Fort Ticonderoga will recreate the 1757 Battle on Snowshoes on the anniversary of the event, January 21st, 2017.

This lesser known, but no less dramatic, battle brings to life the clash in the woods between French soldiers and Rogers Rangers in the struggle for North America. Participants can learn about the peoples, weapons, and stories through living history vignettes, exhibitions and hands-on programs.

Each year as the French and British armies retreated to winter quarters, only token forces were left at the forts at either end of Lake George to hold the posts over the winter. These troops battled the cold as well as probing parties of enemy irregulars in a bitter war where even a few yards outside of the walls of Fort Carillon, later named Ticonderoga, could be a deadly no-mans-land.

January 21, 1757 began as a normal day for French soldiers garrisoning Fort Carillon. Horse-drawn sleighs and a guard of soldiers left for Crown Point to bring back food and supplies, however, this column never reached its destination, thanks to an ambush by Robert Rogers and his Rangers.

A French soldier riding a draught horse detached from a sleigh galloped with the news into Fort Carillon. A party of one-hundred French soldiers, Canadians, and Native warriors marched on moccasins out into the cold forbidding woods to ambush the Rangers flushed with their early success.

The day’s programming features the British Ranger story and French history at Fort Carillon. Participants can learn about the fight for survival that took place as the Rangers struggled to escape back to Fort Edward, behind British lines. In addition to the living history program, exhibition spaces offer French artifacts on display in the museum.

Click here to view a detailed visitor’s schedule. Snowshoes are optional/weather dependent.

For more information on Fort Ticonderoga, and a full list of ongoing programs or call (518) 585-2821 or visit their website. Fort Ticonderoga is located at 100 Fort Ti Road, Ticonderoga.

Photo: Fort Ticonderoga’s Battle on Snowshoes Re-enactment, courtesy Fort Ticonderoga.