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Schematic plan · American Revolution

Freeman's Farm

All battlesBattles of Saratoga: engagement 1 of 2The event in the chronicleWikipedia
A schematic plan, generated from the statistics of the CAA Database of Battles: the armies' size and width, the hours of fighting, the plan of attack and the outcome are as recorded; the ground and the positions are not.
Rolling, Mixed groundCentreLeft wingRight wingReserveCentreLeft wingRight wingReserveGuns0250 m500 mN

One of the 2 engagements of the Battles of Saratoga recorded in the CAA Database of Battles (number 1 in date order). Great Britain (Br Army, 4,400 men under Burgoyne) attacked USA (Am Army, 7,000 men under Gates) in New York. The CAA Database of Battles records 6.5 hours of fighting on a front of 1.5 km, a frontal attack against hasty defense, and that neither side won. Losses: Great Britain 556 (13%), USA 316 (5%).

This plan is generated from those figures. It shows the shape of the battle the database describes: the size and width of the armies, the plan of attack and the outcome. It does not show where the units actually stood.

The armies

Great Britain

Burgoyne

UnitArmMen
Great Britain left wingInfantry1,020
Great Britain centreInfantry1,360
Great Britain right wingInfantry1,020
Great Britain reserveInfantry850
Great Britain artillery (10 guns)Artillery150
BurgoyneCommander—
In this plan4,400

USA

Gates

UnitArmMen
USA left wingInfantry1,680
USA centreInfantry2,240
USA right wingInfantry1,680
USA reserveInfantry1,400
GatesCommander—
In this plan7,000

What the sources report

Great BritainUSA
Strength, this plan4,4007,000
Losses, this plan556316

In the CAA Database of Battles

CDB90 no. 87, “Freeman'S Farm”, compiled for the US Army to study what decides battles. These are the figures a what-if engine can be calibrated against.

Fighting
6.5 hours
Winner
the draw
Terrain
Rolling, Mixed
Weather
Dry, Sunny, Temperate, Autumn, Temperate
Defender’s posture
Hasty defense
Front width
1.5 km (attacker), 1.5 km (defender)
ForceStrengthLossesHorseGunsPlan and outcome
Great Britainattacker4,400556—10Frontal attack; Stalemate; Withdrew
USAdefender7,0003160—Defensive/offensive plan; Frontal attack; Stalemate

Attacker’s advantages none recorded

CDB90 (US Army Concepts Analysis Agency, 1990), tidy edition by Jeffrey B. Arnold; data under ODC-BY 1.0.

Notes

On this reconstruction

Generated automatically from the statistics in CDB90. Frontages, depths, distances, the order of events and the terrain are schematic: they follow the recorded strengths, front widths, hours of fighting, tactical plan and outcome, not maps or accounts of the battle. The sources give no hours; the timing is conjectural.

Sources

Facts gathered from Wikidata (CC0), Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0) and Wikimedia Commons (licence per file); the plan and its text are timeastra’s own.