The FReeper Foxhole Revisits The Saratoga Campaign - 1777 - July 16th, 2004

see educational sources

[snippy_about_it]

Lord,

Keep our Troops forever in Your care

Give them victory over the enemy...

Grant them a safe and swift return...

Bless those who mourn the lost.
.

FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer
for all those serving their country at this time.


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The FReeper Foxhole Revisits

The Saratoga Campaign - 1777

The Bennington Raid: August 1777

On July 30, 1777, New Hampshire militia Brig. General John Stark reached Manchester to find Colonel Seth Warner and Continental Maj. General Benjamin Lincoln already there. General George Washington had sent Lincoln to help Northern Department commander Maj. General Philip Schuyler, because of his being from New England. Schuyler had then ordered Lincoln to take command of Stark's New Hampshire regiment and lead it to the main army. Stark refused to hand over command and Lincoln tactfully did not press.

Bennington was a last minute objective after intelligence was received that only 300 to 400 militia guarded a supply depot there. On August 9, 1777, Lt. Colonel Friedrich Baum set out east. On August 11, Baum moved from Fort Miller to Batten Kill. After waiting a day, Baum moved another fifteen miles southeast to Cambridge on August 13th. Along the way, the Indians engaged in destruction of the neighboring countryside. Learning of the Indians, General Stark ordered 400 men to advance to Cambridge from Bennington. On that evening, Stark learned of Baum's man force and began to move his own force toward Bennington. He also ordered Colonel Seth Warner to bring his militia from Manchester to Bennington. Baum also learned of Stark's movements and sent word to Burgoyne that 1,800 rather than 400 rebels were at Bennington.



On August 14 at about 9:00 A.M., the two forces made contact at Sancoick's Mill. General Stark's advance forces fired one volley and then retreated. After advancing another two miles, Baum was slowed at Little White Creek due to a burned bridge. Baum then advanced another mile to a ford on the Walloomsac River, which was about four miles from Bennington. Meanwhile, Stark withdrew further toward Bennington and made camp. Later in the day, Baum finally formally requested reinforcements. Baum secured the ford by placing forces on both sides of the river to make the enemy could not easily approach the ford.

Before dawn on August 15, 1777, Maj. General John Burgoyne received Lt. Colonel Baum's request for reinforcements. Lt. Colonel Heinrich Breymann was dispatched at 9:00 A.M. with approximately 640 men. Colonel Warner had received General Stark's order on the 14th, but many of his men were out on patrol, so he did not get underway until the morning of August 15th with his 350 men. Slowed by rain, he reached Stark's camp that evening, while his men made camp six miles from Bennington.

General Stark had been unable to attack on August 15, because of rain, but he had scouted out Lt. Colonel Baum's disposition. At about noon on August 16th, Stark's troops began moving out from camp. Baum saw the movements, but assumed that they were retreating. Stark had actually decided to attack using a double envelopment and his troops disappeared into the woods. When Baum saw the groups of men moving toward his camp, he assumed that they were Tories seeking shelter in his camp. Once his men were in position at about 3:00 P.M., Stark began attacking.

Reassessing the Situation: August-September 1777

With the sounds of battle on both sides of them, the Tories, Canadians and Indians retreated, while Baum managed to hold the main position for two hours. The Germans were actually cutting their way out using their swords until Lt. Colonel Baum fell from a wound and they surrendered at about 5:00 P.M. At about that same time, Lt. Colonel Breymann's men and Colonel Warner's men joined the fight. Breymann ran out of ammunition and personally commanded the rear guard that allowed his men to retreat. The enemy had lost nearly 900 men, most of them becoming prisoners.


Benedict Arnold

When General George Washington learned that Maj. General John Burgoyne was in a tenuous situation, he called to "let all New England rise and crush Burgoyne." He had sent Maj. General Benjamin Lincoln with a brigade to support the Commander of the Northern Department, Maj. General Philip Schuyler, who had then sent Lincoln to gather the New Hampshire militia. Washington also detached Colonel Daniel Morgan and his rifle regiment to the Northern Department.

Meanwhile, political games had been playing out for months in the Continental Congress concerning command of the Northern Department. On August 19, 1777, Maj. General Horatio Gates arrived to take command of the Northern Department from General Schuyler. New England's support for Gates, coupled with Schuyler's arrogant manner toward the common soldier led to the change. When Gates arrived, most of the 4,000 Continental troops in the department were concentrated at the junction of the Hudson and Mohawk Rivers, while Brig. General Benedict Arnold was leading his detachment west to the relief of Fort Stanwix and the New Hampshire militia were recovering from their victory at Bennington.



During this time of transition in mid-August, General Burgoyne might have had a chance to retreat north back to Canada. Instead, his objective of Albany and the remaining possibility of support from Maj. General William Howe kept him marching south. On September 12, 1777, General Gates moved his forces from what had been General Schuyler's headquarters at Stillwater, New York to the strategic terrain at Bemis Heights, near Saratoga, New York. He began entrenching and waiting with his 7,000 troops . On September 13, Burgoyne gathered enough supplies to cross the Hudson River to Saratoga, New York with 6,000 men.

General Burgoyne had only about fifty Indians remaining, because the rest had deserted. As a result, he had few scouts to appraise him of the enemy's position, so he slowly marched south. On September 16, Burgoyne made camp after hearing the American reveille drums and attempted to ascertain the American position. On September 17, Burgoyne advanced another three miles and deployed his troops in a line beginning west of the Sword House. On September 18, he made a reconnaissance in force to adequately evaluate the sitution.

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FReeper Foxhole Armed Services Links

[SAMWolf]

Morning WaterDragon. How's the "vacation".

[Professional Engineer]

Hiya Sam. This is the antenna flagpole I want.

Did I mention it is also an HF antenna for "stealth" ham radio operation. Heh heh heh

Force 12 flag pole antenna

[Professional Engineer]

Hi miss Feather!

[SAMWolf]

Morning Darksheare.

[Professional Engineer]

Thank you for the picture.

[Professional Engineer]

Howdy ma'am. You're next on the list.

[SAMWolf]

Sneaky. I like it!!

[Professional Engineer]

Me too. A fellow ham lives 4 doors down, and has one. Slick. The guy and his with are both retired Air Force. Funny how that influences stuff. ;-)

Several weeks ago, my son and I were walking in the neighborhood. We came upon two houses side by side, both with flagpoles. Spiderboy said, "look those houses have antennas!".

[Darksheare]

Morning.
Yes, wandering soul on his wandering soles..

[Professional Engineer]

Grind any souless trolls with the soles today?

[Aeronaut]

Snippy! Running a little late in my "high-performance" ship.

(Actually I just missed replying to the ping -- apologies.)

[Soaring Feather]

Good morning snippy, oh nice feather. Thank You.

[Soaring Feather]

Apollo 11 Spacecraft 107/Lunar Module 5/Saturn 506

WOO HOO great picture!

[snippy_about_it]

You're next on the list.

Oh boy!

[snippy_about_it]

No wonder you're behind today. It's funny but as that plane buzzed low over the apartment this morning I really did say, "There's Aeronaut with his flyover." LOL.

[Darksheare]

Not yet, been kinda quiet.
Since I attract psychoettes, I'm waiting forthe trollettes to appear.
THEN we'll see some heel grinding on trolls.
Right after I use this tagline on the:
"I'll devour your soul, break your heart and leave you drained & crying, cursing my name."

[HiJinx]

Jinxy, do you live in a fort? ;-)

Oh, my word, how cute that is! And close, too!!

Let's see...oh, if I had the room to host all the pictures!!

Let's see, this picture shows a small segment of the parapet that goes all the way around the roof, see the high block walls surrounding the interior of the fort.

I have an almost endless source of water...the pictures I don't have show a secret exit at the back, there's a sunken room in the front for cover, I have a clear field of fire all the way around the property...ummm, yeah, well, maybe I do live in a fort!

[HiJinx]

That's the part I dread, No easy way for me to do that.

Okay, shameless admission: I've run an outdoor extension cord from an outlet at the back of the house over the roof and down behind that huge Italian Cypress you see there to the left...

[HiJinx]

Thank you for posting it!!

[The Mayor]

I tend to be an offensive driver - get them before they get me. :-)

LOL!! Me too..

Hi