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QINGDAO TODAY
在线翻译:
szdaily -> Speak Shenzhen -> 
The Battles of Saratoga
    2019-09-26  08:53    Shenzhen Daily

James Baquet

Let’s return again to the struggles of a small band of rebels against one of the world’s mighty empires: the American Revolution against Britain, 1775-1783.

Note that the title of this article is “The Battles of Saratoga” — plural. They took place on two separate days, Sept. 19 and Oct. 7, 1777, and were the culmination of something called The Saratoga Campaign.

Saratoga is a town in what is now New York State, and during King George’s War (1744-1748) was a bone of contention between the British and the French. The town was raided by the French and their Indian allies Nov. 28, 1745, causing the British to abandon the upper Hudson River Valley.

This same strategic importance led the British to undertake the Saratoga Campaign over four decades later. This time, it was they who attempted to hold the site, against the American rebels. To do so would have split the colonies in two, with New England to the northeast. But they failed, to their embarrassment.

British General John Burgoyne led a large force down from Canada — then as now indisputably allied with Great Britain — intending to meet a northbound British force coming from New York City, and a third coming east from Lake Ontario. The two latter forces never arrived, leaving Burgoyne undermanned. He was soon surrounded by Americans, and fought once and then 18 days later again in an effort to break the impasse.

When he failed, he retreated to Saratoga, where he surrendered to the Americans on Oct. 17.

This surrender had far-reaching consequences. When the French, who had remained neutral (though supplying arms), saw the tide turning, they threw in with the Americans. Spain, too, took the American side.

The war would last several more years before the surrender of British General Charles Cornwallis at Yorktown in 1781 and the subsequent peace treaty in 1783.

But the failure of Burgoyne could be a watershed moment, as the “courage and obstinacy” shown by the Americans and the formal alliance with France — which also diverted British forces to other theaters in the West Indies and in Europe — greatly enhanced the chances of American success.

Vocabulary:

Which words above mean:

1. important in military planning

2. situation with no escape

3. stubbornness

4. areas of military activity

5. joined

6. having too few soldiers

7. something to be fought over

8. high point, result

9. with no room for doubt

10. situation going in a new direction

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