Bennington, New York (Vermont)
A volley of musket fire suddenly sprayed just over their heads, and, contrary to tradition, training, and inclination, both officers ducked.
His jaw stiff with determination, Friedrich Baum rose to his feet and pointed his saber in the direction of the rebel fire. "The Iroquois must have fled. Why else would we receive rebel fire from there? Move a platoon to the south. Then bring up the cannon and quickly before they overrun us."
"We are already low on ammunition," said Glich.
"Then bring up the last caisson. No sense saving powder now."
Excerpt from The North Spy
This edition of the Yankee Doodle Spies is another profile of a character from my upcoming novel, The North Spy, Oberstleutnant Friedrich Baum. But because there is so little known of Baum's background, I will have to fill in some blanks with speculation.
Professional Soldier
Friedrich Baum was commander of a rare commodity in North America, a cavalry regiment. In this case, the Dragoon Regiment Prinz Ludwig, better known as the Brunswick Dragoons. The regiment's name came from its benefactor (the person who raised and equipped it), Prinz Ludwig Ernst, younger brother of Duke Karl, ruler of Brunswick. The Prinz Ludwig regiment was one of seven hired by the King of England from the Duke of Brunswick. The others were infantry: four musketeers, one grenadier, and one jaeger regiment. The Duchy of Brunswick (Braunschweig) is a north German principality that provided a crack professional army to allies like Prussia or friends with hard cash, like Britain.
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A Storied Regiment
The regiment was raised in 1688 and designated a dragoon regiment in 1772. It consisted of four troops at full strength, totaling 330 officers and other ranks. These imposing horsemen wore bicorne hats and bright blue jackets and carried carbines and sabers. Although they had swords, dragoons were mounted infantry who rode into battle and then dismounted to fight as infantry with light muskets or carbines. It was assumed that the unit would require its mounts while in Canada, but they did not, and later, many exchanged their heavy boots for shoes with black gaiters.
Typical for the time, the commander was a colonel who did not actually lead the unit – Oberst Friedrich von Riedesel. Instead, the lieutenant colonel (Oberstleutnant) commanded. Von Riedesel would be promoted to major general and given command of the entire Brunswick contingent, which was "leased" to King George to serve as auxiliaries to the British Army during the American Revolutionary War under the treaty of 1776 between Great Britain and the Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel.
Vague Origins
Friedrich Baum was born in 1727, but his birthplace is unknown. Little is known of Friedrich Baum's background, but he was a tough, professional officer from the tiny principality ruled by Friedrich Graf zu Schaumburg-Lippe-Bueckeburg. Young Baum rose to captain of the Graf's Carabiner Corps, an elite body of troops. He had fought in some engagements during the Seven Years' War in Europe but had little battlefield command experience before serving in the American Revolution.
A New Allegiance, A New World
Baum switched his service to the Duke of Brunswick in 1762 and, by 1776, had risen to lieutenant colonel. Baum and the Brunswick Dragoon Regiment departed the German duchy in February 1776 as part of two Brunswick divisions hired to fight the United States under the now General Friedrich von Riedesel.
After arriving in Quebec, the Brunswickers helped Governor Guy Carleton police up the Americans struggling to retreat to New York. In the summer of 1777, Baum's regiment was assigned to the army of General John Burgoyne, which was getting ready for a significant campaign in New York's Lake Champlain region.
Northern Invasion
The invasion kicked off in late June and started well with a rapid advance down Lake Champlain, taking the massive Fort Ticonderoga by a coup de main and a pursuit of the rapidly dispersing rebel army. But by August, Burgoyne's forces began to slow and tire in heavily wooded, inhospitable terrain. More urgently, the supply line became overextended, and the army faced shortages. Intelligence reports informed Burgoyne of Loyalists rallying to the king and the availability of livestock and foodstuffs just a few miles away at Bennington in the New Hampshire Grants – a disputed territory straddling New York and New Hampshire that would become Vermont.
A Special Mission
Burgoyne directed Baum to lead 800 men through the Grants, seize cattle and horses, and recruit the numerous Loyalist sympathizers in the region. Baum's men marched east on 11 August 1777. In addition, his more than 374 Brunswick Dragoons, some 50 Jaegers, 30 artillerymen, 300 Loyalists, Canadians, and Indians set off on what was expected to be a simple mission.
True to his Seven Year War experience and European training, Baum proceeded slowly through the rough and wooded terrain. He would occasionally halt the column to dress and realign the ranks. But time was not of the essence as Baum was told. The numerous Loyalists in the region would be rallying to him. Unfortunately, word of the Iroquois depredations against the settlers had the opposite effect. Loyalists did not turn out, but the Patriots were rallying.
Rebel Resistance
This became obvious the next day when a force of rebels engaged Baum's column in a firefight at Cambridge. His "spider-sense" tingling, the cautious Baum sent Burgoyne a request for reinforcements. He also expressed frustration that Loyalist bands had not rallied to him as expected. What to do? Dig in, of course. He had his men throw up several redoubts east of Bennington and waited for his reinforcements and the situation to develop.
Rising Tide
Unfortunately, his redoubts were separated to the point they could not provide mutual support. And although some Loyalists had come into his camp to join his column, there were rebel spies among them. And two American forces were making ready to pounce on Baum's exposed position. The spies soon reported back on details of Baum's defenses. Some 2,000 rebels, mostly New Hampshire militia under John Stark and Seth Warner's Green Mountain Boys, were ready to deploy against Baum's positions. Stark pushed units around Baum's flanks and nearly surrounded him, and on the morning of 16 August, Stark gave the order to attack.
Shock and Awe in the Grants
The veteran Baum was caught off guard by the speed and shock of the rebel attack. The Brunswick Dragoons and other Germans fought back fiercely, expertly using their redoubts. But they fell for a ruse by Stark, who deliberately sent units out to draw the defenders' fire and cause them to waste a scarce powder and ball. When the defenders' volleys began to weaken, the Americans advanced and took the redoubts one at a time.
Last Redoubt
Baum, commanding the last redoubt, assessed his situation. The rebels were swarming and peppering them with constant fire. The air hummed with the sound of musket balls, and the hollering of angry rebels fired up for the final blow. Most of his Loyalist and Indian allies had fled. It was down to him and the dragoons. The professionals who followed him across the deadly battlefields of Europe and a vast ocean now faced a land and a people even more menacing.
Desperate Gambit
With ammunition almost depleted, surrounded, and outnumbered three to one, our bold dragoon realized his hopeless position and turned to a desperate measure. His surviving dragoons drew their long sabers. Although they lacked horses, they had gravity! Blades glinting against the sun, the tall, mustached warriors in pale blue charged downhill upon the startled Americans. Seven stout-hearted dragoons slashed their way out and eventually limped into Fort George. Unfortunately, our bold dragoon was not among them. Oberstleutnant Braun took a musket ball, fell into rebel hands, and died in the American camp on 18 August.
Battle Lost
The final musket shots grew still at dusk. The expected reinforcements, a force of Brunswick jaegers and grenadiers under Lieutenant Colonel Heinrich von Breymann, arrived too late to save the day. Some accounts say Breymann detested Baum and proceeded at a pace of under a mile an hour, but the terrain and other factors might account for this. Breymann himself would fall in battle a few months later - shot by his own men! Yes, "fragging" was a thing in the 18th century and throughout military history.
Campaign Lost
The impact of Baum's defeat cannot be overstated. More than 700 soldiers of Baum's command were taken prisoner or missing. Pretty much the whole lot. American casualties were about 70.
The failed expedition meant Burgoyne lacked enough food, supplies, and draft animals for the ongoing struggle at Saratoga – not to mention the lack of a corps of professional soldiers. The Indian allies lost confidence in Burgoyne's chances of success and began to drift away, leaving Burgoyne without native "cavalry" to scout and screen in the vast New York wilderness.
And, of course, Baum's defeat was the precursor to the more significant defeat of Burgoyne's army two months later at Saratoga, turning the tide of war in favor of the Americans.
Legacy
So our bold dragoon's legacy is not a good one. Baum's first experience at an independent command became his last. He did his duty, but his mission failed. Yet our bold dragoon gave the last full measure. I believe, in some way, as a professional officer, he may have preferred to give it than face the shame of defeat at the hands of rebels.
They buried Lieutenant Colonel Friedrich Baum on the north bank of the Walloomsac River, the precise spot unknown. He died in a nearby house, which was razed around 1870. A marker erected at the site of the house in 1927 by the Sons of the American Revolution is the only link to the man whose demise may have meant the beginning of the turning point in the American War for Independence.
