The Campaigns of 1777-1779: The North and West, pp. 233-238
Although Washington skillfully had avoided outright defeat in the first year of the campaign, the Continental army would face a tough challenge as the British implemented their strategy to isolate New England by controlling the Hudson River. While the Americans sustained some important victories in this period, such as the victory of Saratoga, the involvement of Indians and the continuing strength of the British meant that the American government needed extra help, which finally came in a formal alliance with France.
Burgoyne's Army and the Battle of Saratoga
The commander of the British army in Canada, General John Burgoyne, was directed to capture Albany. Proceeding down the upper Hudson with his enormous and slow-moving army, he stopped first to seize Fort Ticonderoga, which had been abandoned by American troops when they saw the size and firepower of his army. The British immediately gave chase but lost a crucial month cutting through the thick forest to the north of Albany. The British strategy called for General Howe to move up the Hudson from New York City and join forces with Burgoyne in Albany. But Howe changed his mind and instead attacked Philadelphia, which he took with relative ease. A third group of troops was supposed to move east from the Great Lakes down the Mohawk River, but they were held back in a bloody exchange with Americans at Fort Stanwix. This left Burgoyne to fight the Americans in the north alone. After two costly engagements at Saratoga, New York, food supplies dwindling, and his men demoralized, Burgoyne officially surrendered to General Horatio Gates on October 17, 1777, giving the Continental army its first decisive victory over a major British force. The British offered a negotiated settlement, but the Americans refused. During the winter after Saratoga (1777-78), spirits ran high, but finances and supplies ran perilously low. Washington's army at Valley Forge witnessed some of the worst privations of the entire war due to corrupt suppliers and greedy farmers, who preferred to sell grain to the British—who could pay in hard currency—rather than to their own army.
The War in the West: Indian Country
In 1778, although fighting between British and patriot armies had paused along the Atlantic coast, war in the western interior increased in intensity. In 1779, a year after bloody raids were carried out by American militiamen on one side and loyalists and their Indian allies on the other, George Washington sent 4,500 soldiers to destroy all of the Iroquoian villages in central New York. The soldiers destroyed forty Iroquois villages and slaughtered some of those unable to flee. By 1779, most Indians had concluded that they could not remain neutral. However, Indians who attempted to ally themselves with the Americans discovered that American commanders often could not distinguish between allied and enemy Indians. A group of Delaware and Shawnee Indians negotiated a treaty with Americans at Fort Pitt, promising support in exchange for supplies. However, the promised goods did not arrive, and American militiamen captured and killed friendly Indian leaders. In some places, pervasive anti-Indian campaigns emerged. In western North Carolina and Kentucky (today's Tennessee and Illinois), patriot militias destroyed Cherokee villages, and Indians friendly to Britain tried to drive out new white settlements. Patriot raids on the frontier drove Indians from their homes and shocked British onlookers. By 1780, most Indians in the West had chosen the British side. Although a few allied with the Americans in the hopes of preventing attacks by white settlers, the American patriot conduct of the war in the West made it clear that Indians could expect little protection should Britain lose.
The French Alliance
As a result of the American victory at Saratoga, in February 1778 the Americans and the French drafted a formal alliance against England. The treaty offered the United States full diplomatic recognition and complete military, commercial, and financial support until independence was won. France, as a monarchy, was concerned about the alliance with the antimonarchical revolutionaries but wanted desperately to defeat England. The French navy arrived off the coast of Virginia in 1778. For the first few months the alliance did not bring any dramatic victories, although it would become vital by 1781.
Although Washington skillfully had avoided outright defeat in the first year of the campaign, the Continental army would face a tough challenge as the British implemented their strategy to isolate New England by controlling the Hudson River. While the Americans sustained some important victories in this period, such as the victory of Saratoga, the involvement of Indians and the continuing strength of the British meant that the American government needed extra help, which finally came in a formal alliance with France.
Burgoyne's Army and the Battle of Saratoga
The commander of the British army in Canada, General John Burgoyne, was directed to capture Albany. Proceeding down the upper Hudson with his enormous and slow-moving army, he stopped first to seize Fort Ticonderoga, which had been abandoned by American troops when they saw the size and firepower of his army. The British immediately gave chase but lost a crucial month cutting through the thick forest to the north of Albany. The British strategy called for General Howe to move up the Hudson from New York City and join forces with Burgoyne in Albany. But Howe changed his mind and instead attacked Philadelphia, which he took with relative ease. A third group of troops was supposed to move east from the Great Lakes down the Mohawk River, but they were held back in a bloody exchange with Americans at Fort Stanwix. This left Burgoyne to fight the Americans in the north alone. After two costly engagements at Saratoga, New York, food supplies dwindling, and his men demoralized, Burgoyne officially surrendered to General Horatio Gates on October 17, 1777, giving the Continental army its first decisive victory over a major British force. The British offered a negotiated settlement, but the Americans refused. During the winter after Saratoga (1777-78), spirits ran high, but finances and supplies ran perilously low. Washington's army at Valley Forge witnessed some of the worst privations of the entire war due to corrupt suppliers and greedy farmers, who preferred to sell grain to the British—who could pay in hard currency—rather than to their own army.
The War in the West: Indian Country
In 1778, although fighting between British and patriot armies had paused along the Atlantic coast, war in the western interior increased in intensity. In 1779, a year after bloody raids were carried out by American militiamen on one side and loyalists and their Indian allies on the other, George Washington sent 4,500 soldiers to destroy all of the Iroquoian villages in central New York. The soldiers destroyed forty Iroquois villages and slaughtered some of those unable to flee. By 1779, most Indians had concluded that they could not remain neutral. However, Indians who attempted to ally themselves with the Americans discovered that American commanders often could not distinguish between allied and enemy Indians. A group of Delaware and Shawnee Indians negotiated a treaty with Americans at Fort Pitt, promising support in exchange for supplies. However, the promised goods did not arrive, and American militiamen captured and killed friendly Indian leaders. In some places, pervasive anti-Indian campaigns emerged. In western North Carolina and Kentucky (today's Tennessee and Illinois), patriot militias destroyed Cherokee villages, and Indians friendly to Britain tried to drive out new white settlements. Patriot raids on the frontier drove Indians from their homes and shocked British onlookers. By 1780, most Indians in the West had chosen the British side. Although a few allied with the Americans in the hopes of preventing attacks by white settlers, the American patriot conduct of the war in the West made it clear that Indians could expect little protection should Britain lose.
The French Alliance
As a result of the American victory at Saratoga, in February 1778 the Americans and the French drafted a formal alliance against England. The treaty offered the United States full diplomatic recognition and complete military, commercial, and financial support until independence was won. France, as a monarchy, was concerned about the alliance with the antimonarchical revolutionaries but wanted desperately to defeat England. The French navy arrived off the coast of Virginia in 1778. For the first few months the alliance did not bring any dramatic victories, although it would become vital by 1781.