...as well as their German allies!

Some forum entries and an upcoming event have rather prompted me to post about an historical event...

When I was very young, I had the occasion to attend 4th of July fireworks at the locale of The Fort at Number Four (Number Four was the land allotment number given to the colonial settlers) in Charlestown, New Hampshire, perhaps 15 miles from our home. My grandfather was born in Windsor, Vermont, the former capitol of that state. I've zipped upon the waters of the Connecticut River in my uncle's cabin cruiser and crossed it many times; I've travelled across Vermont, passed through Bennington and then past Albany, New York (and reversed the direction).
Even so, I did not well know the mutual history that accompanied these places; sadly, I find many in these areas know even less. I've decided to gather some of this information together which is relative to a single state's (Vermont's) official holiday of an event, named for one of its towns, that did not occur within it: The Battle of Bennington, August 16, 1777.




Whereas most of the forces under Lt. Colonels Brehmann and Baum were not truly British, the term is herein used collectively.

Part 1
Prior to 1775, the colonial provinces of New Hampshire and New York both claimed authority over land west of the Connecticut¹ River. The geographically closer government of the smaller New Hampshire gave land grants in said territory (the Grants) to many colonists. New York did the same and some of their grant recipients would arrive with claim to the same or parts of lands that New Hampshire had also granted to others, sometimes resulting in open hostilities (over two centuries later, there is yet an "attitude" against New York by some of the locals). A militia was formed, the Green Mountain Boys, and a seperate republic was later declared in 1777. When armed conflict erupted against Britain, New Hampshire Grants settlers also saw it as a means of independence from New York claims and were among the first to join.
In 1777, with the intent of regaining the province of New York, effectively cutting the New England provinces from the rest, General John Burgoyne invaded from Canada enroute to Albany, having taken back Fort Ticonderoga and advanced to Fort Edwards by late July. In doing so, he had used up much of his provisions; his Brunswicker dragoons had no horses and he was short on supply wagons. Burgoyne was informed that the revolutionaries' stores 40 miles away in Bennington, Vermont, weren't well defended although the Green Mountain Boys, a main part of Vermont's militia, commanded by Seth Warner, was now recouperating -- from their engagement at Hubbardton -- in Manchester. On August 11, 1777, Burgoyne sent Lt. Col. Friedrich Baum to capture the military supplies along with any cattle and horses they could find. Baum set out with about 650 British and German soldiers; there were an additional 200 Canadian and Loyalist (Tory) volunteers, 300 Queen's Loyal Rangers² and over 100 Native Americans (mainly Mohawk) that joined. The latter ravaged the countryside enroute, more readily able to do so due to the labored advance of the dragoons; with no horses, each carried his knapsack, a blanket, a haversack containing four days' provisions, a gallon  water canteen, a hatchet and a proportion of the equipage belonging to his tent, arms and sixty rounds of ammunition, a cap with a very heavy brass front, a huge sword and his very long skirted coat. In contrast, the description of their main adversary was that of a farmer wearing no more than four types of personal garments: a shirt, vest, long linen trousers and shoes; a powder horn, a bullet bag, a (sometimes rusty) musket, and, often, a wooden rum flask.
Burgoyne knew that the small, battle worn detachment of Vermont militia was 20 miles north of Bennington in Manchester, Vermont, but expected they would further withdraw rather than reinforce those at Bennington. What he didn't know was that Vermont's Council of Safety had been aware of his advance and had sent out an alarm, first to a briefly debative Assembly of New Hampshire legislature on July 17, which soon enlisted and commissioned Brigadier John Stark upon his own terms. Within the week, at the Fort at Number Four, Stark grouped his brigade of 1500 troups, then set off posthaste across the Connecticut river on the trek to Bennington: New Hampshire had responded.
When the distress message arrived on August 14, a rally was held at the meeting house in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and companies immediately formed under the leadership of Captain William Ford and William Easton; a regiment was brought to under the leadership of Colonel Symonds and a detachment under the command of Lieutenant Colonel David Rossiter of Richmond. After an exuberant speech by the "Fighting Parson," Thomas Allen, they left in earnest with the parson choosing to go in his sulky, conserving his strength for combat, with no intent of stopping 'til they got there: The Berkshires of Massachusetts had responded.
General Burgoyne had seriously miscalculated his enemy's forces, both in number and resolve.