42 



CIVIL HISTORY OF VERMONT. 



Part II. 



HDEBARDTON BATTLE. 



PLAN OF THE BATTLE GROUND. 



for nearly two hours. Here the rear 

 guard was put under the command of 

 Col. Seth Warner, with orders to follow 

 the army, as soon as those, who had been 

 left behind, came up, and to halt about a 

 mile and a half in the rear of the main 

 body. St. Clair then proceeded to Cas- 

 tlcton, about si.x miles further, leaving 

 Warner, with the rear guard and strag- 

 glers, at Hubbardton. 



The retreat of the Americans from Ti- 

 conderoga was no sooner perceived by 

 the British than an eager pursuit was be- 

 gun by Gen. Fraser with the light troops, 

 who was soon followed by Gen. Riedesel 

 with the greater part of the Brunswick 

 regiments. Fraser continued the pursuit 

 during the day, and having learned that 

 the rear of the American army was not 

 far off, ordered his men to lie that night 

 upon their anns. Early on the morning 

 of the 7th, he renewed the pursuit, and 

 about 7 o'clock, commenced an attack 

 upon the Americans under Warner. 

 Warner's force consisted of his own regi- 

 ment, and the regiments of Cols. Francis 

 and Hale. Hale, fearful of the result, 

 retired with his regiment, leaving War- 

 ner and Francis, with only seven or eight 

 hundred men, to dispute the progress of 

 the enemy.* 



The conflict was fierce and bloody. 

 Francis fell at the head of his regiment, 

 fighting with great resolution and brave- 

 ry. Warner, well supported by his offi- 

 cers and men, charged the enemy with 

 such impetuosity that they v/ere thrown 

 into disorder, and at first gave way. 

 They, however, soon recovered, formed 

 anew, and advanced upon the Americans, 

 who, in their turn, fell back. At this 

 critical moment, a re-enforcement under 



*Tlii5 statement is made upon the authority of 

 Dr. Williams' History of Vt. volume 2, page 106, 

 and of Etlian Allen's Narrative, page 139) Walpolo 

 edition, and may seem to imply a want of courage 

 in that young officer. Reports were circulated 

 unfavorahle to the leputation of Col. Hale, imme- 

 diately after his surrender, but whether they were 

 well founded, or originated, as many hare supposed, 

 in the envy of some of his inferior officers, who 

 wished hira cashiered to make room for their own 

 promotion, it is difficult now to decide. When Col. 

 Hale heard these reports, ho addressed a letter to 

 General Washington, requesting that he might be 

 exchanged and have an opportunity to vindicate his 

 character before a court martial, but before this 

 could be effected he died, while a prisoner upon 

 Long Island, in September. 1780, aged 37 years. 



As Col. Hale and many of his men aro known to 

 have been in a feeble state of health and conse- 

 quently unfit fur military service, and as the his- 

 torians generally of that period attach no blame to 

 his conduotj and especially, as his character i3 said 

 to have been irreproachable in other respects, we 

 ihould certainly ba doing wrong in allowing an 

 imputation so injurious to his reputation and bo 

 mortifying to his highly respectable descendants in 

 thin statej to rest upon hii name without more 

 conclusive proof cf its having been deserved. 



Gen. Riedesel arrived, which was imme- 

 diately led into action, and the fortune of 

 the day was soon decided. The Ameri- 

 cans, overpowered by numbers, and ex- 

 hausted by fatigue, fled from the field in 

 every direction. 



The loss of the Americans in this en- 

 cotinter was very considerable. Hale 

 was overtaken by a party of the British, 

 and surrendered himself and a number of 

 his men, prisoners of war. The whole 

 American loss in killed, wounded and 

 prisoners, was 324, of whom about 30 were 

 killed. The loss of the enemy in killed 

 and wounded, was 183.* 



Gen. St. Clair, with the main body of 

 the American army, was at Castleton, 

 only six miles distant, during this en- 

 gagement, but sent no assistance to War- 

 ner. After the battle, ^Varner, with his 

 usual perseverance and intrepidity, col- 

 lected his scattered troops and conducted 

 them safely to Fort Edward, to which 



*This number is given on the authority of Gor- 

 don, Williivms and others. £than Allen in his 

 Narrative; page 140, Walpole edition, says that, 

 by the confession of their own officers to him whila 

 a prisoner; the British lost 300 killed, and com- 

 plained that the Green Mountain Boys took sight. 

 The Earl Balcarras acknowledges the loss of 150 

 killed and wounded in Frasor's division. See Stato 

 of the Expedition, page 27. 



The following plan of the Hubbardton Batllo 

 Ground is copied on a much smaller scale from tho 

 one drawn by P. Gerlach, Deputy Quarter Waster 

 General in the British army and published in Bur- 

 goyne'H State of the Expedition. 



The parallelograms denote the Americans — 

 the parallel lines, unccnnected at the end, tha 

 enemy — A, the point on the road from Ticonde- 

 roca to Castleton where Eraser's division formed 

 and ailacked the Americans at B — O, the position 

 of the Americans, when Riedesel with the re-en- 

 forcement took the position E, who thereupon fell 

 back to D, and the enemy advanced lo C, where 

 the battle was continued till the Americans fled 

 across tho brook into the woods — F, the position 

 of the enemy afier the action. 



