Green Mountain Boys

The Green Mountain Boys of Vermont began as land rioters, organized themselves as a Whig militia in the opening days of the Revolutionary War (1775-83), and became a regular regiment in the Continental army. Starting in 1770, and headed by Ethan Allen and several of his relatives, a group of New England settlers formed the Green Mountain Boys. Their aim was to protect their land titles based on New Hampshire grants from landlords whose deeds rested on New York’s claim to territory north of Massachusetts and between the Hudson and Connecticut Rivers. Ultimately the British government sustained the New York right to these lands. But that right became a dead letter in the face of the Green Mountain Boys and their riotous tactics. Calling themselves a militia, the Green Mountain Boys harassed New York sheriffs attempting to evict settlers with New Hampshire deeds, tore down fences, and even destroyed houses built by settlers from New York. Such actions made Allen and his followers outlaws in New York.

The Revolutionary War offered a new opportunity to the Green Mountain Boys. By siding with the Whigs they hoped to legitimize their claim and gain recognition. Allen led a group of his followers in a surprise attack on the British, capturing Fort Ticonderoga (May 10, 1775). Seth Warner and Allen convinced the Second Continental Congress to incorporate the Green Mountain Boys into the Continental army in June 1775. The new regiment elected Warner its colonel, and the regiment participated in the invasion of Canada that winter. After that disaster left the regiment devastated, other Vermont regiments were recruited and were also given the Green Mountain label. These units fought against the invasion that led to the British surrender at Saratoga (October 17, 1777) and in subsequent campaigns along the northern border. This commitment to independence may have strengthened the case of the Green Mountain Boys for secure title of their lands, but it was not until 1791 that Vermont became a separate state.

See also LAND Riots.

Further reading: Michael A. Bellesiles, Revolutionary Outlaws: Ethan Allen and the Struggle for Independence on the Early American Frontier (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1993); Robert E. Shalhope, Bennington and the Green Mountain Boys: The Emergence of Liberal Democracy Vermont, 1760-1850 (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996).