A Gathering Storm

By the end of July 1777, General John Burgoyne’s British invasion from Canada had reached Fort Edward on the Hudson River, and, desperately needing supplies, he sent an expedition under Lieutenant Colonel Friedrich Baum on August 11 to seize American storehouses at Bennington, Vermont. Baum’s force, about half of it German-speaking mercenaries commonly called Hessians by Americans, also included small detachments of British sharpshooters, Indians, Canadians, and American loyalists. The British badly underestimated American strength, for New Hampshire had raised more than 1,500 men under General John Stark, joined by militia from Vermont and western Massachusetts. As resistance grew, Baum encamped on and around this hill on August 14, five miles from Bennington, to await reinforcements. After a day of rain, Stark attacked on August 16, deploying his troops against Baum from all sides. In a two-hour battle, Baum’s outposts fell and his main position atop the hill was overrun, though his dragoons fought with sabers before reinforcements under Lieutenant Colonel Heinrich Von Breymann arrived too late and were driven off by Seth Warner’s Continental Regiment. Baum was killed, more than 200 of his men died, and nearly all the rest were taken prisoner. At 3:00 PM that day, 200 New Hampshire militiamen under Colonel Moses Nichols joined 300 Vermont troops under Colonel Samuel Herrick north of the hill after both columns had marched widely around Baum’s fortifications undetected. The 500 militiamen charged the breastworks, endured heavy cannon and musket fire until the defenders’ ammunition ran out, then converged in hand-to-hand combat and overran Baum’s main position, with only a handful of defenders escaping death or capture. Burgoyne, frustrated that militia assembled in great numbers within twenty-four hours wherever the King’s forces moved, called Vermont “the most rebellious race on the continent” and said it hung like a gathering storm upon his left. The Americans later stood at Saratoga, where Burgoyne, weakened by dwindling supplies, surrendered on October 17, 1777.

Hoosick, New York · United States