The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1891-08-26

bers alone that give importance to battle
fields The fame Of ThermopvlT would
not have survived had the Greeks been a
great army instead of 800. IT. is the cause
that is fought for, the heroism and self
sacrifice displayed and the consequences
winch follow, moral and political as well as
military thai give significance to conflicts
of arms. Judged by these standards, Ben
nington may well he rcckoned among the
memorable battles of the world,
1t was, on our side, the peoples fight.
No government directed or supplied it; no
regular force was conCerned it was "A part
of no organized campaign. New Hamp-
shire sent her hastily embodied militia, not
the less volunteers In Vermont and
Massachusetts it was the spontaneous up
rising of n rural and peaCe-loving pOpula
ton to resist invasion, to defend their
homes, to vindicate their right of self
government. Lexington and Bunker Hill
We're in this respect its only parallels in the
revolutionary war. The march of Burgoyne
from Canada to the Hudson had been till
then a continuous victory. He was a brave
and skilltul soldier, leading well-appointed
and powerful army. TiConderoga, the key
and stronghold Of the northern frontier,
had fallen unexpectedly without a blow
The VermOnters retreatng thence had been
| Uvertaken and utterly defeated at Hub
bardton. The advance of the British to Still
water had been almost unopposed and there
was as Yet no promise of eifectual resist
ance. Even Washington, steel-proof against
! despair wrote that he saw not how Bur-
goyne's march to Albany could be checked
| The situation of the Inhabitants of the
! Hampshire Grants was most critical. Their
! whole frontier was open to the inCursiOns of
! an enemy, whose allies were savageS They
| had been totally neglected by congress; not
! a step had been taken for their relief. Scat
! tered spdrsely through the country upon
| their farms, without any organized state
| government, almost destitute of the ma
terial Of war, except the firearms in their
| houses, they still had no thought of flight
or submission. They called upon God first,
in "A day of fasting and prayer, appointed
| by their cOnvention and not only appointed
but solemnly kept. And then they called
upon New Hampshire and John Stark.
! New Hampshire, ablaze with patrio iC feel
ing, issued instant orders for her militia to
march. Stark's reply was brief, for he was
not man of words. D." am on the way"
said he, with all the men | can muster"
With the eye of born soldier he saw that
the VermOnters were right when they de-
clared there could be no frontier but front.
Ter of armed men; that the Hampshire
Grants must be held, because no enemy
| could be resisted to whom the gates of the
country were thus thrown open, and that
the eifectual blow against Burgoyne must
be struck on the flank.
Full justice has been done, in history and
! tradition, to the bravery and the patriotism
| OF JOnn STARK, DuI MS great Qualities as a
| general have not been set forth as they de-
serve. No better piece of military work was
seen in the revolution than he did in that
brief and sudden campaign. He concen.
trated the scattered militia at Charleston
with a rapidity that was marvellous. He
was mpeded by the want of the most neCes.
sary and ordinary upplies-detaned, lac
wrote, for lack of bullet-moulds e. but one
pair in town'O for they had their own
bullets to cast; destitute, he wrote again
even of complexities; striving in vain Il
get three or four held-peces mounted; tht
powder he had depended upon half spoiled
yet, receiving his orders ON the 22d of July
while the militia were all at their homes
he marched with the last of them from
Charleston on the Sd of August. On tn,
9TH he was at Manchester, through tn,
wilderness and across the Green Mountains
by incapable roads, and without any ade
quate transportation. On the 9th he wa
at Bennington, with his own forces and tn,
Massachusetts and Vermont men organize,
and in hand. On the 18th he engaged thu
enemy; on the 10th the battle was fought
If there had been no battle at all, suCl
celebrity and precision of movement, with al
Irregular force, in the face OF such ditfi
cultieS, would alone have been generalShi
of the highest order. At Manchester h
was met by peremptory order from con
gresS 10 march at once To join Schuyler
leaving the Grants to their fate He refuse,
to obey IL. The cause was more to hin
than congress, and he understood its ne
cessities better than they did. On the 10Th
three days after the battle, but before TIN
news of it had reached them, that bod
adopted resolution that his conduct wa
preiudirial to discipline, and injurious T.
the common cause, and demanding of New
Hampshire to revoke the orders unde
which he was acting. Three days late
they sent him vote Of thanks, their onl
contribution To the victory that caused TN
destruction of Burgoyne.
Mr. Phelps here brought before the in
agination of his hearers picture of til
= preparations for the fight which were bein
3 made throughout 1.-The Grants" Burgoyne'
object in dispatching Baum to Benningto
{ was undoubtedly TO dspel by quick blo'
. the gathering storm that was hanging o
Y his left" The fight itself was graphical
c described by the orator in few pregnar
!. sentences, after which he continued /
h these glowing words: History and liter,
j, ture, eloquence and poetry have combine
r to enshrine in the memory of mankin
e those decisive charges, at critical moments
J. by which great battles have been won an