NYPL RESEARCH LIBRARIES
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The Battle of Bennington
SECOND EDITION
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THE NEW YORK (
PUBLIC LIBPiARY
297v393B
A8T0R, LENUX AND
HLDBN FOUi^DATlONB
B 1»44 L
This Sketch is Dedicated to the Memory of
Sometime Pastor of the First Church of
Bennington and Author of
** Memorials of a Century"
'^^
^
V ^'jDENNINGTON, in fact, was one of
^ the most important fights of the Revo-
ji lution, contributing as it did so largely to the
^ final surrender of Burgoyne's whole army at
Saratoga, and the utter ruin of the British in-
vasion from the north. It is also interesting as
an extremely gallant bit of fighting. . . . There
stood the enemy strongly intrenched on a hill,
"iii^ and Stark, calling his undisciplined lines about
^ him, went at them. . . . He and his men fought
well their hand-to-hand fight on that hot August
^ day, and carried the intrenchments filled with
regular troops and defended by artillery. It was
t5 a daring feat of arms, as well as a battle which
^ had an important effect upon the course of
i history and upon the fate of the British empire
^ in America.'*
'$ Henry Cabot Lodge.
The Battle of Bennington
A summer visitor who takes an in-
terest in the local history of New
England, has only to arrive there, to
learn that the charming village of
Bennington Centre, or "Old Ben-
nington," is not the least in its ap-
peal. It was the scene of some of
the most remarkable incidents in the
romantic early history of Vermont.
There the State of Vermont was
born.' The white meeting-house, a
hundred years old, stands on the
green, opposite the oldest inn in the
State. Near this the first settler*
built his log cabin. His sturdy wife,
in his absence, when the wolves came
howling round at night, seized fire-
brands from her hearth, opened the
door, waved the pieces of burning
wood, shouted with all her strength, —
and the wild beasts retreated.
Not far from the site of the first
home of a white man in the wilder-
ness, a terrible looking beast still
lingers. A catamount, cast in bronze,
is on a granite pedestal. An ugly
grin is perpetual on its horrid face.
It looks ready to attack. The image
snarls defiance toward New York —
only three miles off to the west. The
cannon at the monument point in
the same direction, as if in warning
to a possible intruder from that quar-
ter. There is at present no unfriendly
sentiment for the Kmpire State. But
history is made picturesque. Ben-
nington does not want to forget the
past. The inquisitive visitor is ex-
cited to ask what the statue means.
One may have learned something
of the story, and then forgotten.
Now, it is too vivid, there on the
spot, ever again to be lost. Vermont
was once disputed territory, known
as "The New Hampshire Grants."
The claims of New York were re-
sisted by an armed force known as
"The Green Mountain Boys," led
by Ethan Allen and Seth Warner, all
determined to "act the bold and
manly part." And they did main-
tain their right to the lands which
they had bought in good faith from
New Hampshire; and improved by
their race instinct for industry, for
law, for octtled homes. In the days
of that struggle with the hated "York-
ers," the stuffed hide of a catamount
was used as a sign in front of Captain
Fay's celebrated tavern, put there in
grim earnest to warn intruders how
the pioneer settlers were ready to de-
fend their titles to the Green Moun-
tain Country.
Bennington was the centre of re-
sistance, the headquarters of the active
opponents of New York, the resi-
dence of Ethan Allen and Seth
Warner, who led the settlers in their
fight with New York.
And right in the midst of their
struggle for their own, they were
prompt to rise above their local in-
terests and risk their lives and prop-
erty for a larger cause. They took
part on the side commanded by
Washington, when they were denied
what they asked, to be one of the
United States.
We all know, we do not have to
spend a month in Bennington to find
out, that Ethan Allen, at the head of
Green Mountain Boys, surprised the
garrison at Ticonderoga on a May
morning in 1775, ^^^ captured the
fortress "in the name of the great
Jehovah and the Continental Con-
gress," and that Warner was a brave
soldier, who did a great deal to help
Stark win the Battle of Bennington.
But once on the very spot where
these men lived and played their
parts in the great drama, one goes
deeper into the story. That same
visitor mentioned a little farther back
— it was the writer — used to sit of a
beautiful summer afternoon on the
steps of the " Old Academy,*' a brick
II
building. In its day, "it was a great
place for learning," I once heard one
man inform another, in a respectful
tone, as they passed. As I read,
more than once a pilgrim who had
cUmbed the hill for a close view of
the monument which dominates the
scene, stopped and asked why the
massive obelisk was not erected on
the spot where the famous victory
was won, six miles away, by "The
Walloomsac," but instead, where it
is on the top of the hill; it was a pleas-
ure to impart to another eager for the
knowledge, recently acquired facts ;
to deliver an historical lecture, as it
were, from a platform.
The attempt was made with alac-
rity to explain ; perhaps it was more
copious than the interlocutor wanted.
But it does take a little time to make
12
it clear that the monument was erected
on the site of the Continental store
houses which were the object of
Colonel Baum's expedition, and not
on the battle ground, because the
place where the battle was fought is
now included in the State of New
York. The victory was won by the
militia and volunteers of Vermont,
Massachusetts and New York. When
in 1782, the border line between Ver-
mont and New York was agreed
upon by Congress, the fortifications
made by Colonel Baum and his
troops, which Stark and his men as-
saulted and carried, came within the
limits of New York. Yet New York,
in the person of General Schuyler,^
had declined to " notice a fourteenth
State unknown to the Confederacy,"
when appealed to for aid before the
13
battle. Plainly — when one thinks
over exactly how it all was — that
was no place for a monument in mem-
ory of a signal exploit in which New
York, as a state, did not take part.
The land title controversy, the
reason why New York received no
trophies from the battle field, the
battle — on the spot, one lives in the
stirring past of the little old town on
the hill, which speaks to those atten-
tive to its story, of brave old times ;
of men and women who did indeed
have the capacity for the emergencies
of their lives. You are fortunate if
you stay awhile and linger over
" Memorials of a Century." The
well-worn volume, out of print, cher-
ished by its owner, loaned as one lets
another have a treasure, is a valuable
accumulation, a record of individuals
>4
and events in the early history of
Bennington. You must have leisure
for the story as it comes out in the
old book. Any one who takes time
over those local annals, will gain a
vivid impression of individuals who
make a general conclusion possible.
The history of the time is made more
alive because we realize that man after
man lived, and did something to help,
thanks to a student who valued each
person for his essential worth, and
preserved all that he heard of the
past which seemed credible, traditional
anecdotes which otherwise would have
perished.
If, however, you come to Benning-
ton, only for a day or two, and want
to know more about the battle than
the accounts in the general histories,
perhaps this may be a substitute. It
15
is a narrative based mainly on "The
Memorials," shaped so as to bring
into the story, which includes the
greatest day in the history of the vil-
lage, what the heroes, whose names
are on the roll of the patriots of
Bennington, did to help the cause.
Amid the peace and quiet of a
summer afternoon in 1907, Pastor
Jennings makes it real to his reader
how altogether different it was at the
same time of year in 1777. They
were not taking life easily in Benning-
ton and the neighborhood during
those midsummer days. It was a
time of anxiety, when some lived in
fear and trembling. On the 5th of
July, when daylight came, the Amer-
icans within the fortress of Ticonder-
oga saw a party of redcoats on the
bold summit of a hill to the south,
16
which had been pronounced by mili-
tary experts inaccessible. But the
redcoats had climbed "where a goat
could go," and had dragged cannon
after them. Once a hostile battery
was planted there, the only thing
to do was to evacuate Ticonderoga,
which St. Clair, under cover of the
next night, did.
This was bad news for the patriot
side. But George III. felt exultant.
He rushed to Queen Charlotte the
minute after he read the dispatches
from America, shouting : " I have
beaten them ! I have beaten a^' he
Americans!"
Reverses were indeed serious that
summer on the American side of the
war. Not only was Ticonderoga
given up, but Warner, after a brave
stand, was defeated at Hubbardton,
17
though his men wasted no lead in
aimless firing, and their volleys made
big gaps in the redcoat line.
John Adams remarked that it was
high time for the Americans to shoot
one or two of their generals as a
warning to the rest. Even Washing-
ton, a man not easily depressed, wrote
to Putnam: "As matters are going"
— there were other disasters — " Bur-
goyne will have little difficulty in
penetrating to Albany."-*
Burgoyne quite agreed with Wash-
ington. It seemed to him when he
got as far as Fort Edward in his
march southward, and received re-
ports that one-half of the people he
came to subdue were running away
in a panic of fear, and that the other
half were listening to his proclama-
tion, very anxious to take the oath of
loyalty to the king as quickly as pos-
sible. He had heard a little about
the region of country to the south of
him, called "The New Hampshire
Grants," and he had the impression
— a true one — that the people in
that part of the country were hostile
to New York; and the general, who
was a man of a quick mind, reasoned
that these people, who hated New
York, would, in consequence, be very
glad to submit to him.
The English officers, with that
rude and stupid contempt for the
colonists, which did a great deal to
bring on the American Revolution,
began to bet, not on whether they
would reach Albany or not. That
was a foregone conclusion. They
forgot "Bunker Hill." The trip
ahead looked safe and easy to veteran
19
soldiers who had nothing to fear from
perhaps a few " peasants" — yeomen
is the right word — who might not
all run until they really saw the red-
coats, and who might even summon
up courage to take a shot or two first.
And so the wager was — how many
days it would take them to arrive.
There was a decided panic when
Burgoyne began to advance on his
march south. Thanks to General
Schuyler, who did all that he could
to obstruct them, the progress of the
English army was very slow, only a
mile a day. But it was steady ad-
vance. On the 30th of July Bur-
goyne was at Fort Edward. His^
threat to turn the Indians loose
alarmed the settlers in Western Ver-
mont, who understood the horrors of
such warfare. General Burgoyne
spoke of the Americans who had be-
come offensive to the king as "wilful
outcasts." He said, in his proclama-
tion, that God would forgive him if
he incited the Indians to scalp and
torture the hardened enemies of Great
Britain, even women and infants.
Farms in the region were hastily
abandoned. The roads leading to
the south were crowded with fugi-
tives — men on horses, on foot, rude
vehicles filled with frightened women
and children, household gear, cattle
— all making for a place of refuge.
And a number, inclined all along
to the Tory side, decided to make
themselves safe, and so they
sought the protection of the English
general.
Burgoyne, in " happy ignorance"
of what really lay before him, was
advancing with a splendid army.
There was alarm, retreat, submission.
But there were men among those
green hills like David Robinson.
His mother started to join the fugi-
tives. He said to her, as he per-
suaded her to come back ; " If we
must die, let us all die together."
Not, however, without a fight for life,
and liberty. There were patriots who
were not frightened when Tories and
Indians were reported so near that the
rustle of the corn in the fields near
Bennington might hide the stealthy
enemy. Ethan Allen^ was a prisoner
in the hands of the enemy, or he
would have been ready for service in
that hour of dire need. Warner was
at Manchester with the remnant of
his regiment. The Vermont Council
of Safety joined Warner. At once a
22
call was issued to all the officers of the
militia in the newly-made State to send
on all the men they could possibly
raise. Ira Allen wrote to New Hamp-
shire for assistance against a "large
scout of the enemy disposed to take
a tour" to Bennington.
New Hampshire had already de-
termined what to do. When the
news of the evacuation of Ticonderoga
and the progress of the enemy south
had reached the Legislature of New
Hampshire, John Langden, the
Speaker, thus addressed the members :
"I have three thousand dollars in
hard money. I will pledge my plate for
three thousand more. I have seventy
hogsheads of Tobago rum, which
shall be sold for the most it will bring.
These are at the service of
THE State. Jf we succeed in defend-
23
ing our firesides and our homes,
I may be remunerated ; if not, the
property will be of no value to me."
Meshech Weare, President of the
State of New Hampshire, replied to
Ira Allen at once. They had to de-
cide and act quickly in those two
weeks before the battle. President
Weare sent at once three battalions
of State militia under command of
General John Stark. General Stark
had left the service. He felt wronged
because Congress had promoted junior
officers over him. But he promptly
forgot his personal grievance. He
was ready again for service. Joy ani-
mated the militia when Stark took
command and led the way to Man-
chester, ready to act under New
Hampshire, which State gave him
liberty to decide where to go and when
24
to strike. Massachusetts sent men
and arms, and in response to the
urgent call that "lead would be posi-
tively wanted," also two tons of lead.
The one pair of bullet moulds in
Manchester was kept "hot and busy."
The goods and chattels of all persons
who had joined or should join the
common enemy, were seized and sold
to pay for the defence.^ Patriotic
parsons — who preached in the days
when the gunpowder on hand in the
town was often kept under the pulpit
for safety — delivered war sermons.
Parson Dewey^ was one of them. He
preached a sermon in Bennington
Meeting House the Sunday before
the battle. He told his people to
take arms and go and fight for their
country. Parson Allen came with a
detachment of militia. How he con-
25
ducted himself will be related a little
farther on.
By the 7th of August, Stark was
at Manchester with T400 men ready
to follow wherever he led. In the
midst of these preparations, General
Schuyler, who was doing all that a
brave man could to prevent the ad-
vance of Burgoyne on Albany, sent
General Lincoln to bring General
Stark and his militia out of New
England to the Hudson. General
Stark^ did not feel obliged to obey.
He refused, and showed the written
terms on which he had consented to
take the field. He, however, sent
word to General Schuyler that he
would join him when he saw for him-
self that he and his men should be
in that part of the country.
General Schuyler did not know when
26
he sent for General Stark that there
was a design to take the store houses
at Bennington. And he seems to
have forgotten that the people on
" the Grants" were in danger.
By July 29th, General Stark had
certain information that Colonel
Baum, a German officer whose valor
had been proven on European fields
of battle, was thus commanded by
General Burgoyne :
" Mount your dragoons ; send me
thirteen hundred horses ; seize Ben-
nington ; try the affections of the
country ; take hostages ; meet me a
fortnight hence in Albany."
Burgoyne knew when he gave that
order that Bennington was a depot
used by the New England militia, a
centre of supplies — horses,provisions,
ammunition. Food was becoming
27
scanty in his army. He also wanted
horses for some of his dismounted
dragoons.
But while General Stark knew
about the orders to Baum, as late as
August 13th, he was not sure exactly
where the patriots would be needed.
He moved on, accompanied by Colo-
nel Warner, who left his regiment
at Manchester under command of
Lieutenant Colonel SafFord, — when
he decided, as it turned out, he was
right, when he came with his brigade
and encamped about two miles west
of the inn on the green at Bennington.
By that time the Council of Safety
had moved from Manchester back to
Bennington, and sat in anxious de-
liberation, but with stout hearts, in
the "Council Chamber" of "The
Catamount Tavern," hard at work,
28
seizing the arms of the Tories for
use, their other property so sell. — It
seems worth while to digress here
long enough to say that in those days
there is evidence that the Tories
found little comfort from either army.
A British officer spoke of the enemy
as rebels, but the Tories he called
"damned traitors and scoundrels."
And he was not the only one of the
British that had that opinion.
To resume the thread of a narra-
tive which may easily become in-
coherent because there is so much to
say. Stark and Warner were, when
wanted, exactly at the right place, —
for Baum was on the way to carry out
the orders of Burgoyne. He left the
Hudson August nth and started
on his march to Bennington. He
reached Cambridge on the 13th ;
29
took some cattle, horses, carts and
wagons ; also a few prisoners. And
he was fired upon by an assailing
party. From here Baum sent a dis-
patch to Burgoyne that he had been
informed the Americans were eighteen
hundred strong at Bennington.
The skirmish at Cambridge was at
once reported to General Stark, at his
headquarters, by his scouts employed
by the Council of Safety, who con-
sulted Stark and Warner as they gave
orders. The scouts were Bennington
men. Their names were Isaac Clark
and Elcazer Edgerton. When they
made haste to carry this news, they
thought they had only to report that
a hostile party of Indians had ad-
vanced as far as Cambridge. They
did not know that Colonel Baum was
not far behind.
30
General Stark at once sent two
hundred men under Lieutenant Colo-
nel Gregg to meet the Indians. On
the morning of August 14th, Colonel
Baum reached Van Schaick*s Mills
and found Gregg and his men in pos-
session.
Here we have the story, a version
of what took place in a letter written
by Colonel Baum to General Bur-
goyne. He begs pardon of his Ex-
cellency for the hurry of the letter,
and explains that it is written on the
head of a barrel. He writes that
when he came to the mill, he found
a part of the enemy in possession,
but they left at once, "in their usual
way, fired from the bushes, slightly
wounded one of the savages, broke
down the bridge and took the road
to Bennington." " By five pris-
oners here they agree that fifteen
hundred to eighteen hundred men
are in Bennington, but are supposed
to leave it on our approach ^
Colonel Baum writes in this confi-
dent tone to his superior officer, but
in a narrative of the battle said to be
written by an officer with him, it is
stated how the writer noted that
though the Americans retreated, they
left the impression that they fought
not only like men conscious of their
own courage, but were confident in
the strength of the support which
was back of them. The bearing of
the Americans, the rumors as to
the garrison at Bennington, seem to
have startled Colonel Baum and the
boldest of his troops.
General Stark received more com-
plete information than the first report
32
of the scouts. As soon as he heard
of the enemy in the rear of the In-
dians, he did not wait for them to
come to him. On the morning of
the 14th, he assembled his brigade
and the militia in Bennington and
vicinity, sent to Manchester for
Colonel Warner's men, issued orders
for all the militia to come with
speed — and marched to meet the
enemy.
When General Stark had pro-
ceeded about five miles, he met
Colonel Gregg retreating before
Colonel Baum. Stark at once drew
up his men in order of battle. The
enemy came in sight. But instead of
advancing they came to a halt on a
rise of ground which gave them the
advantage. General Stark sent out
small parties to skirmish with the
33
enemy. Thirty of the enemy were
killed or wounded, without any loss
on the American side.
General Stark was ready to begin
the fight ; but Colonel Baum seems
to have declined the invitation from
the despised Yankee farmer.
Perhaps it was because the ground
did not suit either side. Be that as
it may — like some other points in
this brief account, it is one for ex-
perts to decide — General Stark, un-
molested, marched back about two
miles and encamped. He called a
council of war. Warner and all the
officers helped to decide on a plan of
attack for the next day.
The next day was August 1 5th. It
rained in torrents. This postponed
the plans of General Stark.
Baum'° had been instructed to keep
34
his ranks always in order, with mili-
tary precision, and that if he should
happen to meet decided opposition,
then he was ordered to put his regu-
lars in a position which would be a
good defence and throw up intrench-
ments. The work was more difficult
than Burgoyne- had thought likely,
but he prepared for the chance. As
Colonel Baum saw something of the
strength of the Americans," he obeyed
orders and took his position on a hill
behind the Walloomsac River. The
hill rises abruptly more than three
hundred feet, washed at its base by the
river. The force under Baum worked
hard all day, on the 15th, in the pour-
ing rain, constructing a breastwork of
earth and timber. An exact idea of
the work, and the location of some
of the outposts cannot be given here.
But it is enough for the general
reader to know that everything pos-
sible was done in the time they had
by brave soldiers, who were skilful
and experienced, to defend them-
selves.
A hill concealed the camp of Gen-
eral Stark, about two miles away.
While the force under Baum were
hard at work in the rain, the Ameri-
cans kept up a skirmish. The out-
posts of the British were attacked and
driven in.
Night came on. The hours passed
in both of the camps. Little time
was lost in sleep. That combative
Parson Allen became impatient. Be-
fore daylight on the i6th, he ad-
dressed the commander : *'We, the
people of Berkshire, have frequently
been called upon to fight, but have
36
never been led against the enemy.
We have now resolved, if you will
not let us fight, never to turn out
again." General Stark replied. He
asked Parson Allen if he wanted to
march then, when it was dark and
raining. " No," admitted the Par-
son, "not just now." "Very well,"
continued Stark ; "if the Lord shall
once more give us sunshine, and I
do not give you fighting enough, I
will never ask you to come out
again."
The dawn of the i6th of August
came. After the storm of the day
before there was not a cloud in the
heavens. There was a perfect calm.
From within the main intrenchments
on the hill above the river, the men
looked down over a scene of pastoral
beauty, a wide sweep of stately forest,
37
green meadows, fields of ripening
grain, here and there a log hut — a
home. It all looked so quiet ; not
as if an enemy was near.
Baum ordered his men to eat their
breakfast. Soon reports came in.
Columns of men were approaching.
They did not look like what he called
soldiers to Baum. He thought they
were Tories seeking his protection.
Duped, he called in his pickets.
Captain Frazer thought Baum was
mistaken. And so, it is said, did
most of the troops. But Baum was
slow to believe that it was really so.
They were caught in a trap.
The Yankee farmers, of stout Eng-
lish stock, were also up early on that
fateful morning, each one as impatient
as Parson Allen to begin the day's
work.
38
The plan of attack, as nearly as can
be made out, was as follows : Colo-
nel Nichols, with two hundred men,
taking a wide circuit through the
woods northward of Baum's redout,
was to get upon the rear of his left,
undiscovered as long as possible.
Colonel Herrick, with three hundred
men, taking a wide circuit south-
ward, was to get in like manner on
the rear of Baum's right. These two
were to join and begin the attack.
Meanwhile, to divert attention from
that proceeding, upon the success of
which everything else depended very
much. Colonel Hubbard and Colonel
Stickney were to get before the
breastworks made by the Tories, and
one hundred men were to march to-
ward the front of Baum. General
Stark, with the remainder of his
39
force, was, at the right time, to
charge on Baum in front.
All this took up the early part of
the day. There was continual skir-
mishing. The detached fortifications
seem to have been carried early in
the action. Particulars of this part of
the battle have not been preserved.
Stark and Warner'^ rode up at one
moment to reconnoitre. They were
fired at from the cannon. They came
galloping back. Stark cried out to
his men: " Those rascals know that
I am an officer. Don't you see that
they honor me with a big gun as
a salute ?"
Baum's men kept up firing all day
whenever they saw the sign of an
enemy. But there was little if any
reply from *'The New Englanders"
until about three o'clock in the after-
40
noon. Xichols, In the rear, seems to
have begun the actual attack.'^
Eleazar Hanks had so far felt it
his duty to remain at home, because
his wife was ill. He listened, how-
ever, as he kept at work near his
cabin. He heard the battle begin.
Then he left his wife in care of her
father, took his musket and ran to
join his fellow countrymen.
A soldier in Captain Dewey's com-
pany, with Colonel Herrick, hearing
the firing begin from the party on
the north, cried out : " My God !
What are they doing ? They are
killing our brothers I Why are we
not ordered to fire?" In a moment
came the order to advance.
As for the Indians with the British
force — when they heard the firing
begin, they began to feel alarmed.
They yelled: "The woods are full
of Yankees!" and fled out of the
fortifications on the hill, down, away,
as fast as they could run, in single
file, jingling cow bells, as they beat a
hasty retreat between the parties of
advancing men, thankful to get off,
as most of them did, though a few
were shot.
The deadly fire at last began in the
rear and on both flanks. General
Stark, in his saddle, pointed to the
enemy and made that laconic address:
" There are the redcoats, and they are
ours, or this night Molly Stark sleeps
a widow !"
Parson Allen, let loose at last,
climbed a stump and exhorted the
enemy to lay down their arms. They
replied by shots. The Parson got
down and took his gun.
42
The Americans with grim determi-
nation moved forward in front, in
flank, in the rear. They fired from
behind logs and trees as they ad-
vanced. The Hessians, thus attacked
on all sides at once, rose above their
works to fire. On came our militia,
without cannon or bayonets, through
fire and smoke ; they mounted those
well-fortified breastworks, facing the
cannon of the enemy hard at work.
The tumbril, with the ammunition of
the force under the British, exploded,
shaking the earth. The men under
Stark were arrested but a moment by
the violence of the concussion, then
quick to guess what had happened,
rushed up the steep ascent, sprang
over the parapet, shot down the can-
noneers.
After that, the battle became a
43
hand-to-hand struggle. Each man
was capable of managing for himself.
We catch glimpses of hero after hero,
animated during that two hours' fight
by the spirit which won the victory.
John Fay, as he raised his musket,
exclaimed, "I feel that I am fighting
in a good cause." They were his
last words. As he spoke, a bullet hit
him. He fell dead. The cry rang
out, "John Fay is shot!" Maddened,
his fellow townsmen leaped over the
breastworks and fired their guns in
the very faces of their foes. Leonard
Robinson, whose aim was quick
and deadly, declared that every
time he fired his gun he saw a
man fall. "But," he said afterwards,
"I prayed the Lord to have mercy
on his soul, and then I took care
of his body."
44
Such men — Ebenezer Webster,
the father of Daniel Webster, was
also there, fighting gallantly — gained
the Battle of Bennington. Indians
fled ; then Royalists and Canadians.
The Hessians fought on, preserving
their discipline until they had not a
cartridge left, then they drew their
swords and charged their foes, with
their Colonel at their head. At last.
Colonel Baum received his fatal
wound. Then the remaining Hes-
sians ran down the hill to escape.
That afternoon was very warm. The
Hessians were in full and heavy
uniform, and heavily armed. The
Americans, in shirt and trousers,
would not have looked splendid on a
dress parade, but they had the advan-
tage in pursuit. For over half a mile,
party after party of our men continued
45
to attack, kill or take prisoners, the
retreating Hessians.
For two hours the roar of the
conflict had been, in the words of
Stark, like " like one continuous clap
of thunder." The battle seemed
over. Colonel Baum — his sword
captured by Thomas Jewett — lay-
mortally wounded, in the midst of
death. The victory of the Ameri-
cans seemed complete. The prison-
ers were sent to Bennington. The
militia dispersed over the bloody
field, some looking for the dead and
wounded. Others were in search of
plunder.
Suddenly — it was an hour or two
before sunset — says Jesse Field, in
his narrative of the battle, the report
of cannon was heard. Another Brit-
ish force was coming — the reinforce-
46
ments under Breyman. Soon the
sounds of their drums and fifes were
heard in the distance.
The scattered militiamen, worn
out, hungry, taken by surprise, were
ill prepared to meet the advancing
foe. It is said that General Stark
himself, tired and stiff, was roused
with difficulty to meet this fresh
attack.
On came the enemy, the cannon
in front, clearing the way. Silas
Walbridge describes the rush of the
Americans to the scene of action.
But for a time all was confusion.
Some of the officers ordered : " For-
ward !" Others, even General Stark
himself, it is said : '' Retreat !" And
that Warner, when he heard it, called
out : " Stand to it, my lads ; you
shall have help immediately !"
47
A constant fire was, however, kept
up all the time by the Americans,
generally from behind trees. Though
there was retreat — until the remnant
of the gallant regiment which had
checked the advance of Eraser at
Hubbardton, appeared on the scene.
General Lincoln had sent them, as
he was asked, to reinforce General
Stark, without delay. And those one
hundred and fifty men had marched
all night in the drenching rain,
reached Bennington wet to the skin,
dried themselves, rested a little, and
then pushed on, led by Lieutenant
Colonel Safford, and rescued the day,
which, after all, might have been lost
but for their arrival in the nick of
time.
As it was, Warner's men rallied
when they came. The other troops
48
kept in order. Captain Jacob Saf-
ford says, in his narrative, that the
action was warm and close for nearly
two hours. Once Stark jumped from
his horse to teach one of his men
how to fire the cannon just captured
from the enemy. Breyman's veterans
were compelled to retreat. A British
officer carefully says: "They, how-
ever — as many of them as could —
retreated at the last very hastily^
Breyman got back that night of the
1 6th to Cambridge, and the next day
to the British camp.
The battle was fought and won, it
cannot be repeated in this story too
often, by men like Thomas Mellen.
He was in the rush over the breast-
works in the first battle, he chased
the Hessians until he met Breyman
with his eight hundred fresh troops
49
and larger cannon, he ran back until
he met a large body of Stark's men,
then he faced about, firing all the
time, he saw Warner's men come to
the rescue, when the barrel of his
own gun became too hot for him to
handle, he seized the gun of a dead
Hessian, into which his bullets went
easier than into his own.
In the story of the battle — "that
great stroke struck by Stark near
Bennington," General Washington
called it — too much praise cannot be
given to each man who helped to
win a victory which came like a ray
of sunshine to the patriots. General
Stark is quoted as saying: "Had
each man been an Alexander or a
Charles of Sweden, he could not
have behaved more gallantly."
While the battle was going on, the
50
warm and sultry day passed slowly
in the village of Bennington. The
place was crowded with fugitives.
The anxiety was intense. The Coun-
cil of Safety, at the Catamount Tav-
ern, received reports from the battle-
field, and sent circular letters in all
directions, as the cannon peals boomed
over the hills, heard as far as Wil-
liamstown, letting the people know
the news that Stark and his men had
met the enemy.
A little boy, who was five years old
on the 1 6th of August, 1777, lived
to be ninety-two. In 1863, amid
the Civil War, he could remember
the boom of the guns fired at the
Battle of Bennington.
Another small boy, never forgot
how he stood in the village on the
day of the battle and saw men hurry
51
past with scythes and axes, as well as
muskets and fowling pieces, volun-
teers from all directions. It is on
record that every man in Williams-
town, except a cripple on crutches,
shouldered his gun and rushed to the
field of conflict.
The aged and infirm gathered in
the meeting house and prayed for the
men in battle.
The pastor, in days to come, of that
same church, who wrote her name in
his narrative, Mrs. Captain Elijah
Dewey, and called her deed one of
the ''Battle Anecdotes,'""* was evi-
dently satisfied in his mind that Mrs.
Dewey was alive to what the duty
and the necessity of the hour required
of her. Mrs. Dewey staid at home in
the tavern on the green, while her hus-
band, and her brother. Colonel Brush,
52
were six miles away doing their part.
She put in the day looking after
large kettles of boiling meat, so as to
have food ready for the men on their
return. Captain Isaac Tichener ar-
rived in the village while the battle
was going on, stopped at the tavern
and ordered dinner. Mrs. Dewey
promptly refused to give the stranger
a meal. He pointed to the kettle of
meat and demanded to know why, in
the midst of plenty, she asked him to
go hungry. Mrs. Dewey's eyes
flashed as she answered : " That
meat is for the men who have gone
to fight for their country, where you
ought to be." Captain Tichener
quickly cleared himself. He ex-
plained that he was on public service,
getting supplies for the American
army. Upon which Mrs. Dewey
53
relented, and gave the tired young
commissary his dinner.
As the afternoon shadows grew
longer, there came decisive news. A
letter, still preserved, written by Sec-
retary Fay, at Bennington, and sent
as " a circular" dispatch, reads :
" Stark is now in action which has
been for some time very severe. . . .
The enemy were driven, but being
reinforced, made a second stand, and
still continue the conflict. But we
have taken their cannon, and prison-
ers, said to number four or five hun-
dred, are now arriving."
The prisoners were marched into
the village, bound two by two.
Aaron Hubbell was one of the
guards. The women took down
their bedsteads to use the rope to
string them on. The old meeting-
54
house was packed full ot captured
Hessians. A number of Tories were
also among the prisoners.
In a house near the battlefield
Colonel Baum lingered through the
night, guarded by Captain Robinson,
who "watched gently as a woman by
him until he died," and was wont to
say that "a man more intelligent and
a braver officer than this unfortunate
one I have never seen."
Colonel Baum and the Tory Colo-
nel Pfister were buried near the Wal-
loomsac; the exact spot is not known.
Some of the Hessian prisoners
who died were buried in the church
yard. The spot is now marked by a
granite monument, near the quaint
tombstone, decorated by a cherub ar-
rayed in clerical " bands" of Parson
Dewey.
55
Paul Revere was sent for some of
the prisoners and marched them to
Boston. The dead bodies of the foe
left on the battlefield were promptly
buried that same night. Mr. Har-
mon lost not a minute. He realized
how quickly a pestilence would breed
in the hot, damp August weather,
and with the heroic resolution of the
day, himself dragged one hundred
and sixty bodies to two large excava-
tions, made for wintering potatoes,
which became the graves of a large
number of the invaders.
And some of the Americans lay
right down among the corn near
where they had fought, and slept until
the next morning. "When 1 woke
up," one of them used to tell, **I was
so beaten out that I could not get up
till I had rolled about a good while."
56
While they took this well-earned
repose, there was the hard work told
of, and more, that night in Benning-
ton, after the battle. In the midst of
the exultation, the wounded were
cared for, as well as they could be.
One of the duties of Eleazer Hawks,
who has appeared before in this short
story, was to help to carry the
wounded on ox carts to the town.
The dead were brought, those from
Bennington, to their homes. The
American loss was forty men dead
on the field. Four of them were
from Bennington. All died in the
prime of life. All left widows and
children.
The landlord of "The Cata-
mount," Stephen Fay, had sent five
of his sons to the battle. One was
John Fay, shot and killed instantly.
57
The news was brought to Ste-
phen Fay. They broke it to him
that he was unfortunate in one of
his sons.
"What," asked the father, "did he
misbehave ? Did he desert his post?
Or run from the charge ?"
" No, sir. He is among the slain.
He fell contending mightily in the
cause."
"Then I am satisfied," were the
sublime words of the venerable
patriot. Bring him in ! Lay him be-
fore me, that, at my leisure, I may
behold this darling of my soul."
The corpse of the son — they
brought it, laid it before the father,
all besmeared as it was with dirt and
gore.
The father called for a bowl of
water and a napkin. With his own
58
hands he washed the dead body of
his son, wiped the gaping wound with
"a complacency," so he said, which
before he had never felt.
And then in a firm voice Stephen
Fay thanked God that he had "a son
who was willing to give his life for his
country."
John Fay, all who fought and won
the battle of Bennington, were, ac-
cording to the testimony of their
general, animated by a courage and a
strength of purpose which made them
heroes. They all risked, and some
gave up their lives for a cause they
thought good. They "struck a great
stroke" for the patriot side — the
side of the struggle led by Washing-
ton.
Washington rebelled, to quote
from his own letters, against "the
59
most despotic system of tyranny ever
practiced in a free government." He
was not willing to "supinely sit and
see one province after another fall a
sacrifice to despotism."
It seems necessary to make it ex-
plicit, in these days when there are
writers who take great pains to prove
that the English government was not
despotic, that Washington, if we can
take his own words for it, fought for
liberty because he felt that the Colo-
nists were being deprived of their
rights as English freemen ; and not
simply because he wanted to help the
colonies to cut loose from English
rule.
The news of what was done for
liberty near Bennington cheered
Washington at an anxious moment
in the conflict — and hope returned.
60
" Not the least among the grounds
of exultation," writes John Fiske, in
his brief account of the Battle of
Bennington, given in his history of
" The American Revolution," was
the fact that an army of yeomanry
had not merely defeated but annihi-
lated an army of Brunswick regulars,
with whose European reputation for
bravery and discipline every man in
the country was familiar. The bolder
spirits began to ask the question why
that which had been done to Baum
and Breyman, might not be done to
Burgoyne's whole army."
A. F. B.
6i
Notes
On January 15, 1777, a convention was held
at Westminster Court House, which voted,
" That the district of land commonly called
and known by the name of New Hampshire
Grants be a new and separate State and for the
future conduct themselves as such."
The author of that Declaration of Indepen-
dence, Dr. Jonas Fay, was a Bennington man,
and member of the ** Council of Safety."
The young State was named Vermont, in
June, 1777.
Samuel Robinson, Senior, was the leader of
the band of pioneers who settled the town of
Bennington, in 1761.
The settlers came from Massachusetts. They
were guided on their way by marked trees, as
they rode on horseback. As they neared the
line, they raced their horses — men and women
— each one eager to be the first to arrive in Ben-
nington.
63
Schuyler was a skilful general and a noble
patriot — one of the noblest.
But it may be no wonder that in those days
the Vermonters were unable to think justly of
him, or to speak kindly.
The British plan, for the summer of 1777,
was to move three armies at once.
Burgoyne was to come down from Canada
and take Albany.
St. Leger was to ascend the St. Lawrence to
Oswego, and come down the Mohawk to Al-
bany.
Howe was to move up the Hudson and
unite with the other two at Albany. The plan
was to cut the colonies apart at the line of the
Hudson.
It is related that Colonel Baum, as he lay
dying, said that ''the Americans fought more
like hell hounds than like soldiers."
The hardy yeomanry knew how to fight;
and they were especially exasperated because
Burgoyne had given out that he would use In-
dians — let loose ** fiends."
64.
But there is no evidence that at the Battle of
Bennington the American militia **were guilty
of enormities too horrid to think of."
The **hell hounds" were the Indians on
the other side.
Ethan Allen came back to Bennington in
June, 1778 — **his once burly form gaunt and
worn by the cruel captivity from which he had
just been released, but his bold spirit as robust
as ever. The people thronged into the little
hamlet to greet their old leader, and though
powder was scarce and precious, the rusty old
cannon. . . . was roundly charged, and thun-
dered forth a welcoming salute." . . .
«*This," says Ira Allen, in his history,
<* was the first instance in America of seizing
and selling the property of the enemies of Amer-
ican independence," and such is believed to be
the fact, though the measure was afterwards
pursued in all the States.
It is related of this same Parson Dewey that
upon a previous occasion he was preaching on
**the character of God."
65
Ethan Allen was present. He gave close
attention to the sermon. The Parson made a
statement which displeased the bold Colonel,
who sat in a prominent pew. He jumped
up, exclaimed in an audible voice, **That
IS NOT so," and started to leave the meeting
house.
Parson Dewey pointed the forefinger of his
right hand at Colonel Allen, and called out in a
stern voice, **Sit down, thou bold blasphemer,
and listen to the word of God."
Allen immediately resumed his seat, and lis-
tened with respect to the rest of the sermon.
9 Congress censured this insubordination, but
after the battle. General Stark was made a brig-
adier of the Continental Army.
10 The expedition under Baum consisted of a
corps of Riedsell's dismounted dragoons — the
same that had behaved so gallantly at Hubbard-
ton; a company of sharpshooters, chosen with
care from all the regiments, and under Colonel
Frazer, a most excellent officer; Peters' corps
of loyalists, to be swelled as they proceeded; a
66
body of Canadian Rangers; Hanau ArtiUerists,
with two cannon ; a hundred and fifty Indians.
And to support Colonel Baum in case of ne-
cessity. General Burgoyne stationed Lieutenant
Colonel Breyman at Battenkill, twenty-two
miles from Bennington, with two cannon and a
strong body of German regulars.
11 The force of General Stark consisted of
three regiments of New Hampshire militia, re-
spectively commanded by Colonels Hubbard,
Stickney and Nichols ; a small body of militia
from the east side of the mountains, under Col-
onel William Williams, of Wilmington ; a
corps of rangers under the authority of the Ver-
mont Council of Safety, commanded by Colo-
nel Herrick ; a body of militia from Benning-
ton and its vicinity, Nathaniel Brush, Colonel,
of which there were two companies from Ben-
nington, one commanded by Captain Samuel
Robinson, '= and the other by Captain Elijah
Dewey, who had just been joined by part oi a
militia regiment from Berkshire County, under
Colonel Simmons — making his whole force to
amount, probably, to about eighteen hundred
men.
67
12 ** Vermont has given Ethan Allen the first
place among her heroes, has set his marble effigy
in the national Capitol, in her own, and on the
monument that marks his grave ; yet to that
brave and modest soldier, Seth Warner, the
knightliest figure in her romantic history, the
State he served so well has not given so much as
a tablet to commemorate his name and valorous
deeds."
13 A map of Bennington Battle was drawn by
Lieutenant Durnford, an engineer with the
British.
14 And now seems the time to add some anec-
dotes of the battle, which should have come in
before, only it was hard to decide just where.
Captain Samuel Robinson, in the battle, was
loading and firing like the rest, when a ball sang,
on its way past, very near his head. He
dodged. Soon another on the opposite side
made him jerk his head again. Mortified, he
turned round to his men and called out :
** Boys, keep your eyes on me ; and if I dodge
again, put a bullet through me sideways !"
68
Eleazer Egerton, in the midst of the second
engagement, was firing away from behind a
tree, when he noticed a young man looking for
the same defense. ** Here, boy !'* he shouted,
**take my tree. You fight behind, and I'll
fight before. The rascals daren't shoot me ;
they know me." He was as good as his word.
He planted himself with his back to the trunk
of the tree ; and there he stood firing until the
Hessians did know him, and fear him, and fled
beyond the reach of his bullets.
** Old Uncle Silas Robinson" used to tell this
story in a sarcastic voice to hearers who could
appreciate his irony. "I had heard," he
would say, **that these Robinsons were all
cowards ; and I rather thought," he drawled
out in his dryest tone, ** if any of them was, I
was the man. But somebody told me that gun-
powder was good for courage ; so I took about
a gill of gin, and thickened it up with powder ;
and when I had drunk that — I tell you, then I
fought r'
Another surviving soldier told how Warner
rode near, and some one, pointing to a dead
69
man by the wayside, said to him: "Your
cousin is killed."
** Is it Daniel ?" inquired Warner.
«*Yes."
Warner jumped off his horse, stopped, gazed
in the dead man's face, then rode on without
saying a word.
15 The roll of Captain Dewey's military com-
pany, as it was constituted at the time of the bat-
tle, has not been preserved. Of Captain Samuel
Robinson's company, the following is a list of
the men in the battle:
Robert Cochran Daniel Biddlecome
Gideon Spencer Levi Hatheway
William Henry Abram Hatheway
Henry Walbridge Reuben Colvin
Rufus Branch
John Larned
Thomas Abel
Nathan Lawrence
Josiah Brush
David Fay
Leonard Robinson
George Dale
John Marble
Eliphalet Stickney
Daniel Rude
Benjamin Holmes
James Marivater
Mr. Alger
Ammie Fuller
Jonah Brewster
John Clark
Jehoshaphat Holmes
70
Ephraim Marble
Aaron Hubbell
Samuel SafFord, Jr.
Aaron Smith
Ephraim Smith
Samuel Henry
Edward Henderson
Jonathan Haynes
Archelaus Tupper
Daniel Warner
Lieut. Simeon Hatheway
Aaron Miller
John Fay
Elijah Fay
Joseph Fay
Stephen Williams
William Post
David Safford
Jared Post
Jeremiah Bingham
Samuel Slocum
Josiah Hurd
Ezekiel Brewster
Solomon Leason
Thomas Selden
Moses Rice
Benjamin Whipple, Jr.
Silas Robinson
John Weeks
Moses Scott
Alpheus Hatheway
Solomon Walbridge
Ebenezer Bracket
Jehiel Smith
Asa Branch
Phineas Wright
John Smith
Jesse Belknap
Silvanus Brown
John Forbes
John Rigney
Elisha Smith
Solomon SafFord
Joseph Roe
William Terrill
Noah Beach
Simeon Sears
David Robinson
Joseph SafFord
Isaac Webster
71
V<
