|
Capt. John Warner's Company Guideon |
Herrick's Regimental Battle Standard |
The "flag" that you see portrayed throughout our website is actually the Company's guideon, as opposed to the Regiment's Battle Standard. A guideon is smaller than a regimental battle standard and usually features a logo signifying a particular company of a regiment. In July of 1777, there were four companys in Herrick's Regiment of Green Mountain Rangers. We have chosen this guideon to identify our company.
Here's a little history about the catamount that we chose to be Captain John Warner's Company symbol on the Company's guideon:
Prior to the start of the Revolutionary war, the area north of, and around what is now Bennington, Vermont, was known as the New Hampshire Grants. These grants were disputed by New York, who claimed that they rightfully owned those lands and that New Hampshire had no right to sell land grants for that property. The settlers who had purchased the land grants from New Hampshire certainly did not want to pay for the property twice, and formed a loose militia to protect their property. This militia, under the popular leadership of Ethan Allen, came to be known as "The Green Mountain Boys".
Ethan Allen would hold "meetings" of the Green Mountain Boys in a tavern in Bennington. During that time, a catamount was shot in the area. It was stuffed and then placed atop a pedestal in front of Landlord Stephen Fay's Tavern, with the catamount facing west as a sign of defiance against the Yorkers. The tavern came to be known as The Catamount Tavern and was used extensively as a meeting place of Ethan Allen, Seth Warner, John Warner, and many other of their contemporaries.
The following story; true or tradition, also gives us a reason to use the Catamount as the Company's symbol.
1 Far removed from well authenticated historical evidence, is the tradition of the shooting of a catamount in St. Albans, VT., by Doctor John Warner who was noted nimrod of his day. He was brother of the colonel Seth Warner, famous hero of Hubbardton and Bennington in the Revolutionary War. John Warner had fought in the Battle of Bennington. Later he settled in St. Albans. He was proud of his gun, which was about seven foot long, a length favored by hunters for bringing down game at a long distance. Dr. Warner had used this gun in the Battle of Bennington, and most people in St. Albans know about the good Doctor and his “seven footer.” According to the tradition, which is not supported by any evidence, so far as this writer has been able to learn, a catamount invaded the doctor's farm one night, and stole from its pen a large calf that was being fatted for slaughter. No date is mentioned in connection with the event, but if it happened at all, it must have been prior to 1800.
Early the next morning the doctor discovered his loss. The calf was gone and there was an abundance of tracks indicating that the thief was a panther. Taking his dog and armed with his trusty seven footer, he set out to follow the marauder. Some miles distant - the story is vague and there are few details - he came within sight of the catamount. It was still feeding on the carcass of the calf, or part of it. The doctor, who was famed far and wide for his marksmanship, must have been in poor form that day. His first shot wounded the beast, but not seriously, enough to disable it and it moved away as fast as it could in its wounded state. The Doctor re-loaded and took a second shot, sending a ball through the body of the animal, still not disabling it. The dog closed in, but the wounded beast, bleeding much, kept running and managed to climb a up into a tree. A third time the doctor fired, the shot inflicting a terrible wound on the side of the head and destroying one eye of the poor creature. Mad with rage, the animal came down from the tree and made an “attack” upon the doctor. The dog helped his master, by attacking the catamount from the rear and finally, when the animal was almost exhausted by bleeding and the pain suffered from its frightful wounds, the doctor was able to finish it by clubbing it to death, crushing its skull.
Because the catamount was a fitting symbol of the rugged determination of Vermonters for independence, and also a personal symbol of the determination and personal courage of Captain John Warner himself, we have chosen the snarling head of the catamount as the logo for our Company Guideon. A special thanks to Matthew Rockwell for the catamount illustration used on our guideon.
1The Catamount in Vermont - by John Spargo
|
|
