Bennington or Fillmore Flag
Possibly 1777, more likely 1814
In an effort to isolate New England from the rest of the United States in the summer of 1777, British forces under the command of General Burgoyne marched south from Canada. By August supplies had run out. Burgoyne sent a detachment to Bennington Vermont, attempting to capture American supplies stockpiled there. In what signaled the beginning of the end for the British in the north, Americans serving under Vermont Militia Commander, General John Stark overwhelmingly defeated the British at the Battle of Bennington.
Thirty-seven years later, during the War of 1812, the British again attempted to spilt the United States in two by marching south from Canada into upstate New York. In September of 1814 at the Battle of Plattsburgh, American forces including Vermont militia, once again turned them back.
Legend has it, the Bennington Flag was carried at the Battle of Bennington by LT Nathaniel Fillmore. It flew over the supply center at Bennington. Years later, Nathaniel Fillmore presented the Flag to his nephew, Septa Fillmore, as he was preparing to march off to the Battle of Plattsburgh.
The Bennington Flag, currently on display at the Bennington Museum in Vermont, is made of cotton. While cotton was grown in the southern colonies in the 1700’s, it was not in common use until the early 1800’s. The Flag most likely was made in 1814 to remind the Vermont troops of the Declaration of Independence and the great victory over the British at the Battle of Bennington.
The Bennington Flag was passed down from generation to generation by the Fillmore family, including Millard Fillmore, the 13th President. In 1926 it was donated to the Bennington Museum. Design became popular in 1976 as the unofficial Flag of the Bicentennial.
Sources:
Bennington Museum, “Object Record, Flag” (1812) https://bennington.pastperfectonline.com/webobject/B575B65F-63DE-4319-BDE1-479841191726
Chaplin, Joyce E. “Creating a Cotton South in Georgia and South Carolina, 1760-1815.” The Journal of Southern History 57, no. 2 (1991): 171–200. https://doi.org/10.2307/2210413.
Furlong, William and McCandless, Byron “So Proudly We Hail, The History of the United States Flag” pp. 105-107 (1981) Smithsonian Institution Press
Kruger, John. “John Stark, The Hero of Bennington” (2022) Champlain National Historic Partnership https://champlainvalleynhp.org/2022/08/john-stark-the-hero-of-bennington/
Lossing, Benson. “The Pictorial Field-Book of the War of 1812” pp 860-879 (1868) Harper & Brothers, Publishers.
New York State Historical Association Proceeding Vol. 17 “SOLDIERS OF THE CHAMPLAIN VALLEY.” (1919) p. 346 http://www.jstor.org/stable/42890087
Special thanks to Callie Raspuzzi, Collections Manager at the Benington Museum.