Green Mountain Boys

The Green Mountain Boys was a paramilitary organization in the New Hampshire Grants (today's Vermont) on the eve of the American Revolution. The New Hampshire Grants was a disputed territory that was settled in the mid-18th Century by New Englanders, but concurrently claimed by New York leading to competing land claims and occasional outbreaks of violence. A low point of this dispute was the "Westminster Massacre" of March 13, 1775, in which four Vermonters were shot by "Tories."

The Green Mountain Boys' first contributed during the American Revolution by seizing British assets on Lake Champlain, including Fort Ticonderoga (May 10, 1775), and Crown Point (May 12). Prior to the war and during the Lake Champlain campaign, the regiment was led by Ethan Allen. Subsequently, the regiment reformed under Congressional approval and Seth Warner was elected to head the regiment. They were uniformed in coats made of "coarse green Cloth," faced red.

Warner's regiment participated in the American invasion of Canada, where they served at the siege of Fort Saint-Jean and helped repulse a British relief force at Longueuil (October 30, 1775). The Green Mountain Boys also played a prominent role during the Saratoga campaign, especially at the battles of Hubbardton (July 7, 1777) and Bennington (August 16, 1777), and in the final encirclement of the British army at Saratoga. In later years, the regiment continued to serve on the northern frontier, including in defense of Fort George (October 11, 1780).

Below is a group of 15mm miniatures by Musket Miniatures and Stone Mountain Miniatures painted to represent the Green Mountain Boys.

For more on the Green Mountain Boys, see the website of the recreated Warner's regiment, and John E. Goodrich (1904). The State of Vermont: Rolls of the Soldiers in the Revolutionary War, 1775-1783.

For 28mm-high versions of the Green Mountain Boys by fellow bloggers, see here and here.