Militia units, in addition to Lincoln's two…

October 1777 CE

Militia units, in addition to Lincoln's two thousand men, pour into the American camp, swelling the American army to over fifteen thousand men.

Burgoyne, who had put his army on short rations on October 3, had called a council the next day.

The decision of this meeting was to launch a reconnaissance in force of about seventeen hundred men toward the American left flank.

Burgoyne and Fraser lead this detachment out early on the afternoon of October 7.

Their movements are spotted, and Gates wants to order only Daniel Morgan's men out in opposition.

Arnold says that this is clearly insufficient, and that a large force has to be sent.

Gates, put off one last time by Arnold's tone, dismisses him, saying, "You have no business here."

However, Gates does accede to similar advice given by Lincoln.

In addition to sending Morgan's company around the British right, he also sends Enoch Poor's brigade against Burgoyne's left.

When Poor's men made contact, the Battle of Bemis Heights is underway.

The initial American attack is highly effective, and Burgoyne attempts to order a withdrawal, but his aide is shot down before the order can be broadcast.

In intense fighting, the flanks of Burgoyne's force are exposed, while the Brunswickers at the center hold against Learned's determined attack.

General Fraser is mortally wounded in this phase of the battle.

While frequently claimed to be the work of Timothy Murphy, one of Morgan's men, the story appears to be a nineteenth-century fabrication.

After Fraser's fall and the arrival of additional American troops, Burgoyne orders what is left of the force to retreat behind their entrenched lines.

General Arnold, frustrated by the sound of fighting he is not involved in, rides off from the American headquarters to join the fray.

Arnold, who some claimed was in a drunken fury, takes the battle to the British position.\

The right side of the British line consists of two earthen redoubts that had been erected on Freeman's Farm, and are manned by Brunswickers under Heinrich Breymann and light infantry under Lord Balcarres.

Arnold first rallies troops to attack Balcarres' redoubt, without success.

He now boldly rides through the gap between the two redoubts, a space guarded by a small company of Canadian irregulars.

Learned's men follow, and make an assault on the open rear of Breymann's redoubt.

Arnold's horse is shot out from under him, pinning him and breaking his leg.

Breymann is killed in the fierce action, and his position is taken.

However, night is falling, and the battle comes to an end.

The battle has been a bloodbath for Burgoyne's troops: nearly nine hundred men are killed, wounded, or captured, compared to about one hundred and fifty for the Americans.