Show X PRELUDE TO As 0 herkimer at oriskany Oris kany stark at bennington by ELMO SCOTT WATSON HE surrender of gentleman johnny burgoyne the luckless THE T british commander a at t saratoga on october 17 1777 is not p t only one of the high spots in the history of the united states but it is also a milestone in world history rebellion which a twelvemonth ago was a contemptible pygmy is now lowi in appearance become a giant wrote a contemporary and his estimate of the importance of that event soon proved to be accurate for this victory won lor for the american patriots an alliance with france eng lands traditional enemy an and d this marked the beginning of the end of their fight for freedom so there was goodread good reason for creasy the historian to include the fighting around saratoga among his fifteen decisive battles of the world but a necessary prelude to that fighting were two other engagements small in terms of the number of men engaged but big in their results it is doubtful if horatio gates could have stood at saratoga as the victor had it not been tor for nicholas herkimer Her kuner at oriskany Oris kany and john stark at bennington ning ton agthe year 1777 opened the brita brit ish government began to realize the real magnitude of its task of subduing the rebellious american colonies three plans of waging a S successful war against t them hem were open the first was a strict naval blockade combined with placing strong garrisons at strategic points from which attacks could be launched against detachments of rebel forces the secrate ond and was to concentrate on ing tons army and destroy it the third plan outlined to lord germain by gen john burgoyne second in command in canada was to march one army south from montreal another east from oswego and a third north from new york all three to unite at albany thus by holding the hudson river the british would isolate new england from the other colonies and cut off the head of the rebellion the plan was fundamentally unsound because it would draw each arm army y far from its base of supplies as it advanced and it would enable an active enemy operating on interior lines to strike and defeat the separate armies before they could join forces but germain as though to justify his right to the title of En glands worst war minister decided to adopt Bur goynes idea even at that it might have suc ceedee if the minister had not showed such a perfect genius for blundering Bur goynes invasion begins in june 1777 burgoyne started south from st johns with his army of british regulars french canadian militia hessian mercenaries and a large force of indians he easily captured fort ticonderoga thanks to the blunder of its american commander gen arthur st clair in not fortifying sugar hill which overlooked the fort after a difficult march through the wilderness the british commander also cap aured fort edward meanwhile the invasion from the west had begun with a force of 1500 men including british regulars loyalist tory volunteers and indians col barry st leger advanced from oswego and on august 3 laid siege to the old british post of fort stanwix which had been renamed fort schuyler by the americans the tort fort which stood on an the present site of rome N Y was garrisoned by conti rentals commanded by col marinus willett and col peter gansevoort who immediately appealed to the committee of safety in tryon county for help the chairman of this committee and brigadier general of its militia was nicholas Iler herkimer kimer old honikel herkimer they called win him he at ance set out for the relief of fort schuyler with a force of about militia divided into four regiments commanded by col ebenezer cox col jacob klock col frederick visscher and col peter bellinger on august 4 this force assembled at fort dayton near the mouth of west canada creek crossed the mohawk river near the present site of utica N Y and reached whitestown Whites town the next day here herkimer Herkim cr sent a messenger to gans gansevoort voort to arrange for operation cooperation co against the enemy the commander at fort schuyler was to fire three cannon shots as a signal that a detachment was ready to make a sortie from the fort whereupon berki mer would launch his attack against against t st leger the impatient militiamen but his couriers were delayed in getting through the lines schuyler gansevoort who had been wondering what the distant firing meant immediately ordered the three cannons fired as a signal that he was ready to make a sortie Herk imers men heard the reports but they could not advance now so great was the slaughter on both sides that finally the indians who had been assured of an easy victory became discouraged raising the cry of retreat oonah oonah they left the field seeing this and hearing the firing in their rear caused by colonels willetts sortie against st legers camp the tories also retreated late in the afternoon Herk imers army held the field which it had bought at such a fearful price dead wounded and 60 or more missing ten days later late r old honikel Ho nikol herkimer died at his home near little falls to which he had been removed after the battle meanwhile general schuyler was met by general lincoln with orders to join schuyler at stillwater he was also met by the vermont council of safety which urged him to disregard lers orders the state government of new hampshire upheld him in his decision to go to bennington on august 13 stark received word of the approach of baums expedition without waiting to be attacked stark marched out the next morning to meet the hessian commander he also sent messengers to manchester to summon col seth W warners adners regiment of continentals Continent als which had been left there in charge of lieu tenant colonel safford and ordered him to rally the militia in that section he then drew up his forces near the little settlement of walloomsac to await baums attack although the engagement which followed is always referred to as the battle of bennington and is regarded as a high point in vermontis Ver monts history it was not M t X J tg g A 15 VA Y 04 A 0 I 1 e 4 0 v R la 4 g all p I 1 1 L t kg r A 0 g q 0 11 V A 2 1 X gg p 5 re 1 I VILL FACE THE ENEMY I 1 general herkimer ner kimer at the battle of Oris oriskany kany from the painting paint iua by F C yohn courtesy coar tesy the glens falls insurance company and the unruly militiamen most of them frontiersmen and typical rugged individualists began to chafe at the delay again and again they demanded that their officers lead them against the foe enraged by Herk imers refusal they went so far as to call him a tory who would betray thern them and sacrifice the defenders of fort schuyler but the crowning insult came when colonel cox shouted he dares not march he is a coward herkimer sprang up his face white his eyes blazing colonel bellinger and major frey WIT N A I 1 V k kw RAN IV lb V V X av U V W THE BATTLE OF bennington from the painting by chappel begged him to remain firm in his decision py gott no he thundered if you vill haff it so your blood be on your headst heads vor warts half an hour later a disorderly mob rather than a disciplined army streamed out of its encampment camp ment at oriskany Oris kany creek the road led across a narrow causeway of logs over a marsh with thick woods on either side hidden in these woods was a force of loyalists from sir john johnsons regiment of johnsons greens commanded by major watts and a body of mohawk indians led by the famous or joseph brant caught in a trap just as the head of the column marched on to the causeway the indians impetuously opened fire Herk imers rear guard retreated almost immediately but the rest took shelter behind trees and began returning the fire this marked the beginning of one of the fiercest battles ever fought on this continent some of the johnson greens were old neighbors of Herk imers men and oris kany was civil war at its worst for the most part it was a hand to hand affair in which former friends killed each other with indescribable fury colonels cox and paris were among the first to die herkimer was disabled early in the battle with a bullet through his knee urged to retire to a safe place he gave the rely which has become historic 1 I vill face the enemy they laid lad him under a tree and there he sat propped up and directed his forces as they fought for their lives during the course of the battle his messengers reached fort had called for volunteers at stillwater to go to the relief of the fort which bore his name benedict arnold led them and as he neared the fort he sent spies into st legers camp who spread word of the coming of a great force of americans the indians still further discouraged by this news de camped by the hundreds as did many of the loyalists st leger was forced to withdraw his regulars in haste leaving behind him all of his camp equipment which fell into the hands of the defenders of fort schuyler so herkimer and his men had not died at oriskany Oris kany in vain the second blow the second blow was struck in vermont on the very day that old honikel Ho nikol died it was the victory which john stark and his new hampshire and vermont militia plus a small force from massachusetts won from a detachment tach ment of Bur goynes army and it perhaps even more than oris kany sealed scaled the doom of gentleman ti man johnnys high hopes for success when that general reached fort edward on july 30 he found himself in aa a difficult position he had positive orders from lord germain to push on to albany his baggage train was sadly inadequate for a march through the wilderness ahead of him at bennington vt some 30 miles southeast of fort edward a great store of supplies had been gathered for lers army and general burgoyne decided to risk a foray to capture them but when he sent colonel baum with a force of hessians to capture the supplies he was underestimating badly both the numbers and the fighting qualities of starks nien stark was a native of manchester N H and had served with distinction with rogers rangers bangers in in the french and indian war and as a colonel at bunker hill at trenton and at princeton when congress passed him by in promoting officers in the continental army he resigned from the army several months before vermont had declared its enc as a state when burgoyne captured ticonderoga consternation spread throughout the new commonwealth because the ver felt that this capture laid them open to whatever punishment burgoyne might wish to inflict upon them so they called upon new hampshire for assistance in repelling the invaders A premature censure accordingly new hampshire raised a force of militia and put john stark in command with the rank of general incidentally officers of the continental army and congress resented this action and the latter on august 9 passed a vote of censure upon him for accepting the appointment this was three days after his victory and just a day before the news of it reached them on august 7 stark marched liis ills men to manchester vt where he fought at bennington nor was it in vermont walloomsac is in new york six miles from ben hington ning ton and starks victory should more properly be known as the battle of walloomsac baum arrived near bennington on august 15 and gaming gaining some idea of starks strength pitched his camp entrenched and sent back to burgoyne for reinforcements the next morning although it was raining in torrents and warners force had not yet arrived stark decided to attack after skillfully fully surrounding the enemy he launched his assault on baums entrenchments starks men fought desperately and early in the afternoon gained the crest of the hill and after a half hour of despe desperate rate fighting much of it hand to hand they shattered baums force forca its survivors fled from the field leaving in the hands of the victors their mortally wounded commander no sooner was the victory won than the undisciplined frontiersmen scattered over the field to plunder the hessian baggage train their commander had completely lost control of them and was entirely unprepared for battle when a force of british commanded by lieutenant col rl V 17 14 1 a AW N Y A z 1 3 II 11 4 E gen john stark onel breyman suddenly came up at this critical juncture warner marched on the field starks men rallied around them and Brey breyman nian was defeated the battle of bennington raised the morale of the patriots after a ion long unbroken chain of discouraging cou raging reverses congress now reversed its censure of stark by botin voting its thanks to him and his men and making him a brigadier general in the continental army but most important of all was the effect which this battle had on the fortunes of general burgoyne weakened by the losses of the force he had sent to bennington and struggling against a shortage of supplies he plunged on southward to keep his with final failure at 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