The surrender site at Saratoga/NPS

A key parcel of land, one that bolstered the confidence of the colonies in their battle of independence from the British and which marked a sea change in international support for the colonials, has been added to Saratoga National Historical Park in upstate New York.

It was on those 19 acres back in 1777 that the British Army for the first time ever surrendered. It is where British General John Burgoyne surrendered his army to American General Horatio Gates on October 17, 1777. This prompted French recognition of United States’ independence, an alliance between the two nations, and an international war between Britain and France.

Worldwide warfare expanded further still between Britain and Spain (1779), Britain and the Netherlands (1780), and Britain and Mysore (1780). Needing to extricate itself from fighting five wars simultaneously, Britain sued for peace and recognized United States’ independence in 1783.

“The Saratoga Surrender Site is a truly tremendous addition to the park,” said Acting Superintendent Chris Beagan. “Fifteen years in the making, this acquisition demonstrates both extraordinary generosity and cooperation by many partners.”

Visitor amenities to the site were donated to the park by the Friends of Saratoga Battlefield, and an easement to the site was obtained from its owner, the Open Space Institute Land Trust, Inc. The site is located a half mile south of Schuylerville, New York, on U.S. Route 4 and is open to visitors from dawn to dusk throughout the year.

Today, the focal point of the Saratoga Surrender Site is an observation plaza developed by the Friends of Saratoga Battlefield. The plaza overlooks the Hudson River and a landscape relatively unchanged since the Revolutionary War. A granite wall faces the river with a bronze bas-relief that depicts painter John Trumbull’s 1821 masterpiece, “Surrender of General Burgoyne.” The original painting hangs in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda in Washington, D.C.

The State of New York supported acquisition of the site by the Open Space Institute in 2006. The Town of Saratoga and the New York State Natural Heritage Trust received a grant from the American Battlefield Protection Program to prepare a public access plan for the site, completed in 2012. The Friends of Saratoga Battlefield led development of visitor amenities at the site in collaboration with the Historic Hudson-Hoosic Rivers Partnership. The visitor amenities were dedicated on October 17, 2019.