New England 2018 Day 10

The battle of Saratoga in the Revolutionary War was actually two battles, one in September and a follow-up battle in October 1777. The British were utterly defeated here, prompting British General Burgoyne to surrender. This preserved battlefield is a large one.

View of the battlefield from the Visitors’ Center.
The battles took place in September and October 1777, following Burgoyne’s loss at Bennington, Vermont.

Revolutionary War cannon

Front view of the cannon.

Freeman Farm Overlook
Here, Colonel Daniel Morgan fired on British General Burgoyne’s advance guard center column.

Neilson Farm
This farm outlined the fortified American lines. American Major General Horatio Gates’ headquarters, and the American field hospital were nearby.

The monument is dedicated to the unknown American dead who died in the battles of Saratoga and are buried in unmarked graves.

This cannon is situated on Bemis Heights, and is pointed toward the Hudson River. This site was where the American River Fortifications were.

View from Bemis Heights to the left.

View from Bemis Heights in the center.

View from Bemis Heights to the right.

Barber Wheatfield.
Americans intercepted 1,500 British and German soldiers trying to reconnoiter the American left. After an hour of fierce fighting, the British troops retreated.

Cannon at Barber Wheatfield.

Saratoga Battle Monument.
This monument stands where General Burgoyne’s camp was entrenched in the last days of the battle. Burgoyne was forced into a humiliating surrender at Saratoga. A very impressive obelisk.

Cannon at the Saratoga Battle Monument.

General Philip Schuyler faces east toward his Schuylerville estate.
Schuyler was an interesting character. Today he is considered the architect of the Americans’ brilliant and total victory at Saratoga. His tactics of delay and evasion successfully stalled Burgoyne’s troops coming from Canada, and his daring improvisations split his men in the face of the British onslaught to counter the British feint from the west along the Mohawk River, leading to American victory. Contemporaneously, he was considered a military incompetent and possibly a traitor, and was even court martialed for treason, but was acquitted in 1778.

General Horatio Gates faces north toward the route of the British invasion from Canada.

Colonel Daniel Morgan faces west, the positions his corps took to surround the British.

Ballston Center Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church
We attended church here on Sunday morning.

Grave of President Chester A. Arthur, our 21st president.

Plate on President Arthur’s grave stone.

Becoming president upon the assassination of President James A. Garfield in 1881, President Arthur served out the remainder of President Garfield’s term from 1881-1885, and did not secure the Republican nomination for the 1884 election. His signature issue was reforming the spoils system, and he signed into law the Pendleton Act, which required that government jobs be distributed according to merit, rather than cronyism. Arthur married a Culpeper, Virginia girl, Nell Herndon. She died when she was only 42 years old, almost two years before Arthur became president. Arthur’s sister served as First Lady during his term.

Quite a building! It was Sunday, so we could not go in, but the outside looks like a castle!
This is the front, which faces the street.

This is the rear.

Corner view.

Statue of Major General Philip Schuyler, across the street from the state capitol.

New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services, to the west of the state capitol.

The Erastus Corning Tower. At 44 stories tall, this is the tallest building in the state of New York outside of New York City.

Empire Plaza and The Egg.

The Egg and Empire Plaza.
The Egg is a performing arts venue.

Albany, New York skyline and the Hudson River.

This is the site where Martin Van Buren, our 8th president, was born in 1782. This is located in Kinderhook, New York.

President Martin Van Buren’s home, Lindenwald in Kinderhook. He was our 8th president, who was President Andrew Jackson’s hand-picked successor in 1837. He presided over the financial Panic of 1837 which was devastating to the economy. He was a failed president, and served only one term, 1837-1841, very similar to George H. W. Bush. Both presidents succeeded wildly popular presidents (Jackson, Reagan), then failed to win re-election after their first term. President Bush retired to private life. President Van Buren continued to run for president in several other election cycles, losing every time.

Lindenwald, home of President Martin Van Buren.
The architectural style is a combination of Georgian, Victorian and Italianate.

Lindenwald

Grave of President Martin Van Buren, Kinderhook, New York

Franklin D. Roosevelt, a fifth cousin of President Theodore Roosevelt, was our 32nd president. He was the only president to serve more than two terms. He was elected four times, but he died early in the first year of his fourth term, April 12, 1945. He served from 1933-1945.

FDR’s Hyde Park home

Front view

The view from his front yard.

FDR Presidential Library and Museum.

The museum had a special exhibit, The Art of War. This exhibit contains many posters that were used during World War II. I post only a few here, but on the Presidents page I will post many more.