Battle of Saratoga Lake.

When the Iroquois army was spotted northwest of Lake Saratoga, the Emperor immediately sent for both the seventh and the twenty-first legions to reach the main force, in order to offer a compact army to the enemy. However, while the XXI was able to join the main army the VII, due to the shape of the land was cut off by the presence of the lake. The Roman forces arrived at the plain, at the end of which was the enemy camp and immediately began to create a camp, bothered by enemy raiders, who for all the time targeted the legionnaires with arrows, exploiting the surrounding woodland that sheltered them from the Roman cavalry . The next morning a sudden downpour prevented the battle, allowing the Roman forces to further reinforce the position, while the Iroquois littered the ground with traps. Only at the dawn of the third day was it possible to give battle. The Roman army sided in battle with little depth, leaving only half of the II legion to defend the camp, while the cavalry was divided as follows: a quarter near the lake on the right side, a quarter in the middle of the Roman line, and the remaining two quarters on the left side, not far from the forest. Meanwhile, the Iroquois army had deployed its shooting troops as front-line in order to target the Romans and force them to advance to impact the enemy, making them march amid their traps. The clash immediately proved to be very difficult, because if on one hand the Romans could count on cavalry and on a greater discipline, on the other hand the numerical inferiority caused by the absence of the VII legion was felt. That day took place a clash of friction, so much that a contemporary commentator compared it to the millstone of a mill. On the second day the battle took place like the first, but towards the dusk a sound of horns was heard behind the Iroquois army. In fact, the VII legion, after having flanked the eastern side of the lake thanks to forced marches had passed the tributary to the north with an improvised bridge, and had reached the enemy behind. Immediately the Roman troops feared a deception of the enemy, but when the eagle of the VII legion was visible they regained strength, fighting with greater vigor. Meanwhile, the Iroquois, trapped on three sides, were panicked, despite their commanders exhorting them to resist, and to defeat the main army before crushing the newly arrived legion. However neither the exhortations of the commanders nor the individual episodes of valor were sufficient, and the goddess of victory spread her wings to Rome.

The Conflict

Battlefield

A plain on the east shore of Lake Saratoga.