Today’s American Minute

Five-thousand seven-hundred British troops, under the command of Gen. Burgoyne, surrendered this day, Oct. 17, 1777, at Saratoga, N.Y., to the revolutionary forces led by Gen. Gates. After swearing never to fight against America again, the British troops were boarded on ships at Boston and sent back to England. When this news reached Europe, it encouraged further support of the Revolution. In a letter to his brother, John Augustine Washington, Gen. George Washington wrote of this victory, saying: “I most devoutly congratulate my country, and every well-wisher to the cause, on this signal stroke of Providence.”