National Parks Traveler Podcast · Kurt Repanshek

National Parks Traveler Podcast | The Battle of Saratoga

·53 min·3 clips

Benedict Arnold went "in a fury" across the field and was later shot in the lower leg.

The show visits Saratoga National Historical Park near today's Stillwater, New York. Kurt Repencheck opens with the Battle of Saratoga as a key turning point in the Revolutionary War. He reminds listeners that the war did not officially end until the Treaty of Paris in September 1783. Saratoga mattered six years earlier, from September 19 to October 7, 1777, when the British Empire was forced to surrender for the first time. British General John Burgoyne had stretched his forces too thin while marching down from Canada with the goal of taking Albany. His army was nearly 7,000 strong, but it took severe losses in the campaign. Major General Horatio Gates and General Benedict Arnold helped force the surrender. The victory sharply raised American hopes for independence and helped persuade France to aid the colonies. Lauren Roberts, the historian at Saratoga County, joins Kurt with local context. Traveler contributing editor Kim O'Connell adds the perspective of a recent visitor to the historical park. The conversation moves from the battlefield outline to what the ground still holds. Morgan's sharpshooters are singled out for their role in both battles. Their skill helped wound or kill officers and shape the fighting's outcome. The British losses were staggering. The speakers describe the battlefield as hallowed ground because many soldiers are laid to rest there. They note that archaeology remains incomplete, so the exact number of dead is still unknown. The discussion does not soften the brutality of musketball wounds or the limits of 18th-century medicine. It also pauses on the formal surrender lunch of ham, goose, beef, boiled mutton, and New England rum. The surrender scene closes with the fear of Lady Radazel, who was present during the surrender, was invited to be a part of it, and did not know how the victors would treat her and the prisoners of war.

As heard by us

Saratoga comes through as a battlefield, a park, and a turning point in the war.

The episode treats Saratoga as more than one battle. It follows Kurt Repencheck with historian Lauren Roberts and contributing editor Kim O'Connell as they stay anchored at Saratoga National Historical Park near today's Stillwater, New York and work through the strategy, the…

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You want Saratoga explained without losing the park, the battle, or the human cost.

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