St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1877-08-31
Address of Prof. S. c. Bartlett, August
10th 1877.

lock, saddle and bald, the long Green
Mountain wall on the east, and the
kil!ingtOn Peak sixty miles away to the
north, outline vast amphitheatre of
hill and vale, of fertile fields and grace
full forests, dotted with thrifty villages
and happy homes. The steam puffs up
in sight from half dozen railway lines
and there are glimpses of the HoOsick
and WalloOmsack bordered with manu-
factories. Nestled invisibly away are
schools and banks and printing presses,
here vane and there Il college. As
the day declines, silver streamlets
course glinting forth with reflected sun
beams from the broad eXpanse rich of
| farming lands, near fountain spreads
its lofty spray upon the air, and at
length there settles down over the whole
landscape, that mellow low and dreamy
hue which makes it seem of some other
world. But this is no dream-land Wis
ion. These things all lie on the soil of
their sovereign States, and they are the
substantial tokens of industry, culture,
peace and prosperity, the ripest fruits
of Republican liberty.
On bright morning, over one hun
dred years ago to-day, Il German officer,
on an eminence over five miles from
here, looked forth admiringly on part
of this same landscape, then "ripe," he
said, with pastoral beauty"-''a wide
sweep of stately forests interrupted at
remote intervals 10y green meadows and
fertile corntieldS, with here and there Il
cottage, a shed or other primitive edi-
tice," and Bennington was "a cluster OF
poor cottages in wild country
Around him was II well appointed mill
tary band glittering with AIMS, some OF
the men i'll brass helmets, some in
red coats, some in citizens garb, and
dusky forms in war-paint hung upon
the outskirts. Two miles this side of
him, hidden from his sight lay another
band, ill-armed and miscellaneously
clad, largely in cloth of tow or linen,
dyed with buttOnwOod or maple and
too deeply absorbed in their daybreaB
Preparations to spend one thought upon
the glory of the earth or sky. Between
these two bodies of troops and in good
measure on that days struggle, hung
pending the question whether the pas
toral beauty of that time should uufolC
into the civic freedom and blessing o
this.
The natural theme of our thoughts
therefore is, The Place of the Battle o
Bennington in the History of our COun
try.
The early days of August, 1777, wer,
a eliminating time of gloom and alarm
For more than twelVe-mOnth the tide
of our prospects had steadily ebbeC
until the shoals and reefs were plainl,
in sight. In the opening of our conflict
the first great clash of our arms hat
carried all before it. The British army
and its favOrite generals, Gage, Howe
Clinton, and BurgOyne, were prisonet
up in Boston with bitter memories o
Lexington and Concord, then driver
forth to find Il shelter in Halifax. Lore
DunmOre was expelled from Norfolk
/. and took refuge on his fleet, Ticonderog;
Crown Point, St. Johns, and MOntrea
had been taken in rapid succession ant
l Quebec alone had escaped. From Can
ada to Virginia we had made clea
sweep.
But II change came just before our In
dependence was declared, the last of on
troops were driven out of Canada, il
the strong but true language of the day
'disgraced, defeated, discontented, dis
pirited, diseased, undisclined." Th
! udN nclOIC lIlil tiCCl6lldltlOu W dS lCdNi u
the army on Broadway. Howe landed
on Staten Island the first detachmen
: of twenty-six thousand troops. Thel
followed the disastrous battle of Lon:
Island, the evacuation of New York
the fight of White Plains, the surrende
OF Fort Lee and Washington, the chas
. of our army hIOugh the Jerseys an,
the capture of Charles Lee, the secOn,
in command. and then the idol of tn
:, army, just as he was writing to Gate
profane attack upon his chief. And
before our great General retreate
grimly southwest, conspired against b.
his leading officers, distrusted even b.
. John Adams for his ''Fabian Policy,
chafed by the internal jealousies of hi
y army and haflled of every plan by th
incessant changes of his troops, the
came. like some jobs messenger, It'd
ings from the North, that our fleet {
: fifteen sail, on Lake Champlain was eN
terminated, Crown Point burned an
abandoned, and our Northern Arm
coOped up in its last stronghold &
Ticonderoga. Washington indeed keI
merry Christmas with the Hessians &
Trenton, and paid his New Years CON
T pIiments to the British at Princeton
- These two flashes alone fiickeTed owe
the sombre scene.
The flush and ardOr of transient cor
flict had now given way to the tug an
strain of protracted war. And what
e war! Often destitute of tents, blanket
medicines, good clothing and whole
some food; short of arms and ammu
milton, without money or credit I; | migl
almost say, long without an army: FL
by short enlistment our hopes contir
ually melted away, sometimes III I'll
At pursuit of the foe. And short 'enlis
ments were growing difficult: for
these sparse, new, and poor settlement
how could the men be spared from the
homes. The camp, too, was as fatal ;
$. the battle field. 1t was invaded !
camp fever and dysentery, and steadil
y, beleagured by the small pOX. At OIL
time in '76, Schuyler in three mOntl
lost half of his ten thousand men |
death and desertiOn, and twO-hfths
the remainder were on the sick list.
Y Each Northern State carried speci
burdens. Vermont was engaged III II
he long aud gallant strife for State righ
m N and individual ownership OF the so
Mt New York was overrun with lOyalist
ce of whom numbers had been sent to Il
New England States for safe keeping
- two hundred at one time in the jais al
S. houses of New Hampshire. The Sta
of New Hampshire, so intensely patl
In In otic that only one hundred and sevent
lis three out of her whole population Ina
Wy whether from conscientious or polite
rs scruples, refused to sign the pledge
rs resist the foe "with arms, at the risq
~ of our lives and fortunes" was yet d