October 7, 1777

Battle of Bemis Heights

Second Battle of Saratoga: Americans capture Burgoyne's outer defenses

Fewer than 200 troops held Breymann's Redoubt against more than a thousand attackers. When it fell, the back of Burgoyne's camp stood open.

7 October 1777: a probe that came apart

Short of food, losing men and lacking reliable news of Sir Henry Clinton's operations, Burgoyne compromised with his officers on 7 October 1777 and sent a reconnaissance-in-force of more than 1,500 troops southwest to probe the American defenses and forage in two wheatfields.

Gates committed Daniel Morgan's corps and the brigades of Enoch Poor and Ebenezer Learned against the British right, left and center. By about 5 p.m. the Americans had driven Burgoyne's force from the wheatfields, and Simon Fraser was mortally wounded commanding the rearguard.

One redoubt held, the other did not

The British Light Infantry, or Balcarres, Redoubt resisted the American attacks. The Breymann Redoubt on the northwestern flank of Burgoyne's camp was undermanned — fewer than 200 defenders against more than 1,000 American troops — and it fell.

Benedict Arnold was severely wounded in the left leg during that assault, and the redoubt's commander, Heinrich von Breymann, was killed.

Much of the camp abandoned that night

With his northwestern defenses breached, Burgoyne abandoned much of his camp and consolidated his army close to the Hudson River that night.

The National Park Service puts British-led losses at more than 630 against about 150 American. The day produced no surrender: withdrawal toward Saratoga followed, and the capitulation came ten days later.

Sources

Researched 23 Aug 2026 9 sources 2 audit passes, 1 issue open

How this was checked

Researched from the web into a fact sheet, rewritten from that sheet, then audited against it by a different model. How the pipeline works →

What the sources leave uncertain

Casualty figures are estimates and vary among official accounts; the current detailed NPS page gives more than 630 British-led casualties and about 150 American casualties.
Arnold’s exact authority and movements remain historiographically contested. The current NPS account says Gates authorized him to lead a major reinforcement, while older narratives often depict him acting entirely without authorization.