Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1858-09-10
NUMBER ELEVEN

nHgIOn 10 church III Is to be hip.d he
b I'd as edifying sabbath as they did
Of course, there was great rejoicing all
over the land. lnree days after the Battle
Gen. Schuyler wro,g to Stark-oThe signal
victory you have gained cannot fail of pro-
ducing the most salutary results Wish
ington wrote to Putnam that he hoped "the
great stroke struck by Gen Stark near Ben.
nington would crush Gen. Burgoyne" And
it is not saying too much to assert that the
Bennington battle broke the Northern army,
turned the tide Of war, and with Trenton
battle further south, decided the contest
which eventually made America free. Zone
more such stroke" said Washington him
| self land we shall have no great cause for
anxiety as to the further designs of Britain"
Even that other stroke he found he did not
need. The after struggle Of the Northern
army was only the erratic wandering of tho
| pierced deer, in whose side is already infxed
the arrow by which he must die.
Surely, these are reasons enough TO war
rant the celebration Oi tnis DAY by every lover
OF his country. But there are others Of pecu-
liar moment to us who are now gathered t3.
gether. Matters Of local interest traditions
oi unrecOrded history, make the occasion one
OF the greatest distinction II is 10 be re-
membered that Bennington was not a simple
scene of connict--a mere chessbourd. where
kings and queens knights and bishops Of
some tar-of realm Of ivory. came to play the
game Of war. The parties in it were friends
and neighbors the very citizens Of the vii.
lagos, defending their wives and children,
and fighting TOR the possession Of their own
farms. In searching historic records. l have
been struck more forcibly than ever with the
fact Of the country's newness. This town
was the first in Vermont. yet it had not a
single settler till June. l76l. How il must
have grown, and how peculiar must have
been the character of the people for in 177j,
on the very day when the Continental Con-
gress met in Philadelphia, and only q DAYS
after the Battle Of Lexington, there were two
hundred and thirty-one Green Mountain
Boys under Ethan Aliens lead at
Lake Champlain. And in July, III,
the Council Of Safety wrote to the councils Of
Massachusetts and New Hampshire, olT,ring
to victual whole army if they would raise
and send one to Bennington ID when
this engagement which we celebrate took
place, only sixteen years had passed since
the earliest emigration came to the roadless
forest from Har lwck. This sister among
the States was not come OF age then. She
was brought into Uncle Sam 5 family in 1871,
then IN all the flush Of her beautiful maturi-
ty. But at this time she was only beginning
to dcvelope, and to display her wonderful
lOveliness in prospect Yet thriving under
her hardy discipline, 1t must be owned Il at
even then she possessed a glorious strength
of womanhood for sixteen year old girl.
If were writing history. l should love
to copy those old papers and records which
hang in frames and glass cases, all over
town, that the world might see them, and
| learn from them the stern earnesJness and
brave manhood with which our fDremthers
met the shock of conflict. should love even
here, if could, to paya passing tribute Of
respect to the vencrated Council OF Safety,
who sat through the long, anxious day, l.
suing and receiving dispatches from dawn
until sunset, chatting under the restraint Of
duty which kept them in the cabinet rather
than in the field. Even Gen. Stark wrote
concerning them II cannot in instice omit
giving the honorable Council the honor of
exertIng themselves in the most spirited man
ner in this most critical time But all
these things can be learned in another way.
| am sure you will be more pleased to hear
what tradition has brought us, from around
the winter freSidcs Of our early homes.
1t has been said that Burgoync made a
great mistake in sending forth SO weak an
expedition for so important purpose And
this notion has been pressed to the extent Of
throwing a sneer upon those who term this a
great victory. But Burgoyne had no such
opinion Of their insignifcance. lie said even
oi the Hessians, they were "the best | had of
that nation" and of the others they were
''choscn men from all the regiments - men,
as one OF the lleSsianS describe them ''Of tried
yalor and enterprise And old Capt, Rob
inson, who guarded the house where Baum
fingered in his last hours, and watched gent
ly as woman with him till he died, WIS
wont to say that more Intelligent and brave
/ ,f1ipar la bul tlon this uulDrtt-
nate Lieutenant.
Aroinst tbes. oops came forth the towns
men and nelghbors who dwelt hero upon
these farms. They were not professional
soldiers at all. They had no bayoncts, little
nowder and few balls But every man could
hit his man. There was something terrible
in their aim. They shot to kill. Having
ma, cd for conscience to enlighteu them that
thev might discover the right, and having
been firmly persuaded that blood must be
shed. and that either themselves or the enemy
must perish, they thought it folly to waste
any ammunition, Among the bullets found
in the field, there were very few that were
moulded in the town Of Remington. Most
OF those found a more awful resting place
than in the green sward Or the trees, Gen.
Stark said Of these extemporaneous soldiers,
that "had eacn man been an Alexander or a
Charles of Sweden. he could not have behaved
more gallantly.'
These local floating anecdotes of men and
their dOings on that famous day are interest
inr TO all those who are willing TO search
them out. But time and old soldier like en-
thusiasm, as well as ott-invited repetition,
/ have doubtless given to many of the tradl-
tions an air If not measure OF exaggeration'
: | am really afraid that if any future compil-
er should arise to make a Bible Tor Ben
nington witnesses 10 swear by, he would
have to put most enormous apocrypha
somewhere in the middle, for those he would
hear too good to be lost, but quite too good
t to be exactly up to the line of inspired verac'
: ty. \ few of the most authentic, however
: will perhaps interest you now.
s On the morning of the 10th, old Capt. Fay
who kept the Green Mountain Tavern, re-
: ceived a little note from the English officers
h saving they would dine with him that day
e They kept their word, but they came a
;, prisoners. And as they drew near the hous
!. lust at dusk, out came the old patriot anC
swung his three corncred hat from the stoop
while with kind of professional enthusiasm
: he said You are welcome, gentlemen
: dinner is waiting for you
: Capt Samuel Robinson, who commando
h the town militia at the time, was loadin
r and firing like the rest, but ball on on
rs side of the head, just singing by the eai
T. made him dodge away from 1t, And 500
Is came another on the opposite side, and tn
y head ierked nervously at the whistle.-Moi
n, tilted to think his neck was so timber, b
V, turned around to his men and said, boy
i'd keep YOUR eye on me, and if dodge agai
nd nut a ball through me sideways ~
in Major Hawks fingered like kind hu
IN band, as he was, for a while at his hom
d. at the earnest solicitation of his family =
h But ere long, as the boom OF the cannc ann
IN came rattling up the sides of the old Viii