Larry Mendte Curtis Sliwa America 250th June 26

Curtis shares the story of the Battle of Saratoga and how victory their swayed the momentum of the war away from the British.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Curtis and Larry celebrate two fifty stories that made America
on seventen War. You remember yesterday we left off with
gentlemen Johnny John Burgoyne, the British general, marching down from
Quebec to seek vengeance against the Continental Army that tried

(00:24):
to take Quebec City but was repulsed. He's got twelve
thousand soldiers, eight thousand Brits, he's got Hessians, he's got
Native Indians, and he hits for Tykwonderoga and the Americans
there abandon it. They abandoned. They say, oh my god,
he's got the high ground, he's got all these cannons,
and they flee in the direction of Albany. And the

(00:47):
plan was to end the war right there, to make
this the defining battle. So General John Burgoyne was heading
down to Albany with his troops. He would be met
by General Howe, who was leading the FA in the
north for the Brits, and another general who would be
coming up the rear. Three armies converging on Albany at
the same time to cut off the Continental Army from

(01:10):
New England and it would be over. And so what
happened outside of Saratoga. It was September of seventeen seventy seven.
It was the first battle, and Burgoyne wins, but he
loses a lot of the troops. His lines are stretched
all the way back to Canada. He can't get enough supplies. Meantime,

(01:32):
the American general is Gates, who's sitting in his tent.
He's not doing any fighting, and it's the American major
Benedict Arnold who is rallying up the troops and is
picking off Brits and Hessians, and they're Canadian Indians at
will and withering their strength. So all of a sudden,

(01:53):
gatesh General Gates of the Continental Army. He's jealous a
Benedict Arnold who had anger management issue, and he tells
Benedict Donald, get the hell out of here, we don't
need you. But ben at d'donald knows that the men
are loyal to him and not to Gates, because Gates,
he's just sitting in his tent all day long. So

(02:16):
now there is the choice. Here comes gentleman Johnny John
Burgoyne to destroy the American Army right there at Saratoga,
and instead who rallies him up, almost like mel Gibson
in Brave Heart with a spirited speech. It's Major General

(02:36):
Benedict Arnold, and it caused the Brits to have to
retreat ever so slightly, because they constantly harass the Brits
and the Hessians and the Native Indians. And now General Borgoyne,
who was expecting reinforcements to arrive, realizes it's not happening.

(02:56):
And now militia groups are joining the Americans from all
different points, and so he goes into his tent with
his British captains and he says, we have a choice retreat.
We can flee back to Canada, or we can surrender.
And now the Americans, led by Major General Benedict Arnold,

(03:18):
have him surrounded. So we're going actually surrender us his
entire army to the Americans, which then is heard all
the way in France, where Benjamin Franklin has been lobbying
the king and his court to support the Americans and
enter the war. In between visits to the nearby Bordellos.

(03:42):
King Louis sixteenth, here's that news, and he says, the
French are entering the war. Was sending troops, were sending
our navy was sending supplies were sending money, and then
there's an immediate turnaround. And if you were to go
to Saratoga today, you would see a boot monument, a
boot with spurs and stars of a major general with

(04:03):
no name on it, No Benedicte Donald. That's where Arnold
was shot. He had to recover for five months before
he was able to once again renew his duties with
the Continental Army. But I think you know what eventually happened.
Let me tell you something. All you gotta do is

(04:24):
just just well, you gotta go to Natalie. How do
you get all of these great stories? Please? How do
you get all these great shits? Super easy? Just go
to seven ten WR dot com slash America. Up next,
it's Gay Pride this weekend, the first gay marriage in
New York State. You're gonna want to hear about it.
Plus head to seven TENWR dot com for the special

(04:44):
America two fifty cash contests and your chance to win
twenty five hundred dollars after the eight o'clock news