Fort Ticonderoga’s “Fort Fever Series” continues on Sunday, February 11, at 2 pm with a program on “Soldiers of Color at Ticonderoga” presented by Stuart Lilie, Vice President of Public History and Operations.

This program will focus on the diversity of soldiers who fought at Ticonderoga and examine how attitudes about soldiers of color varied dramatically within the numerous armies and empires that held Ticonderoga. The program is part of the National Black History Month celebration.

The great campaigns of the French & Indian War and Revolutionary War have frequently been envisioned with long battle lines of soldiers as equally white as they were uniform. However, small, but significant numbers of African or African-American soldiers appear in nearly every army that came to Ticonderoga.

Differences between the French army and Canadian irregulars or between states of the new United States also played out in different attitudes about soldiers of color in the ranks. Events like the 1757 massacre at Fort William Henry revealed Canadian involvement in the captive and transatlantic slave trade. The presence of African-American soldiers among New England regiments at Ticonderoga was deeply resented by other American officers. Even as the American Army faced a vast British Army in 1777, the removal of these African-American soldiers from the ranks was considered a priority by many officers.

Tickets are $12 per person and can be purchased at the door; Fort Ticonderoga Members and Ticonderoga Ambassador Pass holders are admitted free of cost. The program will take place in the Mars Education Center.

Fort Ticonderoga is located at 102 Fort Ti Road, Ticonderoga. For more information, visit their website or call (518) 585-2821.

Photo courtesy Fort Ticonderoga.