The Green Mountain Boys were a militia organization first established in the 1760s in the territory between the British provinces of New York and New Hampshire, known as the New Hampshire Grants (which later became the state of Vermont). Headed by Ethan Allen and members of his extended family, they were instrumental in resisting New York's attempts to control the territory, over which it had won de jure control in a territorial dispute with New Hampshire.
When these disputes led to the formation of the Vermont Republic in 1777, the Green Mountain Boys became the state militia. Some companies served in the American Revolutionary War, including notably when the Green mountain boys led by Ethan Allen captured fort Ticonderoga at lake Champlain on May 10, 1775, the 1775 invasion of Canada, and 1777 battles at Hubbardton and Bennington.
Following Vermont's admission to the Union in 1791, the original organization essentially disbanded. The Green Mountain Boys mustered again during the War of 1812, the Civil War, and the Spanish-American War. Today it is the informal name of the Vermont National Guard which comprises both the Army and Air National Guards.
Read more about Green Mountain Boys: Historical Unit, Flag, Vermont National Guard
Famous quotes containing the words green, mountain and/or boys:
“Many a green isle needs must be
In the deep wide sea of Misery,
Or the mariner, worn and wan,
Never thus could voyage on”
—Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822)
“What have we achieved in mowing down mountain ranges, harnessing the energy of mighty rivers, or moving whole populations about like chess pieces, if we ourselves remain the same restless, miserable, frustrated creatures we were before? To call such activity progress is utter delusion. We may succeed in altering the face of the earth until it is unrecognizable even to the Creator, but if we are unaffected wherein lies the meaning?”
—Henry Miller (1891–1980)
“I ... hate with a murderous hatred those men who, having lived their youth, would send into war other youth, not lived, unfulfilled, to fight and die for them; the pride and cowardice of those old men, making their wars that boys must die.”
—Mary Roberts Rinehart (1876–1958)