Military history of Vermont
Encyclopedia
The military history of Vermont covers the military history of the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 state of Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...

, as part of French colonial America; as part of Massachusetts, New Hampshire and New York during the British colonial period and during the French and Indian Wars
French and Indian Wars
The French and Indian Wars is a name used in the United States for a series of conflicts lasting 74 years in North America that represented colonial events related to the European dynastic wars...

; as the independent New Connecticut and later Vermont
Vermont Republic
The term Vermont Republic has been used by later historians for the government of what became modern Vermont from 1777 to 1791. In July 1777 delegates from 28 towns met and declared independence from jurisdictions and land claims of British colonies in New Hampshire and New York. They also...

 during the American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...

; and as a state during the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...

 and the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

.

In 1666, Fort Sainte Anne
Fort Sainte Anne (Vermont)
In 1666, the French built a fort to protect Canada from the Iroquois. The fort was dedicated to Saint Anne. Fort Sainte Anne was the most vulnerable to attacks by the Iroquois, because it was the last of five forts stretching along the Richelieu River going south...

 was established as the first permanent European settlement, by the French, at Isle La Motte, Vermont
Isle La Motte, Vermont
-Notable events:Around 480 Million Years ago when the Chazy Formation was flourishing, Strematoporoid colonies were among the most common builders of the reef.In 1609, Samuel de Champlain debarked on Isle La Motte July 9....

. This was done to protect Canada from the Iroquois.

Pre-revolutionary battles

At the time of the arrival of Europeans early in the 17th century, the territory of Vermont was not permanently settled. It was treated as a hunting ground by several Indian tribes including the Iroquois
Iroquois
The Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...

 and Abenaki. These Indian nations regularly fought each other in this area. Zadock Thompson
Zadock Thompson
Zadock Thompson , a famous Vermont naturalist, professor, and Episcopal priest, was born in Bridgewater, Windsor County, Vermont on 23 May 1796 and died in Burlington, Chittenden County, Vermont on 19 January 1856...

 wrote several powerful tribes who were incessantly at war with each other, it became the bloody theatre of their battles. Then, when the English and French settled North America, the area became a battleground between these colonial powers and their Indian allies. In King William's War
King William's War
The first of the French and Indian Wars, King William's War was the name used in the English colonies in America to refer to the North American theater of the Nine Years' War...

 and Queen Anne's War
Queen Anne's War
Queen Anne's War , as the North American theater of the War of the Spanish Succession was known in the British colonies, was the second in a series of French and Indian Wars fought between France and England, later Great Britain, in North America for control of the continent. The War of the...

 raiding parties crossed the territory to attack targets in New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...

 and New France
New France
New France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period beginning with the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Spain and Great Britain in 1763...

. These notably included the 1704 Raid on Deerfield, Massachusetts, and the 1708 Raid on Haverhill
Raid on Haverhill
The Raid on Haverhill was a military engagement that took place on August 29, 1708 during Queen Anne's War. French, Algonquin, and Abenaki warriors under the command of Jean-Baptiste Hertel de Rouville descended on Haverhill, then a small frontier community in the Province of Massachusetts Bay. ...

, Massachusetts, both conducted by combined French and Indian forces departing from the Saint Lawrence River valley.

Dummer's War

Dummer's War
Dummer's War
Dummer's War , also known as Lovewell's War, Father Rale's War, Greylock's War, the Three Years War, the 4th Indian War or the Wabanaki-New England War of 1722–1725, was a series of battles between British settlers of the three northernmost British colonies of North America of the time and the...

 (1722–1725) (the Fourth Indian War) took place in present-day Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. Fort Dummer
Fort Dummer
Fort Dummer was a British fort built in 1724 by the colonial militia of the Province of Massachusetts Bay under the command of Lieutenant Timothy Dwight in what is now the Town of Brattleboro in southeastern Vermont. The fort was the first permanent European settlement in Vermont...

 was established in Vermont.

Battle of Hubbardton

The Battle of Hubbardton was fought on July 7, 1777, near Hubbardton, Vermont. An engagement between GeneralSimon Fraser of Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

 and American
Continental Army
The Continental Army was formed after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War by the colonies that became the United States of America. Established by a resolution of the Continental Congress on June 14, 1775, it was created to coordinate the military efforts of the Thirteen Colonies in...

 forces retreating following the Siege Fort Ticonderoga, it was the only battle properly fought on the soil of what would become the state of Vermont.
The battle was a victory for the British, due to the arrival of Hessian
Germans in the American Revolution
Ethnic Germans served on both sides of the American Revolutionary War. Many supported the Loyalist cause and served as allies of Great Britain, whose King George III was also the Elector of Hanover...

 forces under the command of General Friedrich Adolf Riedesel; however the cost of the victory was sufficient to discourage pursuit of the retreating American forces.

Battle of Bennington

The Battle of Bennington
Battle of Bennington
The Battle of Bennington was a battle of the American Revolutionary War that took place on August 16, 1777, in Walloomsac, New York, about from its namesake Bennington, Vermont...

 was fought August 16, 1777 in what is now Walloomsac, New York
Walloomsac, New York
Walloomsac, New York is a location in New York State, on the Walloomsac River. It is to the east, and upstream, from North Hoosick, New York. It includes the Bennington Battlefield, which was fought on both sides of the river....

. The territory at the time disputed between New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 and the residents of the New Hampshire Grants
New Hampshire Grants
The New Hampshire Grants or Benning Wentworth Grants were land grants made between 1749 and 1764 by the provincial governor of New Hampshire, Benning Wentworth. The land grants, totaling about 135 , were made on land claimed by New Hampshire west of the Connecticut River, territory that was also...

 (the latter of which at the time controlled the territory which would become Vermont in 1791), was fought over supplies and troops based in Bennington. Brigadier General John Stark
John Stark
John Stark was a New Hampshire native who served as a major general in the Continental Army during the American Revolution. He became widely known as the "Hero of Bennington" for his exemplary service at the Battle of Bennington in 1777.-Early life:John Stark was born in Londonderry, New...

's brigade of New Hampshire militia was based at Bennington, Vermont.

The battle is commemorated by the Bennington Battle Monument
Bennington Battle Monument
The Bennington Battle Monument is a 306 ft stone obelisk located at 15 Monument Circle, in Bennington, Vermont. The monument commemorates the Battle of Bennington during the Revolutionary War....

, located in Bennington, Vermont; the monument is the tallest man-made structure in the state of Vermont.

Royalton Raid

In October 1780 British commanders led an Indian
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...

 raid against various towns along the White River
White River (Vermont)
The White River is a river in the U.S. state of Vermont. It is a tributary of the Connecticut River.The White River rises at Skylight Pond south of Bread Loaf Mountain near the crest of the Green Mountains. The river flows east to the town of Granville, where it receives the outflow from the...

 Valley.

War of 1812

Although Vermont was not the scene of any major battles during the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...

, its position as a border state with British North America
British North America
British North America is a historical term. It consisted of the colonies and territories of the British Empire in continental North America after the end of the American Revolutionary War and the recognition of American independence in 1783.At the start of the Revolutionary War in 1775 the British...

, and the demands by the federal government for the recruitment of troops dictated the state's involvement in the war. Several regiments of U. S. Army troops were raised, as were militia companies for the defense of the state's northern border areas. Vermont troops served primarily in the military campaigns in northern New York.

St. Albans Raid

  • St. Albans Raid
    St. Albans raid
    The St. Albans Raid was the northernmost land action of the American Civil War, taking place in St. Albans, Vermont on October 19, 1864.-Background:In this unusual incident, Bennett H. Young led Confederate States Army forces...

    was the northernmost land action of the American Civil War, taking place in St. Albans, Vermont on October 19, 1864.

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