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Live Free or Die: The Life and Times Of John Stark is the story of how the American Revolution's best battlefield commander triumphed over the self-interest of others to play a major role in securing victory for the new republic.
Most often referred to as the "Hero of the Battle of Bennington," John Stark also played pivotal roles in the Battle of Bunker Hill and the Battle of Trenton.
In the French and Indian War, he saw continuous action along the Richelieu River-Lake Champlain corridor as a member of Rogers's Rangers. In the end, he became the conscience of the rangers when he voiced his disapproval of the motives and tactics of group leader Robert Rogers.
Stark's actions at Bunker Hill, when his militia troops repeatedly repulsed British advances, avoided a disaster that would have snuffed out the rebellion. He was a modest man whose actions always spoke louder than words, and his incomparable leadership that day was all but ignored by New Hampshire's rebel governing authority.
At Trenton, Stark was in the vanguard of Washington's right flank along the River Road. It is likely that he also had a major role during both the Battle of Princeton and the Springfield Raid, though it is difficult to know for certain as most contemporary accounts are offered by those seeking self-glorification, a quality unknown to Stark.
His reward for his well-proven ability to lead troops in combat was to be repeatedly spurned when Congress appointed general officers. Not one of those officers could challenge Stark's record on the battlefield. Completely frustrated, he quit the army and returned to his farm and sawmill in New Hampshire.
Three months later, with the British under John Burgoyne threatening to overrun New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York, he was persuaded to return. He did so on the condition that he would take no orders from any officer of the Continental Army.
What happened next is where John Stark's story becomes even more interesting.
In Live Free or Die: The Life and Times Of John Stark, William R. Baker Jr. has deftly interwoven the remarkable story of one of this country's most self-reliant and original personalities with a lively and informative account of the early America he helped to create.
