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      Militia / American Revolutionary War
      Flags
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             Militia / American
            Revolutionary War Flags and Historical Information
             April
            19, 1775  The government goes door to door confiscating
            firearms.  Gun fire results - soldiers (i.e., government
            troops) vs. the militia (i.e.,
            farmboys, drovers, carpenters, laborers, and school teachers,
            etc...). The American Revolution is ignited! 
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             MILITIA FLAG
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             DESCRIPTION
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             Bedford
            Militia Flag 
            Bedford
            Militia - Original Roster 
            Bedford
            Militia - April 19, 1775 
            www.bedfordminutemancompany.org 
            The Latin inscription
            "Vince Aut Morire" means "Conquer or Die". The
            arm emerging from the clouds represents the arm of God 
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             Green
            Mountain Boys Flag 
            Green
            Mountain Boys Militia 
            More
            on the Green Mountain Boys Militia 
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             Culpeper
            Minuteman Flag 
             Read about the Culpeper
            Militia
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            Moultrie
            Flag
             The
            Moultrie flag was
            the first distinctive American flag displayed in the South. It flew
            over the ramparts of the fort on Sullivan's Island, which lies in
            the channel leading to Charleston, South Carolina, when
            the British fleet attacked on June
            28, 1776. The British ships bombarded the fort for 10 hours. But the
            garrison, consisting of some 375 regulars -- and a few militia,
            under the command of Col. William Moultrie, put up such a gallant
            defense that the British were forced to withdraw under cover of
            darkness. This victory saved the southern Colonies from invasion for
            another two years.
             The flag was blue, as were the uniforms of
            the men of the garrison, and it bore a white crescent in the upper
            corner next to the staff, like the silver crescents the men wore on
            their caps, inscribed with the words "Liberty or Death." 
            
            Source: http://www.foundingfathers.info/American-flag/Revolution.html
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             Gadsden Flag 
            The
            Culpeper Flags 
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             Revolutionary Battle
            Flag 
            Like this one, many battle flags of the American Revolution carried
            religious inscriptions."Resistance to tyrants is obedience to
            God" 
             Gostelowe
            Standard No. 10, c. 1776 
            Watercolor once in possession of Edward W.
            Richardson. Copyprint 
            Courtesy of the Pennsylvania Society of Sons of the Revolution 
            and Its Color Guard (91)
              
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               Hanover
            Associators
               They resolved: 'that in the
              event of Great Britain attempting to force unjust laws upon us by
              strength of arms, our cause we leave to Heaven and our rifles.'
               Source: "Flags to Color from the American
              Revolution." 
               
              This flag belongs to the Hanover Associators, and is on page 17.
              The colors are listed as "Red field and trim on cap; yellow
              fringe and scroll; black lettering and cap; green ground and
              uniform with cream legs, trim, feather and powder horn; brown belt
              and light blue rifle barrel."
               
                
                "The Hanover Association of volunteers was formed on June
                4, 1774, in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. They resolved 'that
                in the event of Great Britain attempting to force unjust laws
                upon us by strength of arms, our cause we leave to Heaven and
                our rifles.' The rifleman on the flag shows this point. This
                flag no longer exists, and the authority for it is an ancient
                engraving in the Pennsylvania State Archives."
            Randy Young, 1 February 2001
             
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            Sons of Liberty
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              Flags
            
            
               
              of the
            
            
               
              American War for
                Independence
              
            
            http://www.nwinfo.net/~jagriffin/revflag.htm 
            http://www.flagguys.com/hist.html 
            http://www.bwrcsar.us/flags.htm
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               Veteran
            Exempts Flag
             
            By
            Keith Herkalo 
             
            Both Roosevelt and Churchill recognized the strategic and political
            importance of the land and naval battles of Plattsburgh on September
            11th, 1814. Yet time and other events can obscure facts, and the
            United States' second war for independence became a forgotten war,
            the Battles at Plattsburgh lost in the "rockets red glare"
            of Baltimore. 
             
            In this text, Keith Herkalo, using personal journals, military
            journals, contemporary newspaper accounts, and other original source
            documents, examines the evidence that leads to the conclusion that
            the Battles at Plattsburgh, on land and on Lake Champlain, were the
            key battles of the War of 1812. The other battles, Baltimore,
            Washington, and Sackets Harbor, were ruses meant to divert United
            States troops away from the prize: Plattsburgh, Lake Champlain, and
            a clear pathway into New England. 
             
            If not for the explemlary talents and skills of two young military
            officers, Commodore Thomas Macdonough and General Alexander Macomb,
            a small force of regular army and naval personnel and New York
            Militia, a few thousand Vermont Militia, a handful of Native
            Americans and Veteran Exempts (those too old for military service),
            and a group of boys from the local school, the United States, as we
            know it today, would not exist. 
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            | Battle
              of Bennington- 1777 
               Per
              above link: 
              The
              British suffered a major defeat when New England militia men
              ambushed a large force of British soldiers attempting to forage
              for supplies. The British force was almost wiped out, losing 207
              dead and 700 captured. 
              Burgoyne's
              first major defeat occurred when he sent a force of Hessians west
              of the Connecticut River to seize cattle and other supplies. The
              force, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Fredrich Baum, was ordered
              to head to Bennington and seize rebel supplies. Awaiting Baum near
              Bennington were nearly 2,000 American militia men led by John
              Stark of New Hampshire. At Van Schaick Mill, Baum's forces ran
              into the advance guard of the American forces, and both sides
              prepared for battle the next day, next to the Wallomsac River. The
              British were in makeshift fortifications on a height north of the
              river. On August 16, after a rain delay, Stark's men attacked. In
              a complicated multi-pronged attack, they captured or killed the
              entire British force. By late in the afternoon, a British relief
              expedition arrived. The relief expedition was met by Warner's
              Green Mountain Boys. They forced the British to pull back. With
              the help of Stark's forces, the withdrawal turned to a route. By
              the end of the battle, 207 British and Hessians lay dead and 700
              were captured. The Americans lost 20 dead and another 40 wounded.  | 
           
          
            | Battle
              of Bennington
               per above link: 
              The Battle of Bennington was a battle of
              the American Revolutionary War, taking place on August 16, 1777,
              not at its namesake of Bennington, Vermont, but instead a few
              miles over the border in Walloomsac, New York. An American force
              of 2,000 New Hampshire and Massachusetts militiamen, led by
              General John Stark with aid from Colonel Seth Warner, defeated a
              combined force of 1,250 Brunswick mercenaries, Canadians,
              Loyalists, and Native Americans led by Lieutenant Colonel
              Friedrich Baum. 
              British General John Burgoyne was
              attempting to push through the northern Hudson River Valley. After
              the recent British victories at Hubbardton, Fort Ticonderoga, and
              St. Clair, Burgoyne's plan was to defeat the American forces in
              the area and then continue south to Albany and onto the Hudson
              River Valley, dividing the American colonies in half. The Battle
              was before Saratoga. 
              However, Burgoyne's progress towards
              Albany had slowed to a crawl by late July, and his army's supplies
              began to dwindle. Burgoyne sent a detachment of about 800 troops
              under the command of the Lieutenant Colonel Friedrich Baum from
              Fort Miller. Half of Baum's detachment was made up of Brunswick
              regulars, while the other half consisted of local Loyalists,
              Canadians, and Native Americans. Baum was ordered to raid the
              supply depot at Bennington, which was guarded by fewer than 400
              colonial militia. 
              On August 13, 1777, en route to
              Bennington, Baum learned of the arrival in the area of 1,500 New
              Hampshire militiamen under the command of General John Stark. Baum
              ordered his forces to stop at the Walloomsac River, about four
              miles (6 km) west of Bennington. After sending a request for
              reinforcements to Fort Miller, Baum took advantage of the terrain
              and deployed his forces on the high ground. In the rain, Baum's
              men dug in and hoped that the weather would prevent the Americans
              from attacking before reinforcements arrived. Deployed a few miles
              away, Stark decided to reconnoiter Baum's positions and wait until
              the weather cleared. 
              On the afternoon of August 16, 1777, the
              weather cleared, and Stark ordered his men ready to attack. Stark
              is reputed to have rallied his troops by saying, "There are
              your enemies, the Red Coats and the Tories. They are ours, or this
              night Molly Stark sleeps a widow." Upon hearing that the
              militia had melted away into the woods, Baum assumed that the
              Americans were retreating or redeploying. However, Stark had
              recognized that Baum's forces were spread thin and decided
              immediately to envelop them from two sides while simultaneously
              charging Baum's central redoubt head-on. Stark's plan , the
              Loyalists and Native Americans fled. This left Baum and his
              Hessian dragoons trapped on the high ground without any horses.
              The Germans fought valiantly even after running low on powder. The
              dragoons led a sabre charge and tried to break through the
              enveloping forces. However, after this final charge failed and
              Baum was mortally wounded, the Germans surrendered. 
              Shortly after this battle ended, while
              the New Hampshire Militia was disarming the German troops, Baum's
              reinforcements arrived. The German reinforcements, under the
              command of Lieutenant Colonel Heinrich von Breymann, saw the
              Americans in disarray and pressed their attack immediately. After
              hastily regrouping, Stark's forces tried to hold their ground
              against the German onslaught. Before their lines collapsed, a
              group of several hundred Vermont militiamen arrived to reinforce
              Stark's troops. The Green Mountain Boys, commanded by Seth Warner,
              had just been defeated at the Battle of Hubbardton by British
              reinforcements and were eager to exact their revenge on the enemy.
              Together, the New Hampshire and Vermont militias repulsed and
              finally routed von Breymann's force. 
              Today the residents of Bennington
              celebrate the battle, calling the day Bennington Battle Day. That
              day the town fires Americas oldest firing cannon, called the Molly
              Stark Cannon. 
              Total British losses at Bennington were
              recorded at 200 dead and 700 captured; American losses included 40
              Americans dead and 30 wounded. Stark's decision to intercept and
              destroy the raiding party before they could reach Bennington was a
              crucial factor in Burgoyne's eventual surrender, because it
              deprived his army of supplies. 
              The American victory at Bennington also
              galvanized the rebels and was a catalyst for French involvement in
              the war. 
              August 16 is a legal holiday in Vermont,
              known as Bennington Battle Day. The battle is further commemorated
              by the 306-foot (93 m) tall Bennington Battle Monument in Old
              Bennington. 
               
                
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            | Battle
              Of Bennington | 
           
         
        
       
        Sharpshooter’s
      Pledge: 
      
        
          On my honor, as a Lassen Sharpshooter,
          Venturer / Scout, I promise:  
          To always follow the rules of safe firearm
          handling and shooting; 
          To seek to master those physical and mental
          factors essential to the firing of an accurate shot; 
          To treasure my American heritage, the Bill of
          Rights, and do all
          I can to protect and preserve the Unalienable Individual Right to Keep
          and Bear Arms as guaranteed by the Second Amendment; 
          To recognize such individual right as being
          justly considered as the palladium of the liberties of our republic
          and deterrent to, and defense against, government  tyranny and oppression. 
         
       
       Motto:     
      Exercising the American Bill of Rights. 
        
      
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