Gen. John Burgoyne's 2-pringed summer campaign of 1777 pushed south from Canada. Burgoynes army pushed south through the New York wilderness, sometimes travelling as slow as 1 mile per day. As supplies grew short, Lt. Colonel Friedrich Baum was sent to Bennington Vermont to search for a supply depot there. Colonel Baum went with 800 men, mostly Germans.
General John Stark had a militia force of nearly 2000 men, mostly New England riflemen marching to meet them. On August 16th, Starks men surrounded Baum's position on a hilltop. The Americans defeated the Germans, mortally wounding Colonel Baum in the process. A second column of Germans under Lt. Colonel Heirich Breyman was sent out to help Baum. They arrived just as the Americans were celebrating their victory.
Lot. Colonel Seth Warner arrived with 330 reinforcements just as Starks disorganized militia were being threatened by the well trained Germans.Breymann lost a third of his men and withdrew back to New York. The Americans lost 70 men (30 killed and 40 wounded). The Germans losses were huge - of the 1400 or so men, 900 were casualties (207 kileed and the rest captured).
This defeat at the hands of the New England milita sowed the final seeds in the defeat of General Burgoynes ill-fated northern campaign of 1777.
