The Battle of Fort Anne, fought on July 8, 1777, was an engagement between Continental Army forces in retreat from Fort Ticonderoga and forward elements of John Burgoyne's much larger British army that had driven them from Ticonderoga, early in the Saratoga campaign of the American Revolutionary War. Burgoyne, surprised by the American withdrawal from Fort Ticonderoga, hurried as many of his troops as possible forward in pursuit of the retreating Americans. The main body of the American forces had departed Fort Independence down the road to Hubbardton, and a smaller body of troops, accompanying the sick, wounded, and camp followers that had also evacuated the fort, had sailed up Lake Champlain to Skenesboro, moving from there overland to Fort Edward. That group, which included about 600 men under arms, paused at Fort Anne, where a smaller advance company from Burgoyne's army caught up to them. The British, clearly outnumbered, sent for reinforcements. The Americans decided to attack while they had the numerical advantage, and succeeded in nearly surrounding the British position about three quarters of a mile (1 km) north of the fort. The Americans retreated back to the fort when war whoops indicated the arrival of British reinforcements. While that was a ruse (the reinforcements were a single officer), it saved the British force from probable capture. More of Burgoyne's army soon came down the road, forcing the Americans to retreat from Fort Anne to Fort Edward. It has been claimed that a flag was flown at Fort Anne that may have been the first instance of a flag consisting of stars and stripes; the claim is unproven and likely false. Background On the night of July 5–6, the Continental Army forces occupying Fort Ticonderoga were ordered to evacuate the fort by General Arthur St. Clair, following the approach of General John Burgoyne's 8,000-man army. Burgoyne's men had placed a gun battery on top of Mount Defiance, overlooking the fort, and the American avenues of retreat were at risk of being cut off. Most of the American forces left Ticonderoga and the surrounding defense works via Fort Independence and the road to Hubbardton. About 600 men under Colonel Pierse Long, most of them from New Hampshire, sailed up the lake in a flotilla consisting of 5 armed galleys and over 200 smaller transport vessels. These vessels were loaded with as many of the sick from the fort as