How to Use the Images

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Illustration 1: Site of the Battle of Bennington.

Illustration 1 was drawn in 1777 by Lt. Desmaretz Durnford, an engineer with the British army at the Battle of Bennington. It was later engraved and presented to the British Parliament in 1780 as part of General Burgoyne's explanation of the failure of his campaign. Unlike most modern maps, north is to the right, rather than at the top.

Questions for Illustration 1

1. Find the Walloomsack River. What other natural features can you identify? What man-made elements can you locate?

2. Changes in elevation are indicated by a kind of shading known as "hachuring," short lines beginning at the top of a slope and ending at the bottom. Based on this, where is the highest part of the site? According to the key, who occupied the hill when the battle began?

3. Trees indicate woods, while the roughly rectangular areas along the river represent fields. Based on Illustration 1, how would you describe the landscape where the battle took place?

4. If you were commanding an army and looking for a good place to establish your camp, where might you have put it? Why?

* The image on this screen has a resolution of 72 dots per inch (dpi), and therefore will print poorly. You can obtain a larger version of Illustration 1, but be aware that the file will take as much as 70 seconds to load with a 28.8K modem.