Mike and Roxanne travel east

Saratoga Battlefield National Historic Site Sep 8, 2007

From here we head a little further north to the Saratoga National Historic Site.

This site is one of the turning points of the American Revolutionary War.

A little history lesson here, just in case you may have forgotten and which I probably should have mentioned a long time ago.

British had engaged in a war with France and Spain from the late 1600's on into the 1700's. Funds were depleted and England felt that the colonies would be a good source of revenue. They began to put taxes on nearly everything, rum, molasses, lumber, and foodstuffs. They later added taxes on glass, painter's lead, and tea.

The colonies rebelled, refused to pay the tax and England capitulated and repealed all but the tax on tea. The colonies held the Boston Tea Party

Into this mix the British were finding that the Americans would not just lay down and surrender but were fighting for their rights to be "free" from control by England.

In 1777 General John Burgoyne began to move his 9,000 British and German troops south from Canada along the Hudson River to Albany and be met by other British troops from the West to take control of New York. It was a general feeling that this would quell the rebellious colonists.

Burgoyne said that the river was "precisely the route than an army ought to take for the great purpose of cutting the communications between the southern and northern provinces."

Burgoyne's first objective was Fort Ticonderoga, which fell without a shot being fired. But as he advanced south he met 9,000 American troops under the command of General Horatio Gates. The first battle on Sept. 19, 1777 was fierce, the British held the battlefield and considered themselves victorious. but the American's had only fallen back to regroup

Burgoyne's waited for promised reinforcements, which never arrived and yet he attempted a second assault, on Oct. 7. In just the first few hours he lost eight cannons and 600 officers and men. He was forced to retreat and finally realized that the Americans were not going to give up easily and on Oct. 17, 1777 Burgoyne surrendered, giving the Americans one of their most decisive victories.

One of the new devices we have seen in many of the battlefield historic sites have been the use of fiber-optic light displays. They are used to depict the British and Southern soldiers in red lights and the Americans and Union soldiers in blue lights. The battles of either the Revolution or Civil War are carried out with the lights moving across a bas-relief of the battlefield. Cannon fire is shown as well as skirmishes. It gives a much clearer picture of what happened by whom to whom and where.

We return to the RV and start towards Vermont and eventually Massachusetts to end our day.

It has started to rain, actually it is pouring. This is the first we have had in weeks and weeks. The ground is so dry, it won't soak in and the rivulets running down the street. Corners are real deep.

Since reaching Vermont and then Massachusetts the road has been uphill and downhill and twisting the whole time. The roads are narrow with trees just beginning to show oranges, yellows and reds on both sides. Occasionally you will break out of he trees into a small town. First will be the farms and their red barns, stone fences and roadside stands then the main part of town and the churches with tall white steeples and a bell tower on top.

3:30 White Birch Campground, Deerfield, MA. Got here right before the thunderstorm. Will wait to hook up power and water when the rain stops.

We have electricity so we turn on an air conditioner and leave to go on a short ride. By the time we get back the rig should be cool.