In November 1775, seven months after the outbreak of the American Revolution, a small American army laid siege to Quebec. Unwilling to risk the loss of Canada, the British government named Lieutenant General John Burgoyne to relieve Quebec. The 62nd Foot joined seven other British infantry regiments and a contingent of German troops that sailed for Canada in April 1776. Reaching Quebec at the end of May, the 62nd found that the disheartened Americans had already withdrawn up the St. Lawrence River.

The 62nd Foot eventually took its place in the 8,000-man army that Burgoyne assembled a year later to invade New York along Lake Champlain and the Hudson River. The 62nd marched with the 20th and 21st Regiments in the 2nd Brigade of Burgoyne's British infantry division. During the organization of this expedition, the 62nd lost its flank companies to the separate grenadier and light infantry battalions that Burgoyne assigned to his Advanced Corps, leaving only eight battalion companies to follow Lieutenant Colonel John Anstruther and the regimental colors.

The 62nd Foot's proudest moment in the Saratoga Campaign came on September 19, 1777. Along with the 9th, 20th, and 21st Foot, the 62nd stumbled into a much larger Continental force in the fifteen cleared acres comprising Freeman's Farm. Exhibiting unbreakable discipline, the Redcoats absorbed six American attacks, driving back their foes each time with the bayonet. During one counterattack, the 62nd pressed forward so far that it had twenty-five men cut off and captured.

Holding the center of the thin red line, the 62nd suffered the most losses of any British regiment engaged. When the Americans finally pulled back, only sixty of the 350 men the 62nd had taken into the fight were still standing. Although the 62nd Foot surrendered with the rest of Burgoyne's army on October 17, its valor at Freeman's Farm proved that the defeat did not stem from any deficiency in the British soldier, but in his commanders.

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