The
Green Mountain Boys were a militia organization first established in the 1760s in the territory between the British provinces of
New York and
New Hampshire, known as the
New Hampshire Grants (which later became the state of
Vermont). Headed by
Ethan Allen and members of his extended family, they were instrumental in resisting New York's attempts to control the territory, over which it had won
de jure control in a territorial dispute with New Hampshire.
When these disputes led to the formation of the
Vermont Republic in 1777, the Green Mountain Boys became the state militia. Some companies served in the
American Revolutionary War, including notably when the Green Mountain Boys led by Ethan Allen
captured fort Ticonderoga on Lake Champlain on May 10, 1775; the
invasion of Canada in 1775; and the battles at
Hubbardton and
Bennington in 1777.
Following
Vermont's admission to the Union in 1791, the original organization essentially disbanded. The Green Mountain Boys mustered again during the
War of 1812, the
Civil War, and the
Spanish-American War. Today it is the informal name of the
Vermont National Guard which comprises both the Army and Air National Guards.