Bennington Battle Day is on August 16th. It has been an official state holiday since 1913, but many communities have been celebrating the day since 1777. The holiday remembers a time when New England governments joined together to repel an invasion of British soldiers and their mercenaries during the American Revolution.
In July, 1777, it had been a year since the Declaration of Independence was adopted by representatives of the thirteen British American colonies. Great Britain planned to break the rebellion by cutting New England away from the rest of the newly declared United States of America. According to historian James Butler, the British government thought isolating New England from the rest of the North American continent would quell the colonial insurrection.
American military leader George Washington believed the British Empire would attack Boston, and invade from the sea. However, British forces began to arrive in Canada during May and, by mid-June, they launched an invasion south along Lake Champlain.
U.S. Continental forces were not prepared for this action and abandoned Fort Ticonderoga on July 6th. Two days later, on the other side of the New Hampshire Grants, delegates at a convention in Windsor adopted the Vermont Constitution. Vermont was brand new and on the cusp of an invasion by the most powerful country in the world. Needless to say, the summer of 1777 was an unsettling time!
Here in Brattleborough, things were also a jumble. There were some who didn’t want the war and refused to participate. Some were on the side of the British, acted as spies, and sent information back and forth between New York City, (occupied by the British), and Canada.
Others were not in favor of Vermont’s independence but wanted to push the British out of North America. They joined the U.S. Continental Army, but enlisted in New Hampshire or Massachusetts. Still others were in favor of Vermont’s independence and joined Seth Warner’s Green Mountain Regiment. Some were not willing to leave their homes and joined local town militias. They didn’t seek conflict, but would act if called by the newly formed government of Vermont. Finally, there were men motivated more by signing bonuses than ideology and they joined which ever faction was paying the most at the time.
After the fall of Ticonderoga, Continental Army leaders Philip Schuyler and Arthur St. Clair withdrew their forces to New York state and prepared to defend Albany. Warner’s Regiment had argued that they didn’t want to leave Vermont undefended and set up camp in Manchester.
The British Army continued to move south and sought to scavenge as many supplies as possible from Bennington. Tory spies told the British that Bennington housed a supply depot for Fort Ticonderoga and would have plenty of cattle, wagons, and horses.
The newly formed Vermont government reached out to New Hampshire and Massachusetts and asked for help from their militias. Both states sent troops and John Stark, from New Hampshire, took command of the soldiers. U.S. Continental General Benjamin Lincoln was sent to oversee the military operation but Stark refused to entertain Lincoln’s ideas. Stark led approximately 2000 New Hampshire, Vermont and Massachusetts militiamen to Walloomsac, NY to engage the British. Warner accompanied Stark during the campaign. The British contingent consisted of a combination of approximately 800 Hessian mercenaries, British soldiers, Canadians, American Loyalists and Native Americans.
The battle began in the afternoon of August 16th. Both sides had reinforcements arrive. About 600 more Hessians came upon the battle just as the New Englanders were beginning to celebrate a victory. The fighting continued and Warner’s Regiment of 350 Vermonters also arrived, which tipped the battle back in favor of the New England soldiers. When it was over, the British forces were defeated. They lost almost 1,000 soldiers. The British would become bogged down near Saratoga, Warner’s men would help destroy the British supply lines from Canada, and the Empire’s invasion would end in complete surrender at Saratoga in October.
Our research has only found evidence of five Brattleborough men who were at the Battle of Bennington. They were all part of Seth Warner’s Green Mountain Regiment. William McCune joined Warner’s group when it was founded in the summer of 1775. He came to Brattleborough in 1767 from Massachusetts. McCune would recruit others from this side of the mountains and became captain of the 4th Company in Warner’s Regiment. Thomas Whipple and Rueben Church were both recruited by McCune and became sergeants in the company. After the war, Whipple would relocate and end up in Michigan. Church came from a family dominated by Loyalists and Yorkers. His family was prominent in early town history but many left as they found themselves on the losing side. Loyalists, like many of the Church family, had their property confiscated during the war by the Vermont government. Joseph Bonett joined the company in 1776 at the age of nineteen. He was the company’s drummer and served in that role until his capture in 1780. He was held in Canada until a prisoner exchange occurred in 1782. Bonett remained in the army until 1786, married and settled in Barnet, Vermont. It is unclear whether he ever actually lived in Brattleborough. The town was credited with his enlistment, but it could be because McCune recruited him. Records indicate that he came from Connecticut. Benjamin Gould was also from Brattleborough and was a private in the 4th Company at the time of the Bennington Battle.
Benjamin Butterfield was an ensign in McCune’s company but was captured by the British when Fort Ticonderoga fell. McCune’s company skirmished with the British and participated in the Battle of Hubbardton while the rest of the Continental soldiers retreated from the fort. Butterfield was captured at Hubbardton and was part of a prisoner exchange about six months later. He had been loyal to Great Britain and on the Yorkers side during the Westminster Massacre but was one of many who switched allegiances during this period. Over the course of the war there were more than thirty soldiers who served in McCune’s company but these were the only ones with Brattleborough connections.