On August 16, 1777, a motley militia won a resounding victory near Bennington, Vermont, against combined German, British and Loyalist forces. This laid the foundation for the American victory at Saratoga two months later. Historian Michael P. Gabriel has collected over fifty firsthand accounts from the people who experienced this engagement, including veterans from both sides and civilians--women and children who witnessed the horrors of the battle. Gabriel also details a virtually unknown skirmish between Americans and Loyalists. These accounts, along with Gabriel's overviews of the battle, bring to life the terror, fear and uncertainty that caused thousands to see the British army as loved ones departed to fight for the fledgling United States.

The author of Vermont Firsts and Other Claims to Fame examines the pivotal American Revolutionary War skirmish and the men behind it. In April 1775, a small band of men set out from Hartford and traveled swiftly north toward the shore of Lake Champlain, recruiting men to their expedition along the way. Within only a few days, this loyal group of volunteers arrived in Vermont and, joining forces with Ethan Allen and his legendary Green Mountain Boys, launched a daring attack to capture more than one hundred cannons stored at Fort Ticonderoga. In this comprehensive look at “America's First Victory,” Richard Smith traces the Patriots’ route from Connecticut, through the towns of western Massachusetts and the Berkshire hills and north to Bennington, Vermont, and Lake Champlain. He chronicles the rival expedition led by Benedict Arnold, his confrontation with Allen, and the surprise attack that changed the course of the American Revolution.

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DIVSplendid pictorial history of military apparel includes the Revolutionary War, uniforms worn by the Texas Rangers (1846), Louisiana Zouaves (1861), Philippine Scouts (1904), and members of the Women's Army Corps (1954). 32 full-color plates /div

British and German troops ran into stubborn rebel resistance at Hubbardton, Vermont on July 7, 1777. The day would ultimately turn the tide for the Patriot cause. After capturing Fort Ticonderoga, the British pursued a retreating Continental army. The American rear guard derailed the British general's plan for a quick march to Albany; the British suffered precious losses. The weakened British force ultimately surrendered at Saratoga on Octobery 17, 1777, paving the way to American independence. -- back cover.

Illustrated biography of the New Hampshire farmer and lumberman who won the Battle of Bennington and helped save the American Revolution. John Stark served as a captain of rangers with Robert Rogers in the French and Indian War and fought in many of the legendary battles along Lake George and Lake Champlain. Stark's ranger experience taught him tactics he would use effectively in the Revolution as he rose through the ranks to brigadier general, fighting at Bunker Hill, Trenton, Princeton, Springfield, Bennington, and Saratoga (Stark's Knob). He crossed the Delaware with Washington, covered the retreat of the army from Canada, defended Fort Ticonderoga, and sat on the Board of General Officers that convicted Major John Andr, Benedict Arnold's British contact. But his greatest achievement was at Hoosick, N.Y., in what became known as the "Battle of Bennington." Stark's achievements are little known, but his words live on: "Live Free or Die."

Band of Giants brings to life the founders who fought for our independence in the Revolutionary War. Jefferson, Adams, and Franklin are known to all; men like Morgan, Greene, and Wayne are less familiar. Yet the dreams of the politicians and theorists only became real because fighting men were willing to take on the grim, risky, brutal work of war. We know Fort Knox, but what about Henry Knox, the burly Boston bookseller who took over the American artillery at the age of 25? Eighteen counties in the United States commemorate Richard Montgomery, but do we know that this revered martyr launched a full-scale invasion of Canada? The soldiers of the American Revolution were a diverse lot: merchants and mechanics, farmers and fishermen, paragons and drunkards. Most were ardent amateurs. Even George Washington, assigned to take over the army around Boston in 1775, consulted books on military tactics. Here, Jack Kelly vividly captures the fraught condition of the war—the bitterly divided populace, the lack of supplies, the repeated setbacks on the battlefield, and the appalling physical hardships. That these inexperienced warriors could take on and defeat the superpower of the day was one of the remarkable feats in world history.