Then Again: The Battle of Bennington and its aftermath

A German soldier’s firsthand account, which lingered in a German military archive for two centuries before being translated into English, paints a picture of the tumult that enveloped the battle and then the town of Bennington in the immediate aftermath of the fight.

By Mark Bushnell
August 4, 2024, 9:05 am



“The Battle of Bennington, August 16, 1777” by Alonzo Chappel depicts the aftermath of the fight, with British and German soldiers being marched off as prisoners. Photo via the collection of the Bennington Museum

Julius Wasmus faced death at close range. The American soldier leveling a musket at him stood so close his bayonet pressed against Wasmus’ chest. Though he spoke no English, Wasmus understood when the soldier asked if he was British or German. Wasmus tried to explain that he was a surgeon from the German principality of Braunschweig.

Then he blurted out three words that came to mind: “Freund und Bruder,” which perhaps fortunately for Wasmus sounded a lot like what they mean in English, “friend and brother.” Then he shook the American’s hand. “For what does one not do when in trouble?” Wasmus later explained.

The American lowered his gun, took the surgeon’s pocket watch and then offered him a drink. With that, Wasmus’ involvement in the Battle of Bennington, as it would become known, and the Revolutionary War were over. He would spend the coming years as a prisoner of war.

We know of his experience, because, of the nearly 4,000 men who took part in the battle, Wasmus gained a sort of immortality by the simple act of writing things down. His firsthand account, which lingered in a German military archive for two centuries before being translated into English, paints a picture of the tumult that enveloped the battle and then the town of Bennington in the immediate aftermath of the fight. It is the only surviving description of the battle by someone serving with the British.

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