Bennington
- westmohney
- Oct 29, 2023
- 6 min read
Updated: Oct 23, 2024
. . .the hottest engagement I have ever witnessed, resembling a continual clap of thunder. ~ General John Stark
gathering an army
The Saratoga Campaign had begun with General John Burgoyne's successful march south from Canada to wrest control of Crown Point and Fort Ticonderoga back into British hands. General Washington and the American Congress realized the danger of Burgoyne's army on the move. Knowing that the existing Continental Army was probably not sufficient to hold back the British tide, Congress began a renewed effort to gain fresh enlistees.
Broadsides posted in towns around the country promised rich rewards for any who ventured to sign up:
THE ENCOURAGEMENT at the time, to enlist, is truly liberal and generous, namely, a bounty of TWELVE dollars, an annual and fully sufficient supply of good and handsome clothing, a daily allowance of a large and ample ration of provisions, together with SIXTY dollars a year in GOLD and SILVER money on account of pay, the whole of which the soldier may lay up for himself and friends, as all articles proper for his substance and comfort are provided by law, without any expense to him.
The broadside went on to say that those who attended the meeting would have an opportunity to hear about “the great advantages which these brave men will have, who shall embrace this opportunity of spending a few happy years in viewing different parts of this beautiful continent, in the honourable and truly respectable character of a soldier, after which, he may, if he pleases return home to his friends, with his pockets FULL of money and his head COVERED with laurels."
The broadsides may have helped with the enlistment problem, but the bold promises were certainly pie in the sky. Conditions for the soldiers at Valley Forge at the end of the year would prove that out and the woeful state of the economy after the war would make matters even worse.
retreat to Saratoga
In their horrific and harried retreat from Ticonderoga, the Americans left a swath of destruction behind them. Ensconced for a while at the American Fort Edward, 70 miles north of Ticonderoga, our cousin Jeduthan Baldwin's (3C7X) journal entry for July 22, 1777 was the cryptic "Blazing Hot with death in the pot." Most probably he was referring to the fact that Burgoyne's army was still hot on their heels. Then, in early August, Jeduthan reported that the American Fort Edward, which he had left only the week before, was "evacuated & destroyed by our peoples. . ." American General Philip Schuyler, in an effort to slow the British pursuit, not only tore down Fort Edward but also felled the surrounding trees and destroyed bridges.
Schuyler's actions bought his army about a month to recoup. The American troops hunkered down in meadows on the banks of the Hudson River between Stillwater, NY and Bemis Heights to prepare for the impending battle that was sure to come.
Our intrepid cousin Jeduthan was there in the thick of it, still hanging with the brass and feverishly working on new fortifications.
On the 26th of July, Jeduthan reported on attacks by British Native allies: "4 Men & 1 Woman killed near Fort Edward & cut to peices in a most inhuman manr." He wrote of similar scattered deaths almost every day throughout the next week. The 3rd of August was a particularly bad day with "several men killd, 5, & wounded, 7, & one man scalped, 2 officers and 6 soldiers taken."
On the 6th of August Jeduthan noted that "Genl. Schuyler & St. Clair ordered to Congrs..." to face the music for the surrender at Ticonderoga. The same day, news came that Burgoyne's army had reached Fort Edward and was soon expected to catch up with the Americans. Two weeks after Jeduthan's August 6 post, Schuyler was dismissed from his post and replaced by General Horatio Gates.
Fort Stanwyx holds out
Burgoyne's next target, after securing the Fort Edward area, was the American Fort Stanwyx, a more easterly fort in the middle of New York.
Burgoyne sent General Barry Leger to capture it. Leger's mission was to take Fort Stanwyx, then join Burgoyne's main force for the more important impending battle on the Hudson. Leger began a siege at Stanwyx on August 2. This endeavor would turn out to be a major tactical error for the British. The Americans sent cagy Benedict Arnold in relief of the fort which Jeduthan duly noted in his journal on the 13th: " Genl. Arnold went off for F. Stanwix." When Arnold managed to fool Leger into thinking his force of 700 men was more like 3,000, Leger accordingly abandoned his siege of the fort on the 22nd of August. Arnold's delaying tactic meant that Leger was not able to get west in time to help Burgoyne when things got dicey for the British. Worse still, while Leger had been wasting precious time on his siege, another one of Burgoyne's ploys had already gone desperately wrong.
major players at the Battle of Bennington
During their slow march southward from Ticonderoga to Fort Edward, the British army began to run dangerously low on supplies. When Burgoyne learned of American horses and supplies stored in Bennington VT, he decided to split his troops, sending a sizeable force to Bennington.
Fortuitously, the Americans had caught wind of Burgoyne's plan and swiftly prepared to defend their cache. General John Stark of New Hampshire, who had distinguished himself at the Battle of Bunker Hill, was chosen to lead the American army. Stark wasted no time calling for additional companies to come to his aid.
Our cousin Colonel Benjamin Symonds' (2C8X) regiment, known as the 2nd Berkshire, was one of the first to answer the call.
Another of our colonel cousins to arrive on the scene was Thomas Stickney (2C8X), also from New Hampshire. Thomas, who had spent the early part of 1777 rounding up and arresting suspected Tories, arrived with his men in Vermont just days before the battle.
In Cousin Thomas' regiment was our cousin Peter Kimball (3C7X) who was born in Bradford, MA in 1739. He moved to Boscawen, NH in 1765. By the time the war started, Peter was captain of a company there. In late July, he received orders from Col. Stickney to "be ready to march at a minutes warning."
Our cousin Peter Coffin (4C7X) was in Peter Kimball's company on their march to Saratoga. Peter Coffin was married to our cousin Rebecca Haseltine (2C8X). From the Webster, NH Historical Society website, we find that:
Both Peter and Rebecca were ardent Revolutionary patriots. Their house became a stopping place for all new settlers, and Capt. Coffin was known as the poor man’s friend who “… never made a man’s necessity his own opportunity.” Peter served in Capt. Peter Kimball’s march to Bennington, with Rebecca outfitting shirtless soldiers before they marched off.
In his diary Peter Kimball entered brief records of the march to Bennington:
thursdey (July) 31 we marcht over the green mountains to manchester to Head Quarters & loged thare.
fryday august 1st we Drawd 2 day allowance.
Sunday 3rd Col Stickney came into camp in the Rain
Wendsdy 6th general Stark come in
Saterdy 9th. marcht about 3 miles and Brakfast at a tory house then marcht to Dedham & campt
Sundy 10th we marched to Rutland took 2 hogshead of Rum & marcht back to Dedham & campt
monday 11th sent a party & found 2 barrels of rum & some shugar
frydy 15 we marcht to Bennington
Also in Thomas Stickney's regiment was our probable cousin Jonathan Ballard who I can't place with any family.
Other regiments on the scene were those of colonels Moses Nichols, Samuel Herrick and David Hobart.
the battle
Stark didn't wait for the British to make the first attack. He decided instead to take the initiative. On the afternoon of August 16, the Americans made their move. As Stark headed out with his troops, he reportedly proclaimed, "There are your enemies, the Red Coats and the Tories. They are ours, or this night Molly Stark sleeps a widow."
Stark's plans for the battle have been called "a model of recklessness." He had 2,000 troops in five companies that he sent out in different directions to encircle the enemy troops. Cousin Benjamin Simonds' Regiment attacked the Hessian redoubt from the south. Cousin Thomas Stickney's regiment (shown in the center of the map below) played a major role, leading a head on attack against Burgoyne's forces.
Stark later claimed this battle was “the hottest engagement I have ever witnessed, resembling a continual clap of thunder."
The desperate struggle lasted until nightfall when Stark, "fearing his men would be more of a threat to each other than to the enemy in the darkness," called a halt to the battle. But Stark and his "untrained citizen soldiers could claim a mighty victory." The Americans left the battlefield with 70 casualties, 30 killed and 40 wounded. The British, however had 207 of their soldiers killed or wounded and another 700 taken prisoner.
aftermath
The Bennington Battle turned out to be very important indeed to the fortunes of the Americans. General Burgoyne not only hadn't secured the badly needed provisions, he had also lost a good portion of his army. Worse yet, many of his native allies had lost confidence in the British and left Burgoyne to his own devices. All those factors played a major part in the British defeat at Saratoga two months later which would prove to be a major turning point in the war.
Below is a photo the the Molly Stark Cannon, the oldest firing cannon in the United States which was captured from the British at the Battle of Bennington.
Next up: Plunder, our relatives at Bennington and more on Cousin Jeduthan.
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