Prelude to the Battle of Saratoga – Part II
Knowing that he needed supplies for his march on Albany, NY, General John Burgoyne sent a mixed force of Germans, Loyalists, Canadians, and Native Americans southeast. The mission’s goals, besides capturing supplies, pack animals, and horses for Burgoyne’s British Army Dragoons, was to prevent the Americans from reinforcing either General Gates, who was moving toward Saratoga, or the besieged Fort Stanwix.
When Lieutenant Colonel Friedrich Baum and Lieutenant Colonel Heinrich von Breymann (from the German principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel) left Burgoyne, they were told by Burgoyne that the town of Bennington, VT, was lightly defended by a small group of militia totaling about 400 men. The German officers were confident that their force of 1,400 men would easily defeat any militia they would find.
What they found was quite different. About 4,500 men defended Bennington under the command of John Stark and Seth Warner. They were from Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and the Vermont Republic.
F.Y.I., at this point in U.S. history, Vermont was part of the State of New York. For more about how Vermont became our 14thstate, read Post #62, The Republic of Vermont Versus the State of New York from July 19th, 2020. The link is https://marcliebman.com/the-republic-of-vermont-versus-the-state-of-new-york/ .
The Americans had command relationship problems of their own. John Stark resigned from the Continental Army when Benjamin Lincoln was promoted and given command of the Continental Army in the area. Stark, who was from New Hampshire and commander of the New Hampshire militia, ignored any orders from Lincoln and marched his men to Bennington.
En route to Bennington, Baum and von Breymann learned there was a much larger force than they had believed. Nonetheless, the two German officers were confident they could brush aside any Patriot militia. The Germans sent a message back to Burgoyne asking for reinforcements, and when it started to rain, they stopped and dug in.
In a sharp battle that took most of the afternoon of August 16th, Stark’s men surrounded the Braum’s position and eventually captured it. During the fight, Baum, along with many of the Prince Ludwig Dragoons, were killed.
Von Breymann and his grenadiers and light infantry were several miles away, and when they heard the firing, marched toward the fight. They arrived right after Baum’s men surrendered. Before the Germans could attack, Warner and 350 Green Mountain Boys struck. Their accurate gunfire decimated von Breyman’s troops, killing about a quarter of them.
At Bennington, 207 British Army and German mercenaries were killed, and 700 were captured along with all their supplies, ammunition, and artillery. The Patriots lost 30 men, with 40 wounded.
When Burgoyne received the Germans’ first message, he believed they needed reinforcements, and his army was about to cross the Hudson to march toward Vermont when remnants of the German units sent to Bennington began to arrive. With the defeat at Bennington, Burgoyne lost almost half of his professional soldiers and most of his Native American allies, most of whom were killed.
Burgoyne was now at the end of a tenuous supply line from Montreal. Each day he marched farther south, he extended the distance from his base. In late September, Gates and Arnold defeated Burgoyne at Saratoga, forcing him to surrender on October 17th, 1777.
The British Army’s failure to take Fort Stanwix and their defeat at Bennington enabled the Americans to isolate Burgoyne. Even worse for the British, Burgoyne’s defeat gave their hated enemy, the French, confidence that the Americans would win, and they joined the American Revolution on our side.
2004 Don Troiani painting of the Starks men storming the German Dragoon position at the Battle of Bennington