The site of the first significant American military victory during the Revolution, the Battles of Saratoga rank among the fifteen most decisive battles in world history. Here in 1777 American forces met, defeated and forced a major British army to surrender, an event which led France to recognize the independence of the United States and enter the war as a decisive military ally of the struggling Americans. An old black locust tree from the Saratoga National Historical Park represents this era in American history.