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The Americans, led by General Horatio Gates and a fired-up, heroic Benedict Arnold, captured or killed 7,500 British troops against only 100 losses of their own. This show of force was enough to convince the French that the Americans had a fighting chance. France officially joined the American cause in 1778, with Spain aligning the following year, followed by the Netherlands a year later. It is doubtful that the Americans would have won the war without this timely French intervention. The
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Timothy C. Winegard (The Mosquito: A Human History of Our Deadliest Predator)