By Ben Z. Rose (Waverly, Mass.: Tree Line Press, 2007, pp. xiv, 199, $19.95)
New Hampshire's General John Stark: Live Free or Die: Death Is Not the Worst of Evils
By Clifton La Bree (Portsmouth, N.H., Peter E. Randall Publisher LLC, 2007, pp. xiv, 261, $25).
John Stark: Live Free or Die
By Karl Crannell (Stockton, N.J., OTTN Publishing, 2007, pp.80, $23.95)
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By curious coincidence, General John Stark of New Hampshire, the iconic Revolutionary War hero of the Battles of Bunker Hill and Bennington, long regarded as oft-forgotten American hero, suddenly came to life in the year 2007 with the publication of three biographies - two hardcover and one for children. Evidently none of the three authors knew that the others were working along the same path.
Stark was born in 1728 with strong Scotch-Irish ancestry and a heritage that held the British in deep distrust. He continued to feel their condescension during his experiences fighting alongside them in the French and Indian wars. But he also learned the Brits' military methods, which he was canny enough to use against them in such engagements as Bunker Hill, Bennington, and Saratoga. Stark the maverick was often dubious about the military leadership provided by the Continental Congress and preferred to report to New Hampshire's provincial assembly. He was at home in Londonderry so rarely that it was a wonder he and his wife, Elizabeth "Molly" Page, managed to raise eleven children. All three of these biographies have their strong points, but most worthy is /John Stark: Maverick General/, by Ben Z. Rose, a securities analyst by profession and obviously an earnest history buff and a smooth writer. Rose has done extensive research in all the right places and weaves together an impressive bibliography to produce a readable fabric that brings to life the facts and moods and personality of this modest but courageous early-American original who emerged from the wilderness. |
A sample of author Rose's prose will help place Stark in the context of the time he had been passed over for promotion but decided to take charge of the foray against British General John Burgoyne in the spring of 1777: "Making his way back to Manchester, angered, disappointed, and dejected, John Stark no doubt reflected on a tumultuous two-year period in which he fought gallantly in three critical campaigns [Bunker Hill, Quebec, Trenton]. Now, less than two years into what would become an eight-year struggle for independence, the outcome of the war was far from clear. Despite personal overtures from John Sullivan and Enoch Poor to remain in the army, Stark refused to rethink his decision to resign. To be sure, there was no reconsideration of the cause for which he was fighting. Although his older brother William and his good friend Robert Rogers decided to fight for the British, nothing in the last two years had changed Stark's embrace of the Patriot cause. On the contrary, Stark vowed to fight again if needed."
All three books offer chronologies, and Rose concludes with a "Legacy" chapter that helps place Stark in historical context and quotes from his correspondence with prominent political figures in his elder years. La Bree similiarly offers a chapter on Stark's post-Revolutionary "Fading Shadows" as well as a chapter "In tribute." All three authors recall the most memorable element of Stark's legacy, the one seen on New Hampshire license places. It was a letter to citizens of Bennington in 1809, regretting that his health prevented him from attending a reunion, that contained the quote, "Live Free or Die, Death is not the worst of Evils." Stark died in 1822 at the age of 94, one of America's longest-living Revolutionary generals.
La Bree, a forester by profession, has written a biography that is more ambitious, with more pages and more quoted documents, but less successful overall. Indeed, it appears to be a classic example of a book that was well conceived and in many ways well written, but flawed by chronic misstatements of historical fact, misspellings and typographical errors. While I read it with mostly genuine pleasure, the thought occurred repeatedly that if only Le Bree's efforts had been given a thorough vetting both by a copy editor and a fact checker before publication! On the positive side, La Bree incorporates fascinating correspondence and original documents dealing with the times before and after the Battle of Bennington. He can convey a memorable mood or set the scene; as, for example, the terror and dread among the population of the Champlain Valley when Burgoyne's army tramped southward in the spring and summer of 1777. But the negatives of this book are legion. Despite abundant bibliography it seems undersourced and underfootnoted. The author contends with basic misunderstanding that the Catamount Tavern in Bennington was "a landmark inn where Stark had frequently stayed during the French and Indian War." The fact was that this territory was unsettled during the French and Indian wars and Bennington had no settlement at all until 1761. The author copied Stark's famous description of the Battle of Bennington, "the hottest engagement I have ever witnessed, resembling a continual clap of thunder," but wrote instead "a continental clap of thunder."
Karl Crannel, a staff member at Fort Ticonderoga, offers a solid biography aimed at a middle-school reading level. It is part of a series on "forgotten heroes of the American Revolution" that includes Daniel Morgan, Nathanael Greene, Henry Knox, and Francis Marion. The illustrations are attractive and a picture of 18th century life in New England is well drawn but the history is somewhat simplified. The brash capture of Fort Ticonderoga by Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold in May 1775 is overlooked; and Burgoyne's master plan, the pincer movement from the west and south on Albany that never materialized, is glossed over.
It was good to get acquainted with John Stark, about whom no biography had been written since Howard Moore's self-published typescript in 1949.
All three of these books can be purchased from the Bennington Museum Shop.