Today is the birthday of one of the most fascinating figures in American History.
If you live in New Hampshire, you probably have heard of John Stark. If not, you are probably saying “who?” Stark was a warrior. When he was 24 years old, he was on a hunting and trapping trip when he was captured by the Abenaki Indians. When ordered to run a gauntlet of Indians armed with sticks to beat him, Stark attacked the first Indian, took his club, and beat him with it. The Indian chief was so impressed, Stark was adopted into the tribe and spent the winter. He joined Roger’s Rangers during the French and Indian War. He once walked 40 miles through deep snow to get aid for the wounded. When Lexington and Concord started the Revolutionary War, he led a regiment from New Hampshire to join the army at Boston. He was a key figure in the Battle of Bunker Hill. His men defended the rail fence and defeated several assaults. His order was to: “Aim for their waistbands”. He participated in the Battles of Trenton and Princeton. Stark had a prickly personality and when he was passed over for promotion, he left the Continental Army and returned to New Hampshire. However, when Gen. Burgoyne invaded New York and threatened to cut New England off from the rest of the colonies, he put his uniform back on. He won a spectacular victory at Bennington which doomed Burgoyne’s army at Saratoga. Before the battle, he told his men: “We’ll beat them before night, or Molly Stark will be a widow.” Stark returned to the Continental Army and after the war retired to his farm where he raised his eleven children. He died at age 93.
https://historycollection.co/18-all-but-forgotten-american-war-heroes/
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