Editing Battle of Bennington (section)

===British forces===

Burgoyne's progress towards Albany had initially met with some success, including the scattering of [[Seth Warner]]'s men in the [[Battle of Hubbardton]]. However, his advance had slowed to a crawl by late July, due to logistical difficulties, exacerbated by the American destruction of a key road, and the army's supplies began to dwindle.<ref name="Pancake135"/> Burgoyne's concern over supplies was magnified in early August when he received word that Howe was going to Philadelphia, rather than advance up the Hudson River valley.<ref name="K283">[[#Ketchum|Ketchum (1997)]], p. 283</ref> In response to a proposal first made on July 22 by the commander of his [[Hessian (soldier)|Hessian]] troops, [[Friedrich Adolf Riedesel|Baron Riedesel]],<ref name="Nickerson233">[[#Nickerson|Nickerson (1967)]], p. 233</ref> Burgoyne sent a detachment of about 800 soldiers under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel [[Friedrich Baum]] from [[Fort Edward (town), New York#Communities and locations in the town|Fort Miller]] on a foraging mission to acquire horses for [[Brunswick troops in the American Revolutionary War#Units|Prince Ludwig's Dragoon Regiment]], [[draft animal]]s to assist in moving the army, and to harass the Americans.<ref name="Pancake135">[[#Pancake|Pancake (1977)]], p. 135</ref> Baum's detachment was primarily made up of dismounted dragoons from Prince Ludwig's Dragoon Regiment. Along the way, 150 local [[Loyalist (American Revolution)|Loyalists]], 58 Canadian irregulars, around 100 [[Iroquois]] warriors, and 48 soldiers from the [[British Army]]'s [[List of British units in the American Revolutionary War#Infantry|Company of Select Marksmen]] joined the detachment.<ref name="Nickerson239">[[#Nickerson|Nickerson (1967)]], p. 239</ref> Baum was originally ordered to proceed to the [[Connecticut River]] valley where they believed horses could be procured for the dragoons.<ref name="Nickerson235_8">[[#Nickerson|Nickerson (1967)]], pp. 235–238. Contains a transcription of Burgoyne's order to Baum.</ref> However, as Baum was preparing to leave, Burgoyne changed the goal to be a supply depot at [[Bennington, Vermont|Bennington]], having received intelligence reports that the town was defended only by 400 demoralized [[militia]] from Warner's command.<ref name="Nickerson240">[[#Nickerson|Nickerson (1967)]], p. 240</ref>

[[File:John stark.jpg|thumb|left|General [[John Stark]]]]