"Scarcely was the first battle ended and the prisoners,
under guard, started off for Bennington, when a second body of British
[German] troops, nearly as large as Colonel Baum's, came up. They were
commanded by Colonel Breyman, who had been stationed within easy distance
and who had now been sent to reinforce
Colonel Baum. As the American forces
had become scattered, they were ill-prepared to meet fresh troops;
but, by rare good fortune, just at this critical moment,
Warner's veterans
came marching from
Manchester, and proved a most effectual offset to Burgoyne's
German troops. They had been well equipped by the recovery of the arms
of Colonel Hale's men, which bad been stacked in the woods after the Battle
of Hubbardton; and, although few in numbers, they were a host in courage,
and promptly took a position in front, covering the confusion of the militia,
who now came hurrying in and forming into line in the rear. A second severe
battle ensued, which lasted till sunset, ending in the utter defeat of
the British and their hasty retreat.
The
Americans followed them until they could no longer see, and would have
captured the entire force if the retreat had not been covered by the darkness
of the night. In his report of the battle, Stark said that with one more
hour of daylight they would have captured the whole body.
"In the two engagements the enemy lost four cannon
and 1,000 muskets. Over 200 of their men were left dead on the field, and
about 750 were wounded. or taken prisoners. The American loss was thirty
killed and forty wounded. Two of the captured cannon are now at the State
House in Montpelier, bearing this inscription: "Taken from the Germans
at Bennington Aug. 16, 1777." |
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"This victory had a very inspiriting effect on the
whole country, and was equally disheartening to the British. It was
the first real check Burgoyne had received on his march southward, and
led the way, if it were not actually necessary, to the disasters that soon
followed the British cause. This battle did not actually occur on Vermont
soil, but just across the line in Hoosick,N.Y. It was, however, a battle
directed against Bennington for the purpose of obtaining the stores collected
there; and so has always been known as the battle of Bennington. The event
has been fittingly commemorated by a monument at BenningtonCenter on the
site of the continental storehouse which the invading army came to capture.
Near by is the site of the CatamountTavern in which was the Council Chamber
where the Vermont Council of Safety held its sessions. This is also appropriately
marked by a life-sized bronze catamount surmounting a massive block of
green granite.
"After the battle of Bennington, Lincoln, who commanded
a body of New England militia, worked industriously collecting and organizing
the militia at Manchester, until he had a force of 2,000 strong. Unknown
to Gates, who had succeeded General Schuyler, he determined to make an
attempt to recapture Ticonderoga and its outposts, and thus cut off Burgoyne's
communications with Canada. Dividing his force into detachments, he was
successful in destroying the stores at the head of Lake George, taking
300 British prisoners, releasing 100 captives, who bad been taken at the
Battle of Hubbardton, and in capturing a large number of English boats
on the lake. In these captures Colonel Herrick's rangers bore a prominent
part. Ebenezer Allen, also a Vermonter, scaled the heights of Mt.
Defiance and dislodged the enemy. General Lincoln himself, with about 700
men, was about to march to Fort Edward, when he received an urgent request
from General Gates to join him at once. He accordingly gave up his own
plans, and, accompanied by Colonel Warner and his continental regiment,
hastened to reinforce Gates. The British army was now at Saratoga, ill-supplied
with provisions, and unable to retreat or to advance. After fighting two
ineffectual battles nearby, Burgoyne, despairing of relief, surrendered
to General Gates,
October17,1777, an army reduced to less than 6,000 able-bodied
men.
"When the news of Burgoyne's surrender reached Ticonderoga,
the garrison made quick preparations to evacuate, burning barracks and
houses at Ticonderoga and Mt.Independence, and sinking boats and breaking
or spiking their cannon. Close in their pursuit followed Ebenezer Allen
with fifty of Herrick's rangers, striking a blow at every opportunity.
He rescued forty-nine prisoners, captured quantities of stores, three boats,
and many horses and oxen. Among his prisoners was a slave named Dinah Mattis
and her child, whom he afterward set free, after having obtained the permission
of the Green Mountain Boys to do so. No longer having the British army
as a menace on their left, the Green Mountain Boys returned to their homes
in season to save some of their crops to sustain them through the severe
Vermont winter.
"To those who braved the perils of frontier life rather
than flee to places of greater safety in times of danger, came many sad
but interesting experiences. They were constantly exposed to the depredations
of the Indians; but as the red men seldom troubled the women and children,
it was customary for the men of a settlement to
flee to the woods on the approach of the Indian and there remain in hiding
until the work of plunder was over. At one time a party of Indians approached
the house of a Mr. Stone, one of the first settlers of Bridport. They were
discovered by Mrs. Stone in season to give her time to throw some
of the things she valued out of a back window, conceal others about her
person, and sit down to her carding before they entered. Suspecting that
she was concealing something in her clothing, an Indian attempted to search
her, whereupon she gave him a sharp slap in the face with the teeth side
of her card. Spirit in man or woman was much admired by the Indians, and
thereupon an old Indian broke into a loud laugh and cried, "Good squaw!
Good squaw!"
and she was not again molested.
"Another instance of the indomitable courage of Mrs.
Stone is shown in the following: After the capture of Burgoyne and about
three weeks before the evacuation of Ticonderoga
by the British, Mr. Stone
was
taken prisoner by the British and carried to Ticonderoga. Expecting that
he would be sent to Quebec, and knowing that he lacked suitable clothing,
Mrs. Stone rowed a distance of twelve miles to see him with no other
company than a brother ten years of age. She had left two children, the
older but four years of age, in the house alone. Not being able to gain
admission to the fort till morning, she was obliged to remain overnight.
Anxiously returning to her home the next day she was much relieved to find
both her little ones safe, the elder, with spirit akin to that of her mother,
having bravely assumed the protection and care of the younger." |
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