The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1891-08-21

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transportation. On the 9th he was at
Bennington, with his own forces
and the Massachusetts and
Vermont men organized and in hand.
On the 18th he engaged the enemy; on
the 10th the battle was fought. If there
had been no battle at all, such celebrity
and precision of movement, with an ir-
regular force, in the face of such difficult
ties, would alone have been generalship
of the highest order.
At Manchester he was met by per-
emptory order from Congress, to march
at once to join Schuyler, leaving the
Grants to their fate. He refused to obey
it. The cause was more to him than
Congress, and he understood its necessi-
ties better than they did. On the 10Th,
three days after the battle, but before
the news of it had reached them, that
body adopted resolution that his con-
duct was prejudicial to discipline, and
injurious to the common cause, and de-
handing of New Hampshire to revoke
the orders under which he was acting.
Three days later, they sent him vote of
thanks, their only contribution to the
victory that caused the destruction of
Burgoyne.
Meanwhile the men of the Grants had
not been idle. Every nerve had been
strained in their own behalf. The Coun-
Gil of Safety, improvised for the occa-
sion, sat continuously at Bennington,
assuming all the powers of government.
Every available man turned out. No
woman bid husband, son or brother stay.
Such scanty supplies as by the utmost
exertion could be collected, were thrown
into the common stock. The very day
before the battle, expresses were sent
out through the farm-houses to gather
lead, urgently needed" said the Coun-
Gil. The woods were on fire. Not with
the transient blaze that sweeps through
the dry leaves and is gone, but with the
deep unquenchable combustion that
| burns in the roots and the earth.
OF the stores that nad been previously
| gathered at Bennington, much has been
SAID, and but little is known. Their i'm
portance has probably been exaggerated.
That Burgoyne needed them, such as they
were, and desired still more to deprive
his enemy of them, may be true. But
they were by no means the principal OBJ
ject of the expedition he sent out, altho'
altogether disproportioned to so small a
matter. He saw as clearly as Stark did,
that his left was the dangerous quarter.
1t was not the feeble resistance before
him that he was afraid of, which had not
yet fired an effectual shot. 1t was what
he well called "the gathering storm that
was hanging on his left" He perceived
that he must strike blow in that quar-
ter which would put down opposition,
and make safe his flank and his rear.
He meant to mount his dismounted dra-
| gOOns on horses obtained in the Grants,
and to occupy and secure that ground.
The troops he sent out were therefore
choice and well commanded, and followed
by strong support. And their orders
were, not merely to capture Bennington,
but to cross the country to Rockingham,
and thence march to Albany.
The British commander proceeded
with the caution the Importance of his
expedition demanded. When he found
that he must fight, and perceived the
resolute and thorough soldiership IF
| Stark's movements, he chose position
with excellent Judgment, entrenched
himself strongly, and placed his troops
and his guns to the best advantage.
Stark could not wait as he would have
done, for his enemy's advance. He was
unable to subsist his ill-provided forces
long, nor could he keep them from
homes that were suffering for their pres
ence. His only chance was to attack at
once, and his dispositions for it, most
ably seconded by Warner, his right hand
man, were mastery beyond criticism.
He had no artillery, no cavalry, no trans
portatiOn, no commissariat but the
women on the farms. Half of his troops
were without bayonets, and even am
munition had to be husbanded. He
lacked everything but men, and his men
lacked everything but hardihood and in
domitable resolution. Upon all known
rules and experience of warfare, the sue
cessful storming, by hastily organized
militia, of an entrenched position at the
top of hill, held by an adequate regular
force, would have been declared impos-
sible. But it was the impossible that
happened, in a rout of the veterans that
amounted to destruction. History and
literature, eloquence and poetry have
combined to enshrine in the memory of
mankind, those decisive charges, at
critical moments. by which great battles
have been won, and epochs in the life of
nations determined. 1 set against the
splendor of them all, that final onset up
yonder hill and over its breastworks, of
those New England farmers, on whose
faces desperation had kindled the super
natural light of battle which never
shines in vain. That conflict was the
last hope of the Hampshire Grants.
They were fighting for all they had on
earth, whether of possessions or of
for they would have had no homes to
go to. The desolate land that Burgoyne
would have left, New York would have
taken. Not man was on the field by
compulsion, or upon the slightest ex-
pectation of personal advantage
or reward The spirit which
made the day possible, was shown in
that Stephen Fay of Bennington, who
had five sons in the fight When the
first born was brought home to him dead,
81 thank Cod" he said, shat 1 had a
son willing to give his life for his
country"
Sucn, In merest ana bnetest outline
was Bennington. It's story imperfectly pre-
served comes down to us only in flash es
but they are flashes of glorious light. Its
consequences were immediate and far
reaching. 1t was the first success of the
Revolution which bore any fruit. Its
guns sounded the first notes in the knel
which announced that the power Of
Great Britain over the colonies she had
created and had sacrificed, was passing
away. Burgoyne heard it, and knew
what it meant. Washington heard it.
and hearing took heart again. Con
fidence replaced despair. Gates sue
ceeded Schuyler in command at Sara
toga, and the militia poured into his
camp. The invincibility of the British
commander was gone. He fought des
perately but in vain. On the 18th of DC
tober he surrendered.
II Bennington had not been fought
or had been fought without success, the
junction between Clinton and BurgoynC