Vermont’s Council of Safety assigned 24 men to scout and defend Vermont’s northern border on this day in 1778. Just a few months earlier, Vermont had been victorious in the Battle of Bennington, but Vermonters weren’t convinced that their victory guaranteed their safety.

They felt the northern border was particularly vulnerable to penetration and attack. These 24 men would patrol the isolated, rugged, rural terrain to prevent a clandestine invasion, and were dispatched immediately.

In March, Vermont’s first Legislature began to organize the state’s infrastructure and security.

Image courtesy the National Life Group.