The Royalton Raid was a British-led 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 in 1780 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 in the Vermont Republic

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...

, and was part of the American Revolutionary War

American Revolutionary War

The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...

. It was the last major Indian raid 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...

.

Raids

In the early morning hours of October 16, 1780, Lieutenant

Lieutenant

A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...

 Houghton of the British Army

British Army

The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...

's 53rd Regiment of Foot

53rd Regiment of Foot

The 53rd Regiment of Foot was a British Army regiment founded in 1755. In 1881, as part of the Childers Reforms, it became The King's Shropshire Light Infantry Regiment. Its traditions are currently held by the 3rd battalion of The Light Infantry....

 and a single Grenadier, along with 300 Mohawk

Mohawk nation

Mohawk are the most easterly tribe of the Iroquois confederation. They call themselves Kanien'gehaga, people of the place of the flint...

 warriors from the Kahnawake Reserve in the British province of Quebec

Province of Quebec (1763-1791)

The Province of Quebec was a colony in North America created by Great Britain after the Seven Years' War. Great Britain acquired Canada by the Treaty of Paris when King Louis XV of France and his advisors chose to keep the territory of Guadeloupe for its valuable sugar crops instead of New France...

, attacked and burned the towns of Royalton

Royalton, Vermont

Royalton is a town in Windsor County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,603 at the 2000 census. It includes the villages of Royalton, South Royalton, and North Royalton...

, Sharon

Sharon, Vermont

Sharon is a town in Windsor County, Vermont, United States. It had a population of 1,411 at the 2000 census. The town is home to The Sharon Academy.-History:...

 and Tunbridge

Tunbridge, Vermont

Tunbridge is a town in Orange County, Vermont, United States. As of the 2000 census, the town population was 1,309. The town consists of three village centers, all situated on Vermont Route 110 in the valley of the first branch of the White River...

 along the White River in eastern Vermont. This raid was launched in conjunction with other raids led by Major

Major

Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...

 Christopher Carleton

Christopher Carleton

Christopher Carleton was born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England into a military family. Christopher's parents died at sea when he was only four years old and his uncles Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester the future Governor General of Canada and Commander-in-Chief, North America along with Sir...

 of the 29th Regiment of Foot

29th Regiment of Foot

The 29th Regiment of Foot was, from 1694 to 1881, an infantry regiment of the British Army. It now forms part of the Mercian Regiment.-Formation:...

 along the shores of Lake Champlain

Lake Champlain

Lake Champlain is a natural, freshwater lake in North America, located mainly within the borders of the United States but partially situated across the Canada—United States border in the Canadian province of Quebec.The New York portion of the Champlain Valley includes the eastern portions of...

 and Lake George

Lake George (New York)

Lake George, nicknamed the Queen of American Lakes, is a long, narrow oligotrophic lake draining northwards into Lake Champlain and the St. Lawrence River Drainage basin located at the southeast base of the Adirondack Mountains in northern New York, U.S.A.. It lies within the upper region of the...

 and Sir John Johnson of the King's Royal Regiment of New York

King's Royal Regiment of New York

The King's Royal Regiment of New York was one of the first Loyalist regiments raised in Canada during the American Revolutionary War....

 in the Mohawk River

Mohawk River

The Mohawk River is a river in the U.S. state of New York. It is the largest tributary of the Hudson River. The Mohawk flows into the Hudson in the Capital District, a few miles north of the city of Albany. The river is named for the Mohawk Nation of the Iroquois Confederacy...

 valley, to attempt to drive the Vermonters out of Vermont and to burn anything of military value that might be used by the Green Mountain Boys

Green Mountain Boys

The Green Mountain Boys were a militia organization first established in the 1760s in the territory between the British provinces of New York and New Hampshire, known as the New Hampshire Grants...

 if they decided to attack Montreal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

 or Quebec City

Quebec City

Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...

 again. Four Vermont settlers were killed and twenty six were taken prisoner to Quebec.

By the time the local militia

Militia

The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...

 could assemble, Houghton and his command were already on their way back north. The militia caught up with the raiders near Randolph, Vermont

Randolph, Vermont

Randolph is a town in Orange County, Vermont, United States. The population was 4,853 at the 2000 census, making Randolph the largest town in Orange County. The town is a commercial center for many of the smaller, rural farming communities that surround it....

, and a few volleys were fired back and forth, but when Houghton said that the remaining captives might be killed by the Mohawks if fighting continued, the local militia let the raiders slip away.

The Hannah Handy monument, on the South Royalton town green, is a granite arch honoring a young mother who lost her young son in the raid, crossed the river, and successfully begged for the return of several children.