Bennington and the Green Mountain Boys: The Emergence of Liberal Democracy in Vermont, 1760-1850.
The Green Mountain Boys were a militia organization first established in 1770 in the territory between the British provinces of New York and New Hampshire, known as the New Hampshire Grants and later in 1777 as the Vermont Republic (which later became the state of Vermont).
By the 1770s, the Green Mountain Boys had become an armed military force and de facto government, which was also a militia, that prevented New York from exercising its authority in the northeast portion of the Province of New York.
Headed by Ethan Allen and members of his extended family, it was instrumental in resisting New York's attempts to control the territory, over which it had won de jure control in a territorial dispute with New Hampshire. Some companies served in the American Revolutionary War, including notably when the Green Mountain Boys led by Ethan Allen captured Fort Ticonderoga on Lake Champlain on May 10, 1775; and invaded Canada later in 1775.
In early June 1775, Ethan Allen and his then subordinate, Seth Warner, induced the Continental Congress at Philadelphia to create a Continental Army ranger regiment from the then New Hampshire Grants.
In July 1775, Allen's militia was granted support from the New York revolutionary Congress. The Green Mountain Boys disbanded more than a year before Vermont declared its independence in 1777 from Great Britain "as a separate, free and independent jurisdiction or state".
Ethan Allen then went to Westminster with a band of Boys and organized a convention calling for the territory's independence from New York. When the American Revolutionary War started in 1775, Ethan Allen and a troop of his men, along with Connecticut Colonel Benedict Arnold, marched up to Lake Champlain and captured the strategically important British military posts at Fort Ticonderoga, Crown Point, and Fort George, all in New York.
Some of the Green Mountain Boys preferred to stick with Ethan Allen and were captured along with Allen in August 1775 in a bungled attempt to capture the city of Montreal.
The Green Mountain Boys were a militia organization first established in 1770 in the territory between the British provinces of New York and New Hampshire, known as the New Hampshire Grants and later in 1777 as the Vermont Republic (which later became the state of Vermont).
In July 1775, Allen's militia was granted support from the New York revolutionary Congress. The Green Mountain Boys disbanded more than a year before Vermont declared its independence in 1777 from Great Britain "as a separate, free and independent jurisdiction or state".
Under Warner the regiment fought at the battles of Hubbardton and Bennington in 1777.
Benjamin Tucker joined the British Military during his capture; because of this, his name was rebuked by Ethan Allen and his men. Vermont eventually declared itself an independent nation in January 1777, and organized a government based in Windsor.
Although Vermont initially supported the American Revolutionary War and sent troops to fight John Burgoyne's British invasion from Quebec in battles at Hubbardton and Bennington in 1777, Vermont eventually adopted a more neutral stance and became a haven for deserters from both the British and colonial armies.
The regiment was disbanded in 1779. The Green Mountain Boys mustered again during the War of 1812, the Civil War, the Spanish–American War, the Vietnam War, the Afghanistan War and the Iraq War.
The Vermont Republic operated for 14 years, before being admitted in 1791 to the United States as the 14th state. The remnants of the Green Mountain Boys militia were largely reconstituted as the Green Mountain Continental Rangers.
The regiment was disbanded in 1779. The Green Mountain Boys mustered again during the War of 1812, the Civil War, the Spanish–American War, the Vietnam War, the Afghanistan War and the Iraq War.
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Page generated on 2021-08-05