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Fort Ticonderoga
Ticonderoga, New York
Fort Ticonderoga, between Lake George and Lake Champlain, was built in the years 1755-1757 by the French to protect themselves against the British and to protect the fur trading routes. In 1759, British General Jeffrey Amhurst captured the fort from the French.
Then, in the early morning hours of May 10, 1775, 175 Green Mountain Boys of Vermont led by Benedict Arnold and Ethan Allen walked through the open gate at Fort Ticonderoga. All eighty-three British soldiers and two officers were asleep. It was an easy victory for the Continental Army and there were no shots fired. The following winter Colonel Henry Knox dragged many of the Fort's cannon on sledges over the snow to Boston, where General Washington's army was fighting the British. The colonists kept control of Fort Ticonderoga until July 5, 1777, when British forces, led by General Burgoyne captured it. On September 3, 1783, Fort Ticonderoga was returned to the Americans through the signing of the Treaty of Paris, in Versailles. |
