The Battle of Saratoga is remembered as a turning point in the Revolutionary War story America250 commemorates.
The Battles of Saratoga were fought in 1777 in New York. American forces stopped a British campaign led by General John Burgoyne, whose army had advanced south from Canada in an attempt to divide New England from the other colonies.
The campaign ended with Burgoyne’s surrender at Saratoga on October 17, 1777. The victory was strategically important because it demonstrated that the Continental Army could defeat a major British field force. It also encouraged France to enter the war openly as an American ally in 1778.
Saratoga is sometimes described as a single battle, but the campaign included two major engagements: Freeman’s Farm on September 19 and Bemis Heights on October 7. The surrender followed the second battle and marked the decisive conclusion of the campaign.