Battle of Fort Anne

This article is about the American Revolutionary War battle in upstate New York. For the 1744 action at Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia, see Siege of Fort Anne. For similarly named places, see Fort Ann (disambiguation).
Battle of Fort Anne
Part of the American Revolutionary War

Detail of a 1780 map; battle site is marked near the bottom
DateJuly 8, 1777
Location
present-day Fort Ann, New York
43°25′34.03″N 73°28′49.84″W / 43.4261194°N 73.4805111°W / 43.4261194; -73.4805111
Result British victory
Belligerents
 Great Britain  United States
Commanders and leaders
Strength
200 British regulars[1] About 1,000 soldiers and militia[2]
Casualties and losses
  • 13 killed
  • 22 wounded
  • 3 captured[3]
 50–200 killed, wounded, and captured[4]

The Battle of Fort Anne, fought on July 8, 1777, was an engagement between Continental Army forces in retreat from Fort Ticonderoga and forward elements of John Burgoyne's much larger British army that had driven them from Ticonderoga, early in the Saratoga campaign of the American Revolutionary War.

Burgoyne, surprised by the American withdrawal from Fort Ticonderoga, hurried as many of his troops as possible forward in pursuit of the retreating Americans. The main body of the American forces had departed Fort Independence down the road to Hubbardton, and a smaller body of troops, accompanying the sick, wounded, and camp followers that had also evacuated the fort, had sailed up Lake Champlain to Skenesboro, moving from there overland to Fort Edward. That group, which included about 600 men under arms, paused at Fort Anne, where a smaller advance company from Burgoyne's army caught up to them. The British, clearly outnumbered, sent for reinforcements. The Americans decided to attack while they had the numerical advantage, and succeeded in nearly surrounding the British position about three quarters of a mile (1 km) north of the fort. The Americans retreated back to the fort when war whoops indicated the arrival of British reinforcements. While that was a ruse (the reinforcements were a single officer), it saved the British force from probable capture. More of Burgoyne's army soon came down the road, forcing the Americans to retreat from Fort Anne to Fort Edward.

It has been claimed that a flag was flown at Fort Anne that may have been the first instance of a flag consisting of stars and stripes; the claim is unproven and likely false.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Nickerson155 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ No sources give a reliable determination of the American strength. Hill reported being attacked by about six times his number (Hadden, p. 93), which is consistent with the majority of Long's force (600, Nickerson p. 154) from Ticonderoga being combined with Van Rensselaer's reinforcement (400, Nickerson p. 155).
  3. ^ Kingsford (1893), p. 194
  4. ^ No sources give a reliable determination of the American casualties, although many indicate the Americans suffered a significant number. Estimates range from 50 (Bancroft p. 370, quoting Riedesel) to 200 (Morrissey p. 38)