<P> Lieutenant Colonel Friedrich Baum's detachment of Hessian mercenaries, accompanied by Loyalists, Indians and French Canadians, was sent by Burgoyne in the direction of Bennington, Vermont . Their mission was to seize supplies . On August 16, 1777, the British column was met by a large Patriot force under John Stark . In the ensuing battle, many of the Loyalist, French Canadian and Indian positions were quickly overrun, and the defenders fled or were captured . The Loyalist Queen's Loyal Rangers were shattered as a fighting force, with more than two hundred of their men killed, wounded or captured . The Germans eventually surrendered, (and a relief force was driven off) in what was a major Patriot victory . </P> <P> Burgoyne's invasion was now in serious trouble . His supplies were low, Loyalists were not rallying to the colors in the numbers expected, and a huge force of Patriots was gathering against him . At Saratoga, Loyalists, Indians and French Canadians acted as scouts and sharpshooters for the British, but the fighting ended with a decisive defeat for the royal cause--the surrender of Burgoyne and his army on October 17, 1777 . </P> <P> The British general Guy Carleton, impressed by the ambush at Oriskany, authorized John Butler to raise eight more companies of Loyalist Rangers, "to serve with the Indians, as occasion shall require". This unit was Butler's Rangers . Butler's headquarters were established at Fort Niagara . This gave the Loyalists access to the river valleys of northern New York . </P> <P> The British now decided that raids upon frontier settlements were the correct path to follow . An early raid was made in May, 1778, on Cobleskill, New York, where three hundred Loyalists and Indians, led by the Mohawk chief, Joseph Brant, defeated a small Patriot force of militia and Continental regulars, then burned homes, crops and barns . </P>

Who ran the farms and business while colonial soldiers were fighting in the revolutionary war