Bennington Battle Day

Bennington Battle Monument
15 Monument Cir
Bennington, Vt. 05201

Also this weekend (August 15-17) Bennington, Vermont celebrates its annual Battle Day Celebrations. This commemorates the Battle of Bennington which took place on August 16, 1777. The battle actually took place in the village of Walloomsac, New York which is several miles from here, but the military stores the British and Hessian soldiers were seeking were being held in Bennington. The only Revolutionary War battle to actually take place in what is now the State of Vermont took place in Hubbardton, Vermont.

The Battle of Bennington was part of a greater campaign by British Major General John Burgoyne to divide New England from the rest of the colonies by force of arms. Burgoyne's mixed force of British, Hessian (German), Canadian and Loyalists, along with some Native American allies, had proceeded down from Canada and were now making their way down the Hudson River valley. After some initial victories at Fort Ticonderoga and Crown Point the British forces were now facing shortages of food and munitions. A expeditionary force of some 650 soldiers led by Hessian Lt. Col. Friedrich Baum set off for Bennington to secure more supplies.

Col. Baum's men were soundly defeated in battle by Colonial militia under the command of Brigadier General John Stark of New Hampshire. A British relief force was also repulsed by Gen. Stark and his men, who were aided by Col. Seth Warner and his Green Mountain Boys. These two losses, along with the lack of supplies, helped doom Gen. Burgoyne's campaign which ended with the surrender of him and his men at Saratoga, New York.

The Town of Bennington is marking its Battle Day Celebrations with the Bennington Fire Departments 40th annual Parade on Saturday August 17. Battle reenactments are being sponsored by Vermonts Living History Association. Museums and other organizations in the area are also hosting special events.

A short history of Fort Ticonderoga

Fort Ticonderoga
Ticonderoga, N.Y.

Situated on a peninsula overlooking Lake Champlain, Fort Ticonderoga was built by the French during the French and Indian War (also called the Seven Year's War) to prevent the advancement of British forces from the south into French Canada. Fort Carillon, as it was originally named, can only hold about 400 soldiers within its walls, a not very sizable garrison. But in spite of its small size the Fort was supplied with a respectable amount of artillery pieces by both the French and the British - which was to prove very important to a later generation in another war.

The first attempt in July of 1758 to subdue Fort Carillon by the British ended in failure. A 16,000-man force, made-up of British Regulars and Colonial Militia and led by Major-General Ambercromby, greatly outnumbered the defending French forces. But what was lacking was an artillery train. Ambercromby had decided that speed was of the essence in his overland approach to the Fort and had left his cannon behind.

What he found upon arrival was that the French had been very busy fortifying the lower part of the peninsula with a system of trenches, earthworks and fallen timber. This was sufficient, along with a vigorous defense, to keep Fort Carillon in the hands of the French. The British forces sustained very heavy casualties, with most notably the Highland Regiment (the Black Watch) bearing the brunt of the attacks and the losses. Ironically in the following year, under a different General, Fort Carillon was captured after a brief four day siege. The damaged Fort was rebuilt and given its present Indian name - Fort Ticonderoga, the place between two waters.

Early on May 10, 1775, Ethan Allen and his Green Mountain Boys, along with co-commander Benedict Arnold, arrived at Fort Ticonderoga to attempt its capture yet again. The importance of the Fort now was not just its strategic location, but what was alluded to previously - its cannon and munitions. The American rebels were reacting to the events of Lexington and Concord in the previous month and were hoping to strike a further blow at King George the III.

Awakening the commander of the small, sleeping garrison Ethan Allen demanded the fort's surrender, "In the Name of the great Jehovah and the Continental Congress".* Allen accepted his sword and stepped into his place in history and legend. It was left to Colonel Henry Knox, of the Continental Army, to remove and transport Ticonderoga's artillery to Cambridge, Massachusetts to end the siege of Boston. But that is, as the saying goes, another story.

* This is likely more legend than fact.