The Bennington Battlefield State Historic Site, an important Revolutionary War battlefield near the New York and Vermont border at Walloomsac in the Town of Hoosick has received a historic replica cannon donated by an American descendant of a badly wounded “Hessian” soldier who survived thanks to an act of battlefield compassion.
The donation came as State Parks also added 11 acres to the 416-acre historic site in Rensselaer County that marks a 1777 battle between several thousand patriot and British forces, which included loyalist and German troops, who were also known as “Hessians,” after the German region of Hesse.
Ohio resident Michael Kasler, whose ancestor Johann Michael Kasler was badly wounded during the battle and survived after a patriot soldier got him timely medical attention, donated a replica three-pounder British cannon, a model that was used during the battle.
The 11-acres of land recently added to the battlefield site is a portion of the “Tory Fort,” a breastwork defended by about 200 loyalist soldiers.
More information can be found online.
Photo of replica cannon at Bennington Battlefield State Historic Site provided.
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