General John Stark / US Army

One doesn’t have to live in New Hampshire for more than 10 minutes before they hear the phrase, “Live Free or Die.” In fact, it has been the state motto since 1945. But one probably first saw it on NH vehicle license plates, where it has been prominently displayed since 1971. But what does it mean? Where did it come from? Who came up with the idea? Is there any more to it, or is that short phrase all there is? “Live Free or Die” was an idea borne by NH native, General John Stark.

The Stark family can be traced back to the early 1700’s. John’s father, Archibald, was born in Scotland, and his mother, Eleanor Nichols, was born in Ireland. Stark moved to Ireland, where the two met and were married in 1714. They emigrated to America in 1720, settling in Londonderry, NH, where their son, John Stark, was born August 28, 1728.

He was captured by the Abenaki Indians. One source said this happened at “a young age.” Another source says that he was captured in 1752, making him 24 years old. There is no record of how much time he spent with the Abanakis, but one source says he spent one winter with them. He may have escaped, or they may have allowed him to leave. At any rate, he eventually made it back to NH. (Author’s Note: The Abanaki are an indigenous people of the northeastern US and Canada. The original tribes were split up as colonization encroached on their home area.)

Upon returning to NH, he joined Roger’s Rangers in their fight during the French and Indian War. He served first as a lieutenant and later as a captain. Stark fought in the Battle of the Snowshoes and the Battle of Fort Carillon. When the war ended, he went home to New Hampshire.

Rogers’ Rangers began in 1755 as a New Hampshire militia, one of a long line of New England Ranger companies going back to the 1670’s. The model for this unit was the Gorham Rangers, formed in 1744. Both units were active during the French and Indian War. Rogers Rangers were commanded by Captain Robert Rogers and operated primarily in the Lake George and Lake Champlain areas of upstate New York.
The French and Indian War was fought between 1754 and 1763 and involved Great Britain and France, along with their respective Native American allies. The war was primarily a struggle over control of North America and the land each had claimed. It was called the French and Indian War because the French were allied with various Indian tribes against the British.

In April 1775, word reached Stark that the British had fired on Americans at the Battle of Lexington. He gathered volunteers and marched to Boston to join the New England Army of Observation in the Siege of Boston. In the first two years of the war, he participated in the defense of New York, the American retreat from Canada, and served under Washington at the Battle of Trenton and the Battle of Princeton.

In March 1777, Stark resigned his commission, but when British General Burgoyne invaded New York, he was made brigadier general of militia. Stark dealt them a significant blow at the Battle of Bennington in Vermont. This was to be Stark’s crowning moment, and so is covered in more detail here:

After capturing Fort Ticonderoga in July 1777, the British commander, General John Burgoyne, pushed into western New York State toward Albany. His long supply line to Canada could not provide adequate supplies, and so, hoping to capture needed provisions and overawe New Englanders, he dispatched a well-equipped regiment to Bennington, VT, under the German Colonel Friedrich Baum. The raiding force, numbering about 650 German and British regulars, along with 500 Canadian and Loyalist volunteers and 100 Indigenous allies, departed on August 9, 1777, and plundered the countryside for five days. On August 14, a group of American militia sent by Vermont Brigadier General John Stark lost a skirmish with Baum’s raiders near Bennington. The American force grew to 1,100 men the next day when Stark himself arrived with reinforcements in heavy rain. Baum realized he was badly outnumbered. He sent a courier to Burgoyne requesting more troops and had his men build earth breastworks in the meantime for defense. Soon after he did so, Continental regulars under the command of Colonel Seth Warner arrived, swelling the American force to about 2,350, while local Loyalists joined Baum’s command, bringing its number to about 1,450.

On August 16, Stark, who had distinguished himself at the Battle of Bunker Hill and the Battle of Trenton, led his militia in a multipronged assault against Baum’s positions. The complex American plan worked perfectly, hitting the positions simultaneously from several directions. Most of the Loyalists and Indians left the fight at the first volley, but the British and German regulars fiercely defended their redoubt for two hours until their ammunition was gone. In a vain attempt to break out, Baum had his dismounted Hessian cavalrymen draw sabers and attack on foot. Baum fell fatally wounded, and the survivors surrendered. Reinforcements sent by Burgoyne were delayed by the rain and arrived after the battle. Stark reformed his celebrating men and attacked the arriving Germans. In the fight, the German commander was killed and the rest were forced to retreat. The outcome of this engagement went far in enhancing American morale, while also lowering Native American confidence in British fighting ability. At a council after the battle, the Indigenous allies decided to withdraw to Canada, leaving Burgoyne’s army without a reliable reconnaissance force and further weakening his campaign to cut off New York and New England from the southern colonies.

Two months later, the British were beaten at the end of the Saratoga Campaign, which convinced the French to recognize the United States as an independent nation and to provide military support. Stark served through the rest of the war in the Northern Department and then retired to his farm.

General John Stark died on May 8, 1822, in Manchester, New Hampshire. He was buried on his farm, on the bank of the Merrimack River.

And the rest of the story about “Live Free or Die” is this: The phrase was adopted from a toast written by General John Stark, New Hampshire’s most famous soldier of the American Revolutionary War, on July 31, 1809. Poor health forced Stark to decline an invitation to an anniversary reunion of the Battle of Bennington. Instead, he sent his toast by letter: Live free or die: Death is not the worst of evils. By the time Stark wrote “Live free or die” it was a popular motto of the French Revolution and was required as an oath of office for all legislators for the duration of the Constitution of 1791.