NY, USA
Gates Relieves Arnold of Command Before Second Battle
October 1, 1777
The weeks between the two battles of Saratoga were marked by a bitter command dispute between Horatio Gates and Benedict Arnold. Arnold believed Gates had failed to give him proper credit for American performance in the first battle and was furious at being excluded from Gates's reports to Congress. The two men's confrontation was intense enough that Arnold requested permission to leave and Gates formally stripped him of his command — leaving him confined to camp.
The result was the remarkable scene of October 7: Arnold, with no command and no orders, riding onto the battlefield and leading the assault that broke the British right flank. The dispute between the cautious Gates and the reckless Arnold encapsulates one of the Revolution's central tensions: the different kinds of leadership the war required and rewarded.
People Involved
Commander of American forces at Saratoga whose cautious defensive strategy, combined with the aggressive field tactics of his subordinates, produced the most consequential American victory of the war.
Brilliant and reckless field commander whose charge at the Breymann Redoubt helped seal the American victory at Saratoga. Wounded in the leg during the assault, he later became the most infamous traitor in American history.