The Battles of Saratoga helped persuade France to ally with the Americans during the American Revolutionary War commemorated by America250.
Fought near Saratoga, New York, on September 19 and October 7, 1777, the two engagements opposed American Continental forces under Horatio Gates to a British army commanded by John Burgoyne. The first battle, at Freeman’s Farm, was a costly British tactical success; the second, at Bemis Heights, ended in a decisive American victory.
Burgoyne surrendered his army on October 17, 1777. The result demonstrated that American forces could defeat a major British field army and encouraged France to enter the war openly as an American ally in 1778. French military, naval, and financial support later became crucial to the American cause.
A common mix-up is treating Saratoga as one single battle. The name usually refers to the connected two-battle series, while the campaign also included the Battle of Bennington and other actions in the northern theater.