One battlefield surrender convinced France to bet on American independence

In October 1777, General John Burgoyne surrendered an entire British army of roughly 6,000 men to American forces at Saratoga, New York, after his campaign to cut the rebellious colonies in two collapsed. The victory was the proof France's foreign minister needed that the Americans could actually win, and it brought France openly into the war as an ally within months. That alliance's money, ships and troops would prove decisive at Yorktown four years later.

— Richard M. Ketchum, Battles of Saratoga — Saratoga: Turning Point of America's Revolutionary War, 1997
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