The Compleat Victory: Saratoga and the American Revolution

by Kevin J. Weddle

Overview

Winner of the Gilder Lehrman Military History Prize, Winner of the Fraunces Tavern Museum Book Award & Winner of The Society of the Cincinnati Prize.

In The Compleat Victory, award-winning military historian Kevin J. Weddle traces an epic panorama of strategy and chance—from London, to Quebec, to Philadelphia, to New York—that ultimately led to the decisive conclusion at Saratoga.

In the late summer and fall of 1777, after two years of indecisive fighting on both sides, the outcome of the American War of Independence hung in the balance. Having successfully expelled the Americans from Canada in 1776, the British were determined to end the rebellion the following year and devised what they believed a war-winning strategy, sending General John Burgoyne south to rout the Americans and take Albany. When British forces captured Fort Ticonderoga with unexpected ease in July of 1777, it looked as if it was a matter of time before they would break the rebellion in the North. Less than three and a half months later, however, a combination of the Continental Army and Militia forces, commanded by Major General Horatio Gates and inspired by the heroics of Benedict Arnold, forced Burgoyne to surrender his entire army. The American victory stunned the world and changed the course of the war.

Kevin J. Weddle offers the most authoritative history of the Battle of Saratoga to date, explaining with verve and clarity why events unfolded the way they did. In the end, British plans were undone by a combination of distance, geography, logistics, and an underestimation of American leadership and fighting ability. Taking Ticonderoga had misled Burgoyne and his army into thinking victory was assured. Saratoga, which began as a British foraging expedition, turned into a rout. The outcome forced the British to rethink their strategy, inflamed public opinion in England against the war, boosted Patriot morale, and, perhaps most critical of all, led directly to the Franco-American alliance. Weddle unravels the web of contingencies and the play of personalities that ultimately led to what one American general called "the Compleat Victory."

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780197695166
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	05/21/2024
Series:	Pivotal Moments in American History
Pages:	544
Sales rank:	205,168
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.10(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Kevin J. Weddle is Professor of Military Theory and Strategy and Elihu Root Chair of Military Studies at the US Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. A West Point graduate, he served in the US Army for 28 years on active duty in command and staff positions in the United States and overseas, including Operations Desert Storm and Enduring Freedom, before retiring as a colonel.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Chapter 1: Opening Moves
Chapter 2: The First Invasion
Chapter 3: A New British Strategy
Chapter 4: A Question of American Command
Chapter 5: Laying the Groundwork
Chapter 6: The Fall of Fort Ticonderoga
Chapter 7: Defeat, Retreat, Disgrace
Chapter 8: Aftershocks
Chapter 9: Burgoyne Moves South
Chapter 10: The Ordeal of Philip Schuyler
Chapter 11: The Murder of Jane McCrea
Chapter 12: Not to Make a Ticonderoga of It
Chapter 13: Oriskany and Relief
Chapter 14: Cat and Mouse
Chapter 15: Burgoyne's Dilemma
Chapter 16: The Battle of Bennington
Chapter 17: Gates Takes Command
Chapter 18: The Battle of Freeman's Farm
Chapter 19: Sir Henry Clinton to the Rescue
Chapter 20: The Battle of Bemis Heights
Chapter 21: Retreat, Pursuit, and Surrender
Chapter 22: British Reassessment
Chapter 23: The Fruits of Victory
Conclusion: Strategy and Leadership

Editorial Reviews

"The Compleat Victory is a suitable book for upper-division history courses on the American Revolution as well as military history buffs looking for a page-turner on an important campaign that played a significant role in achieving the independence of the United States." — Matthew Vajda, Kent State University

"The fullest, most accurate, and most readable account of this most decisive battle of the Revolutionary War." — Gordon Wood, author of Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789-1815 and Friends Divided: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson

"The Battle of Saratoga must be seen in the immediate context of the American Revolution, but Kevin Weddle's book goes far beyond that, showing how it fits within the larger story of the British Empire, and why it was influenced by events that took place from London to Philadelphia to Montreal. Though the breadth of the book's scope is wide, the center of the story remains the bloody combat at Freeman's Farm and Bemis Heights, and its beginnings and aftermath. The book that emerges is nearly flawless, beautifully written, learned, and insightful — in one word, superb." — Robert Middlekauff, author of The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, 1763-1789 (Oxford History of the United States)

"Kevin Weddle's account of the Saratoga campaign offers a thoughtful and detailed analysis of the strategy, leadership, and tactics of a turning point in the American Revolution. In addition to telling a fine story, he illuminates the motives, decisions, and actions of the principal characters, including the ambitious and pompous John Burgoyne, the aloof and fatalistic Philip Schuyler, the militarily able and politically devious Horatio Gates, and the brilliant and mercurial Benedict Arnold." — Craig L. Symonds, author of The Battle of Midway

Winner of the US Army War College's John J. Madigan Award for Excellence in Scholarship, Book Category

"A significant contribution to the military history of the Revolutionary War." —Kirkus

"A gripping account of a campaign that was crucial in the struggle for American independence. Weddle ably explains both how the Patriots won and how the British lost, teasing out the interactions and offering an explanation at the strategic, operational and tactical levels." — Jeremy Black, author of Fighting for America: The Struggle for Mastery in North America, 1519-1871

"The Compleat Victory promises to become a classic account of Saratoga, which Kevin Weddle describes as not merely a battlefield defeat but 'a strategic, operational, and tactical catastrophe' for the British. With a balanced critique of the leadership on both sides and meticulously researched, this interpretation is of particular interest for being written by a former soldier, who served in two combat deployments, in addition to teaching at West Point and the U.S. Army War College, during which he led staff rides to Saratoga." — Andrew J. O'Shaughnessy, author of The Men Who Lost America: British Leadership, the American Revolution, and the Fate of the Empire

"In late 1776, as we all know, the British had captured the city with ease under Gen. William Howe, driving Gen. George Washington across the Delaware River. Mr. Weddle deftly recounts Britain's deliberations at this key point." — The Wall Street Journal

"Balanced in its analysis and critique of British and American strategic leadership, exhaustively researched, and vividly narrated, The Compleat Victory is a significant contribution to the field of American Revolutionary War studies. . . . In The Compleat Victory, Weddle has undoubtedly produced the definitive account of the Saratoga campaign." — New Books Network

"Kevin Weddle has waded into the fray to help us understand this historical problem by investigating the Saratoga campaign on three levels: strategic, operational and tactical. The resulting book, The Compleat Victory: Saratoga and the American Revolution, is the most comprehensive telling of the campaign to date." — ARMY Magazine

"The Compleat Victory is a reminder that the hard-learned lessons of today's conflicts are eerily like the lessons taught more than two centuries ago... Leaders and staffs must continually examine and evaluate their assumptions on the character or nature of the fight they are in. Weddle's book will make a fine addition to the library of those seeking to understand the nuances of leadership at operational and strategic echelons." — The Strategy Bridge

"While the American side of the conflict has been covered in detail, including the problems between the Continental Army and the Continental Congress, the British side of the war has not been covered. One of the book's greatest strengths is its correction of that forgotten narrative. Weddle's background as a military strategist plays an important part in his critique of the campaign The Compleat Victory is a suitable book for upper-division history courses on the American Revolution as well as military history buffs looking for a page-turner on an important campaign that played a significant role in achieving the independence of the United States." — Matthew Vajda, Kent State University

"Is there a need for yet another history of the Battle of Saratoga? The answer is yes, and it is Kevin J. Weddle's Compleat Victory: Saratoga and the American Revolution. . . .The Compleat Victory is the most thoroughgoing and complete study of Saratoga. Weddle's research is sound and wide ranging, his analyses and conclusions are compelling, and his writing is engaging. He weaves strategic, operational, and tactical decisions, actions, and outcomes together seamlessly. Kevin J. Weddle has written the authoritative account of the Saratoga campaign." —History: Review of New Books

From the Publisher

2020-09-29
A comprehensive study of the Saratoga Campaign of 1777.

The Battle of Saratoga, which took place over three weeks, was really a series of two large battles and many smaller engagements along the Hudson River north of Albany, New York. As Weddle, a former Army officer who teaches at the Army War College, shows, the outcome was a stinging defeat for the British, whose commander, John Burgoyne, had not long before humiliated the American defenders of Fort Ticonderoga. The Continental Army was, in the view of the British, a ragtag affair. However, by the time of Saratoga, the Northern Army, headed by Horatio Gates, consisted of seasoned soldiers and “a depth of strong leadership in many outstanding field officers and junior general officers.” Perhaps the best of them, writes Weddle in a narrative rich in strategic analysis, was Benedict Arnold, a complex character whose name would later be a byword for treachery. At Saratoga, he proved himself a brilliant tactician with a brittle disposition, certain that he was being slighted by not being placed higher in the chain of command and so dismissive of Gates that, by the time of the fighting, the two were not speaking and communicated only by letter. Badly wounded in the Battle of Bemis Heights, Arnold nonetheless performed bravely even though formally relieved of command. So did units such as Daniel Morgan’s frontier riflemen, who poured lethal firepower with muskets that were “highly accurate to 200 yards.” For his part, Burgoyne had counted on the support of loyalists but discovered that most in the region “wished to observe complete neutrality,” even as he had trouble coordinating with detachments of Native allies. In the end, Burgoyne surrendered 6,000 soldiers, the second-largest British army in North America, though under terms that, strictly read, allowed those 6,000 to sail home only to be replaced by 6,000 fresh troops, for “despite all his disadvantages, Burgoyne had out-negotiated Gates.”

A significant contribution to the military history of the Revolutionary War.

Kirkus Reviews