Celebrating America! The Capture of Fort Ticonderoga

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250 years ago yesterday, the first American victory in the War for Independence took place when Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys took Fort Ticonderoga.

Factors favoring the Americans include that the fort was in disrepair and that it was manned only by a small British force of fifty soldiers. However, there was a honking big lake between Vermont and New York, where the fort was situated. Ethan Allen gathered together all the boats that could be found and launched a sneak late-night raid. But there were not enough boats for all the soldiers he had gathered together and dawn was coming. So, rather than lose the element of surprise, the raid commenced with eighty-three men and two commanders.

Complicating matters was Benedict Arnold, who had independently come up with the idea of a raid, gotten authorization from the governor of Massachusetts, and arrived in Vermont with a smaller force of men. He demanded to be put in charge but was hooted down by the Green Mountain Boys, who refused to follow anybody but their favorite native son. At last, an agreement was struck that he would march alongside Allen. Later, he claimed to be a co-commander, but documentation of this has never been found and, given Allen's personality, seems unlikely.

The attack was swift and sudden. A lone British sentry essayed one musket shot, which misfired, and fled. The Americans took over the fort and, when asked in whose authority he acted, Ethan Allen supposedly said, "In the name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress!" However, given that Allen was an atheist and that Vermont was at the time a functioning anarchy with no official ties to the Continental Congress, it is likely that he said something equally colorful by far less printable.

No soldiers on either side were killed or injured, save for one American who received a minor bayonet wound. The cannons and other munitions stored at the fort were later used to push the British out of Boston. And Benedict Arnold had suffered the first of many humiliations that would later lead him to turn traitor. When the Green Mountain Boys went home, he was left in command of the fort and a small number of troops--until Connecticut sent their own men up to claim the weaponry and make him subordinate to an officer who had seen no action. Arnold who had spent over a thousand pounds of his own money and received no glory at all, resigned his commission and went home.

Above: Image found at Warfare History Network, which has a far more detailed description of the battle here. It is disputed whether Lieutenant Feltham was actually forced to surrender with his trousers in his hand. But true or not it makes a great story.

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