John Stark

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For the American early-20th century music publisher, see John Stillwell Stark.

John Stark (August 28, 1728 – May 8, 1822) was a general who served in the American Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He became widely known as the "Hero of Bennington" for his exemplary service at the Battle of Bennington in 1777.

Contents 1 Early life and  French and  Indian War 2 American Revolution 2.1 Bunker Hill 2.2 Trenton and  Princeton 2.3 Bennington and  beyond 3 Later years 4 See also 5 Primary sources 6 Secondary references

[ and  French and  Indian War">edit] Early life and  French and  Indian War

John Stark was born in Londonderry, New Hampshire, in 1728. When he was eight years old, he and  his family moved to Derryfield (now part of Manchester), where he lived for the rest of his long life. Stark was married to Elizabeth "Molly" Page, with whom he had 11 children.

On April 28, 1752, while on a hunting and  trapping trip along the Baker River, a tributary of the Pemigewasset River, he was captured by Abenaki warriors and  brought back to Quebec but not before warning his brother William Stark to paddle away in his canoe, though David Stinson was killed. While a prisoner of the Abenaki, he and  his fellow prisoner Amos Eastman were made to run a gauntlet of warriors armed with sticks. Stark grabbed the stick from the first warrior's hands and  proceeded to attack him, taking the rest of the warriors by surprise. The chief was so impressed by this heroic act that Stark was adopted into the tribe, where he spent the winter. Alternatively, in The Invasion Within, Axtell describes how colonists were often abducted by Indians and  inducted into their tribes as members through such a ceremony of running the gauntlet.

The following spring a government agent sent from Massachusetts to work on the exchange of prisoners paid his ransom of $103 Spanish dollars and  $60 for Amos Eastman. Stark and  Eastman then returned to New Hampshire.

Stark enlisted as a second lieutenant under Maj. Robert Rogers during the  and  Indian War">French and  Indian War. As part of the daring Rogers' Rangers, Stark gained valuable battle experience and  knowledge of the Northern frontier of the American colonies. At the end of the war, Stark retired as a captain and  returned to Derryfield.

[edit] American Revolution

[edit] Bunker Hill

The  and  Concord">Battle of Lexington and  Concord on April 19, 1775, signalled the start of the American Revolutionary War, and  Stark returned to military service. On April 23, 1775, Stark accepted a Colonelcy in the New Hampshire Militia and  was given command of the 1st New Hampshire Regiment and  James Reed of the 3rd New Hampshire Regiment, also outside of Boston. As soon as Stark could muster his men, he ferried and  marched them south to Boston to support the blockaded rebels there. He made his headquarters in the confiscated Isaac Royall House in Medford, Massachusetts.

On June 16, the rebels, fearing a preemptive British attack on their positions in Cambridge and  Roxbury, decided to take and  hold the high ground surrounding the city, including Dorchester Heights, Bunker Hill, and  Breed's Hill. Holding these positions would allow the rebels to oppose any British landing (at the time, Boston proper was almost an  island and  the British soldiers garrisoned there would have  to travel by sea to attack the outlying towns). The positions could also be used to emplace cannon which could threaten the British ships blockading the harbor (although no cannon were available to the rebels at this time).

When the British awoke on June 17 to find hastily constructed fortifications on Breed's Hill, British Gen. Thomas Gage knew that he would have  to drive the rebels out before fortifications were complete. He ordered the HMS Lively, a 38-gun frigate, to begin shelling the rebel positions immediately and  ordered Major General William Howe to prepare to land his troops. Thus began the Battle of Bunker Hill (which should have  been called the battle of Breed's Hill). American Col. William Prescott held the hill throughout the intense initial bombardment with only a few hundred untrained American militia. Prescott knew that he was sorely outgunned and  outnumbered. He sent a desperate request for reinforcements.

Stark and  Reed with the New Hampshire minutemen arrived at the scene soon after Prescott's request. The Lively had begun a rain of accurate artillery fire directed at Charlestown Neck, the narrow strip of land connecting Charlestown to the rebel positions. On the Charlestown side, several companies from other regiments were milling around in disarray, afraid to march into range of the artillery fire. Stark ordered the men to stand aside and  calmly marched his men to Prescott's positions without taking any casualties.

When the New Hampshire militia arrived, the grateful Colonel Prescott allowed Stark to deploy his men where he saw fit. Stark surveyed the ground and  immediately saw that the British would probably try to flank the rebels by landing on the beach of the Mystic River, below and  to the left of Breed's Hill. Stark led his men to the low ground between Mystic Beach and  the hill and  ordered them to "fortify" a two-rail fence by stuffing straw and  grass between the rails. They extended the fence by throwing up a crude stone wall. After this fortification was hastily constructed, Stark deployed his men 3-deep behind the wall. A large contingent of British with the Royal Welch Fusiliers in the lead advanced towards the fortifications. The Minutemen crouched and  waited until the advancing British were almost on top of them, and  then stood up and  fired as one. They unleashed a fierce and  unexpected volley directly into the faces of the fusiliers, killing 90 in the blink of an  eye and  breaking their advance. The fusiliers retreated in panic. A charge of British infantry was next, climbing over their dead comrades to test Stark's line—this charge too was decimated by a withering fusillade by the Minutemen. A third charge was repulsed in a similar fashion, again  with heavy losses to the British. The British officers wisely withdrew their men from that landing point and  decided to land elsewhere, with the support of artillery.

Later in the battle, as the rebels were forced from the hill, Stark directed the New Hampshire regiment's fire to provide cover for Colonel Prescott's retreating troops. The day's New Hampshire dead were later buried in the Salem Street Burying Ground, Medford, Massachusetts.

While the British did eventually take the hill that day, their losses were so great (especially among the officers) that they could not hold the positions. This allowed General George Washington, who arrived in Boston two weeks after the battle, to place his cannon on Bunker Hill and  Dorchester Heights. This placement threatened the British fleet in Boston Harbor and  forced General Gage to withdraw all his forces from the Boston garrison and  sail south.

[ and  Princeton">edit] Trenton and  Princeton

As Washington prepared to return south to fight the British there, he knew that he desperately needed experienced men like John Stark to command regiments in the Continental Army. Washington immediately offered Stark a command in the Continental Army. Stark and  his New Hampshire regiment agreed to attach themselves temporarily to the Continental Army. The men of the New Hampshire Line were sent as reinforcements to the Continental Army during the Invasion of Canada in the spring of 1776. With the defeat of the Continental Army in Canada Stark and  his men traveled to the New Jersey colony to meet up with Washington and  fought bravely in the battles of Princeton and  Trenton.

After Trenton, Washington asked Stark to return to New Hampshire to recruit more  men for the Continental Army. Stark agreed, but upon returning home, he learned that while he was fighting in New Jersey, a fellow New Hampshire Colonel named Enoch Poor had been promoted to Brigadier General in the Continental Army. In Stark's opinion, Enoch Poor had refused to march his militia regiment to Bunker Hill to join the battle, instead choosing to keep his regiment at home. Stark, an  experienced woodsman and  a fighting commander, had been passed over by someone with no experience and  apparently no will to fight. On March 23, 1777, Stark resigned his commission in disgust, although he pledged his aid to New Hampshire should it  be needed.

[ and  beyond">edit] Bennington and  beyond

Four months later, Stark was offered a commission as Brigadier General of the New Hampshire Militia. He accepted on the strict condition that he would not be answerable to Continental Army authority. Soon after receiving his commission, he was ordered by Brigadier General Philip Schuyler to depart from Charlestown, New Hampshire to reinforce the Continental army at Saratoga, New York. Stark refused and  instead led his men to meet the British at the Battle of Bennington. Before engaging the British and  Hessian troops, Stark prepared his men to fight to the death, shouting, "There are  your enemies, the Red Coats and  the Tories. They are  ours, or  this night Molly Stark sleeps a widow!"

Stark's men, with some help from the Vermont militia, routed the British forces there and  prevented British General John Burgoyne from resupplying. Stark's action contributed directly to the surrender of Burgoyne's northern army at the Battle of Saratoga some months later. This battle is  seen as the turning point in the Revolutionary War, as it  was the first major defeat of a British general and  it convinced the French that the Americans were worthy of military aid. After the Battle of Freeman's Farm Gen. Stark's Brigade moved into a position cutting off Gen. John Burgoyne's path back to Lake George and  Lake Champlain.

John Stark was one of the Jury that found John André guilty for spying and  in helping in the conspiracy of Benedict Arnold to surrender West Point, New York to the British.

[edit] Later years

After serving with distinction throughout the rest of the war, Stark retired to his farm in Derryfield. it  has been said that of all the Revolutionary War generals, Stark was the only true Cincinnatus because he truly retired from public life at the end of the war. In 1809, a group of Bennington veterans gathered to commemorate the battle. General Stark, then aged 81, was not well enough to travel, but he sent a letter to his comrades, which closed "Live free or  die. Death is  not the worst of evils." The motto  or  Die">Live Free or  Die became the New Hampshire state motto in 1945. Stark and  the Battle of Bennington were later commemorated with the 306-foot tall Bennington Battle Monument in Bennington, Vermont.

[edit] See also

Statue of John Stark at the Capitol

The Adventures of Brigadier General John Stark A webcomic told from the point of view of a similar statue at the Bennington Battle Monument.

• Battle of Bemis Heights
• Battle of Bennington
• Battle of Bunker Hill
• Battle of Princeton
• Battle of Trenton
• Isaac Royall House, Stark's headquarters in Medford, Massachusetts
• New Hampshire
• Rogers' Rangers
• Fort at Number 4

Many places in the United States were named after John Stark and  his wife Molly. Among them are:

• Fort Stark, New Hampshire
• Stark, New Hampshire
• Stark County, Illinois
• Stark County, Ohio
• Starke County, Indiana
• Starkville, Mississippi
• Stark, New York
• Molly Stark State Park, Vermont
• John Stark Regional High School (Weare, New Hampshire)

[edit] Primary sources

Detailed information on John Stark is  not easy to come by. Please add references and  primary resources to this section, noting where the resources can be found.

• Reminiscences of the French War; containing Rogers' Expeditions with the New-England Rangers under his command, as published in London in 1765; with notes and  illustrations. : To which is  added an  account of the life and  military services of Maj. Gen. John Stark; with notices and  anecdotes of other officers distinguished in the French and  Revolutionary wars. -- Concord, N.H. : Published by Luther Roby., 1831. A copy can be found in the collections of the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester, Massachusetts.

• Reminiscences of the French War with Robert Rogers' journal and  a memoir of General Stark. Freedom, N.H. : Freedom Historical Society, 1988. OCLC number: ocm18143265. A copy can be found in the Boston Public Library.

• Gen. John Stark's home farm : a paper read before the Manchester Historic Association October 7, 1903; by Roland Rowell. A copy can be found in the Boston Public Library.

• Major General John Stark, hero of Bunker Hill and  Bennington, 1728-1822; by Leon W. Anderson. [n.p.] Evans Print. Co., c1972. OCLC number: ocm00709356. A copy can be found in the Boston Public Library.

• Memoir and  official correspondence of Gen. John Stark, with notices of several other officers of the Revolution. Also a biography of Capt. Phine[h]as Stevens and  of Col. Robert Rogers, with an  account of his services in America during the "Seven Years' War." With a new introd. and  pref. by George Athan Billias; by Stark, Caleb, 1804-1864. pub. Boston, Gregg Press, 1972 [c1860].

[edit] Secondary references

• John Stark, Freedom Fighter; by Robert P. Richmond. Waterbury, Conn. : Dale Books, 1976. (Juvenile literature). A copy can be found in the Boston Public Library.

• Patriots: the men who started the American Revolution; by A.J. Langguth. New York, Simon & Schuster, 1988. ISBN 0-671-67562-1.

• A New Age Now Begins: A People's History of the American Revolution; by Page Smith. Vols I and  II of VIII. (Note: vol. II contains the index for both vol. I and  vol. II). ISBN 0-07-059097-4