NH’s Revolutionary War Hero General John Stark

by Robert Hanaford Smith, Sr.
Weirs Times Contributing Writer

Many of the men and women whom New Hampshire citizens take pride in as notable native sons and daughters of the State left the State after finishing whatever schooling they had received and lived and achieved elsewhere. Some have blossomed in neighboring States, particularly Massachusetts. Others have made their mark in one of the large cities of the United States. Some have gone West and are admired for great achievements in helping to build that area of the country.
Others, like General John Stark, though also going across state lines to make a lasting name for themselves, have chosen New Hampshire as their permanent home. Stark was a hero while fighting on the side of England in the French and Indian War and the same while going into battle against England in the Revolutionary War, but unlike some other military heroes he did not pursue a political career or become a renown lawyer.
In between those wars and before and after he was a farmer and mill owner in Derryfield or what is now Manchester. His military goal seemed always to be to protect his native state from those who wanted to overthrow its government.
After serving as an officer with Roger’s Rangers in New York State during the French and Indian War, Stark married Elizabeth Page of Dunbarton. Elizabeth, whose nickname was Molly also became a well admired person in the country. John Stark was on the Committee of Safety in his town and in that capacity did much in preparing the local militia to protect the town from those who would oppress them.
It has been reported that with the beginning of the Revolutionary War, particularly after the Battle of Lexington, that a messenger was sent to Stark to ask him to be in charge of the New Hampshire military in confronting the British forces. He was at work at his sawmill when the call came and is said to have immediately left his work, gone to his house to obtain his gun, and headed for Massachusetts on horseback. On his way he was joined by many other New Hampshire residents who fought under his command with the state’s regiments at the Battle of Bunker Hill which was actually fought on Breed’s Hill outside of Boston.
When Stark left in a hurry for Massachusetts he didn’t change clothes so left his military uniform behind. He has said to have conveyed a message to his wife, Molly, to bring his uniform to him. She thus gathered the clothes and followed him by horseback , finally catching up with him at Medford, Massachusetts where the New Hampshire men were stationed.
One report indicates that Molly was used as a lookout for the troops before she returned through the forest to her Derryfield home. Her husband was made a Colonel in the army and another Derryfield man, John Moor, was a Captain in Stark’s regiment. A total of thirty-four Derryfield men fought at the Battle of Bunker Hill with eighteen of them being under Capt. Moor’s command.
Like John Stark, John Moor had distinguished himself as brave soldier during the French and Indian War. The Colonists benefited from the British army’s delay in mounting a quick attack, giving them time to organize their forces for battle. There were a number of soldiers who exhibited special valor at the battle of Bunker Hill and Stark and Moor were among them. They were chosen to occupy a position at the far left of the American forces near the Mystic River that appeared to be an easy area for the British to attack from.
There was a rail fence that the American soldiers were told to fill in with newly cut grass (hay), which would not protect them from the shots of the enemy, but would hide them from view. According to the book Colonial Life In New Hampshire each of Col. Stark’s soldiers “was given a gill of powder, fifteen bullets and one flint; but their guns were of different sizes, and many of the men had to pound the bullets into the right shape for their barrels.”
As Stark’s men advanced to take up their positions behind the rail fence the British were firing from their ships as they were preparing a land attack upon the Colonist forces that had gathered in an effort to stop them. Generals Howe and Piggott were commanding the British troops. Col. John Stark walked about 30 paces in front of the fence where his company was waiting for the British to arrive and drove a stake into the ground; he instructed his men not to shoot until the British soldiers reached that stake.
As the British soldiers confidently advanced towards the fortifications set up by the Colonial army the New Hampshire “back-woodsmen,” as they have been called, fought valiantly in an effort to defend their position.
At the first advance the enemy soldiers were met by surprise as the American soldiers rose from their stations behind the rail fence inflicting many casualties and causing the British to retreat. They made a second attempt to break through the colonists lines and had to retreat a second time. Stark’s men had wanted to go after them, but he kept them from doing so. The British soldiers approached a third time and again faced the resistance of the Americans .
The brave colonists, however, were running out of ammunition and had to give way to the still advancing British troops. Stark’s men were able, thanks to a supply of powder that had arrived from New Hampshire, to cover the retreating troops of Col. Prescott to their right as they escaped from the advancing redcoats. The British, though coming out as victors in the Battle of Bunker Hill, suffered serious losses. It was said that on the next day there were 96 dead bodies lying on the ground in front of the fence where the New Hampshire men were stationed even after the wounded and dead officers had been removed.
Captain Moor’s company, though engaged in the heavy fighting, was said not to have had any killed or wounded in the battle. Captain Moor was afterwards promoted to the rank of Major. A Major among Col. Stark’s regiment, Andrew McClary, was killed, being among the sixty or so casualties (dead and wounded) in Stark’s regiment.
During the Battle of Bunker Hill one of the men was said to have come to Col. Stark with news that his 15 or 16 year old son, Caleb, who had entered the battlefield against his father’s will, had been shot and killed. Stark reportedly answered, “ This is not a moment to talk of private affairs when the enemy is in front,” and sent the man back to his position.
The report turned out to be false; the son had not been killed, but lived to continue as a soldier in the Revolutionary War.