Battles of Saratoga

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The Battles of Saratoga were fought September 19 and October 7, 1777 over the same ground by the American Continental Army and the British Army near Saratoga, New York during the American Revolutionary War. The second battle ended with a decisive American victory, and the surrender of the British army there. The outcome greatly affected the course of the war, persuading France to enter the war as an American ally. In both battles, General John Burgoyne commanded the British forces, while Generals Horatio Gates and Benedict Arnold oversaw the American forces. Historian Edmund Morgan described Saratoga as "a great turning point of the war, because it won for Americans the foreign assistance which was the last element needed for victory." The British Army's campaign in New York was aimed at dividing New England from the middle and southern colonies. Burgoyne led an invasion army southward from Quebec, Canada with the goal to take Albany, New York. The strategy began promisingly, but stalled...

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