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[[Image:Surrender of General Burgoyne.jpg|500px|right|thumb|''Surrender of General Burgoyne'', by John Trumbull, c. 1819]]  

[[Image:Surrender of General Burgoyne.jpg|500px|right|thumb|''Surrender of General Burgoyne'', by John Trumbull, c. 1819]]  

For the next three weeks Burgoyne stood paralyzed. An attack on September 20 or 21 might have sent the Americans running. Instead he waited for reinforcements from Clinton coming up the Hudson--waited, waited, waited. By October 3 the redcoats were hungry; quartermasters reduced rations by one-third. Casualties, desertions of Loyalists and Canadians, and sickness reduced the effectives to 5,000. Gates held all the trumps. New England militia companies, sensing the kill, were pouring into camp. The Americans now held a decisive 3:1 advantage. Gates carefully buttressed Bemis Heights with earthworks and breastworks; his army was being resupplied; and he knew the whereabouts and strengths of the British. Burgoyne realized it was impossible to retreat to Canada; he had to attack. On October 7 he again tried to move west of Bemis Heights. Gates sent Morgan and Dearborn to the British right, and General Enoch Poor's 800 man brigade to its left. Riflemen high in the trees took deadly aim at redcoat officers. Soon, both British flanks were exposed and BG Ebenezer Learned's brigade in the center engaged two German battalions. Arnold, who had been relieved of command by Gates, suddenly jumped into the action and led Learned's brigade in a brilliant attack. The Germans retreated behind Balcarres Redoubt. Arnold then took command of all the troops and led an assault around Burgoyne's right which captured the critical Breymann's Redoubt. Arnold's horse was shot and his leg broken; Morgan and Dearborn continued the charge. (Today there is a monument at Saratoga to Arnold's patriotic leg.) The British retreated, but had nowhere to go.  

For the next three weeks Burgoyne stood paralyzed. An attack on September 20 or 21 might have sent the Americans running. Instead he waited for reinforcements from Clinton coming up the Hudson--waited, waited, waited. By October 3 the redcoats were hungry; quartermasters reduced rations by one-third. Casualties, desertions of Loyalists and Canadians, and sickness reduced the effectives to 5,000. Gates held all the trumps. New England militia companies, sensing the kill, were pouring into camp. The Americans now held a decisive 3:1 advantage. Gates carefully buttressed Bemis Heights with earthworks and breastworks; his army was being resupplied; and he knew the whereabouts and strengths of the British. Burgoyne realized it was impossible to retreat to Canada; he had to attack. On October 7 he again tried to move west of Bemis Heights. Gates sent Morgan and Dearborn to the British right, and General Enoch Poor's 800 man brigade to its left. Riflemen high in the trees took deadly aim at redcoat officers. Soon, both British flanks were exposed and BG Ebenezer Learned's brigade in the center engaged two German battalions. Arnold, who had been relieved of command by Gates, suddenly jumped into the action and led Learned's brigade in a brilliant attack. The Germans retreated behind Balcarres Redoubt. Arnold then took command of all the troops and led an assault around Burgoyne's right which captured the critical Breymann's Redoubt. Arnold's horse was shot and his leg broken; Morgan and Dearborn continued the charge. (Today there is a [[monument]] at Saratoga to Arnold's patriotic leg.) The British retreated, but had nowhere to go.  

[[File:Snake1777.jpg|thumb|300px|American rattlesnake captures British army at Saratoga, 1777. Published when peace negotiations had begun, this British cartoon warns of the futility of further efforts to defeat the Americans. The rattlesnake boasts: "Two British Armies I have thus Burgoyn'd, And room for more I've got behind." A sign is posted over a vacant third coil:"An Apartment to Lett for Military Gentlemen." Rattlesnakes symbolized American fierce determination to fight for their liberty.]]

[[File:Snake1777.jpg|thumb|300px|American rattlesnake captures British army at Saratoga, 1777. Published when peace negotiations had begun, this British cartoon warns of the futility of further efforts to defeat the Americans. The rattlesnake boasts: "Two British Armies I have thus Burgoyn'd, And room for more I've got behind." A sign is posted over a vacant third coil:"An Apartment to Lett for Military Gentlemen." Rattlesnakes symbolized American fierce determination to fight for their liberty.]]