Stark reported 14 killed and 42 wounded. Of Baum's 374 professional soldiers, only nine men escaped. For this feat Stark won his coveted promotion to brigadier general in the Continental Army on October 4, 1777. Saratoga is seen as the turning point in the Revolutionary War, as it was the first major defeat of a British general and it convinced the French that the Americans were worthy of military aid. After the Battle of Freeman's Farm Gen. Stark's brigade moved into a position at Stark's Knob cutting off Burgoyne's retreat to Lake George and Lake Champlain. John Stark sat as a judge in the court martial that in September 1780 found British Major John André guilty of spying and in helping in the conspiracy of Benedict Arnold to surrender West Point to the British. He was the commander of the Northern Department three times between 1778 and 1781 along with commanding a brigade at the Battle of Springfield in June of 1780. After serving with distinction throughout the rest of the war, Stark retired to his farm in Derryfield, renamed Manchester in 1810, where he died on May 8, 1822 at the age of 93. It has been said that of all the Revolutionary War generals, Stark was the only true Cincinnatus because he truly retired from public life at the end of the war. In 1809, a group of Bennington veterans gathered to commemorate the battle. General Stark, then aged 81, was not well enough to travel, but he sent a letter to his comrades, which closed "Live free or die: Death is not the worst of evils." The motto "Live Free or Die" became the New Hampshire state motto in 1945. Stark and the Battle of Bennington were later commemorated with the tall Bennington Battle Monument and a statue of Stark in Bennington, Vermont. There is a New Hampshire historical marker (number 48) near John Stark's birthplace on the east side of New Hampshire Route 28 (Rockingham Road) in Derry, New Hampshire, just south of the intersection of Lawrence Road. There is a second stone marker at the actual homestead location. Stark's childhood home is located at 2000 Elm Street in Manchester, New Hampshire. The home was built in 1736 by John's father Archibald. The building is now owned by the Molly Stark Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. The property, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is open by appointment only. Manchester's Stark Park, also a listed property, is home to his grave and is named in his honor.