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A quick shot of history.
At the start of 1777 the British had a plan to take control of the Lake Champlain, Lake George, and Hudson River waterway. They hoped to divide the colonies and crush the rebellion. For the American’s, Fort Ticonderoga was the key to their defense. For it was a fort whose past was characterized by invincibility. And it was Major General Arthur St. Clair who was in charge of the American forces there. He had somewhere between 3,000 and 4,000 men with orders to hold the fort.
In late June of 1777, General Burgoyne's army started moving its massive force of over 9,000 British and German troops, plus their Native American allies. They marched down Lake Champlain and reached Fort Ticonderoga by July 1st. While scouting the area, Burgoyne's engineers quickly discovered the fort's weak point: Mount Defiance. They knew that if they put artillery up there, the American fort wouldn't stand a chance. So, Burgoyne makes his move. He secures the high groun hoping to completely bypass a long, drawn-out siege. And it worked. By July 4th, the Americans in the fort could see British cannons being set up on Mount Defiance.
The British cannons loomed over Fort Ticonderoga from their strategic position on Mount Defiance, threatening a devastating artillery barrage. Hessian troops were also nearby, ready to cut off the Americans' escape route. Faced with this dire situation, General St. Clair made the tough call to abandon the fort. He knew they couldn't win against a superior enemy with the high ground advantage so he chose to save his army from certain destruction.
Under the cover of darkness on the night of July 5th, the Americans slipped away. Those who were sick along with supplies went by boat towards Skenesborough, while the main force started a grueling overland retreat towards Castleton, Vermont. A path which led them through the small settlement of Hubbardton.
Brigadier General Simon Fraser, commander of the British advance corps, spotted the American retreat early on July 6th. He saw a chance to pounce. Fraser quickly sent word to General Burgoyne for backup, then took off with a group of grenadiers, light infantry, and about 100 Loyalist and Native American scouts. Burgoyne ordered German General Friedrich Adolf Riedesel to follow Fraser with more troops, and told the rest of his German soldiers to move quickly determined to press their advantage after Ticonderoga, and weaken the Continental Army even more. They wanted to stop the Americans from setting up a strong defense, and maybe even capture prisoners and supplies.
Fraser's advance corps closed in fast on the American rear guard, led by Colonel Ebenezer Francis's 11th Massachusetts Regiment. Their job was to protect the main American army as they retreated.
After a grueling 30-mile march on July 6th, the main American army under General St. Clair finally reached Castleton. They set up camp for the night, expecting the rear guard to catch up. But when they didn't, St. Clair left Colonel Seth Warner and his Green Mountain Boys along with Colonel Nathan Hale's 2nd New Hampshire Regiment at Hubbardton. Their mission? Wait for the stragglers.
Later that day, Colonel Francis's 11th Massachusetts Regiment finally joined them. General St. Clair had explicitly ordered them to keep moving to Castleton. But Warner, defying orders, decided to stay put. He wanted his exhausted troops to rest and to gather any soldiers who had fallen behind. So, the combined rear guard, about 1,000 to 1,200 men, settled in for the night. Warner, using his past experience, positioned them defensively atop Monument Hill. He even set up patrols along the road back towards Fort Ticonderoga, which was now in British hands.
It seemed like a compassionate decision, giving his tired men a break. But it was a fateful choice. Warner had unknowingly placed the American rear guard right in the path of those rapidly advancing British forces.
Just three miles southwest of Hubbardton, Brigadier General Fraser and his British forces had also camped for the night. But their rest was short-lived. At 3:00 am on July 7th, they were up and marching, continuing their relentless pursuit. Darkness slowed their advance which meant they didn't reach Hubbardton until dawn.
Even so their arrival was still a shock. Some of Colonel Hale's 2nd New Hampshire Regiment were caught completely off guard as they were preparing their breakfast. The surprise attack led to chaos. Skirmishes broke out everywhere, and some of Hale's men panicked and fled. The Americans hadn't set up enough pickets, assuming they'd outrun the British. This lapse in security made them vulnerable to the sudden British attack.
The initial chaos didn't last long. Colonel Francis's 11th Massachusetts Regiment had been forming a column to march toward Rutland around 7:15 AM, when the British vanguard suddenly appeared over the hill behind them! Francis's men reacted quickly. They ditched their marching formation, and took up a defensive line, using whatever cover they could find. They fired a volley of musket fire at the British, who were out of breath from their quick advance.
Colonel Warner's Green Mountain Boys and what was left of Colonel Hale's New Hampshire Regiment rallied and joined Francis's men, creating a stronger defense. The Americans used the wooded landscape and the high ground of Monument Hill to their advantage. They were tired from the retreat, but their quick and organized response showed they were ready for a fight and had strong leadership.
The Battle of Hubbardton had begun. It was a series of intense clashes, with each side making key tactical decisions that shifted the momentum. Brigadier General Fraser led the British attack on the American positions. He saw the strength of the American center on Monument Hill, so he sent a group of his forces, mostly grenadiers, to try and flank the American left. But the steep, wooded terrain slowed them down. Colonel Francis saw this and countered with a flanking maneuver of his own around the British left. Led by Colonel Hale's men, who had regrouped, joined him.
The fighting got fierce as the two sides clashed in the woods. The Americans used the natural cover and a stone wall along Monument Hill to fend off the British attacks causing numerous casualties among the redcoats. Colonel Francis was wounded in the arm, but he kept leading his men. The American pressure on Fraser's left flank started to put the British in a tough spot.
For over an hour, the battle raged. It was fierce and brutal, with hand-to-hand combat. The American’s were slowly winning until the tide turned. German reinforcements, led by Baron Friedrich Adolf Riedesel, marched onto the field. They sang hymns, accompanied by a military band - a chilling tactic meant to intimidate the Americans. On top of that, Riedesel's disciplined grenadiers and jägers were fresh and ready for battle. Riedesel quickly sized up the situation. Since the Americans were pressing hard on Fraser's left flank. Riedesel responded strategically, sending his agile jägers to attack the American center and his grenadiers to reinforce Fraser's struggling left. The arrival of these well-trained and rested German soldiers was a game-changer. The momentum shifted dramatically in favor of the British. The American flanks, which had held strong, now buckled under the combined force of Fraser's renewed attack and Riedesel's fresh troops. The Americans were nearly surrounded. They had no choice but to retreat. Unfortunately it was across an open field. During this desperate escape, the brave Colonel Ebenezer Francis was cut down by musket fire. The American ranks broke, and the soldiers scattered into the woods.
The exact number of American casualties at the Battle of Hubbardton is still debated by historians, as different sources give varying numbers. Estimates range from 41 to 150 killed, including the Colonel Ebenezer Francis. The number of wounded ranges even more widely, from 96 to 457. The British also took approximately 230 American soldiers as prisoners, including Colonel Nathan Hale, who later died in captivity in 1780. The wide range in these numbers shows how hard it was to keep track of casualties among the chaos of 18th-century warfare.
The British and German forces also suffered losses, although not as many as the Americans. Official British records show 39 British soldiers and one French-Canadian killed, with 127 British and two French-Canadians wounded. German records list 10 killed and 14 wounded. This brings the official total to 50 killed and 143 wounded. However, historian Richard M. Ketchum suggests higher estimates of 60 British killed and 168 wounded. Regardless the British and German forces paid a high price for their victory. Brigadier General Fraser's advance guard was hit especially hard, with a reported casualty rate of 22%. That is approaching 1 in 4 men.
The high number of casualties on both sides, given the total number of troops involved, shows how intense and determined the fighting was. As victors, the British forces held the field after the battle. They marched the captured American prisoners back to Fort Ticonderoga. The majority of the British and German troops then moved towards Skenesborough to rejoin Burgoyne's main army. The losses they sustained, while fewer than the Americans, were significant enough to prevent an immediate pursuit of the main American army. This allowed the Americans to escape and regroup.
The British may have won the Battle of Hubbardton, but it was actually a strategic win for the Americans. Why? The American rear guard had one job: delay the British. This would give the main Continental Army time to escape and regroup after abandoning Fort Ticonderoga. And they did! Sure, the Americans took heavy losses and lost the battle, but General St. Clair's army got away. They retreated to Castleton and joined forces with General Schuyler on July 12th. Keeping the American army in the North alive, which was crucial if they hoped to stop Burgoyne's advancing forces.