Bennington

On August 16, 1777, fighting broke out on the John Green farm near Walloomsac, New York, roughly ten miles from the Vermont town that gave the clash its name, Bennington. This engagement formed part of the wider Saratoga campaign during the Revolutionary War. General John Stark commanded a two-thousand-strong American force, drawn mainly from New Hampshire and Massachusetts militia units, and his ranks swelled further when Colonel Seth Warner brought in fighters from the independent Vermont Republic, including members of the Green Mountain Boys. Together they inflicted a crushing defeat on a detachment sent out by General John Burgoyne under Lieutenant-Colonel Friedrich Baum, whose men later received support from a column under Lieutenant-Colonel Heinrich von Breymann.

Baum led seven hundred soldiers into the field, a mix of Hessian and British regulars alongside Canadian and Loyalist irregular fighters and a contingent of Iroquois warriors. Burgoyne had dispatched this force to seize horses, draft animals, food stores, and various supplies from Bennington, situated within the contested New Hampshire Grants territory. Both Burgoyne and Baum assumed the settlement had little defense, entirely unaware that Stark had already positioned fifteen hundred militiamen there. A standoff developed as rain delayed the fighting, but once it broke, Stark's troops surrounded Baum's men, capturing large numbers and killing Baum himself. Just as Stark's force began securing its victory, fresh troops arrived on both sides, reigniting the conflict. In this second phase, Stark and Warner pushed back Breymann's relief column, inflicting substantial losses on his men.

This outcome proved a critical strategic win for the American side and stands as one of the war's pivotal moments. Burgoyne's army shrank by close to a thousand men as a result, while his Native American allies largely deserted his cause afterward. He also lost access to supplies he desperately needed, including cavalry mounts, draft animals, and provisions, losses that helped seal his ultimate defeat at Saratoga. Beyond its military impact, the victory energized support for the Patriot cause among the colonists and helped pave the way for France's entry into the conflict on the American side. Vermont continues to mark this anniversary today, observing it as Bennington Battle Day.

Background

Two years into the fighting, British strategists reconsidered their approach. Having abandoned hope of subduing the rebellious New England colonies, they aimed instead to cut the Thirteen Colonies apart, separating New England from the Southern colonies, which they judged more sympathetic to the crown's cause. Command devised an ambitious scheme: three columns would converge on Albany in a pincer maneuver. The western column, marching east from Lake Ontario under Barry St. Leger, was turned back when the siege at Fort Stanwix collapsed. The southern column, meant to push northward from New York City through the Hudson valley, was never launched at all, since General William Howe chose to seize Philadelphia instead.

Of the three, only the northern column, moving south from Montreal, achieved real momentum. After capturing Fort Ticonderoga and winning engagements at Hubbardton and Fort Anne, General John Burgoyne pressed forward with what became known as the Saratoga campaign. His aim was to seize Albany and dominate the Hudson River valley, positioning his force to link with the other two columns and split the colonies in half.

Early on, Burgoyne's march showed promise, and his troops scattered Seth

Prelude

On August 9, Baum departed Burgoyne's encampment at Fort Edward with his men, heading first for Fort Miller. There they paused until reinforcements arrived in the form of Iroquois warriors and the Company of Select Marksmen. Two days later, on August 11, the combined force set out in the direction of Bennington. Along the route several small skirmishes occurred, and captured prisoners revealed to Baum's men that a substantial body of troops awaited them at their destination.

By August 14, Baum's column had run into a detachment Stark had dispatched to check rumors of Indians allied with the British operating nearby. Rather than engage, Stark's men pulled back, damaging a bridge behind them to slow the enemy's progress. Once word reached Stark that Baum was closing in, he dispatched a call for reinforcements to Manchester and then led his own troops out of Bennington to confront the oncoming force, arranging them into a defensive position. After this initial encounter, Baum wrote to Burgoyne to say the opposing force outnumbered what had been anticipated, though he expected the Americans would fall back rather than fight. Pushing forward several more miles, he drew near Stark's line and came to understand that part of his earlier assessment had been mistaken. This prompted a second dispatch to Burgoyne asking for additional troops.

A day and a half of rain then set in, halting any chance of combat. Baum's soldiers used the pause to build a small earthwork atop a hill, gambling that poor weather would keep the Americans from attacking before help could reach them. Meanwhile Stark sent small parties forward to test the Hessian lines; despite the trouble of keeping powder dry in the wet conditions, these skirmishers managed to kill thirty Iroquois fighting on the British side. On the 15th, reinforcements for each side began moving through the rain-soaked countryside, though progress was slow going. Burgoyne dispatched 550 troops under Heinrich von Breymann, while roughly 350 Green Mountain Boys from Warner's company marched south out of Manchester under Lieutenant Samuel Safford.

Late that same night, Stark was roused from sleep by the appearance of Parson Thomas Allen, who arrived with a body of militiamen from Berkshire County in Massachusetts demanding to be allowed to join the fight. The minister warned heatedly that his men would refuse to turn out again if refused this chance, and Stark supposedly answered him by asking whether he truly meant to march on such a dark, wet night, telling him instead to send his people home to rest, and promising that if the following day brought sunshine he would give them all the fighting they could want, or else never ask for their service again. The next day brought yet more men to Stark's side, as a party of Stockbridge Indians arrived, swelling his total, apart from Warner's separate command, to nearly 2,000.

Stark was not alone in receiving a fortunate boost. Baum's own ranks grew by almost 100 men when local Loyalists reached his camp on the morning of August 16.