Battle of Fort Anne This article is about the American Revolutionary War battle in upstate New York . For the 1744 " Siege of Fort Anne " see Siege of Annapolis Royal ( 1744 ) . Fort Anne was a stockade style fort in Washington County , New York . The modern town and village adopted the name , omitting the " e " . The Battle of Fort Anne , fought on July 8 , 1777 , was an engagement between Continental Army forces in retreat from Fort Ticonderoga and forward elements of John Burgoyne ' s much larger British army that had driven them from Ticonderoga , early in the Saratoga campaign of the American Revolutionary War . Burgoyne , surprised by the American withdrawal from Fort Ticonderoga , hurried as many of his troops as possible forward in pursuit of the retreating Americans . The main body of the American forces had departed Fort Independence down the road to Hubbardton , and a smaller body of troops , accompanying the sick , wounded , and camp followers that had also evacuated the fort , had sailed up Lake Champlain to Skenesboro , moving from there overland to Fort Edward . This group , which included about 600 men under arms , paused at Fort Anne , where a smaller advance company from Burgoyne ' s army caught up to them . The British , clearly outnumbered , sent for reinforcements . The Americans decided to attack while they had the numerical advantage , and succeeded in nearly surrounding the British position about three quarters of a mile ( 1 km ) north of the fort . The Americans retreated back to the fort when war whoops indicated the arrival of British reinforcements . While this was a ruse ( the reinforcements were a single officer ) , it saved the British force from probable capture . More of Burgoyne ' s army soon came down the road , forcing the Americans to retreat from Fort Anne to Fort Edward . It has been claimed that a flag was flown at Fort Anne that may have been the first instance of a flag consisting of stars and stripes ; this claim has neither been proven nor dis - proven . Background . On the night of July 5 – 6 , the Continental Army forces occupying Fort Ticonderoga were ordered to evacuate the fort by General Arthur St . Clair , following the approach of General John Burgoyne ' s 8 , 000 - man army . Burgoyne ' s men had placed a gun battery on top of Mount Defiance , overlooking the fort , and the American avenues of retreat were at risk of being cut off . Most of the American forces left Ticonderoga and the surrounding defense works via Fort Independence and the road to Hubbardton . About 600 men under Colonel Pierse Long , most of them from New Hampshire , sailed up the lake in a flotilla consisting of 5 armed galleys and over 200 smaller transport vessels . These vessels were loaded with as many of the sick from the fort as they could take , stores and supplies , and armaments . Believing the log boom and pontoon bridge placed between Ticonderoga and Mount Independence to be sufficient to delay the British pursuit , Long began to sail up the lake toward Skenesboro , the southernmost navigable point on the lake , at a leisurely pace . Pursuit . The British , however , were hardly slowed down by the water defenses . Burgoyne , once he learned of the American withdrawal on the morning of July 6 , ordered the defenses to be taken down . With well - placed gunfire , the bridge and boom were eliminated as obstacles in the space of 30 minutes . At this point Burgoyne , breaking with rigid military discipline , ordered troops to follow southward as rapidly as possible , instead of remaining in formation , while he sailed southward in pursuit . Assisted by favorable winds , he was within three miles ( 4 . 8 km ) of Skenesboro by the end of July 6 , where the Americans , who arrived only two hours earlier , had a small stockade fort . In an attempt to surround the position , Burgoyne landed about 200 men from the 9th , 20th , and 21st regiments , commanded by Lieutenant Colonel John Hill , at a point south of Skenesboro with the objective of cutting off the road to Fort Anne . The Americans were in the process of portaging around the falls at Skenesboro to Wood Creek when Burgoyne ' s boats arrived and opened fire . " Enterprise " , " Liberty " , and " Gates " were destroyed by the Americans , and two ships , " Trumbull " and " Revenge " , were forced to surrender . In the process many of the American supplies were either destroyed or abandoned to the British . The Americans retreated toward Fort Anne in disarray , but not before starting a fire that eventually engulfed most of the structures at Skenesboro . When they reached Fort Anne they were met by 400 New York militia under Henry van Rensselaer , that had been sent by General Philip Schuyler from Fort Edward after he received news of the retreat from Ticonderoga . The British pursuers under Hill , when they finally reached the road , captured more American supplies , sick and wounded , and camp followers that trailed behind the main body , and moved south until they were about one mile ( 1 . 6 km ) from Fort Anne . Here they encountered an American reconnaissance party numbering about 170 under Captain James Gray ; in the ensuing skirmish one American was killed and three more wounded before the Americans retreated to the fort . Battle . On the morning of July 8 , a supposed American deserter , who was really a spy , informed Hill that the fort was occupied by nearly 1 , 000 demoralized troops . Opting not to attack the numerically superior force , Hill sent a message back to Burgoyne outlining the situation . Burgoyne ordered the 20th and 21st regiments to quick - march toward Fort Anne in support , but poor weather hampered their movement , and they did not arrive until after the battle . The " deserter " returned to Fort Anne and reported on the British position and troop strength . Long , seeing how few British soldiers were following him , decided to attack their position . Moving as stealthily as possible , his force tried to surround the British while they were still on the road . However , Hill ' s men heard the rebel movements on their flanks and retreated to a higher position , abandoning some wounded men , who were eventually captured by the Americans . When the Americans opened fire , it was " a heavy and well - directed fire " , according to one British officer . The battle lasted for more than 2 hours , until both sides were nearly out of ammunition , and the British were virtually surrounded by Americans . The sound of Indian war whoops from the north prompted the Americans to retreat , and they retired to the fort with their wounded , including Van Rensselaer , who had taken a shot in the hip . As it turned out , there were no Indians , but only a single British officer , John Money of the 9th regiment , Burgoyne ' s deputy quartermaster . He had been leading a group of Indians , but when they seemed reluctant to fight the Americans , Money became impatient and ran ahead of them ; it was his war cries that brought an end to the battle . Aftermath . Back at the fort the Americans held a brief council . From a woman freed from the British they heard that 2 , 000 or more British troops under the command of General Phillips were rapidly advancing . Long ' s men , as they were nearly out of ammunition , withdrew toward Fort Edward , burning the stockade d fort . Both sides claimed victory in the battle , since the British had successfully stood their ground , and the Americans had very nearly forced them to surrender . Any American claim for victory was tempered by the fact that the force they had defeated was clearly the vanguard of a much larger British force . A British officer recovered some regimental banners either during this engagement , or following the American retreat from Fort Anne . It is widely claimed that one of the flags captured was a new design of American flag with thirteen red and white stripes and a constellation of stars , representing the earliest known use of the stars and stripes motif . However , this story is not supported by a sufficient weight of evidence . It is unclear if the flag was designed and constructed before or after June 14 , 1777 , the day it was approved by Congress . Potentially there was an 18 day window to transport a flag that was already constructed or at least deliver a printed pattern .