1775 CAPTURE OF FORT TICONDEROGA REVOLUTION ETHAN ALLEN

Military history

French and Indian War

In August 1757, the French captured Fort William Henry in an action launched from Fort Carillon.^[22] This, and a string of other French victories in 1757, prompted the British to organize a large-scale attack on the fort as part of a multi-campaign strategy against French Canada.^[23] In June 1758, British General James Abercromby began amassing a large force at Fort William Henry in preparation for the military campaign directed up the Champlain Valley. These forces landed at the north end of Lake George, only four miles from the fort, on July 6.^[24] The French general Louis-Joseph de Montcalm, who had only arrived at Carillon in late June, engaged his troops in a flurry of work to improve the fort's outer defenses. They built, over two days, entrenchments around a rise between the fort and Mount Hope, about three-quarters of a mile (one kilometer) northwest of the fort, and then constructed an abatis (felled trees with sharpened branches pointing out) below these entrenchments.^[25] Abercromby's failure to advance directly to the fort on July 7 made much of this defensive work possible. Abercromby's second-in-command, Brigadier General George Howe, had been killed when his column encountered a French reconnaissance troop. Abercromby "felt [Howe's death] most heavily" and may have been unwilling to act immediately.^[26]

On July 8, 1758, Abercromby ordered a frontal attack against the hastily assembled French works. Abercromby tried to move rapidly against the few French defenders, opting to forgo field cannon and relying instead on the numerical superiority of his 16,000 troops. In the Battle of Carillon, the British were soundly defeated by the 4,000 French defenders.^[27] The battle took place far enough away from the fort that its guns were rarely used.^[28] The battle gave the fort a reputation for impregnability, which had an impact on future military operations in the area, notably during the American Revolutionary War.^[29] Following the French victory, Montcalm, anticipating further British attacks, ordered additional work on the defenses, including the construction of the Germain and Pontleroy redoubts (named for the engineers under whose direction they were constructed) to the northeast of the fort.^[30][31] However, the British did not attack again in 1758, so the French withdrew all but a small garrison of men for the winter in November.^[32]

The fort was captured the following year by the British under General Jeffrey Amherst in the 1759 Battle of Ticonderoga. In this confrontation 11,000 British troops, using emplaced artillery, drove off a token garrison of 400 Frenchmen. The French, in withdrawing, used explosives to destroy what they could of the fort^[33] and spiked or dumped cannons that they did not take with them. Although the British worked in 1759 and 1760 to repair and improve the fort,^[34] the fort saw no more significant action in the war. After the war, the British garrisoned it with a small numbers of troops and allowed it to fall into disrepair. Colonel Frederick Haldimand, in command of the fort in 1773, wrote that it was in "ruinous condition".^[35]

Early Revolutionary War

In 1775, Fort Ticonderoga, in disrepair, was still manned by a token force. On May 10, 1775, less than one month after the American Revolutionary War was ignited with the battles of Lexington and Concord, the British garrison of 48 soldiers was surprised by a small force of Green Mountain Boys, along with militia volunteers from Massachusetts and Connecticut, led by Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold.^[36] Allen claims to have said, "Come out you old Rat!" to the fort's commander, Captain William Delaplace.^[37] He also later said that he demanded that the British commander surrender the fort "In the name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress!"; however, his surrender demand was made to Lieutenant Jocelyn Feltham and not the fort's commander, who did later appear and surrender his sword.^[37] With the capture of the fort, the Patriot forces obtained a large supply of cannons and other armaments, much of which Henry Knox transported to Boston during the winter of 1775–1776. Ticonderoga's cannons were instrumental in ending the Siege of Boston when they were used to fortify Dorchester Heights.^[38] Arnold remained in control of the fort until 1,000 Connecticut troops under the command of Benjamin Hinman arrived in June 1775. Due to a series of political maneuvers and miscommunications, Arnold was never notified that Hinman was to take command. After a delegation from Massachusetts (which had issued Arnold's commission) arrived to clarify the matter, Arnold resigned his commission and departed, leaving the fort in Hinman's hands.^[39]

Beginning in July 1775, Ticonderoga was used as a staging area for the invasion of Quebec to begin in September. Under the leadership of generals Philip Schuyler and Richard Montgomery, men and materiel for the invasion accumulated there through July and August.^[40] On August 28, after receiving word that British forces at Fort Saint-Jean, not far from the New York–Quebec border, were nearing completion of boats to launch onto Lake Champlain, Montgomery launched the invasion, leading 1,200 troops down the lake.^[41] Ticonderoga continued to serve as a staging base for the action in Quebec until the battle and siege at Quebec City that resulted in Montgomery's death.^[42]

In May 1776, British troops began to arrive at Quebec City, where they broke the Continental Army's siege.^[43] The British chased the American forces back to Ticonderoga in June, and, after several months of shipbuilding, moved down Lake Champlain under Guy Carleton in October. The British destroyed a small fleet of American gunboats in the Battle of Valcour Island in mid-October, but snow was already falling, so the British retreated to winter quarters in Quebec. About 1,700 troops from the Continental Army, under the command of Colonel Anthony Wayne, wintered at Ticonderoga.^[42][44] The British offensive resumed the next year in the Saratoga campaign under General John Burgoyne.^[45]

Saratoga Campaign

During the summer of 1776, the Americans, under the direction of General Schuyler, and later under General Horatio Gates, added substantial defensive works to the area. Mount Independence, which is almost completely surrounded by water, was fortified with trenches near the water, a horseshoe battery part way up the side, a citadel at the summit, and redoubts armed with cannons surrounding the summit area. These defenses were linked to Ticonderoga with a pontoon bridge that was protected by land batteries on both sides. The works on Mount Hope, the heights above the site of Montcalm's victory, were improved to include a star-shaped fort. Mount Defiance remained unfortified.^[46]

In March 1777, American generals were strategizing about possible British military movements and considered an attempt on the Hudson River corridor a likely possibility. General Schuyler, heading the forces stationed at Ticonderoga, requested 10,000 troops to guard Ticonderoga and 2,000 to guard the Mohawk River valley against British invasion from the north. George Washington, who had never been to Ticonderoga (his only visit was to be in 1783),^[47] believed that an overland attack from the north was unlikely, due to the alleged impregnability of Ticonderoga.^[29] This, combined with continuing incursions up the Hudson River valley by British forces occupying New York City, led Washington to believe that any attack on the Albany area would be from the south, which, as it was part of the supply line to Ticonderoga, would necessitate a withdrawal from the fort. As a result, no significant actions were taken to further fortify Ticonderoga or significantly increase its garrison.^[48] The garrison, about 2,000 men under General Arthur St. Clair, was too small to man all the defenses.^[49]

General Gates, who oversaw the northern defenses, was aware that Mount Defiance threatened the fort.^[50] John Trumbull had pointed this out as early as 1776, when a shot fired from the fort was able to reach Defiance's summit, and several officers inspecting the hill noted that there were approaches to its summit where gun carriages could be pulled up the sides.^[50] As the garrison was too small to properly defend all the existing works in area, Mount Defiance was left undefended.^[51] Anthony Wayne left Ticonderoga in April 1777 to join Washington's army; he reported to Washington that "all was well", and that the fort "can never be carried, without much loss of blood".^[52]

General Burgoyne led 7,800 British and Hessian forces south from Quebec in June 1777.^[53] After occupying nearby Fort Crown Point without opposition on June 30, he prepared to besiege Ticonderoga.^[54] Burgoyne realized the tactical advantage of the high ground, and had his troops haul cannons to the top of Mount Defiance. Faced with bombardment from the heights (even before any shots had been fired from those cannons), General St. Clair ordered Ticonderoga abandoned on July 5, 1777. Burgoyne's troops moved in the next day,^[55] with advance guards pursuing the retreating Americans.^[56] Washington, on hearing of Burgoyne's advance and the retreat from Ticonderoga, stated that the event was "not apprehended, nor within the compass of my reasoning".^[57] News of the abandonment of the "Impregnable Bastion" without a fight, caused "the greatest surprise and alarm" throughout the colonies.^[58] After public outcry over his actions, General St. Clair was court-martialed in 1778. He was cleared on all charges.^[57]

One last attack

Following the British capture of Ticonderoga, it and the surrounding defenses were garrisoned by 700 British and Hessian troops under the command of Brigadier General Henry Watson Powell. Most of these forces were on Mount Independence, with only 100 each at Fort Ticonderoga and a blockhouse they were constructing on top of Mount Defiance.^[59] George Washington sent General Benjamin Lincoln into the New Hampshire Grants to "divide and distract the enemy".^[60] Aware that Fort Ticonderoga housed American prisoners, Lincoln decided to test the British defenses. On September 13, he sent 500 men to Skenesboro, which the British had abandoned, and 500 each against the defenses on either side of the lake at Ticonderoga. Colonel John Brown led the troops on the west side, with instructions to release the prisoners if possible, and attack the fort if it seemed feasible.^[61]

Early on September 18, Brown's troops surprised the British contingent holding prisoners near the Lake George landing, while a detachment of his troops snuck up Mount Defiance, and captured most of the sleeping construction crew. Brown and his men then moved down the portage trail toward the fort, surprising more troops and releasing prisoners along the way.^[62] The fort's occupants were unaware of the action until Brown's men and British troops occupying the old French lines skirmished. At this point Brown's men dragged two six-pound guns, captured earlier, up to the lines, and began firing on the fort. The men who had captured Mount Defiance began firing a twelve-pounder from that site.^[63]

The column that was to attack Mount Independence was delayed, and its numerous defenders were alerted to the action at the fort below before the attack on their position began. Their musket fire, as well as grapeshot fired from ships anchored nearby, intimidated the Americans sufficiently that they never launched an assault on the defensive positions on Mount Independence.^[63] A stalemate persisted, with regular exchanges of cannon fire, until September 21, when 100 Hessians, returning from the Mohawk Valley to support Burgoyne, arrived on the scene to provide reinforcement to the besieged fort.^[64] Brown eventually sent a truce party to the fort to open negotiations; the party was fired on, and three of its five members were killed.^[65] Brown, realizing that the weaponry they had was insufficient to take the fort, decided to withdraw. Destroying many bateaux and seizing a ship on Lake George, he set off to annoy British positions on that lake.^[65] His action resulted in the freeing of 118 Americans and the capture of 293 British troops, while suffering fewer than ten casualties.^[63]

Abandonment

Following Burgoyne's defeat at Saratoga, the fort at Ticonderoga became increasingly irrelevant. The British abandoned it and nearby Fort Crown Point in November 1777, destroying both as best they could prior to their withdrawal.^[66] The fort was occasionally reoccupied by British raiding parties in the following years, but it no longer held a prominent strategic role in the war. It was finally abandoned by the British for good in 1781, following the surrender at Yorktown.^[67] Area residents began stripping the fort of usable building materials, even melting some of the cannons down for their metal in the years following the war.^[68]

Tourist attraction

In 1785, the fort's lands became the property of the state of New York. The state donated the property to Columbia and Union colleges in 1803,^[69] who sold it to William Ferris Pell in 1820.^[70] Pell first used the property as a summer retreat, but the completion of railroads and canals connecting the area to New York City brought tourists to the area,^[71] so he converted his summer house, known as The Pavilion, into a hotel to serve the tourist trade. In 1848, the Hudson River School artist Russell Smith painted Ruins of Fort Ticonderoga, depicting the condition of the fort.^[72]

The Pell family, a politically important clan with influence throughout American history (from William C. C. Claiborne, the first Governor of Louisiana, to a Senator from Rhode Island, Claiborne Pell), restored the fort in 1909 and formally opened it to the public. The ceremonies, which commemorated the 300th anniversary of the discovery of Lake Champlain by European explorers, were attended by President William Howard Taft.^[73] Stephen Pell, who spearheaded the restoration effort, founded the Fort Ticonderoga Association in 1931, which is now responsible for the fort.^[74] Between 1900 and 1950, the historically important lands around the fort, including Mount Defiance, Mount Independence, and much of Mount Hope, were also acquired by the foundation.^[75] The fort was rearmed with fourteen 24-pound cannons provided by the British government. These cannons had been cast in England for use during the Revolution, but the war ended before they were shipped over.^[76]

The fort is now a tourist attraction, early American military museum, and research center. The fort opens around May 10, the anniversary of the 1775 capture, every year, closing in late October.^[77] It has been on a watchlist of National Historic Landmarks since 1998, due to the poor condition of some of the walls and the 19th-century pavilion constructed by William Ferris Pell.^[2] The pavilion is, as of early 2009, undergoing restoration. In 2008, the powder magazine destroyed by the French in 1759 was recreated, based in part on the original 1755 plans.^[78] Also in 2008, the withdrawal of a major backer's financial support forced the museum, facing significant budget deficits, to consider selling one of its major art works, Thomas Cole's Gelyna, View near Ticonderoga. However, fundraising activities succeeded in making this unnecessary.^[