The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1921-09-06
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6. 1921.
BENNINGTON BATTLE GROUND


Recently there appeared in the
Pulse OF the People column of The
Troy Record a communicat on, signed
}. II. H., noting that the State His
torian had called attention to the
fact that nothing has been done along
the lines of improving the land in
Rensselaer, County, purchased few
years ago by the State on which was
fought the severely misnamed Battle
of Bennington. This land" the writer
explained" lies in the town OF
Hoosck near the vii age Of Wal
/ loomsac." The writer also asked il
it isn't time we awakened enough
civic pride in our county and State
to cause something to be done about
this
Another writer, in a communication
to The Rutland Herald, ahixes the
letter Of j +. X, taking exception to
it as follows.
"1'he above letter OF j. f. K. mem
tions the severely mlsnamed Battle
of Bennington We don't agree with
this person because this territory was
very much unsettled and in dispute
at this time between the inhabitants
Of New Hampshire grants and the
colony Of New York.
f'As | understand it the original
grant from the king Of England to
New Hampshire was all the territory
from the Connecticut River to Lake
Champlain and on a para lei line to
the Massachusetts colony; therefore,
wouldn't the ground that the battle
was fought on be included in this
original grant
I'VE would recommend that the
Historical Society Of the State of
Vermont take this matter up and
give specific reasons why this is call.
ed the latte Of Bennington.
so long as the State of New York
has taken over this ground on which
this battle was fought there IS no
question that in the near future it
viii be beautided with suitable monu-
ments and markers commemorative
the deeds of the men who struggled
there
The fact that the New Hampshire
grant may have Included the terri
tory IN question does net materially
, affect the controversy between New
York and Vermont as TO the nomen-
clature Of the battle. There is the
latter communication however a
suggestion that Il acted upon, would
prove interesting. namely that the
of Vermont "A ID
vance specific reasons Why the battle
is called the Battle OF Bennington
It is significant that tile editor of
The Herald frankly aaixcs a footacte
to the correspondents, ia which he
quotes Ccnants l'ltt5,y o. Na.m1-t
to thu following ehc,t
? This was called the Battle OF
Bennington because that was the
headquarters of the American
Army and because the suppl ea
sought by the British were stored
p there The battle WAS IN Hous
. lex, n. Y. quite near the St,t
} line.
That ought to settle it-Troy Rec.
: ord
The battle Of Bennington was f1rgot
one hundred and forty five years ago
and has ever since been known a5 Che
/, battle OF Bennington. I'm an Wcba
t billy there has never been a hi tory
or historical document written IN
which It was not described as the
( battle of Benn ngton. To more firmly
Clinch tho name, an organization
broueat into existence IN Pennington
carried through the project q erect
ling the highest battle monument
in the world to commemorate the
part taken by the Green Mouuta n
, Boys at the generally recognized turn.
ing point in the struggle for iudopcu-
dence Hundreds Of tourists visit the
memorial each year. andwill continue
to do so for years to come. Ii is prob
. able that fol owing each anniversary
the sixteenth of August one or more
newspapers published IN the section
Of New York just west of Bennington
: county will revive this discussion,
p, just as ii has been brought TO the Nv
face each year in the past And i is
likewise probable that it viii be ac.
complained by statement that some
thing is to be done by the state of
New York or people in the state of
New York an assertion that is al
most as familiar and ancient ass tho
discussion itself. And m the meantime
. and henceforth the defeat Of Bur.
.oynes army BY the Green Mountain
boys, Gen. Starks men from New
Hampshire ana the colonial troops
fiom the Berkshire Hills of Massa-
thusettes viii continue o. be known
from the Atlantic to He Pacific and
from the Canadian border to the
.loXican line as the Bate of Bounipg-
toG.
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