by Steve Bradley
Sunday afternoon a “Reflections on the Battle of Bennington” event was held at the Battle of Bennington Park in Walloomsac, NY. Approximately 100 people attended the event on a hot day.
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The event was to commemorate the historic American victory at Walloomsac on August 16, 1777. The battle crippled British General John Burgoyne’s southward march to Albany and was a major factor in a British defeat at Bemis Heights and surrender at Old Saratoga (now Schuylerville). Saratoga is considered one of the top ten battles in shaping the course of world history and the Battle for Bennington played a large part in the outcome of that battle.
The theme of the event was reflecting on accounts of the battle from notes and diaries of actual combatants. Speakers were dressed in the clothing of the colonial period. Peter Schaaphok, as General John Stark, read an account of the battle from Stark’s view. Other speakers gave views of the battle from the perspective of a pastor and the wife of a soldier. History interpreter Phyllis Chapman read a poem she wrote based on the timeline of the battle.
John Sheaff, president of the Walloomsac Battle Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution, showed a photograph of a battle soldier who lived long enough to have his picture taken by a camera. Representatives of various organizations affiliated with the Park, including the Sons of the American Revolution and Daughters of the American Revolution, were recognized and they placed wreaths next to the diorama of the battle.
In closing, a cannon salute by the 2nd Continental Regiment of Artillery boomed through the Walloomsac Valley. It was a fitting conclusion, and gave a small sample of a battle General Stark described as “the hottest I ever saw in my life—it represented one continual clap of thunder.”[/private]