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    The Four Decisions That Changed The Course Of The American Revolution: A Case Study Of Lieutenant General John Burgoyne’s Northern Campaign Of 1777 And Maneuver Warfare
    The Four Decisions That Changed The Course Of The American Revolution: A Case Study Of Lieutenant General John Burgoyne’s Northern Campaign Of 1777 And Maneuver Warfare
    The Four Decisions That Changed The Course Of The American Revolution: A Case Study Of Lieutenant General John Burgoyne’s Northern Campaign Of 1777 And Maneuver Warfare
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    The Four Decisions That Changed The Course Of The American Revolution: A Case Study Of Lieutenant General John Burgoyne’s Northern Campaign Of 1777 And Maneuver Warfare

    By Major Gerry W. Leonard Jr. USMC

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    During the winter of 1776-1777, Lieutenant General John Burgoyne, who at the time was second in command of Britain’s Northern Army (based in Canada), proposed his “Thoughts for Conducting the War from the Side of Canada” to King George III. Unhappy with the lack of success during the Northern Campaign of 1776, King George approved Burgoyne’s campaign plan and chose Burgoyne to lead the Northern Army. Burgoyne’s plan was a simple two-pronged attack from Quebec to seize Albany and secure the Lake Champlain-Lake George-Hudson River Waterway. After seizing Albany, Burgoyne expected to linkup with a third force attacking north from New York City.

    While strategic policies and decisions negatively affected Burgoyne’s campaign and the third force from New York City never really materialized, Burgoyne’s campaign concept was both feasible and achievable. Of the two forces attacking south from Canada, Burgoyne commanded the main attack force of 9,000-plus soldiers and Brigadier General Barry St Leger commanded a 2,000 man diversionary force. In his “Thoughts for Conducting the War from the Side of Canada,” Burgoyne intended to seize Fort Ticonderoga and develop a theater logistics base before advancing, via Lake Champlain-Lake George-Hudson River waterway, on Albany. Simultaneous with Burgoyne’s advance on Albany from the north, St Leger was advancing on Albany from the west, using the St Lawrence River-Lake Erie-Mohawk River waterway as a his axis of advance. Ultimately, Burgoyne believed that both attacks would make the Americans to split their forces in order to defend Albany.

    While the British tackled supply problems, the Americans seized the initiative by harassing and delaying the British and destroying the only usable roads. By September, the Americans were dictating the terms of each engagement and controlling the tempo of the campaign.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherGolden Springs Publishing
    Release dateNov 6, 2015
    ISBN9781782899525
    The Four Decisions That Changed The Course Of The American Revolution: A Case Study Of Lieutenant General John Burgoyne’s Northern Campaign Of 1777 And Maneuver Warfare

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      Book preview

      The Four Decisions That Changed The Course Of The American Revolution - Major Gerry W. Leonard Jr. USMC

      This edition is published by PICKLE PARTNERS PUBLISHING—www.picklepartnerspublishing.com

      To join our mailing list for new titles or for issues with our books – picklepublishing@gmail.com

      Or on Facebook

      Text originally published in 2003 under the same title.

      © Pickle Partners Publishing 2014, all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means, electrical, mechanical or otherwise without the written permission of the copyright holder.

      Publisher’s Note

      Although in most cases we have retained the Author’s original spelling and grammar to authentically reproduce the work of the Author and the original intent of such material, some additional notes and clarifications have been added for the modern reader’s benefit.

      We have also made every effort to include all maps and illustrations of the original edition the limitations of formatting do not allow of including larger maps, we will upload as many of these maps as possible.

      The Four Decisions that Changed the Course of the American Revolution — A Case Study of Lieutenant General John Burgoyne’s Northern Campaign of 1777 and Maneuver Warfare

      Major Gerry W. Leonard, Jr., U.S. Marine Corps

      TABLE OF CONTENTS

      Contents

      TABLE OF CONTENTS 4

      EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 5

      Chapter 1: Introduction 7

      Introduction 7

      Maneuver Warfare Concepts 10

      Chapter 2: Pursuit to Hubbardton and Skenesboro 13

      Fort Ticonderoga 13

      Decision Point #1: Pursuit to Hubbardton and Skenesboro 16

      Analysis of Decision Point #1 19

      Chapter 3: Burgoyne’s Road 23

      Operational Pause at Skenesboro 23

      Decision Point #2: Burgoyne’s Road 25

      Analysis of Decision Point #2 27

      Chapter 4: Crossing the American Rubicon 31

      Operational Pause on the East Bank of the Hudson 31

      Decision Point #3: Crossing the American Rubicon 33

      Analysis of Decision Point #3 35

      Chapter 5: Reconnaissance in Force 38

      Operational Pause at Sword’s House 38

      Decision Point #4: Reconnaissance in Force 41

      Analysis of Decision Point #4 44

      Chapter 6: Conclusion 47

      REQUEST FROM THE PUBLISHER 49

      Bibliography 50

      EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

      Thesis: This historical study examines the British Northern Campaign of 1777 with particular emphasis on the four critical decisions Lieutenant General John Burgoyne made during the conduct of the campaign that resulted in his surrender to the Americans near Saratoga, New York. The Marine Corp’s maneuver warfare doctrine is used to analyze the four decisions.

      Discussion: During the winter of 1776-1777, Lieutenant General John Burgoyne, who at the time was second in command of Britain’s Northern Army (based in Canada), proposed his Thoughts for Conducting the War from the Side of Canada to King George III. Unhappy with the lack of success during the Northern Campaign of 1776, King George approved Burgoyne’s campaign plan and chose Burgoyne to lead the Northern Army. Burgoyne’s plan was a simple two-pronged attack from Quebec to seize Albany and secure the Lake Champlain-Lake George-Hudson River Waterway. After seizing Albany, Burgoyne expected to linkup with a third force attacking north from New York City.

      While strategic policies and decisions negatively affected Burgoyne’s campaign and the third force from New York City never really materialized, Burgoyne’s campaign concept was both feasible and achievable. Of the two forces attacking south from Canada, Burgoyne commanded the main attack force of 9,000-plus soldiers and Brigadier General Barry St Leger commanded a 2,000 man diversionary force. In his Thoughts for Conducting the War from the Side of Canada, Burgoyne intended to seize Fort Ticonderoga and develop a theater logistics base before advancing, via Lake Champlain-Lake George-Hudson River waterway, on Albany. Simultaneous with Burgoyne’s advance on Albany from the north, St Leger was advancing on Albany from the west, using the St Lawrence River-Lake Erie-Mohawk River waterway as a his axis of advance. Ultimately, Burgoyne believed that both attacks would make the Americans to split their forces in order to defend Albany.

      Burgoyne’s campaign progressed smoothly until the fall of Fort Ticonderoga. After his quick and easy rout of the Americans at Fort Ticonderoga, Burgoyne began making decisions that deviated from him campaign plan. Rather than halting his army at Fort Ticonderoga, Burgoyne decided to pursue the fleeing American army. Shortly after this decision (pursue), Burgoyne’s army ran out supplies and consolidated near Skenesboro, New York. At Skenesboro, Burgoyne made a second decision that further deviated from his original plan. At Skenesboro, Burgoyne decided to continue the advance on Albany by a land rather than water. Both his decision to pursue the Americans after the capture of Fort Ticonderoga and his decision to travel by land vice water, exacerbated Burgoyne’s supply problems. Relying on re-supply from Quebec rather than Fort Ticonderoga, Burgoyne’s advance slowed the further his army moved south. Eventually, the Northern Army’s advance ground to a halt on the east side of the Hudson River because of supply shortages and overextended lines.

      While the British tackled supply problems, the Americans seized the initiative by harassing and delaying the British and destroying the only usable roads. By September, the Americans were dictating the terms of each engagement and controlling the tempo of the campaign. On 12 September 1777, Burgoyne made a third critical decision — he crossed the Hudson River and cut his escape and his supply route. Burgoyne had no recourse from this decision because he could not return to Quebec or Fort Ticonderoga before winter froze

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