British Strategy.

In the beginning of 1777 Gen. John Burgoyne decided to do what the colonists' early attacks on Canada had prevented: split the New England colonies from the rest of the colonies by establishing control of the Lake Champlain and Hudson River valleys in upstate New York. He would march down Lake Champlain from Montreal while Col. Barry St. Leger would move down the Mohawk River valley from Lake Ontario. Meanwhile, Gen. William Howe would be striking north from New York City up the Hudson River. These three expeditions would come together in Albany. Though the idea was Burgoyne's, the planning was done in London and was fatally flawed. General Howe was encouraged rather than ordered to march to Albany. This error doomed the entire plan.

Burgoyne Alone.

On 1 July, Burgoyne with more than seven thousand regulars and one thousand Indians arrived at...