Burgoyne encamped on the east side of the Hudson, so as to be near at hand in case assistance was wanted. Baum set out from camp at break of day on the 13th of August, 1777. The state of the roads, the excessive heat, and want of horses and wagons, all contributed to render the progress slow and tedious. A few horses were brought in, and some wagons captured; but the inhabitants managed to remove most of their effects in time. The Indians killed or drove off all that came into their hands, unless they were paid in cash for their prizes. Baum found the people of Bennington ready to give him a reception. The veteran Stark was there, with eight hundred New Hampshire militia; and Colonel Warner found himself at the head of about six hundred Green Mountain Boys, hastily collected to repel the invaders. Thus once more the cause of American Independence was to rest largely on the valor and patriotism of the outlawed Warner and his band of brave followers. Stark had, with difficulty, been prevailed on to take the command. He had a farm among the Vermont Mountains, and his sympathies were in harmony with her people; he, too, was smarting under a sense of the injustice of Congress. He only took up arms, he said, in a moment of exigency, to defend the neighborhood which otherwise would be exposed to the ravages of the enemy. On the 15th, Stark sent forward a detachment under Colonel Gregg, and on the following day advanced with his own men to support them. He met them about five miles off, in full retreat, with Baum and his force a mile or more in the rear. Stark now halted, and deployed his men for action. Baum drew up his troops and formed them in a strong position on high ground at a bend of a little river, and began to intrench. Stark fell back to await reinforcements, and to entice Baum from his intrenchments. A skirmish took place in which thirty of Baum’s men and two Indian Chiefs were killed. The incessant rain of the 15th prevented a general engagement, but there was continual skirmishing. Baum employed the interim in strengthening his position; and finding the opposite force much larger than he anticipated, he had sent off in all haste to Burgoyne for reinforcements. The latter immediately detached Col. Breyman with five hundred Hessian Grenadiers and infantry, and two six pounders, leaving behind him his tents, baggage and standards. So bad were the roads, that Breyman was nearly two days getting little more than twenty miles. Meanwhile expresses had been sent in every direction by the Americans, and recruits were pouring in from all parts of the country:--among them, Colonel Symonds with a body of Berkshire militia.