The Saratoga campaign is widely described as a major turning point because it helped bring France into the American alliance.
The campaign took place in 1777 as British Lieutenant General John Burgoyne tried to control the Hudson River Valley and divide New England from the other American colonies. American forces resisted the advance in several engagements in New York and neighboring areas.
Burgoyne's army surrendered at Saratoga on October 17, 1777, after the Battles of Saratoga in September and October. The American victory demonstrated that the Continental forces could defeat a major British army, encouraging France to enter the war openly as an American ally in 1778.
Saratoga is sometimes confused with Yorktown, where Lord Cornwallis surrendered in 1781. Yorktown was decisive in ending major combat, while Saratoga was strategically important because it helped secure French military and financial support.