The Stand Against Burgoyne
Town of Fort Ann, Washington County, New York
Marker Inscription
Dedicated to the colonials who fought during the Battle of Fort Anne
The Story
In the summer of 1777, British General John Burgoyne drove south from Canada down the Champlain–Hudson corridor, intending to cut the rebellious colonies in two. After the American withdrawal from Fort Ticonderoga, retreating colonial troops turned to fight their pursuers here on July 8, 1777, in the sharp woodland action remembered as the Battle of Fort Anne. Though the outnumbered defenders ultimately fell back, their stand was one of a string of stubborn delaying fights that slowed and wore down Burgoyne's advancing army.
Why it matters
These fighting retreats bought time and steadily bled Burgoyne's forces, helping set the stage for his surrender at Saratoga that autumn — the American victory that convinced France to enter the war.
The story behind this marker
AI contextThe era
By the summer of 1777, the American Revolution was two years old and its outcome was far from settled. The British had a bold plan to end it: drive south from Canada down the natural highway of lakes and rivers — the Champlain–Hudson corridor — and split the rebellious colonies in two, cutting New England off from the rest.
This country in upstate New York was the artery that plan depended on. It was a landscape of dense woods, narrow trails, and water routes, terrain that favored ambush and delay over open battle. For the Americans, who had just given up Fort Ticonderoga to the advancing British, every mile of it was ground to be contested on the retreat.
Into this tense, wooded corridor the war came in early July 1777, as pursued and pursuers collided in the forests of what is now the town of Fort Ann.
People & events
The campaign was led by British General John Burgoyne, whose army was pressing south with confidence after taking Ticonderoga. Ahead of him, colonial troops were falling back — but a retreat is not the same as a rout, and the withdrawing Americans were looking for chances to turn and bite.
They found one here. On July 8, 1777, retreating colonials turned on their pursuers in the sharp woodland fight remembered as the Battle of Fort Anne. It was close, confused fighting of the kind these forests bred, and though the outnumbered defenders eventually had to give ground and fall back, they made their pursuers pay for the miles.
This marker is dedicated simply to those colonials who fought here — not to a general or a grand victory, but to the men who stood in the trees and slowed a powerful army. It honors a hard day's work in a fighting retreat.
Its place in the American story
The stand at Fort Ann belongs to a pattern that decided the whole northern campaign. Again and again that summer, small American forces fought delaying actions, felled trees across roads, and made Burgoyne's advance a slow, grinding, costly affair. No single one of these fights was decisive, but together they bled his army and bought the Americans time.
That time mattered enormously. The slowing and wearing-down of Burgoyne's forces helped set the stage for his surrender at Saratoga that autumn — the turning-point American victory that finally convinced France to enter the war openly on the American side. Foreign help, in turn, was crucial to winning independence.
So a woodland skirmish that ended in retreat was part of a chain that reached all the way to the world stage. It is a reminder that in war, the fights you don't win outright can still help win everything.
If you visit
This is a place to visit with your imagination engaged. The action here was fought in thick forest, so as you take in the wooded, hilly terrain, picture how much cover it offered — how a smaller force could turn, strike from the trees, and slip away.
The marker is a memorial, plainly dedicated to the colonials who fought. Read it as an invitation to honor ordinary soldiers rather than to look for a battlefield diorama. The setting is quiet now, and that quiet is part of the point.
If you're following the Saratoga campaign, this makes a meaningful stop along the old Champlain–Hudson corridor, one bead on a string of 1777 sites running south toward Saratoga itself. Pair it with a slow drive through the surrounding country and you'll feel how the land itself once served as a weapon of delay.
Written by AI to add context, grounded in the marker’s inscription and the historical record. The inscription above is the original, unaltered text.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · John Burgoyne
Related events
- · Battle of Fort Anne
- · Saratoga Campaign
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Bennington Battle Monument
Bennington, VT
On August 16, 1777, New England militia under General John Stark and Vermont troops led by Colonel Seth Warner routed British and German forces sent by General Burgoyne to seize American supplies near Bennington. The victory stripped Burgoyne of men and provisions and helped set the stage for his surrender at Saratoga weeks later. A century afterward, Americans raised this 306-foot stone shaft to mark the ground where the tide turned.
THE ROYALTON RAID
Royalton, VT
On October 16, 1780, a large raiding party of Native fighters led by a British officer swept down the White River valley during the Revolutionary War, burning the frontier settlement of Royalton and neighboring towns, killing several settlers and carrying off more than two dozen captives. It was one of the last major raids on the Vermont frontier and long remembered in the region's founding lore.
Albany Plan of Union Avenue
City of Albany, NY
In the summer of 1754, delegates from seven British colonies gathered at Albany while war with France loomed on the frontier. Out of that congress came the Albany Plan of Union, a bold proposal for the colonies to govern common affairs—defense, treaties with Native nations, and westward settlement—through a single president-general and a grand council. Though the colonial assemblies and the Crown alike rejected it as too radical, the idea of a united colonial government took root here decades before it was realized.
Frederick Crounse
Town of Guilderland, NY
Frederick Crounse was a local farmer who served as an officer in the 3rd Albany County Militia during the American Revolution, when the settlers of the Mohawk and Hudson valleys were pulled into one of the war's decisive campaigns. In the autumn of 1777, American forces converged on Saratoga to halt General Burgoyne's advance from Canada, and civilians and militiamen like Crounse kept the army fed and supplied through the long fight. This marker stands on his farm in Guilderland, where he was laid to rest, tying an ordinary working landscape to a battle that changed the course of the Revolution.