Battles of Saratoga
Burgoyne’s British army, marching south from Canada along the Hudson, lost two battles at Saratoga and surrendered; the victory brought France into alliance with the United States.
John Trumbull · Public domain · Source
In 1777 Britain sent Burgoyne’s army south from Canada along the Hudson to cut New England off from the other colonies. Burgoyne took Fort Ticonderoga in July, but he slowed as his men hacked through the forest and his supplies ran short, while Howe in New York sailed off to attack Philadelphia instead of marching north.
Americans under Gates and Arnold checked Burgoyne in two battles on the heights south of Saratoga, on 19 September and 7 October; surrounded, Burgoyne surrendered with about 6,000 men on 17 October. Convinced that the Americans could win, France signed a treaty of alliance with Benjamin Franklin in February 1778. Spain (1779) and the Netherlands (1780) were drawn into war with Britain too, and a colonial rebellion became a world war.
