The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1911-05-31
FRANK E. HOWE, Editor and Pub'r
A Forgotten Battle

Forgotten Battle
The decision of the Vermont socie-
ty, Sons of the American Revolution,
to mark the site of what is known as
the battle Of Persons Farm, in Shell
burne.' with a suitable bronze tablet,
calls to mind one OF the minor en-
gagements of the Revolutionary war
which has received at best but scant
attention in most of our histories.
One of the first settlements in the
Champlain valley was made in what
is now the town OF Shelburne by Jas.
Logan and a German named Potter
A reference in the journal of William
|Gilliland, OF Westport, shows that as
early as January 81, 1867, Logan was
living at Shelburne Before the
outbreak of the Revolution small
colony, probably about ten families,
had settled in the town and among
these Pioneers was Moses Person
When Gen Richard Montgomery with
1900 men, left Crown Point, August
&c. IT'S, to invade Canada, his troops
made their first stop at Westport,
where they were joined by company
of minute men organized by Gilliland
and Pierson, the former being captain
and the latter lieutenant To this
company Shelburne had contributed
fifteen men.
AS the war progressed and Bur
goyne with his invading army march
ed southwark. most of the Shelburne
settlers left their new homes for sa-
fer quarters. In the summer of l777
Moses Pierson raised a large crop Of
wheat, and although he succeeded in
harvesting il he dared not remain in
Shelburne. In January, IT'S. Bur
goyne having surrendered the previ-
GUS October, Pierson decided that he
would venture to return to his farm
and thresh his wheat, being accom-
panied by his family and several men
He did not find the place a comforta-
BILE one, being menaced by Tories and
Indians, and asked the Vermont auth
critics for aid. They despatched to
his assistance Capt. Thomas Sawyer,
Lieut.. Barnabas Barnum, Corporal
Williams and fourteen soldiers who
marched through the woods from
Clarendon TO Shelburne.
No attack was made for several
weeks but II is claimed that a Tory
named Philo went to Canada on
skates and informed the British of
the exposed position of the Shelburne
party. Persons dwelling had been
transformed into a blockhouse and
was strongly barricaded. On the
night of March IL party of 81 men
who appeared to be Indians, although
a part of them may have been white
men in disguise attacked the house
and a desperate fight followed, last
ing about two hours. Two wheat
buyers, Joshua Woodland and a man
named Daniels, were killed almost at
the first fire and others were wound
ed. Several attempts were made to
burn the house. The first attempt
was defeated by the occupants, some
OF whom sailed forth and extinguish-
ed the flames. No water was left
for use when the second fire was
started, but on the previous day Mrs.
Pierson had made a barrel of beer
and this beverage made an excellent
extinguisher
Having been defeated the enemy
retired leaving one officer and one In
dian chief dead 1t was believed at
the time that other dead we're thrown
into the lake through a crack in the
ice or were taken to Canada. Captain
Sawyer cut from the nose of the dead
chieftain his jewels and also secured
powder horn and bullet pouch as
trophies. Two prisoners were captur-
ed.
T,,o conc - NJ, p;oroo,, z;ho oud
Uzal, aged respectively Is and II
years, took an active part in the de-
fence An infant daughter. lying on
the bed during the conflict escaped
unhurt, although several bullets were
found in the bed, and others passed
through the headboard. This daugil-
ter in later years became Mrs. Ne
hemiah Pray
Capts. Ebenezer Allen and Isaac
Clark were ordered by the Vermont
Council of Safety to relieve Captain
Sawyer at Shelburne and to take post
at Fort William on Otter Creek. The
Pierson family retired to safer quar-
tiers at Orwell.
Several years before his death the
late Hon. c. G. Benedict, of Burling-
ton. called the attention OF the Yer
mont S. A. r. society to the impor-
lance OF marking the site of this bat
tie and it is now able to carry out his
suggestion. The wisdom of marking
such historic spots is too apparent to
need extended argument in favor of
the policy 1t educates the public in
familiarity with history, cultivates pa
triotism and shows that the people OF
this generation have not forgotten the
brave deeds of their forefathers. II
is hoped to mark other historic spots
from time to time, as opportunity of
fers The practice is a wholesome
one and deserves the warmest com
mendation.-Mo Journal.