The Revolutionary War

Ethan Allen crossed Lake Champlain to capture Fort Ticonderoga on May 10, 1775 for America's First Victory. Allen's expedition passed through here on May 5, 1775. Nathan Beman from Manchester guided the expedition into the fort; John Roberts of Manchester was the head of the expedition's largest immediate family. In 1777, after evacuating Ft. Ti and Mount Independence, Gen. Arthur St. Clair traveled to the Saratoga area via Manchester. The first meetings of the Council of Safety (Vermont's initial government) were at the original Marsh Tavern (on site of south wing of The Equinox). In Manchester, Gen. John Stark declined orders from Gen. Benjamin Lincoln and opted to go to Bennington. Starks's NH troops and Seth Warner's Green Mountain Boys camped in Manchester prior to the Battle of Bennington victory on August 16, 1777.