WASHINGTON — After the Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775, the Massachusetts militia organized into longer-serving regiments, laid siege to British-held Boston, and leaders in the rebelling colonies considered other British targets, such as Fort Ticonderoga, New York.
The Lake Champlain corridor had been a key strategic terrain since people began fighting in North America.
In an age when moving by water was more efficient than by land, whoever controlled Lake Champlain could invade Canada via the Richelieu River and the St. Lawrence or threaten New York via Lake George and the Hudson River.
The British stone bastions of Fort Ticonderoga on the western side of the lake and its northern counterpart at Crown Point controlled access to navigation of the lake. The forts secured the British line of communications between Canada and New York and held a vast quantity of artillery pieces, badly needed by the provincials.
Arnold and Allen
Eager to seize Fort Ticonderoga before the British garrison could be reinforced, the Massachusetts Provincial Congress commissioned Connecticut militia officer Benedict Arnold as a colonel and authorized him to raise troops for this purpose.
Almost simultaneously, Connecticut leaders urged native son Ethan Allen to move on the fortress. Allen had moved to the Hampshire Grants (present-day Vermont) in the 1760s, and as the head of an armed group called the Green Mountain Boys, he was familiar with the terrain.
On May 9, 1775, Arnold arrived near Fort Ticonderoga to find Allen already preparing to attack with about 150 men the next day. It took most of the day for the two strong-tempered, egotistical men to settle on a joint command, but before first light May 10, they began their attack.
They and about 85 men rowed across the narrow channel and rushed the fort’s gate. The fort was in disrepair, and the garrison had about 40 men. It was a bloodless affair, with the small British detachment under Capt. William Delaplace surrendering without a fight just after 4 a.m. Crown Point fell the following day.
Importance of Forts
Arnold was not through. Within days, he and his Massachusetts troops seized all vessels on the lake of any use for the British war effort and captured a 20-gun British sloop. This action gave freedom of navigation to the Americans, protected New England from a western invasion, and offered a tempting path into Quebec. Arnold also captured vital intelligence on British troop strength in North America. With this and an inventory of the captured artillery, Arnold set off for Army headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Arnold and Allen’s capture of the forts had several consequences. Going off Arnold’s intelligence, Gen. George Washington authorized Brig. Gen. Richard Montgomery and Arnold to expel the British from Quebec and liberate the colony. Although the offensive failed in 1776, the expedition demonstrated the Continental Army’s aggressive mindset and provided valuable experience to key leaders.
The other outcome was more successful. Over the winter, Washington’s chief of artillery, Henry Knox, hauled the artillery from Ticonderoga through the rough, icy terrain of the Berkshire Mountains to Boston. In March 1776, the Continental Army emplaced the guns overlooking the city, which made the British position untenable, forcing their evacuation. Arnold and Allen gave Washington the means to achieve his first victory.
The capture of Fort Ticonderoga is an example of initiative, audacity, and personal courage, qualities that remain important in the Army to this day.
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