Posts Tagged ‘American Revolution’

Wednesday, February 12, 2020

Eve of the Revolution: 1775 British Garrison Event

1775 British Garrison Living History EventFort Ticonderoga has announced a one-day living history event where re-enactors will tell the story of the British garrison at Ticonderoga in February 1775, just three months before the Americans captured the fort and claimed one of America’s first victories in the American Revolution. » Continue Reading.


Monday, January 13, 2020

Coming Campaign at Fort Ticonderoga

Preparing for the Coming CampaignFort Ticonderoga has announced their next Winter Quarters living history event, Preparing for the Coming Campaign has been set for Saturday, January 18, 2020. The event will bring to life the story of American soldiers at Ticonderoga in the year 1777 as they prepare for a British attack.

A featured one-day display will highlight tools recovered from the historic landscape. These tools were used by soldiers to cut, chisel, file, crack, break, and dig to create the fortifications that defined the warfare of the 18th century. Fort Ticonderoga holds one of the largest collections of its kind in North America. » Continue Reading.


Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Henry Knox’s ‘Noble Train’ of Artillery At Fort Ti

Fort Ticonderoga courtesy Carl Heilman IIWhen men under Benedict Arnold and Ethan Allen captured Fort Ticonderoga and Fort Crown Point in 1775, they also captured over 180 cannon, and other weaponry and supplies.

Beginning in November 1775, Colonel Henry Knox and a team of engineers used sledges to haul 60 tons of this heavy artillery to Cambridge and the Siege of Boston. Many of those cannon were larger than what was available to Patriot forces, and they were placed on higher ground around the city.  Americans began to bombard the city on the night of March 2, 1776, the British responded with their own bombardment, and for two days the cannon fire rained into Boston.

» Continue Reading.


Tuesday, October 15, 2019

British Engineer Charles Terrot At Fort Ti, Valcour Island

original commission of Charles Terrot

Charles Terrot was a British officer who served with the British Army in Canada during the Revolutionary War, and left one of the best accounts of the Battle of Valcour Island.

Terrot was commissioned in 1774 as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Regiment of Artillery at the age of 16 after studying at the Royal Military Academy in Woolwich. He advanced with the British Army against the Americans in 1776. Fort Ticonderoga holds some of the letters Terrot sent back home, including one written following the battle, in which he includes a map of the pivotal engagement and drawings of the American ships.

» Continue Reading.


Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Brown’s Raid On Ticonderoga in Context

cannon aimed at Fort Ticonderoga from Mount Defiance provided by the Lake George MirrorDuring the French and Indian Wars, control of Lake George could determine control of the North American continent.

During the War of Independence, not so much. The lake was a relatively placid place as veterans who had won land grants for service during the war with France took up residence and began to cultivate the hillsides. Barges rather than bateaux passed down the lake, winning barely a glance from the grazing cattle. » Continue Reading.


Saturday, September 14, 2019

The French Cannon: An Adirondack Legend

Mt Defiance cannon demonstrationThe subject of cannons in the woods came up while I was sharing a cup of coffee with retired DEC Forest Ranger Terry Perkins at our camp on Stillwater Reservoir. In the middle of our discussion of the old roads and trails of the area Terry paused. “Did you ever hear the story of how a lost hunter once found an old cannon back there in the woods?”

“Yes,” I said, “I’ve heard that story before connected to the old Albany Road.” » Continue Reading.


Wednesday, September 11, 2019

Myths About Adirondack Military Roads

cannon abandoned in 1776 by Sir John JohnsonDuring a recent discussion concerning pre-Civil War roads in the Adirondacks I mentioned to a friend that I am amazed by the number of people who insist on calling certain roads “Old Military Roads” even though they never had a military purpose.

My friend told me he heard that a hunter once found the remains of an old cannon somewhere near Terror Lake deep in the Pigeon Lake Wilderness. His point, I think, was that the cannon must have been abandoned in the course of some American military expedition along a long-vanished woods road. » Continue Reading.


Friday, July 26, 2019

A Hike Into History Recalls British Occupation of Ticonderoga

mount independenceMount Independence is located in Vermont, just across Lake Champlain from Fort Ticonderoga, for which it was a critical base of operations. It can easily be reached by the Ticonderoga Ferry, and offers a great way to hike into history.

“The Mount” was built in 1776 and 1777 by the Continental Army following their capture of Fort Ticonderoga in 1775. A bridge was built to connect the cantonment on Mount Independence (and the road to Castleton) to Fort Ticonderoga on the New York side of the lake. Over 400 yards long, with more than 20 piers with 12 foot wide floating pontoons between them, the bridge allowed troops camped at Mount Independence easy access to the Fort Ticonderoga. » Continue Reading.


Monday, June 24, 2019

Independence Day Weekend at Fort Ticonderoga

fort ticonderogaFort Ticonderoga is set to celebrate Independence Day with special events and programming during an extended holiday weekend, July 4-7, 2019. Fort Ticonderoga is the very ground on which the American Revolution occurred.

Over the Fourth of July Weekend museum staff and costumed interpreters will recreate and explore the events of the year 1777. » Continue Reading.


Tuesday, March 19, 2019

Lake George Rev War Remains: The 1st Pennsylvania At Fort George

archaeologists and assistants examine excavated soils at the siteThe remains dislodged from an 18th century military cemetery at a Lake George construction site will, in all likelihood, be reinterred on the grounds of Fort George Park, say Village officials.

The Village’s Board of Trustees has adopted a resolution calling upon New York State to permit the remains to be buried at the state-owned park, said Mayor Bob Blais.

Blais said New York State officials support the proposal, although the remains will be in the possession of state archaeologists for at least a year, undergoing examination and analyses. » Continue Reading.


Thursday, February 14, 2019

Event Highlights Ticonderoga on the Eve of Revolution

Fort Ticonderoga British GarrisonFort Ticonderoga is set to host a living history event Saturday, February 16, 2019 about British garrison life in February 1775, three months before Ticonderoga was pulled into the American War of Independence.

Living history programs feature the weapons, trades, and home life of soldiers and families during peacetime at Ticonderoga. » Continue Reading.


Monday, December 10, 2018

Fort Ticonderoga’s Christmas Riot of 1776

RIOT living history eventFort Ticonderoga is set to host a living history event “RIOT! Yankees vs. Buckskins,” on December 15, 2018. Throughout the day, visitors will participate in presentations, weapons demonstrations, historic trades, and living history vignettes. The day is set at the time of disunity between officers unfold during an intense riot that plagued the American army in 1776. » Continue Reading.


Friday, August 10, 2018

Rev War Ethnic Diversity Talk at Mt Independence

mount independenceOn Sunday, August 12, 2018, at 2 pm, the Mount Independence State Historic Site in Orwell, Vermont, is set to host a talk on “Ethnic and Cultural Diversity at Mount Independence” by historian and site interpreter Paul Andriscin.

This talk looks at how a rag-tag force from six states and Vermont managed to maintain the Northern American Army here during the American Revolution. They faced lack of supplies, disease, starvation, bad weather conditions, and having to overcome prejudices against their fellow soldiers. » Continue Reading.


Thursday, July 19, 2018

Fort Ticonderoga Battle Re-Enactment This Weekend

Mt Defiance cannon demonstrationFort Ticonderoga is set to host “Defiance & Independence,” a two-day battle re-enactment on Saturday July 21 and Sunday July 22.

Featuring nearly 500 historical re-enactors, this is the largest battle re-enactment of the year at Fort Ticonderoga. The battle will highlight the events of the summer of 1777, when Fort Ticonderoga’s American garrison was defeated by a British invasion force from Canada. » Continue Reading.


Monday, March 26, 2018

The Jessup Brothers in the American Revolution

Jessup Patent MapIn the mid-1760s, brothers Edward and Ebenezer Jessup moved from Dutchess County, NY, to Albany and engaged in land speculation in the Hudson River Valley and Lake George area.

The Jessups would become friendly with Sir William Johnson, who had built Fort William Henry in 1755.  Thanks to his close relationship with the Mohawk, Johnson became the Superintendent of Indian Affairs. The Jessups acquired much of their land from Johnson and the Mohawks. » Continue Reading.



Wait! Before you go:

Catch up on all your Adirondack
news, delivered weekly to your inbox