The Rutland daily globe. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1873-1877, 1877-07-09
Ths &mtland daily Globe
MONDAY, JULY o, 1877.
THE AMERICAN LOSS AT HUBBARDToN.

TdE AmEhlCAN LCoo Al hUbbAhOIUN.
1t was stated in the historical address at
Hubbardton, Saturday, on the authority of
Ethan Allen, that the American loss in the
battle at that place, lone hundred years be-
fore, was thirty. AS this statement has
been questioned, it may be as well to
briefly examine it. AT the outset, we may
say that the exact loss will never be known,
although, as we shall see, the number given
by Ethan Allen is approximately correct.
Churchill, in his sketches of Hubbard
ton, places the number of killed at three
hundred aud forty; at least, we understand
him to mean this when lie expresses the
hope "that there may yet be reared durs-
" BILE monument to the memory of those
" three hundred and forty worthy patriots
"who shed their blood, and yielded up
" their valuable lives in defense of the lib
" critics of their country" Here, to be
sure, is a considerable discrepancy between
Allen and Churchill. Which is correct !?
1t will hardly do to say that Allen must
necessarily be correct, because he lived at
the time and was recounting events with
which he was familiar; for, at this time,
he was q prisoner, and, moreover, was
prone to make the best story possible for
his side of a case. Aliens statement, how
ever, seems TO be borne out by COMPARE
son of all contemporaneous authorities.
Burgoyne, in his defense before the
house of commons, after giving the partic-
ulars of the engagement and the defeat of
the Americans, says: "They Aed on all
sides, leaving dead upon the field Colonel
Francis and many other officers, with
upwards of two hundred men; also six
hundred men wounded, most of whom
persisted in the woods, attempting to get
off, and one colonel, seven captains, ten
subalterns, and two hundred and ten
men were made prisoners" Thus, as
will be seen, Burgoyne places the whole
loss at over one thousand officers aud men
killed, wounded and prisoners, of whom
upwards of eight hundred were either
killed or died of their wounds. A pretty
heavy loss, surely, when we remember tina,
only parts of three regiments-about one
thousand men as both Colonel Warren and
General St. Clair placed it in their official
reports-were engaged. Burgoyne exag
gerated, because he was making his defense
but when he states the number of prisoners
taken he was undoubtedly accurate for thu
official records would show the exact mum
Der.
Gordon, in his history of the war il
America-published in London in 1789-
Williams in his history of Vermont, and
journal Of British { ficer who was in tn,
engagement all uhite in saying that thu
" Americans lost three hundred and TWEEN
"ty-four in killed, wounded and prison
" ers"-which was an enormous loss TO
the number or men engaged. Taking thi
number as the whole loss, and deductipl
therefrom the prisoners reported by Bur
goyne-Colonel Hale and his regiment
and we have ninety-six tor the numbe
of killed and wounded.
If this was the number killed and wound
ed at Hubbardton-and it is probably a
nearly correct as it is possible to ascertai
or estimate the number-we do not ee
how 1t is possible to escape the conclusio
that Ethan Aliens estimate was approx
mately corr ect, and so that the statemer
of the address, founded thereon, was biz
torically accurate.
An examination and comparison of a
the authorities upon the subject will read
ly explain how Churchill came to max
his blunder and place the number of kile
at over three hundred. He took the who
loss as given by Gordon, Williams an
others and called them all "worthy patrio
who shed their blood" ETC., because the
had fought and were, when he was WI
ting, dead something on the princlp
that, Decoration Day, the newspapers al
orators talk about, and the grand army
the republic decorate the graves of tho
who gave their lives for their country al
" fought, bled and died" for 1t notwlt
standing it may have happened that son
OF them took their own lives eight
ten years after the war was closed. All a
equally deserving Of honor, but II is absu
to talk about those who survived the W
unhurt as shaving shed their blood, al
"yielded up their valuable lives in defen
"of the liberties of their country"