Honor, Sacrifice, Victory: The Untold Story of Saratoga’s Turning Point

More than a decade ago, Mark O’Rourke had a vision. In his mind’s eye, he foresaw something grand in scope – a timeless, patriotic, captivating story that would be shown to the masses. It would be a tale of bravery, devotion, selflessness, and honor — and it would be about an area of the country he had come to know as his own. 

The site? Saratoga National Historical Park. The story? The authentic, sweeping spectacle of two battles waged in 1777 that — against all reason — resulted in the conquering of a heretofore unbeaten army and directly led to a fledgling nation’s improbable triumph in its fight for independence. It is the story of the Battles of Saratoga.

That tale, envisioned in an independent film titled Saratoga: The Turning Point, has not yet been made, but its ultimate creation, the focus of a project O’Rourke is spearheading, has now turned the corner and is on firm footing.

On Oct. 17, 2023-the 246th anniversary of the British Army’s surrender at Saratoga that cemented the Continental Army’s stunning victory-the fundraising portion of the project was publicly launched. That day, the project’s website (1777.org) and social media footprint was initiated and crowdfunding, geared toward veterans and what O’Rourke calls “their fellow patriots,” began.

The primary goal, says O’Rourke, chatting with a reporter in a recent telephone interview, is to have the film completed and ready for national circulation by the fall of 2027, the 250th anniversary of the twin battles of Freeman’s Farm and Bemis Heights. O’Rourke and the other principals of the project plan to screen a movie that, according to its website, “evocatively and compellingly tells the story of Saratoga in a way that rivals iconic masterpieces such as Last of the Mohicans, Dances with Wolves, Glory, and Saving Private Ryan.”

Some historians rate the Battles of Saratoga, fought in September and October 1777, as among the most consequential in world history because the result persuaded France to enter the fray, the “turning point” that ultimately led to Britain’s downfall at Yorktown, Va., in 1781 and America’s eventual independence, officially recognized in 1783.

The film, O’Rourke insists, does not intend to concentrate — as is typically done in a movie of this kind — on the generals involved. In the case of Saratoga, the men in question were John Burgoyne for the British and Horatio Gates for the Americans. 

“What enabled the American Army to prevail at Saratoga, the reason Burgoyne was cut off– surrounded– was [that] the ordinary citizen soldier across New England and upstate New York came in from the four corners at the 11th hour when all appeared to be lost and when America needed a miracle,” says O’Rourke, 53, a self-described American history buff.

In order to turn the tide of the battles, and eventually the war, O’Rourke explained, “It was this massive surge of citizen soldiers from various state militias. They were volunteers; they weren’t paid. They didn’t have to come, but they did. It was the first time the American Army had overwhelming numerical superiority in the Revolution. They enabled General Gates to deliver a knockout blow.

“We’re unapologetically trying to focus on the actual people that served – their courage, their sacrifice – those that did the heavy lifting, those that allowed us to prevail at that critical moment. We want their stories to be told.”

It is no surprise that O’Rourke, who currently works in government affairs representing a biotechnology company, was intrigued by the Colonials’ call to fight. Born into a family of veterans, the native of Huntington, Long Island, answered the call to duty himself, serving as a Reserve Officers’ Training Corps cadet while in college and then for four years in the United States Army. 

When he moved to Saratoga County in 2005, the former Boy Scout found the verdant plains and undulating hills of Saratoga National Park a perfect bicycle destination. Visiting the park – and especially its largest section, Saratoga Battlefield, “three or four times a week” – he gradually learned about the battles fought there over two centuries earlier and their importance to the history of the United States.

“I was totally ignorant and uninformed about the Battles of Saratoga and their significance,” says O’Rourke, who graduated from Villanova University with a double major in history and political science. “I had no idea it was the turning point [of the Revolutionary War]. The more I learned, the more I inquired, ‘Why don’t more people know about this?’”

Few did, so he decided to take matters into his own hands.

In 2012, he and a partner founded the forerunner of the current venture, Saratoga Feature Film Project, and eventually produced a screenplay. But after seeing large sums of his money squandered and little Hollywood interest in it, the partnership dissolved, and O’Rourke tried another angle.

In 2017, taking advantage of his Army connections, O’Rourke traveled to the United States Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. – specifically its history department – where he met Dr. James Kirby Martin and, later, retired Col. Kevin Weddle and Robert Burris. Martin, a military author and historian, and Weddle, a historian and professor of military strategy, are project senior advisors, while Burris, a feature film writer and television producer, is the primary screenwriter.

The proposed film – unusually – not only is a veteran-owned enterprise, but “it is entirely New York-based,” says O’Rourke, a Saratoga Springs resident. “It really is an organic and home-grown project. We want America’s veterans and fellow patriots to be the foundation of the project.”

In addition to the veteran outreach, nearly 200 area businesses have signed on as “Friends of the Film.” 

“We are absolutely committed to telling this [story] in an authentic way so that we are showing the courage, faith, grit, and wisdom it took to prevail,” O’Rourke says. “Not just for the War of Independence itself, but then throughout American history, those same elements were necessary to keep the sacred fire of liberty burning. These intangibles, these attributes, were critical to success because there was so much hardship and sacrifice.”

The project’s principals estimate that it will need $125 million over the next two years to bring the film to fruition and is asking veterans and others to contribute and spread the word. The principals envision filming to be undertaken at or near the sites where the actual historical events occurred, including the Adirondack Mountains, the Champlain, Hudson, and Mohawk valleys, as well as Lake George, including Fort Crown Point, Fort Ticonderoga, and the battlefield location itself. 

“What we’re trying to do with this project is make sure that it’s understood that the victory at Bennington [Vermont] a month earlier and Saratoga — they were both complete victories – as well as the sacrifice that occurred that summer in the Mohawk Valley at the Battle of Oriskany and the siege of Fort Stanwix. This is what saved the Revolution and what enabled Benjamin Franklin to forge the desperately needed alliance with France. It was a game-changer. 

“When the victory at Saratoga occurred, Philadelphia had just fallen [on Sept. 26, 1777], so the nation’s two largest cities [along with New York, which fell in 1776] are under [British] occupation. And if we lose at Saratoga, it’s probably over. Upstate New York -this area – saved the American Revolution. And that is mind-blowing!”

O’Rourke, the passion evident in his voice, sums up the project this way: “We need to link arms and will this movie into existence; we want this to be a motion picture masterpiece – that’s the vision. We’re going big, or we’re going home – the story demands that!”

For more information or to donate to the project, go to 1777.org. To find project information on Facebook, Instagram, and X (formerly Twitter), go to: @77TurningPoint.