| Green Mountain Boys | |
|---|---|
 Digital reconstruction of theFlag of the Green Mountain Boys, predating theVermont Republic. The flag is currently used by theVermont National Guard | |
| Active | October 24, 1764[1] |
| Country |  Great Britain Vermont Republic United States |
| Allegiance | Vermont Republic |
| Type | Militia |
| Part of | Vermont Militia |
| Colors | Green, blue, white (gold fringe is modern decorative) |
| Engagements | |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | |
TheGreen Mountain Boys were amilitia organization established in 1770 in the territory between the British provinces ofNew York andNew Hampshire, known as theNew Hampshire Grants and later in 1777 as theVermont Republic (which later became the state ofVermont).[2][3] Headed byEthan Allen and members of his extended family, it was instrumental in resisting New York's attempts to control the territory, over which it had wonde jure control in a territorial dispute with New Hampshire.
Some companies served in theAmerican Revolutionary War, including notably when the Green Mountain Boys, led under the command of Ethan Allen while being assisted byBenedict Arnold,captured Fort Ticonderoga onLake Champlain on May 10, 1775, andinvaded Canada later in 1775. In early June 1775, Ethan Allen and his then subordinate,Seth Warner, induced theContinental Congress at Philadelphia to create aContinental Army ranger regiment from the thenNew Hampshire Grants. Having no treasury, the Congress directed that New York's revolutionary Congress pay for the newly authorized regiment. In July 1775, Allen's militia was granted support from the New York revolutionary Congress.
The Green Mountain Boys disbanded more than a year before Vermont declared its independence in 1777 from Great Britain "as a separate, free and independent jurisdiction or state". TheVermont Republic operated for 14 years, before being admitted in 1791 to the United States as the 14th state.
The remnants of the Green Mountain Boys militia were largely reconstituted as the Green Mountain Continental Rangers. Command of the newly formed regiment passed from Allen to Seth Warner. Allen joined the staff of the Northern Army of New York's Major GeneralPhilip Schuyler and was given the rank of lieutenant colonel. Under Warner the regiment fought at the battles ofHubbardton andBennington in 1777. The regiment was disbanded in 1779.[4]: 143–145 [5]: 220 [6]
The originalGreen Mountain Boys were a militia organized in what is now southwesternVermont in the decade prior to theAmerican Revolutionary War. They comprisedsettlers and land speculators who heldNew Hampshire titles to lands between theConnecticut River andLake Champlain, an area then known as theNew Hampshire Grants, that is now modern Vermont.New York was given legal control of the area by a decision of theBritish crown and refused to respect the New Hampshire titles and town charters. Although a few towns with New York land titles, notablyBrattleboro on the Connecticut River, supported the change, the vast majority of the settlers in the sparsely populatedfrontier region rejected the authority of New York.
With several hundred members, the Green Mountain Boys effectively controlled the area where New Hampshire grants had been issued. They were led byEthan Allen, his brotherIra Allen, and their cousinsSeth Warner andRemember Baker. They were based at theCatamount Tavern inBennington. By the 1770s, the Green Mountain Boys had become an armed military force andde facto government, which was also a militia, that prevented New York from exercising its authority in the northeast portion of theProvince of New York. New York authorities had standingwarrants for the arrest of the leaders of the rebellious Vermonters but were unable to exercise them. New Yorksurveyors and other officials attempting to exercise their authority were prevented from doing so and in some cases were severely beaten, and settlers arriving to clear and work land under New York–issued grants were forced off their land, and sometimes had their possessions destroyed. At the same time, New York sought to extend its authority over the territory. During an event once known as theWestminster massacre, anti-Yorkers occupied the courthouse inWestminster to prevent a New York judge from holding court, and two men were killed in the ensuing standoff. Ethan Allen then went to Westminster with a band of Boys and organized a convention calling for the territory's independence from New York.
When theAmerican Revolutionary War started in 1775, Ethan Allen and a troop of his men, along withConnecticutColonelBenedict Arnold, marched up to Lake Champlain and captured the strategically important British military posts atFort Ticonderoga,Crown Point, andFort George, all in New York. The Boys also briefly held St. John's inQuébec, but retreated on word of arriving British regulars.[7]
In Summer 1775, the Green Mountain Boys became the basis for the Green Mountain Rangers, a regiment in theContinental Army that selected colonel Seth Warner as its leader.[8] Some of the Green Mountain Boys preferred to remain with Ethan Allen and were taken prisoners along with Allen in August 1775 in abungled attempt to capture the city ofMontreal. Among them wereCongressmanMatthew Lyon and Lieutenant Benjamin Tucker.
Vermont eventually declared itself an independent nation in January 1777, and organized a government based inWindsor. The armed forces of theVermont Republic was based upon the Green Mountain Boys. Although Vermont initially supported theAmerican Revolutionary War and sent troops to fightJohn Burgoyne's British invasion from Quebec in battles atHubbardton andBennington in 1777, Vermont eventually adopted a more neutral stance and became a haven fordeserters from both the British and colonial armies.George Washington, who had more than sufficient difficulties with the British, brushed off Congressional demands that he subdue Vermont. During theHaldimand Affair, some members of the Green Mountain Boys became involved in secret negotiations with British officials about restoring the Crown's rule over the territory.
The Green Mountain Boys faded away after Vermont joined theUnited States as the 14thU.S. state in 1791, although militia and volunteers from Vermont mustered for theWar of 1812,The Civil War, theSpanish–American War, and followingWorld War I as theVermont National Guard.
A remnant of aGreen Mountain Boys flag, believed to have belonged toJohn Stark, is owned by theBennington Museum. It still exists as one of the few regimental flags from the time of the American Revolution. Although Stark was at theBattle of Bennington and likely flew this flag, the battle has become more commonly associated with theBennington flag, which is believed to be a 19th-century banner.[20]
The VermontArmy National Guard and VermontAir National Guard are collectively known as the Vermont National Guard or "Green Mountain Boys."[21] Both units use the original Green Mountain Boys battle flag as their banner.[22]
Muster Roll of the first Company of Militia in the town of the Bennington, organized October 24, 1764
jonas galusha green mountain boys.
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