The Saratoga battle and Gates' rise to renown

In order to join forces with George Washington's army in Pennsylvania, Horatio Gates tactically moved part of his men south in 1776, which marked the beginning of his rise to prominence. After then, a careless action was made.

Gates went to Baltimore to attend a meeting of the Continental Congress rather than remaining in command of his troops for a planned midnight attack on Trenton. The justification was that he disagreed with Washington's more forceful strategies.

One of the interesting facts about Horatio Gates include the fact that he attempted to undercut Washington's views in Congress, but that Washington won resounding triumphs at Trenton and Princeton. Gates was thus assigned to General Philip John Schuyler's command and dispatched north. Following the defeat of his force at Fort Ticonderoga, Schuyler finally lost the High Command's favor, and Gates was appointed to lead the Northern Department in August of the same year. Gates was therefore in command of the Northern Army when it annihilated British General Burgoyne's invasion troops at Saratoga as a result of this fortunate turn of events.