John Stark Leadership Qualities

In this essay I will be analyzing the adaptive leadership qualities of General John Stark from the state of New Hampshire in the United States of America. General John Stark was born August 28th, 1728 in Londonderry, New Hampshire and then later died on May 8th 1822 in Derryfield, New Hampshire at the age of 93. Stark would eventually be buried in a cemetery bearing his name, Starke cemetery in Manchester, New Hampshire. John Stark served in many battles during the French and Indian war and later in the American Revolutionary war. Stark served with Rogers Rangers and eventually would attain the rank of Major General in the U.S. Continental Army.
At the age of 23 John Stark embarked on a hunting expedition with his two older brothers. During the expedition Stark was captured by Abenaki Indians and was brought to St. Francis near Qubec. While being held captive, John Stark and his brother Amos Eastman were forced to walk between two lines of Indian warriors while they were beaten with sticks. Amos when first and was nearly beaten to death. When Stark walked through, instead of letting himself be beaten he grabbed a club out of the hands of a warrior and proceeded to swing at anyone that was near him even though he was surrounded

and outnumbered. This quality proves that from an early age John Stark was not only resilient and driven, but also a risk taker. These actions impressed the Abenaki tribal leader who would eventually treat Stark with respect during his captivity.
Years later, Stark would show other leadership qualities such as being proactive and tactically proficient.

A prime example of this would occur the Battle of Bunker Hill where Stark would eventually lead his men into a strategic position in anticipation of a British advance. Because Stark was proactive by taking control of the situation and tactically proficient in his placement of his men he was able to inflict heavy British casualties. In this battle Stark shows that he is aware of the capabilities of his men and himself. This is only true because Stark is also aware of the work environment he has to deal with and is using timing to his advantage. All of these factors are only possible because of his experience as a soldier and a

leader.
In the Battle of Bennington, Stark would once again show a driven leadership quality by gathering up his Green Mountain Boys and proclaiming, “Boys! There’s the enemy. They must be beat, or Molly Stark must sleep a widow this night! Forward, boys! March!”. With this act Stark would stir up emotion in his men and give them confidence that he would be there with them during the advance, leading the way. All of these qualities and many more that go unmentioned are what defines John Stark as a great American military leader.