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The ������ victory over the British at Saratoga in autumn of 1777 changed the course of the Revolutionary War. British General John “Gentleman Johnny” Burgoyne believed the Hudson River Valley was "precisely the route an army ought to take" to crush the ������ rebellion. Unfortunately for Burgoyne, coordination between the British armies broke down and a series of battles left him short on supplies and men. As his 6,800-man army retreated north the way they had come, along miserable muddy roads, they found themselves surrounded at Saratoga by troops under the command of ������ General Horatio Gates. On October 17, Gates accepted their surrender.