Despite having fought against the Americans in the
French and Indian War, France was willing to covertly help the fledgling United States. Massive secret shipments of "unofficial" aid arrived in North America throughout 1777.
The French set . . . — — Map (db m253198) HM
On U.S. 4 at New York State Route 32, on the right when traveling south on U.S. 4.
Through this place passed Gen. Henry Knox in the winter of 1775-1776 to deliver to Gen. George Washington at Cambridge the train of artillery from Fort Ticonderoga used to force the British Army to evacuate Boston Erected by The State of New York . . . — — Map (db m9792) HM
These bluffs command the Hudson River and valley below-General
Burgoyne's only route to Albany.
The Hudson Valley here is wide. But in 1777 a huge swamp called the
Great Vly clogged the approach from the north.
General Gates planned to use this . . . — — Map (db m253251) HM
The many American cannons set here atop Bemus
Heights in 1777 could hit the Hudson and the river
road. These defenses blocked the only route for the
British Army to reach Albany. Rough terrain on the
other side of the Hudson prevented a large . . . — — Map (db m253063) HM
Colonel Tadeusz Kościuszko was the "young
Polish engineer [who] was skillful enough"
to see the defensive possibilities here on
Bemus Heights.
Military engineers under Kościuszko's
orders planned defenses which would
use every . . . — — Map (db m253066) HM
Families and communities throughout the Thirteen Colonies found themselves on opposing sides. Most people who lived here on the battlefields of Saratoga in 1777 sided with the United
States. Many tried to stay neutral.
Jotham Bemus lived under . . . — — Map (db m253399) HM
Near Saratoga National Battlefield Road, on the left when traveling north. Reported permanently removed.
After winning the September 19th battle at Freeman's Farm, General Brgoyne ordered his army to dig in about a quarter mile north of here. He hoped that reinforcements would soon come north from New York City.
Weeks passed but no help came. Time . . . — — Map (db m210705) HM
This army's artillery had been captured by the British during the summertime retreat. But old bronze cannons shipped from France and new iron cannons cast at the Salisbury Furnace in Connecticut made up for the loss.
Soldiers were terrified of . . . — — Map (db m253433) HM
In mid-September 1777 you would have seen American soldiers cutting down thousands of trees to build log walls. They also dug earthworks to add extra strength. A Continental Army officer wrote
that "the woods round us are cut...down to form an . . . — — Map (db m253146) HM
