Battle of Bennington

Overview

The Battle of Bennington was a battle of the American Revolutionary War, part of the Saratoga campaign, that took place on August 16, 1777, on the John Green farm in Walloomsac, New York, about 10 miles (16 km) from its namesake, Bennington, Vermont. An American force of 2,000 men, primarily New Hampshire and Massachusetts militiamen, led by General John Stark, and reinforced by militiamen from the independent Vermont Republic led by Colonel Seth Warner and members of the Green Mountain Boys, decisively defeated a detachment of General John Burgoyne's army led by Lieutenant-Colonel Friedrich Baum, and supported by additional troops under Lieutenant-Colonel Heinrich von Breymann.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

The Battle of Bennington was fought as part of the Saratoga campaign, in which British General John Burgoyne sought to drive south through New York and sever New England from the other colonies. The defeat of Baum's detachment, and then of Breymann's supporting force, cost Burgoyne a significant portion of his already-strained force and denied him the supplies and horses the expedition had been sent to seize. The engagement demonstrated that American militia, drawn primarily from New Hampshire and Massachusetts and reinforced by Vermont's Green Mountain Boys, could decisively overcome regular and auxiliary forces operating away from their main body. The cumulative damage contributed directly to British vulnerability at Saratoga, where Burgoyne's army would subsequently be compelled to surrender — a result that proved pivotal in securing French recognition of American independence.

Tactics

Forces & casualties

Commanders (4)