Chap. 2. 



SETTLEMENT AND CONTROVERSIES. 



23 



BAKER RESCUED. 



PRErARATIONS TO MEET GOV. TRYON . 



was thrown into a sleigli and conveyed 

 off with the greatest speed towards Al- 

 bany. 



The news of this transaction beinfr sent 

 by express to Bennington, ten men im- 

 mediately mounted their horses for the 

 purpose of intercepting the banditti and 

 rescuing Baker. They came upon Mun- 

 ro and his party just before they reached 

 the Hudson river, who on the first ap- 

 j)earance of their pursuers abandoned their 

 prisoner and tied. Baker was found nearly 

 exhausted by his sufferings and the loss of 

 blood. Having refreshed him and dress- 

 ed his wounds, they carried him home to 

 the no small joy of his friends and the 

 whole settlement. 



An account of this transaction v^'as af- 

 terwards sent to the governor of New 

 York by Munro, in which he represents 

 the conflict at Baker's house as very des- 

 perate, and says " he has reason to be 

 thankful to DivincProvidence for the pres- 

 ervation of his life and thatof liis party." 

 He says further that he should have suc- 

 ceeded in carrying Baker to Albany, " if 

 he could have had ten men, who would 

 have taken arms and obeyed his orders ; 

 but that thcij all ran into the woods when 

 they ought to have resisted." 



Shortly after this attack upon Baker, 

 Munro made an attempt to arrest Seth 

 Warner. Warner with a single friend was 

 riding on horse-back in the vicinity of 

 Munro's residence, and, being met by 

 Munro and several of his dependants, a 

 conversation ensued, in the midst of which 

 Munro suddenly seized the bridle of War- 

 ner's horse and commanded the bystand- 

 ers to aid in arresting him. Warner after 

 vainly urging him to desist, struck Mun- 

 ro over the head with a dull cutlass and 

 levelled himto the ground. Munro, though 

 stunned and disabled for the time, receiv- 

 ed no permanent injury, and the specta- 

 tors manifesting no disposition to inter- 

 fere, Warner was permitted to proceed 

 without further molestation. 



The repeated aggressions of this kind 

 aroused the settlers to a determination to 

 maintain their ground at all hazards, and 

 to expel every person who should be found 

 upon the grants under the auspices of the 

 N. Y. claimants. In this exasperated state 

 of public feeling, news was received atBen- 

 nington thatGov.Tryon was ascending the 

 North river with a body of troops, for the 

 purpose of subduing and chastising the 

 refractory Green Mountain Boya-* This 



* It was about this time that the siltlcrsof the New 

 Hampshire Grants began to he called Gieen Moun- 

 tain 15oys. 'J'he name wag lirst apjilied to the mili- 

 tary hut was soon extended to tlie settlors in gen- 

 eral. 



report was at first credited and produced 

 some alarm. The committees of safety 

 and military officers met in convention 

 and after a full consideration of their sit- 

 uation, finally resolved that " it was their 

 duty to oppose governor Tryon and his 

 troops to the utmost of their power." 



Their resolution being thus taken, they 

 next began to make preparations for an ef- 

 fectual resistance. Two cannon and amor- 

 tar, with powder and ball, were obtained 

 from Hoosic fort and there was a gen- 

 eral rally of the militia in Bennington and 

 the neighboring towns. In order to en- 

 sure an effectual resistance, it was con- 

 cluded to place some of their best marks- 

 men at the narrow passes along the road 

 from Albany to Bennington, for the pur- 

 pose of shooting down the officers of the 

 invaders as they advanced and producing 

 disorder and dismay among their troops. 

 In the mean time a trusty person was dis- 

 patched to Albany to ascertain the num- 

 ber, the movements and designs of the 

 enemy and take note of their oftlcers so as 

 to be able to distinguish them again. This 

 messenger shortly returned with the joy- 

 ful intelligence that the troops were wind- 

 bound in the river below Albany, and that 

 they had no designs upon the Grants, 

 but were destined for the military posts on 

 the lakes : and thus were the settlers re- 

 lieved from the necessity of putting their 

 plans and their valor to the test. 



During the preparations above-men- 

 tioned several persons on the Grants, who 

 Avere in the New York interest, judging 

 it unsafe for them to remain, fled to New 

 York, and by their representations and 

 by the intelligence received from Munro, 

 governor Tryon seems to have been im- 

 pressed with the difficulty of subjugating 

 the settlers on the Grants, by force, and 

 to have determined to try what could 

 be done by negotiation. He accordingly 

 wrote to the Rev. Mr. Dewey and the 

 inhabitants of Bennington and the adja- 

 cent country, and, after censuring them 

 for their illegal acts and expressing a 

 strong desire to do them justice, he invi- 

 ted them to lay before him their grievan- 

 ces and causes of complaint, and engaged 

 full security and protection to any persons 

 they might send to New York on that busi- 

 ness, excepting Allen, Warner and three 

 others.* 



Governor Tryon's letter was dated at 

 New York, May 19th 1772. On the 5th 

 of June, two answers were returned, one 

 signed by a committee appointed for that 

 purpose by the inhabitants of Bennington 

 and vicinity, and consisting.of Mr. Dewey 



* This letter may be found in Slades Vt. State 

 Papers, page 22. 



