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| Monadnock Guide |
Posted - February 20 2017 : 10:10:02 AM
http://soldiers.dodlive.mil/tag/french-and-indian-war/
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JOHN STARK
John Stark commanded the 1st New Hampshire Militia at the outbreak of the American Revolution. His unit was involved in the Battle of Bunker Hill before it became part of the Continental Army.
Stark gained fame during the Battle of Bennington in 1777, by enveloping a British infantry force that included Indians, Tories and Hessians. The American victory across the New York border from Bennington, Vt., was one of the most strategic in the early years of the revolution, according to CMH historians.
The British were marching toward Bennington to acquire horses for their cavalry and supplies for their main army, Williams said. Their defeat in Bennington kept the main force from receiving much-needed supplies and contributed to the eventual surrender of the British Northern Army following the Battles of Saratoga.
Stark went on to become a major general and commander of the Northern Department of the Continental Army. He later coined the phrase “live free or die,” which became the New Hampshire state motto.
RIFLE COMPANIES
When the New England militias found themselves battling the British at Lexington and Concord in the spring of 1775, the Continental Congress gathered to discuss a unified effort. On June 14, they resolved to establish 10 rifle companies: six from Pennsylvania, two from Virginia and two from Maryland – the states agreed.
“They figured (the rifle) was a weapon that would strike terror into the British defending Boston,” Williams said.
Rifles, at that time, were used primarily for hunting in the frontier districts of the Middle Colonies, according to Williams, who explained that the rifle could hit game from greater distances than the musket. Even still, many fighting men from the frontier used muskets over rifles — muskets were more effective for massed volley fire, he explained, and could be reloaded three times as fast. The sturdier, stouter muskets could also mount bayonets.
Rifles, though, had three times the range and could be effective up to 300 yards away. The sharpshooters in the Continental Army companies often picked British officers off from a distance, Williams said, bringing complaints that the Continental troops “didn’t fight fair.”
In effect, the rifle companies functioned much like the Army Ranger units of today, he said.
“They were specialized light infantry,” Williams said, that conducted independent long-range scouting missions, because they were accustomed to operating that way on the frontier. |
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