British Troops Give Chase
The British general Simon Fraser discovered early on July 6 that the Americans had abandoned Ticonderoga. Leaving a message for General Burgoyne, he set out in pursuit with companies of grenadiers (9th, 29th, 34th, and 62nd Foot) and light infantry (24th, 29th, 34th, 53rd, and 62nd), as well as two companies of the 24th Regiment and about 100 Loyalists and Indian scouts. Burgoyne ordered Riedesel to follow; he set out with a few companies of Brunswick jägers and grenadiers, leaving orders for the rest of his troops to come as rapidly as possible. Fraser's advance corps was only a few miles behind Colonel Ebenezer Francis' 11th Massachusetts Regiment, which acted as St. Clair's rear guard.
American general St. Clair paused at Hubbardton to give the main army's tired and hungry troops time to rest while he hoped the rear guard would arrive. When it did not arrive in time, he left Colonel Seth Warner and the Green Mountain Boys behind, along with the 2nd New Hampshire Regiment under Colonel Nathan Hale, at Hubbardton to wait for the rear while the main army marched on to Castleton. When Francis' and Hale's men arrived, Warner decided, against St. Clair's orders, that they would spend the night there, rather than marching on to Castleton. Warner, who had experience in rear-guard actions while serving at Bunker Hill and in the invasion of Quebec, arranged the camps in a defensive position on Monument Hill, and set patrols to guard the road to Ticonderoga.
Baron Riedesel caught up with Fraser around 4 pm, and insisted that his men could not go further before making camp. Fraser, who acquiesced to this as Riedesel was senior to him in the chain of command, pointed out that he was authorized to engage the enemy, and would be leaving his camp at 3 am the next morning. He then advanced until he found a site about three miles (4.8 km) from Hubbardton, where his troops camped for the night. Riedesel waited for the bulk of his men, about 1,500 strong, and also made camp.
Read more about this topic: Battle Of Hubbardton
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