Battle of Ticonderoga (1775)

:For other battles at Fort Ticonderoga, see Battle of Ticonderoga.

The Campaign for Ticonderoga

The Connecticut Committee of Safety had decided that taking Ticonderoga was a good idea. They wrote to Ethan Allen and others, who also liked the idea. James Easton raised 40 volunteers at Pittsfield, Massachusetts for the venture. Allen assembled over a hundred of his Green Mountain Boys. They met on the evening of May 9 at Bennington, and made their plans.

Related Topics:
Connecticut - Pittsfield, Massachusetts - Green Mountain Boys - Bennington

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Ethan Allen was elected Colonel, with Easton and Seth Warner as his lieutenants. Samuel Herrick was sent to Skenesboro and Asa Douglas to Panton with detachments to secure boats.

Related Topics:
Seth Warner - Skenesboro - Panton

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Allen would march the rest up the lake to a point a few miles below Ticonderoga, to cross there. The council had just parted when Benedict Arnold arrived with orders from the Connecticut committee and insisted that he should be in command. He was generally ignored, but they did let him march up front with Allen.

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Local volunteers brought their numbers up to about 200. By moonset, they had assembled at Hand's Cove and were ready to cross the lake, but had only two boats secured by Douglas. Eighty-three of the Green Mountain boys piled in with Arnold and Allen and crossed the lake. Douglas went back for the rest. But as dawn approached, fearful of losing the element of surprise, they attacked. Surprising the only sentry on duty at the south gate, they rushed into the crumbling fort. Allen and Arnold charged up the stairs into the officer's quarters, roused the garrison commander from bed, and demanded surrender, which they got. Only one shot was fired, and there were no injuries on either side.

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Ticonderoga was not the fortress it had been in 1758, when the French had famously held it from a British attack. It had largely fallen into disrepair and the garrison consisted of only two officers and forty-six men.

Related Topics:
1758 - French - British attack

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