DURING THE afternoon of Aug. 16, 1777, the skies finally cleared over the small town of Hoosick, New York after two days of heavy rain.
Eyeing one another across a few hundred yards of open ground, several hundred Hessian troops in the service of Great Britain and a contingent of Rebel New Hampshire militia commanded by General John Stark checked their powder, loaded their muskets and prepared to do battle.
Stark addressed his troops while pointing directly at the enemy across the way.
“They are ours, or this night Molly Stark sleeps a widow!” he reportedly vowed. Within moments of Stark’s declaration, the Americans advanced, initiating one of the more violent and impactful engagements of the Revolutionary War.
The origins of the clash at Hoosick (later named the Battle of Bennington for a small Vermont town 10 miles to the west) lie with the British high command’s decision to reevaluate its strategy for crushing the rebellion in America. The war – now entering its third year – was not going well for the Crown; a new approach was needed.
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