General John Stark is known as the "Hero of Bennington" and served with many honors throughout the Revolutionary War. He was originally passed over for a promotion, which led to his resignation. However, Congress finally recognized him in 1783 when they named him as a Major General. After the war ended, Stark retired from public life and would eventually die at the age of 93. and was the last surviving Revolutionary War General.
Early Life
John Stark was born in Londonderry, New Hampshire, to a Scottish immigrant named Archibald Stark.
When Stark was 21 years old, he and his brother were attacked by Abenaki warriors. His brother was able to escape, but Stark and other friends were captured and taken to Canada. While he was a prisoner, he and a friend were forced to run a gauntlet of warriors with sticks. When the first warrior tried to hit him, Stark grabbed the stick from the warrior and proceeded to attack him. This surprised each of the warriors, and Stark was able to do some damage.
This action impressed the Abenaki chief, and Stark was adopted into the tribe, where he stayed the winter. It is unclear what he picked up from the Abenaki. However, his fighting style would certainly show a Native American influence.
The following spring, a government agent sent from the Massachusetts Bay Colony to work on the exchange of prisoners paid his ransom of $103 Spanish dollars and $60 for Amos Eastman. Stark and Eastman then returned to New Hampshire safely.
French and Indian War
Stark served as a second lieutenant under Major Robert Rogers during the French and Indian War. His brother William Stark served beside him. As a member of the daring Rogers' Rangers, Stark gained valuable combat experience and detailed knowledge of the northern frontier of the 13 original colonies. While serving with the rangers in 1757, Stark went on a scouting mission toward Fort Carillon, in which the Rangers were ambushed.
General Jeffery Amherst, in 1759, ordered Rogers' Rangers to journey from Lake George to the Abenaki village of St. Francis, deep in Quebec. The Rangers went north and attacked the Indian town. Stark, Rogers' second-in-command of all ranger companies, refused to accompany the attacking force out of respect for his Indian foster parents residing there. He returned to New Hampshire to his wife, whom he had married the previous year.
At the end of the war, Stark retired as a captain and returned to Derryfield, New Hampshire.
American Revolution
The first shots of the American Revolutionary War were fired at Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775.
4 days later, John Stark joined the Continental Army.
He was given a Colonelcy in the New Hampshire Militia and then given command of the 1st New Hampshire Regiment outside of Boston. Once he had mustered his men, he quickly marched to join in the Siege of Boston.
On June 16, the rebels, fearing a preemptive British attack on their positions in Cambridge and Roxbury, decided to take and hold Breed's Hill, a high point on the Charlestown peninsula near Boston. On the night of the 16th, American troops moved into position on the heights and began digging entrenchments.
As the sun rose on June 17, 1775, it was clear to the British that the rebels had begun digging fortifications, and they would need to be attacked before those fortifications were complete. General Thomas Gage, stuck in a difficult situation, requested that General William Howe prepare to land his troops so that offensive maneuvers could begin against the rebels.
In response, American Colonel William Prescott held the hill despite bombardment from the British navy. Prescott requested the aid of Stark and other leaders as his men were greatly outnumbered.
John Stark arrived with his New Hampshire minutemen at the scene of the bombardment. Despite the many others who were frantic about the British cannon raining down on them, Stark calmly marched his men to Prescott without losing a single soldier.
After arrival and speaking with Colonel Prescott, Stark was given permission to deploy his men where he thought best. He surveyed the battlefield and decided on the following:
- Placed his men on the low ground between Mystic Beach and the hill in order to avoid being flanked. He rightly believed this would be where the British would initially land.
- Built a crude defense line at the edge of the Mystic River
- Ordered his men to be three deep behind the wall
British soldiers advanced on his men. His men patiently waited and, at the last moment, stood up and fired as one, killing 90 British instantly. The initial attack was repelled and retreated. Again, the British would test the Stark line and were met with similar results as the New Hampshire men stood and fired at close range, decimating the British. A third charge again was launched and was met with devastating results similar to the first.
After three failed charges, the British withdrew and searched for a better place to land where they would have the support of the artillery. Stark had successfully defended the flank of the Continental Line.
Towards the end of the battle, Stark and the men from New Hampshire provided cover fire for the retreating troops.
The siege would continue after George Washington's arrival until artillery was brought in by Henry Knox and placed on Dorchester Heights, which would threaten the British Navy.
Quebec, Trenton, and Resignation
As Washington prepared to go to New York in anticipation of a British attack there, he knew that he desperately needed experienced men like John Stark to command regiments in the Continental Army. George Washington immediately offered Stark a command in the Continental Army.
Stark and his New Hampshire regiment agreed to attach themselves to the Continental Army. The men of the New Hampshire Line were sent as reinforcements to the Continental Army during the Invasion of Canada in the spring of 1776. After the retreat of the Continental Army from Canada, Stark and his men traveled to New Jersey to join Washington's main army. They were with Washington in the battles of Princeton and Trenton in late 1776 and early 1777.
After Trenton, Washington asked Stark to return to New Hampshire to recruit more men for the Continental Army. Stark agreed but, upon returning home, learned that while he had been fighting in New Jersey, a fellow New Hampshire Colonel named Enoch Poor had been promoted to Brigadier General in the Continental Army. In Stark's opinion, Poor had refused to march his militia regiment to Bunker Hill to join the battle, instead choosing to keep his regiment at home.
Stark, an experienced woodsman and fighting commander, had been passed over for someone with no combat experience and apparently no will to fight.
On March 23, 1777, Stark resigned his commission in disgust, although he pledged his future aid to New Hampshire if it should be needed.
Bennington and Saratoga
John Stark would be given a commission as a brigadier general of the New Hampshire Militia. He took the position under the strict condition that he was independent and did not answer to the Continental Army authority.
After mustering almost 1,500 men, Stark traveled to Manchester, Vermont. He was then ordered by General Benjamin Lincoln to reinforce Philip Schuyler on the Hudson River. Stark refused, and Lincoln did not impose his will and allowed Stark to operate independently at the rear of John Burgoyne's northern army.
Burgoyne's supply line was spread out, and he was in need of more, so he sent Lieutenant Colonel Friedrich Baum to capture American supplies at Bennington, Vermont. Under Baum's command were approximately 700 British, Indian, and Hessian troops. Stark, learning of the raid, mobilizes his men. Baum learns of the mobilization and requests reinforcements from Burgoyne and proceeds to fortify his position to wait for his reinforcements.
After waiting out a day of rain, at 3:00 PM on the 16th, Stark sent 200 militia to the right, 300 men to the left, 200 troops against a position held by Tories, and 100 men on a feint against Baum's main redoubt. In the face of these attacks, the Indians, loyalists, and Canadians fled, leaving Baum stranded in his main position.
As his envelopment took effect, Stark led his remaining 1,200 troops against Baum, saying, "We'll beat them before night, or Molly Stark's a widow."
After an ammunition wagon exploded, Baum's men tried to hack their way out of the trap with their dragoon sabers. Baum was fatally hit, and his men gave up around 5:00 PM. With Stark's men somewhat scattered by their victory, a reinforcements column appeared on the scene.
At this moment, Colonel Seth Warner's 350 Green Mountain Boys arrived to confront the Hessian reinforcements. The Hessians were stopped and then forced to withdraw. The New Hampshire and Vermont soldiers delivered a severe beating to the Hessians that forced them to withdraw. The Battle of Bennington was over.
This victory was a crushing blow to Burgoyne's men and their morale. It would result in the loss of the Battle of Saratoga, which is known as the turning point of the Revolutionary War.
Stark would later serve as a judge who would sentence British spy John Andre to death at the gallows. Andre aided the treason of Benedict Arnold.
In 1783, John Stark was offered the position of Major General, which he accepted. He resigned at the end of the war and returned to private life.
Later Years and Death
In 1809, a group of Bennington veterans gathered to commemorate the battle. General Stark, then aged 81, was not well enough to travel, but he sent a letter to his comrades which closed "Live free or die: Death is not the worst of evils." The motto Live Free or Die became the New Hampshire state motto in 1945.
John Stark would live until he was 93 years old and would be the last surviving Revolutionary War General at his death.