‘The Compleat Victory’: Saratoga and the American Revolution

Explore the events of the Battle of Saratoga, a key turning point of the American War of Independence, with Professor Kevin Weddle of the US Army War College. 

In the autumn of 1777, after two years of indecisive fighting, the outcome of the American War of Independence hung in the balance.

Having successfully expelled the Americans from Canada in 1776, the British were determined to bring the conflict to an end and devised what they believed to be a war-winning strategy. After initial success, it looked as if it was only a matter of time before they would break the rebellion in the north.

Within a few months, however, a combination of the Continental Army and Patriot militia had forced General John Burgoyne to surrender his entire army. The American victory at Saratoga would stun the world and change the course of the war.

In this illuminating talk, Professor Kevin Weddle will unravel the web of contingencies and the play of personalities that ultimately led to what one American general described as ‘the Compleat Victory’.

About the speaker

Kevin Weddle

Kevin Weddle is a Distinguished Fellow at the US Army War College, the former Professor of Military Theory and Strategy, and the Elihu Root Chair of Military Studies. He is a retired Army colonel and a veteran of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, and Operation Enduring Freedom. His second book, ‘The Compleat Victory’, has won the Gilder Lehrman Prize for Military History, the Fraunces Tavern Museum Book Award and the Society of the Cincinnati Prize.