Bennington!

How are you guys feeling? You're getting two posts in one day! Yesterday, we went on an hour drive to the Bennington Battlefield. The Bennington Battlefield was where they had a battle outside the border of New York and Vermont. The British got there first, led by General Baum. He was going to try to get supplies for the British army. The British army needed supplies because they were getting supplies from Canada, but they were getting further away from Canada. It was a long journey, and they were running out of supplies. In Bennington, VT there was a Continental storehouse. General Burgoyne heard the storehouse wasn't very protected. But he was wrong!

General Burgoyne sent General Baum to get the supplies. John Stark was a general from New Hampshire. He led American soldiers to save the supplies in Bennington. This is a map of the hill that the battle took place on.

It's made out of copper (that's the same type of metal that the Statue of Liberty is made out of). The arrows show you where all of the Americans, British, and Indians (who helped the British) went to battle each other. John Stark sent his soldiers in different directions. He sent 100 soldiers to the front of the hill to be a diversion. In the meantime, he sent the rest of his soldiers around the back of the hill. That group split up, so one group went to the side of the hill and the other group went up the back. The British were surrounded! They were defeated by the Americans. General Baum was wounded and died in a house nearby.

The British lost, so they didn't have enough supplies. They went back to Saratoga. General Burgoyne's horses grew tired, and they used too much of their supplies. They didn't have enough supplies for the Battle in Saratoga. Burgoyne surrendered to the Americans at Saratoga two months after the Battle of Bennington.

Here are some more pictures of the battlefield.

Memorial to John Stark

Memorial for Massachusetts Soldiers

Close up of the map

Close up of Gen. John Stark's camp on the map

After we went to the Bennington Battlefield, we went to the Bennington Battlefield Monument. We had to enter Vermont to do that. (My mom went to college there at Bennington College*. I got to see it, but I don't have any photos. It was a good place. I kind of want to go there when I grow up.)

The Bennington Monument is located where the Continental Storehouse was. That's what the British were aiming for. This is a memorial.

 

The Bennington Monument is 306 feet and 4 inches tall.  Do you see those fish-gill lines close to the top? That's where we were. We got there by elevator. It took a little while to get there. The view was amazing. It was beautiful. It was the most spectacular view ever. I could see into New York!

Bennington Monument

View to New York and the battlefield

Here's a picture of a solider carrying a gun outside the monument.

Inside, on the first floor, there's a diorama of the Battle of Bennington. It was really cute. I think it was cute because the soldiers are little. But it does not look like it would be fun to fight in a battle and get wounded.

 

Another cool thing was this kettle. The kettle was left behind by the British on the field at the Battle of Saratoga. A farmer claimed it as his own and then gave it to the Bennington Monument.  It's now called "General Burgoyne's Soup Kettle." The tour guide told me I could fit inside of it. I would feel steaming hot about getting eaten for dinner. Ew!

Outside the monument is a statue of John Stark. 

The last picture is my favorite part. The Moose! He's funny and cute. He is right outside of the Bennington Battle Monument. He has nothing to do with the battle, but I like him.

 

Well, that's all for now! See you guys next time!

*I attended Bennington College for one semester after high school.  Unfortunately, it was financially impossible to continue after that. I still remember the school fondly and loved getting the chance to go back and visit the gorgeous campus.