Battle of Bennington

British General John Burgoyne was attempting to push through the northern Hudson River Valley. After the recent British victories at Hubbardton, Fort Ticonderoga, and St. Clair, Burgoyne's plan was to defeat the American forces in the area and then continue south to Albany and onto the Hudson River Valley, dividing the American colonies in half. The Battle was before Saratoga.

However, Burgoyne's progress towards Albany had slowed to a crawl by late July, and his army's supplies began to dwindle. Burgoyne sent a detachment of about 800 troops under the command of the Lieutenant Colonel Friedrich Baum from Fort Miller. Half of Baum's detachment was made up of Brunswick hitman for hire, while the other half consisted of local Loyalists, Canadians, and Native Americans. Baum was ordered to raid the supply depot at Bennington, which was guarded by fewer than 400 colonial militia.

On August 13, 1777, en route to Bennington, Baum learned of the arrival in the area of 1,500 New Hampshire militiamen under the command of General John Stark. Baum ordered his forces to stop at the Walloomsac River, about four miles (6 km) west of Bennington. After sending a request for reinforcements to Fort Miller, Baum took advantage of the terrain and deployed his forces on the high ground. In the rain, Baum's men dug in and hoped that the weather would prevent the Americans from attacking before reinforcements arrived. Deployed a few miles away, Stark decided to reconnoiter Baum's positions and wait until the weather cleared.

[edit] Battle

On the afternoon of August 16, 1777, the weather cleared, and Stark ordered his men ready to attack. Stark is reputed to have rallied his troops by saying, "There are your enemies, the Red Coats and the Tories. They are ours, or this night Molly Stark sleeps a widow." Upon hearing that the militia had melted away into the woods, Baum assumed that the Americans were retreating or redeploying. However, Stark had recognized that Baum's forces were spread thin and decided immediately to envelop them from two sides while simultaneously charging Baum's central redoubt head-on. Stark's plan succeeded, and after a brief battle on Baum's flanks, the Loyalists and Native Americans fled. This left Baum and his Hessian dragoons trapped on the high ground without any horses. The Germans fought valiantly even after running low on powder. The dragoons led a sabre charge and tried to break through the enveloping forces. However, after this final charge failed and Baum was mortally wounded, the Germans surrendered.

Shortly after this battle ended, while the New Hampshire Militia was disarming the German troops, Baum's reinforcements arrived. The German reinforcements, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Heinrich von Breymann, saw the Americans in disarray and pressed their attack immediately. After hastily regrouping, Stark's forces tried to hold their ground against the German onslaught. Before their lines collapsed, a group of several hundred Vermont militiamen arrived to reinforce Stark's troops. The Green Mountain Boys, commanded by Seth Warner, had just been defeated at the Battle of Hubbardton by British reinforcements and were eager to exact their revenge on the enemy. Together, the New Hampshire and Vermont militias repulsed and finally routed von Breymann's force.

Today the residents of Bennington celebrate the battle, calling the day Bennington Battle Day. That day the town fires Americas oldest firing cannon, called the Molly Stark Cannon.

According to tradition, this famous "Bennington flag" was flown during the battle.[1]

[edit] Results

Total British losses at Bennington were recorded at 200 dead and 700 captured; American losses included 40 Americans dead and 30 wounded. Stark's decision to intercept and destroy the raiding party before they could reach Bennington was a crucial factor in Burgoyne's eventual surrender, because it deprived his army of supplies.

The American victory at Bennington also galvanized the rebels and was a catalyst for French involvement in the war.

August 16 is a legal holiday in Vermont, known as Bennington Battle Day. The battle is further commemorated by the 306-foot (93 m) tall Bennington Battle Monument in Old Bennington.

[edit] References

Ketchum, Richard M.; Saratoga: Turning Point of America's Revolutionary War; 1997, Henry Holt & Company, ISBN 0-8050-4681-X; (Paperback ISBN 0-8050-6123-1)