USA > Vermont > The story of Vermont (1926) > Part 2
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On the western side of the mountains the settlers from the different towns had united in order to better fight off the New Yorkers, but on the eastern side of the mountains things were, at first, much more peaceful. The New Yorkers realized that if they could not take possession of the land right next door it would be foolish for them to try to take possession on the farther side of the mountain. So, for this reason, on the eastern side the terms of
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transfer from New Hampshire to New York were made easy for the settlers, and the settlers in turn gave little attention to the struggle on the other side of the mountain.
This peace, however, did not last long. The pioneers who settled in Vermont were almost all New Englanders brought up under the New England form of government. We have read how they welcomed the signs of a new neighbor. As the number of houses grew the people were accustomed to come together and transact whatever business was necessary, to elect some one to look after the cows, which usually were all pastured together, another to look after the school, and so on. As long as the New Hampshire government received the payments as agreed upon with the settlers they gave no further attention to them, and each of these towns in Vermont became al- most as independent as a little nation.
In the early days there was, of course, no telephone, no newspaper except one brought in once in a while by a traveller; there was no regular mail. There was hardly any money, and it was not needed, for each home raised its necessary food, while flax, wool, and the skins of wild animals furnished them clothing.
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If a man wanted help, his neighbors came and helped, and at other times he went and helped his neighbors. When a schoolhouse or a church was built the whole community worked to build it.
In a community where all the members de- pend on their own industry to get along, the people grow self-reliant and independent. These Vermonters when they gathered around a visitor to hear the news from Massachusetts and New York would make whatever com- ments they chose; the idea of concealing their thoughts probably never entered their heads.
Now in New York State the form of govern- ment was different. The townspeople did not elect the more important officers. They were appointed by the governor, and the townspeo- ple were not allowed to say anything against them or against the governor or against the King of England. A few months after New York took over what is now Vermont, officers appointed by the Governor of New York be- gan to appear in the towns on the eastern side of the State. When the townspeople pro- tested against any of these officers they were informed that they were now under a new master and must obey his officers.
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Therefore, in the autumn of the year 1774 ' we find the Green Mountain Boys on the . western side of our State fighting the Yorkers, while on the eastern side there were no open fights of any consequence, but there was a growing anger against New York and the officers sent from there. Outside of Vermont the thirteen colonies were becoming more and more discontented with the rule of the King of England and his stupid councillors. In September the Continental Congress, made up of delegates from all the colonies, met in Philadelphia and voted among other things that until the King agreed to listen to the complaints of the colonies the people would no longer honor the King's courts.
All the colonies except New York agreed to this resolution. When the news of it reached the Green Mountains it was received with joy. These settlers realized now that if they al- lowed the King's servants from New York to hold court it would mean separating them- selves from their friends in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the other colonies and sur- rendering to their enemy the New Yorkers backed by the King of England.
The people in Vermont did not have the
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reasons to complain against the King of Eng- land that the colonies had, but everything that the Yorkers did was always said to be done in the name of His Majesty the King of England. The result was that the independent Green Mountain Boys were ready to kick out the Yorkers and the King of England too.
The event that was to place Vermont with the colonies in the War of the Revolution occurred at Westminster on the eastern side of the mountains in the spring of 1775. A New York judge was coming to the court- house at this place to open the court in the name of His Majesty the King of England. The people who lived in the vicinity of West- minster realized that it was up to them either to side with the Continental Congress by pre- venting the court from opening or to submit to the New Yorkers. They decided to prevent the court from opening.
When the sheriff heard about this he got together about sixty men and swore that he would lead this band to the court-house and kill any "damned rascals" who tried to inter- fere with the court. But when the sheriff arrived at the court-house the afternoon before the court was to open he was surprised to find
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it filled with "damned rascals" who were not a bit frightened by his threats and curses.
In the evening the judge who was to hold the court arrived. He ordered the sheriff to take his men away and promised the men in the court-house that they would not be dis- turbed during the night and that in the morn- ing he would hear their objections to opening the court. Trusting in the judge's word, most of the Green Mountain Boys left the court- house.
About midnight the sheriff and his band came back to the court-house. There were only a few defenders left, but they refused to allow the sheriff to enter. Thereupon the sheriff ordered his men to fire. Several of the defenders were wounded and two died later from their wounds, twenty were captured and locked with the wounded in the jail. A few escaped and told their friends what had hap- pened.
The next morning the judge entered to hold court and the sheriff bragged how he had "scared the scoundrels." But as the morning wore on more and more men gathered in front of the court-house. The day before none of them had carried guns, but now many a gun
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could be seen in the crowd of earnest men. The sheriff's men became more and more frightened. Some tried to escape by jumping out of the back windows, but were captured by men outside.
The court-room was up-stairs, and part of the first floor was used as a jail. The sheriff and judge were up-stairs in the court-room. They saw the men enter below and let the prisoners out of jail. When the wounded were found the crowd wanted to go up-stairs and take revenge on the judge, sheriff, and his followers. However, order was restored. Later all in the court-room were arrested and the judge, sheriff, and some others were sent to Northampton, Mass., for trial. The Governor of New York finally was able to free them.
Now the die was cast. The people in a little town of what is now Vermont had defied the Governor of New York and the King of Eng- land. As the news spread up and down the State the loyal settlers all agreed that, come what might, they would stand by their neigh- bors. Some Green Mountain Boys from Ben- nington crossed the mountains to welcome the east side in the struggle against the Yorkers.
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From Crockett's "History of Vermont," by courtesy of the author.
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A few weeks later even more serious news was spread from settlement to settlement. Down at Lexington and Concord, near Boston, the farmers had fought with the King's troops and had driven them back into Charlestown. There was no mistaking the meaning of this- it meant war.
Some of the Green Mountain Boys upon learning the news of Lexington and Concord took down their guns and started to join the army of Americans that was gathering around Boston. Others were enlisted in a campaign to drive the British from Lake Champlain.
If you will look at your map again you will see that Lake Champlain, Lake George, and the Hudson River just about cut off the New England States from the rest of the country. Ethan Allen and others knew that if the British troops held this line the colonies would be cut in two. Therefore, they resolved to capture part of this line.
The most important post on Lake Cham- plain was Fort Ticonderoga. To capture it two things were necessary: speed and secrecy. If the British should learn that an attack was being planned and should send a large army there it would be impossible for any army the
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Green Mountain Boys could raise to capture the fort. 1770944
Therefore, Ethan Allen, Seth Warner, and other leaders sent a number of messengers up and down the western side of the State to call at all the farmhouses and settlements and order the men to meet at Castleton at once. Mile after mile these brave messengers, some on horseback and others on foot, taking short- cuts through the woods, climbing steep moun- tains, swimming rivers, spread from settle- ment to settlement the summons from their leaders.
About one hundred and eighty men re- sponded to the call and met at Castleton. In the meantime one of the Green Mountain Boys, Noah Phelps, had visited Fort Ticon- deroga and learned that no attack was sus- pected and there were less than fifty soldiers left to defend the fort. Ethan Allen realized that if once they could get into the fort they could capture it.
On the night of May 9 the little band marched to Shoreham. Across the lake was Fort Ticonderoga. They had but a few boats, and as morning began to dawn less than half the little army had crossed. Ethan Allen
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dared not wait. Seth Warner was left to get the others across as soon as possible and Allen and Benedict Arnold, who had come from Connecticut to join the expedition, led the troops to the fort.
Day was breaking as they reached the walls. A British sentry aimed at Allen, but his gun failed to fire. Silently and quickly the Green Mountain Boys broke through the gate and rushed into the fort. Then with a loud yell they awoke the sleeping soldiers. The British rushed out, only to find the Green Mountain Boys waiting for them with loaded guns and orders to surrender. The British commander, Captain Delaplace, had not suspected an at- tack and asked Allen by what right he ordered him to surrender. Allen replied: "In the name of the great Jehovah and the Continental Congress."
On the morning of May 10, 1775, Fort Ticonderoga was taken without the firing of a single gun or the loss of a life. Allen, Warner, and Arnold were not the kind of men to waste their time in rejoicing. Seth Warner captured Crown Point, and Allen and Arnold fitted up a fleet of boats and drove the British off the lake to St. Johns, in Canada.
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السيدة
Will murs
Ethan Allen replied: "In the name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress."
The victory of the Green Mountain Boys placed the New Yorkers in an awkward posi- tion. Only a few months before they had been calling Ethan Allen, Seth Warner, and
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the rest of the Green Mountain Boys every bad name they could think of. Now these same men were national heroes and had been publicly thanked by the Continental Congress.
A change was taking place in New York. The King, the governor, and his followers were losing control of the people, and the men who · took their places were friends of the Revolu- tion. These men offered to postpone their differences with the Green Mountain Boys and to allow them to enlist five hundred men and elect their own officers.
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CHAPTER IV THE WAR IN VERMONT
In July, 1775, a number of leaders among the Green Mountain Boys met at Dorset and chose Seth Warner for commander of their soldiers. Most of the men at that convention felt that the colonies could not possibly win the war against England unless all of them set aside for the time their quarrels with each other and united against the enemy. There- fore they were in favor of postponing the settle- ment of their differences with New York State until after the war.
Others in the convention were not so sure that this was the best plan. They said: "We may call ourselves a colony, but New York claims that we are just a part of the colony of New York. The other thirteen colonies have representatives in the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, we have none and maybe we will not be allowed to have any."
They also pointed out that the enemy who had tried to drive them out of their homes or force them to pay for them again was not England, but New York State. They were
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willing, they said, to fight for freedom just as their friends in Massachusetts and the other colonies were fighting for freedom, but they thought that first they had better make sure that a victory over England would give them freedom.
"Suppose," they said, "that the colonies win the war. New York will then be one of the most powerful members of the new nation. She will claim that our colony is no colony at all but merely a part of her territory. If we are not allowed to have any representatives in the new Congress to oppose this claim most likely the Congress will decide in favor of New York. Then the Yorkers, backed by all the other colonies, will come over and take our lands away from us. On the other hand, Eng- land has told the Yorkers that they must not drive us out of our homes. Before we give our lives and our money to fight England hadn't we better make sure whether we are fighting for freedom or for a worse tyranny than we now have?"
Most of the delegates, however, -did not share this feeling. They felt that their friends in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire for whom they were fighting would
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help them to get their "just rights." So the matter was left.
The Green Mountain Boys continued to do their full share in the war against England. The regiment was raised and, under command of Colonel Seth Warner, helped to keep the British from Lake Champlain.
Ethan Allen had expected to be elected commander of this regiment and was very much disappointed. Still, he stayed with the army that was fighting in Canada under com- mand of General Montgomery. General Mont- gomery was anxious to capture the city of Montreal. Ethan Allen had the idea that he could capture the city by a bold and sudden attack just as he had captured Fort Ticonder- oga. So, without consulting his commander, he made the attempt. There is every reason to believe that he would have succeeded if another officer who had promised to assist him had done his part. As it was, he failed; his little army was surrounded by the British, and Ethan Allen was captured. He was kept a prisoner for two years, until General Wash- ington was able to get the British to give him up in exchange for a British officer whom the Americans had captured.
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A few weeks after the surrender of Ethan Allen the American army captured Montreal. Then they moved on to the city of Quebec. This was a much more difficult place to take than Montreal. Benedict Arnold led an army through Maine to help General Montgomery. They had a terrible trip through the Maine woods; most of their food was lost when the boats tipped over in the rapids of the rivers; they suffered from both cold and hunger, and many died. It was an exhausted army that finally reached Montgomery near Quebec, and if it had not been for the courage and example of Benedict Arnold probably most of them would have perished.
It was December when the two armies met. The soldiers were suffering so much from the cold that Montgomery and Arnold decided that they should try to capture the city at once. Early on the morning of December 31 in a blinding snow storm they made the assault.
The city was protected by steep cliffs and on top of these were strong forts. The Amer- icans bravely climbed up the cliffs and at- tacked the forts. They fought like heroes, but in vain; they could not capture the forts. General Montgomery was killed. Arnold and
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the other officers realized that it was impossi- ble to win the victory and retreated.
Arnold was now in command of the little army and continued to blockade the city the rest of the winter. In the spring he hoped for more soldiers and a second and more success- ful attack on the city. But when spring came most of the new soldiers came to the British side and, worse still, smallpox broke out in the American camp. Many Green Mountain Boys went north to help their suffering comrades, but all they could do was to hold the British back long enough to enable the sick, weary men to reach Lake Champlain, where boats carried them back down the lake to Crown Point and Fort Ticonderoga.
Here there was no time for rest. The Amer- icans knew that the British would come down Lake Champlain in ships to capture this fort. So, while some took care of the sick and made the fort ready for defense others cut down trees, sawed them up, and built ships. By hard work in the face of great obstacles a small fleet of fifteen ships was prepared. Benedict Arnold was put in command of this fleet and in October went north to meet the enemy. The British had thirty-one fighting ships and
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were much better armed than the Americans. Besides, on the British ships were experienced sea fighters, while most of Arnold's men had never seen a naval battle.
The two fleets met near Valcour Island, in the northern part of the lake, and fought until dark. In spite of the heavy odds against them the Americans held the British ships off. But at night the American ships were surrounded, and in the morning the British expected to capture them. Arnold did not wait for morn- ing. Silently in the night he led his little fleet out of the trap. In the morning the Brit- ish pursued and Arnold was forced to run his ships aground near where Otter Creek empties into the lake and set them on fire. However, he had accomplished his purpose; Fort Ticon- deroga was saved.
The British entered Crown Point, which the Americans had already abandoned, but they did not attack Ticonderoga. After some de- lay they sailed back to Canada for the winter.
This is the last time Benedict Arnold ap- pears in the history of Vermont. In this naval battle he proved himself to be a brave and skilful leader. Time after time, when the men around a cannon were frightened and ready
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will
The two fleets met in the northern part of the lake and fought until dark.
to give up, Arnold helped them to reload the cannon and coolly aim it against the enemy. On the battlefield of Saratoga he again dis- played his great bravery. If on that field the
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British bullet that hit his knee had hit his heart we would to-day honor him as one of the greatest generals of the American army in the Revolutionary War. After one has read the whole story of Benedict Arnold he is more inclined to weep for him than to scoff at his name.
The next spring (1777) the British appeared on Lake Champlain with a larger force than the year before. They were now ready to do just what Ethan Allen had tried to prevent when he captured Fort Ticonderoga: cut New England off from the other colonies. General Burgoyne was the commander of the new British forces, and they expected to march to Albany, N. Y., where another British general, Sir Henry Clinton, was to come up from New York City to meet them.
There was no American fleet to fight the British this year, and they went straight to Fort Ticonderoga. The American in com- mand of the fort, General St. Clair, soon found that he could not hold the fort and late one night in the darkness he withdrew his forces. General St. Clair hoped to have his soldiers several hours ahead of the British before his retreat was discovered, but as the last troops
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Monument to Green Mountain Boys at Rutland, Vermont. From Crockett's "History of Vermont," by courtesy of the author.
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were leaving a bright fire broke out in the fort. Some one had decided to burn his house rather than let it fall into the hands of the British. In doing this he put the whole American army in danger of being captured.
At Hubbarton occurred one of the two bat- tles of the Revolutionary War on Vermont soil. As soon as General Burgoyne discovered that the Americans were trying to get away, he sent Colonel Fraser in pursuit of them. The American general, St. Clair, put Colonel Seth Warner in command of his rear-guard. All one hot July Sunday the Americans retreated and the British advanced. On Sunday night Colonel Warner halted at Hubbardton in order to give the stragglers a chance to catch up with him. Early Monday morning the Brit- ish, under Colonel Fraser, appeared.
Immediately Colonel Warner sent a mes- senger to General St. Clair asking for more soldiers and Colonel Fraser sent a messenger with the same kind of a request to General Burgoyne. The Americans fought bravely and threatened to drive the British back, when reinforcements from General Burgoyne ar- rived.
Still the Americans held their ground, ex-
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pecting every minute to hear the cheers of soldiers from General St. Clair. But no sol- diers came.
After several hours of fighting, Colonel Warner, realizing that his brave army could not hold out much longer, resolved to try a trick. His plan was to have about one hundred of his men draw back, march through the woods, and attack one side or flank of the British. He thought that when the attack was made his own men would think the long- looked-for reinforcements had arrived, and possibly the British, thinking so too, would de- cide to retreat. But he had only about eight hundred soldiers, and when the others saw one hundred start to leave the line, they thought that they were giving up. This started a panic, and soon the whole army was running away from the advancing British.
The army under General St. Clair reached Fort Ann and from there retreated still farther south and finally halted at Saratoga. You may imagine that the people in Vermont felt pretty much discouraged. Two years ago they had driven the British back into Canada; now the British were capturing almost the whole western side of the State.
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But, although General Burgoyne and his army were victorious, several things worried the British general. He had expected that the people of Vermont, because of their quarrel with New York State, would go over to his side, but most of the Vermonters were loyal. Then the Indians he had taken with his army caused him a lot of trouble and were of little help. He had thought that when the Vermont- ers knew he had Indian warriors it would frighten them so much that they would join his army for protection. On the contrary, whenever the Indians raided a home and killed women and children, it made the other settlers the more determined to fight him. Besides, he knew well enough that when the news of these Indian killings reached England men like Burke, Pitt, and Fox would stand up in the British Parliament and denounce him for hiring such brutal warriors. Worst of all, be- cause the American army had caused him so many delays and the people in the country had either destroyed or carried away their cattle and grain, the food supply for-his army, when finally he reached the Hudson River, was low.
General Burgoyne learned that the Ameri-
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cans had stored a lot of supplies at Bennington and he resolved to seize these. So he sent to capture them a Colonel Baum with a number of soldiers, mostly Hessians, who had been hired from Germany to come to America and fight for England. Colonel Baum arrived a few miles west of Bennington on August 15. He learned that the alarm had been given and that men were coming in from all around to protect the town. Therefore he decided to have his soldiers dig intrenchments to protect them in case the Americans attacked, and sent a messenger to General Burgoyne asking for more soldiers.
John Stark, with a company of soldiers from New Hampshire, was in command of the Americans at Bennington. With him was Colonel Warner, who was sending out messages to all the Green Mountain Boys urging them to hasten to Bennington. The Green Moun- tain Boys responded loyally. Every few min- utes all through the night, in the rain and darkness, could be heard the shouts announc- ing the arrival of new parties.
Though it rained all the night of the 15th, General Stark realized that it would be danger- ous for him to wait in Bennington until more
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troops came to the British. So early on the morning of the 16th he led his army out in front of the British lines. A queer looking army it was, a few of the men had uniforms, the farmers carried all kinds of guns and were covered with mud from their long tramp in the rain. However, Stark trusted them.
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