This was the essential battle. Without this win, it’s hard to see the French entering the war or our ultimate victory.
Indeed. The French were considering more help for us and after Saratoga, they moved. The key was the French fleet at Yorktown (which, as I’m sure you know, blocked Cornwallis’ escape route), and the French flintlocks and men did not hurt; one of the unsung things the French military did for us was to have professional military engineers join our army. That was a HUGE upgrade...