The fall of 1777 brought the Revolution to a breaking point. In the dense forests and rolling fields of upstate New York, General John Burgoyne marched south with a British army that looked unstoppable on paper. But the wilderness, angry farmers with rifles, and a swelling Continental force turned his campaign into a slow bleed. At Freeman’s Farm, Daniel Morgan’s sharpshooters picked off British officers one by one, and though Burgoyne held the ground, his losses were crippling.
Three weeks later at Bemis Heights, his luck ran out. American soldiers hammered his lines, Simon Fraser fell mortally wounded, and Benedict Arnold, defying orders, charged onto the battlefield. Arnold stormed the British redoubts, was carried off with a shattered leg, and left behind an American victory that broke Burgoyne’s army.
On October 17, Burgoyne surrendered. For the first time a British army laid down its arms to a colonial rebellion, and the world took notice. France entered the war, and the Revolution would never be the same.
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