Battle of Bennington Vermont History Revolutionary war

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This auction features an 1891 Invitation to the dedication of the Bennington Battle Monument as part of the Celebration of the Centennial Anniversary of the Admission of Vermont into the Union (1791-1891). The invitation is to Honorable William H. Fairchild. The event was August 19, 1891. It measures approx. 5 x 9 inches. Great condition. Please ask questions. Returns allowed within three days. The Battle Aware of the advancing British troops moving east toward Bennington, Stark decided to head them off rather than defend the supply depot at the Bennington site. Therefore, it was approximately five miles northwest of Bennington, near Walloomsac Heights in New York State, that the actual battle took place. Hampered by heavy rains, the British had halted their advance and were encamped on the south slope parallel to the Walloomsac River. General Stark, assessing the British position, sent detachments under Colonel Moses Nichols to circle Baum’s left, under Colonel Samuel Herrick to circle the right, and under Colonels David Hobart and Thomas Stickney to the south. Stark, with the remaining men, made the principal frontal attack. The fighting began at three o’clock on the afternoon of August 16th. Folklore has Stark uttering the immortal words, “There are the Red Coats; they will be ours or tonight Molly Stark sleeps a widow.” The first shot was fired by Nichols’ battalion; and by five o’clock that evening, the British troops were retreating in disorder. Baum received a mortal wound at this stage of the battle and his demoralized troops surrendered. General Stark later described this engagement as “one continuous clap of thunder.”As General Stark was taking the captured and wounded enemy soldiers back to Bennington, Colonel Breymann appeared with a second unit of Burgoyne’s army, surprising Stark and his men. The Americans fought back; but exhausted and hungry, they slowly gave ground. Then suddenly, arriving overland from Manchester, Colonel Seth Warner and his Green Mountain Boys came to their aid. With this additional help and reinforcement, the scales were tipped in the Americans’ favor and Breymann’s ranks gave way. By dusk they were fleeing, with the Americans in hot pursuit. The Battle of Bennington was of no small consequence. The mostly untrained Yankees had overwhelmingly defeated some of Europe’s best trained, disciplined and equipped troops. A large percentage of Burgoyne’s army had been killed, wounded or captured and much of their already short supply of needed military stores had been captured by the American forces. The Americans’ valuable stock of stores and supplies had been saved, and Burgoyne’s ambitious plan for a quick march to Albany had been halted. Due in large part to the lack of the much needed supplies, Burgoyne, on October 17, 1777, surrendered with his entire command of some 8,000 British, Hessian and Brunswick troops at Stillwater, New York, following the Battle of Saratoga, a major turning point for the American Revolution. The Monument A group wishing to commemorate the Battle of Bennington decided a monument should be erected at the storage site of the military supplies which had been the objective of the battle. In 1876, the Vermont General Assembly passed an act establishing the Bennington Battle Monument Association as an outgrowth of the Bennington Historical Society. Even earlier, in 1854 (77 years following the Battle) the Legislature of Vermont had established and founded an Association to erect a monument; but because of difficulties in raising the needed additional money, the group disbanded after two years. This new or ganization, with the Nation’s Centennial celebration behind them and with the approach of Vermont’s Centennial in 1891, aggressively worked towards the erection of a suitable memorial. The State of Vermont appropriated $15,000; New Hampshire $5,000; Massachusetts $10,000; the Congress of the United States $40,000; and with approximately $32,000 raised through private contributions, the amount of $102,000 ... read more

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