| Saratoga National Historical Park | |
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| Location | Stillwater,Saratoga County, New York, United States |
| Nearest city | Saratoga Springs, New York |
| Coordinates | 42°59′56″N73°38′15″W / 42.99889°N 73.63750°W /42.99889; -73.63750 |
| Area | 3,392 acres (13.73 km2) |
| Established | June 1, 1938 |
| Visitors | 65,043 (in 2011)[1] |
| Governing body | National Park Service |
| Website | Saratoga National Historical Park |
Saratoga National Historical Park | |
| NRHP reference No. | 66000569[2] |
| Added to NRHP | October 15, 1966 |
Saratoga National Historical Park is a United StatesNational Historical Park located in the Town ofStillwater in easternNew York, 30 miles north ofAlbany. The park preserves the site of theBattles of Saratoga. In 2015, theUnited States Mint released a commemorative quarter as part of theAmerica the Beautiful series honoring the park.
The park preserves the site of theBattles of Saratoga, the first significant American military victory of theAmerican Revolutionary War. Here in 1777, American forces met, defeated, and forced a majorBritish army to surrender, an event which led France to recognize the independence of the United States, and enter the war as a decisive military ally of the struggling Americans.[3]
First authorized as aNew York state historic preserve in 1927 on the sesquicentennial of the Battles, the Battlefield was made part of theNational Park System in 1938 when Saratoga National Historical Park was authorized by theUnited States Congress.
The Visitors Center offers a 20-minute orientation film,fiber-optic light map, timeline and artifact displays. A brochure is available for a self-guided tour of sites in the four-square-mile (10 km2) battlefield inStillwater. GeneralPhilip Schuyler'sSchuyler House is located eight miles (13 km) north inSchuylerville. It is a restored house museum open by tour. TheSaratoga Battle Monument is in the nearby village ofVictory.
The park is located on the upperHudson River southeast of Saratoga Springs. It contains the famousBoot Monument toBenedict Arnold, the onlywar memorial in the United States that does not bear the name of its honoree. The memorial was donated byJohn Watts de Peyster, a formermajor general for theNew York State Militia during theAmerican Civil War who wrote several military histories about the Battle of Saratoga.
In 2021, management of the site where the British Army surrendered was transferred to the National Park Service.[4][5] TheSaratoga Surrender Site Memorial Park marks the precise location where British General John Burgoyne surrendered his army to General Horatio Gates on October 17, 1777.[4] The 19-acre park is located nine miles north of the Saratoga Battlefield Park, and a half mile south of Schuylerville on U.S. Route 4.[4] The park includes explanatory plaques and signage, and two cannons.
The land is owned by the Open Space Institute and managed by the National Park Service, and is open to visitors from dawn to dusk year-round.[4]
TheMarshall House, on theNational Register of Historic Places, lies eight miles (13 km) north of the main entrance to the park onUS 4 andNY 32 north of the village ofSchuylerville. It was made famous byBaroness Frederika Riedesel in herLetters and Journals relating to the War of the American Revolution, and the Capture of theGerman Troops at Saratoga. This house was built in 1770–1773.
During the closing days of the Battles of Saratoga, Baroness Riedesel sheltered there together with the wives of officers of the British army and wounded personnel. Her account of the travails of those around her, her keen insight into the personalities of the principal officers of both the British and American armies and her devotion to her husband in peril have led some commentators to name her as the first womanwar correspondent. The Marshall House was bombarded by the Americans who supposed it an enemy headquarters.
Within are conserved cannonballs and other reminders of the ordeal suffered by those who took refuge there. The Marshall House is the sole surviving structure in the battles' area. The property is privately owned.
As of mid-2023, theAmerican Battlefield Trust and its partners have acquired and preserved 26 acres of the battlefield outside of the national park.[6]
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