SNAFU
 Heavy snows and abnormally freezing
temperatures prevented delivery of food
and supplies
 Many soldiers endured the hardships;
others deserted.
 By the winter ended, 2,500 soldiers had
died and been buried in unmarked graves.
OBJECTIVE #1 – THE WAR MOVES TO THE
MIDDLE STATES
1. How was the Continental Army able to
capture Trenton?
2. Why was the battle of Saratoga
considered the turning point of the war?
3. Why were the victories at Trenton and
Princeton so important to the Continental
Army?
4. What factors contributed to General
Burgoyne’s defeat at Saratoga?
5. What did France agree to in its treaty of
cooperation with the Americans?
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4.3 STRUGGLING TOWARD SARATGOA
1776, March – British retreat from Boston to
the Middle States
 Plan: isolate New England and stop the
rebellion by seizing New York City
DEFEAT IN NEW YORK
 1776, Summer – Brothers General Wm
Howe and Admiral Richard Howe join
forces on Staten Island and sail into NY
Harbor
 Largest British expeditionary force
ever assembled: 32,000
 Hessians, mercenary troops from German
region of Hesse
o Mercenaries – troops that fight solely
for money
 Washington and 23,000 men meet the
British: out-manned, untrained recruits,
poor equipment
 Battle ends in late August, with American
retreat following heavy losses
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4.3 STRUGGLING TOWARD SARATGOA
 1776, LATE FALL - British HAVE
PUSHED Washington’s army across the
Delaware into PA
 majority of W’s men have either been
killed or deserted; 8,000 remain with
enlistment due to end December 31st
 W needs some sort of victory to keep the
men from going home
THE BATTLE OF TRENTON
 1776, CHRISTMAS NIGHT- Despite a
fierce storm, Washington leads 2,400 of
his men in rowboats across the Delaware
River (ice chunks)
 they march 9 miles at 8 o’clock to
Trenton, where a group of Hessians are
“sleeping it off”
 surprise attack – Americans kill 30,
capture 918, and 6 cannon
 8 days later, Americans score another
victory against 1,200 Brits in Princeton
 W then settles into winter camp at
Morristown, NJ
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4.3 STRUGGLING TOWARD SARATGOA
THE FIGHT FOR PHILADELPHIA
 1777, SPRING - General Howe begins a
campaign to seize Philadelphia, the
American capital
 Sails his troops from NY to the head of
the Chesapeake Bay and lands near Philly
in late August
 Continental Congress is forced to flee
Philadelphia as W’s troops were unable to
block the redcoats at the battle of
Brandywine Creek
 Gen Howe is well-treated by Philadelphia’s
grateful Loyalists
VICTORY AT SARATOGA
 Burgoyne (another British general)
suggests to the London high commanders
that he be allowed to pursue a
complicated plan
o He proposes to lead an army from
Canada to Albany, NY
o There, he will meet w/ General Howe,
coming up from NY and the two would
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4.3 STRUGGLING TOWARD SARATGOA
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isolate New England from the rest of
the colonies
Burgoyne had 4,000 troops; 3,000
mercenaries; 1,000 Mohawks
Also 30 wagons w/ 138 pieces of artillery
(as well as his fancy dress clothes,
champagne, etc.)
South of Lake Champlain, swamps and
gullies impede the wagons progress; they
run low on food
MEANWHILE, General Horatio Gates has
been appointed by the CC to command the
northern part of our army.
o He gathers together men from all
over NY and New England
Gates is aided by Ethan Allen and his
Green Mt Boys from VT, who attack
Burgoyne’s troops
AND, poor Burgoyne does not know that
HOWE is too busy in Philadelphia to come
to NY!
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4.3 STRUGGLING TOWARD SARATGOA
 1777, October 17 - POOR BURGOYNE is
surrounded by CC troops at Saratoga and
is forced to surrender
 CHANGE OF STRATEGY FOR BRITS:
let’s keep our troops along the coast –
why?
o Near big guns and supply bases of the
British fleet
A TURNING POINT
 The French were still bitter over their
losses in the French and Indian War
 After the Battle of Saratoga proves the
Americans have what it takes, France
agrees to support the Revolution
o France recognizes American
independence
1778, FEBRUARY - France signs an alliance –
or treaty of cooperation - with us
 France agrees not to make peace w/ GB
unless GB recognizes our independence
too
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4.3 STRUGGLING TOWARD SARATGOA
WINTER AT VALLEY FORGE
 Months will pass before French aid can
arrive; meanwhile W’s troops head to
Valley Forge, for the worst winter of
their lives, while British troops live in
relative luxury in Philadelphia
 W’s problems: bitter cold
 Primitive conditions
 Soldiers suffer from exposure, frostbite
resulting in many amputations
 Of the 10,000 at Valley Forge, 2,000 died
that winter; those who survived stayed at
their posts
SIDEBAR ON GEO WASHINGTON: While
his men all loved and admired him ,the one
thing he could not tolerate was cowardice; he
called it
“A crime of all others, the most infamous
in a soldier, the most
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4.3 STRUGGLING TOWARD SARATGOA
injurious to an army, and the last to be
forgiven.”
Why do you suppose did W have such a harsh
view of cowardice?
1. How was the Continental Army able to
capture Trenton?
2. Why was the battle of Saratoga considered
the turning point of the war?
3. Why were the victories at Trenton and
Princeton so important to the Continental
Army?
4. What factors contributed to General
Burgoyne’s defeat at Saratoga?
5. What did France agree to in its treaty of
cooperation with the Americans?
OBJECTIVE #2 – COLONIAL LIFE DURING
THE REVOLUTION
1. What difficulties did Congress face in
financing the war?
2. What contributions did civilians make to
the war effort?
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4.3 STRUGGLING TOWARD SARATGOA
3. What economic problems did the
Americans face in financing the war?
4. In what ways did women contribute to the
Revolutionary War?
All Americans, not just those on the
battlefields, were touched by the war…
FINANCING THE WAR
 Congress uses what gold and silver it has
until it runs out
 Borrowed money, by selling bonds to
American investors and foreign
governments, esp France
 Printed paper money, called
CONTINENTALS
o As they printed more money, inflation
ran rampant; the value of the money
plunged and the prices rose
dramatically.
 Congress struggles to equip the army
o Few munitions factories; British navy
blockading the coast
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o Smuggle weapons from Europe
PROFITEERING – some government
officials sold scarce goods for a profit
Corrupt merchants either hoarded goods
or sold defective merchandise, e.g.
spoiled meat, cheap shoes, defective
weapons
1781 – Congress appoint Robert Morris, a
rich Philadelphia merchant as
superintendent of finance
o together w/ associate Haym Salomon,
a Jewish political refuge from Poland
they beg and borrow on their personal
finance to pay the soldiers
 Philadelphia’s Quakers and Jews
contribute
1781, September 8th – the troops are paid
in gold coin, known as specie
CIVILIANS AT WAR
 wives forced to pick up the slack when
their husbands go to war
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o they manage farms, shops,
businesses, plus households and
families
some women organize to support the
troops by mending clothes for the
soldiers
many women made ammunition from
their household silver
hundreds of women followed their men
to battle – where they washed, mended,
and cooked for the troops (see Molly
Pitcher, p 117)
About 5,000 African-Americans served
in the Army; others escaped to
freedom, some to the cities where they
passed as free, others to the frontier,
where they joined NA tribes.
Native Americans remained on the
fringe; some fought for the British
(WHY?), but most remained apart from
the conflict.
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4.3 STRUGGLING TOWARD SARATGOA
1. What difficulties did Congress face in
financing the war?
2. What contributions did civilians make to
the war effort?
3. What economic problems did the
Americans face in financing the war?
4. In what ways did women contribute to
the Revolutionary War?
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