National Park Service Cultural Landscapes Inventory Saratoga

National Park Service Cultural Landscapes Inventory 2011 Saratoga Battlefield Saratoga National Historical Park Table of Contents Inventory Unit Summary & Site Plan Concurrence Status Geographic Information and Location Map Management Information National Register Information Chronology & Physical History Analysis & Evaluation of Integrity Condition Treatment Bibliography & Supplemental Information Saratoga Battlefield Saratoga National Historical Park Inventory Unit Summary & Site Plan Inventory Summary The Cultural Landscapes Inventory Overview: CLI General Information: Purpose and Goals of the CLI The Cultural Landscapes Inventory (CLI), a comprehensive inventory of all cultural landscapes in the national park system, is one of the most ambitious initiatives of the National Park Service (NPS) Park Cultural Landscapes Program. The CLI is an evaluated inventory of all landscapes having historical significance that are listed on or eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, or are otherwise managed as cultural resources through a public planning process and in which the NPS has or plans to acquire any legal interest. The CLI identifies and documents each landscape’s location, size, physical development, condition, landscape characteristics, character-defining features, as well as other valuable information useful to park management. Cultural landscapes become approved CLIs when concurrence with the findings is obtained from the park superintendent and all required data fields are entered into a national database. In addition, for landscapes that are not currently listed on the National Register and/or do not have adequate documentation, concurrence is required from the State Historic Preservation Officer or the Keeper of the National Register. The CLI, like the List of Classified Structures, assists the NPS in its efforts to fulfill the identification and management requirements associated with Section 110(a) of the National Historic Preservation Act, National Park Service Management Policies (2006), and Director’s Order #28: Cultural Resource Management. Since launching the CLI nationwide, the NPS, in response to the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA), is required to report information that respond to NPS strategic plan accomplishments. Two GPRA goals are associated with the CLI: bringing certified cultural landscapes into good condition (Goal 1a7) and increasing the number of CLI records that have complete, accurate, and reliable information (Goal 1b2B). Scope of the CLI The information contained within the CLI is gathered from existing secondary sources found in park libraries and archives and at NPS regional offices and centers, as well as through on-site reconnaissance of the existing landscape. The baseline information collected provides a comprehensive look at the historical development and significance of the landscape, placing it in context of the site’s overall significance. Documentation and analysis of the existing landscape identifies character-defining characteristics and features, and allows for an evaluation of the landscape’s overall integrity and an assessment of the landscape’s overall condition. The CLI also provides an illustrative site plan that indicates major features within the inventory unit. Unlike cultural landscape reports, the CLI does not provide management recommendations or Cultural Landscapes Inventory Page 1 of 131 Saratoga Battlefield Saratoga National Historical Park treatment guidelines for the cultural landscape. Inventory Unit Description: Saratoga battlefield, the largest of four cultural landscapes that comprise Saratoga National Historical Park in Stillwater, New York, preserves the sites of two decisive Revolutionary War battles between British and American forces in the autumn of 1777. It is widely documented that the American victory at Saratoga changed the momentum of the war, after which crucial support from the French was secured. The site has long been recognized as hallowed ground. Commemorative efforts by private citizens commenced shortly after the battles, culminating in the battlefield’s designation as a state-managed property in 1927, and later as a National Historical Park in 1938. The battlefield currently encompasses approximately 3,400 acres, with 2,886 acres under federal ownership, and features a patchwork of fields and forests set upon rolling landforms, representing the broad patterns of the agricultural landscape that were present in 1777. Built features are scarce on the battlefield, with the Neilson House as the only remaining building that dates to the time of the battles, although many historic road traces cross the landscape. The most dominant built feature is the tour road, a nine-mile one-way loop dating to the 1960s that connects to points of interest throughout the battlefield, including the numerous commemorative monuments and memorials. Several tour stops along the road offer striking views of the Hudson River, while the visitor center offers expansive eastward views of the battlefield. There are also several remnants of the Old Champlain Canal. HISTORICAL OVERVIEW Pre-Contact and Early European Settlement: Saratoga battlefield preserves the site of the Revolutionary War battles of Saratoga that occurred on the western bank of the Hudson River during the autumn of 1777. Well before these decisive battles, though, the current park landscape occupied part of a disputed boundary between spheres of Iroquois and Algonquian influence. The first European settlers knew the river for its affiliation with the Mohawks. Prior to the application of Henry Hudson’s name, the river was known as the Mohegaittuck, or otherwise as the Mohegan River. The place name “Saratoga” itself being aboriginal, has had numerous definitions over time, all drawing on the existence of the river as the fundamental theme. This river valley, that later served a strategic role in the battle of 1777, first functioned as a corridor for the exploration of the region as early as 1609. Seventeenth-century accounts of explorations in the region describe a landscape that the American Indians managed through burning to facilitate hunting. European settlement of the region progressed northward up the Hudson River from New York City to Albany. In 1683, a group of wealthy speculators purchased nearly 170,000 acres of Mohawk land on both sides of the Hudson and later registered their purchase with the English crown. This vast area, known as the Saratoga Patent, was twenty-two miles long and twelve miles wide and was initially divided into large linear plots held by the original patentees. However, over sixty years passed until the property was further subdivided to support a system of tenant agriculture. By the mid-1700s, the region and its river had become a corridor of conflict between the English and Cultural Landscapes Inventory Page 2 of 131 Saratoga Battlefield Saratoga National Historical Park the French. Many locals found themselves in the crossfire during the skirmishes of French and Indian Wars that raged in the area, losing family members, property, livestock. Yet, despite the dangers, settlers continued to improve their land by building houses and barns, clearing trees for crop cultivation, and planting orchards and gardens. Battlefield at the Time of the Battles of Saratoga: In 1777, the area where the Battles of Saratoga were fought was characterized by a patchwork of cleared agricultural fields, forest, ravines, and streams. The alluvial floodplains adjacent to the Hudson River offered the best farmland and were thus the first settled and improved. Inland settlement of the highlands above the river began after the 1750s. At the time of the battles, about 35 percent of the area within the district was cleared agricultural land and the remainder was wooded. Some of the larger tracts were subdivided into smaller properties for individual families who cultivated corn, flax, and wheat. Early families who settled in the battlefield lands included the Neilsons, Barbers, Taylers, and Freemans. Typical farmhouses in the area were modest in size and design, one or one-and-one-half stories in height, resembling the buildings found in western New England and the areas of New York settled by the Dutch. The majority of the farmhouses and related outbuildings were of frame or log construction. A small road network connected the different farms and led to the Hudson River. The Road to Albany, now incorporating portions of River Road and U.S. Highway 4, paralleled the Hudson River and provided access south to Albany and to points north. Other local roads included Quaker Springs Road and a road to Saratoga Lake (National Register of Historic Places Nomination for Saratoga National Historical Park Historic District, hereafter National Register 2011, Section 7:5-6). The particular features of the Saratoga battlefield landscape, most of which remain evident, played a decisive role in the outcome of the battles that occurred there in 1777. Heavily laden with baggage and materiel necessary to conduct a long campaign in hostile country, the British Army under Lieutenant General John Burgoyne had to rely on water routes to accomplish its ultimate goal of capturing Albany. The chosen avenue of approach from the starting point of the campaign in Canada was along lakes Champlain and George, then down Wood Creek to the Hudson River. After reaching the Hudson at Fort Edward, Burgoyne’s army marched along the Road to Albany and floated its train on boats in the Hudson. The American

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