During 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.
The 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.
Fort Ticonderoga has announced a 1758 Battle on Snowshoes reenactment is set for Saturday, March 9, 2019. The event recreates the fight between Robert Rogers’ rangers, and a mixed French force of Native American Warriors, Canadians, and French Army soldiers on March 13, 1758.
Major Robert Rogers force of both volunteers from the 27th foot, and his own rangers headed out on an extended scout from Fort Edward along Lake George, following an attack on a similar patrol from Captain Israel Putnam’s Connecticut rangers. Hiking on snowshoes due to the three feet of snow, the tracks of Roger’s force were spotted on their march up the west side of Lake George. » Continue Reading.
A free program focusing on the French and Indian War Shipwrecks of Lake George has been set for Friday, October 12th, at 7 pm at the Hancock House at 6 Moses Circle in Ticonderoga.
Featured speaker Joseph Zarzynski, part of the original discovery team for many of these ships, will lead the discussion.
Included will be a discussion of The Land Tortoise, built as a floating gun battery by the British in 1758. This 52-foot-long gunboat is North America’s oldest intact warship. It was deliberately sunk in l00 feet of water by British forces on October 22, 1758 to prevent it from falling onto the hands of French raiders. » Continue Reading.
The Adirondack Park Agency (APA) and the Lake George Park Commission (LGPC) has announced they are holding a joint public comment period to solicit comments for the Lake George Battlefield Park Unit Management Plan.
Public comment will be accepted until May 3, 2018. » Continue Reading.
Registration is now open for Fort Ticonderoga’s Twenty-Third Annual War College of the Seven Years’ War May 18-20, 2018.
With a panel of distinguished historians from across the United States, this seminar focuses on the Seven Years’ War in North America, also known as the French & Indian War. The War College takes place in the Mars Education Center and is open to the public; pre-registration is required. » Continue Reading.
My family has always enjoyed going to one of the numerous historical re-enactments offered around the Adirondacks. It gives us an opportunity to be a part of history and to learn about the past. It’s a chance to experience a moment in time that helped shape our country. The annual Crown Point French and Indian War Reenactment is part of a two-day festival held at the Crown Point State Historic site on August 12-13 bringing visitors into a temporary 18th century encampment overlooking beautiful Lake Champlain.
French, British, and Native American reenactors will be setup around the Crown Point State Historic Site ruins. There are two historic fortifications at the Crown Point location, Fort Frederic and Crown Point. Fort Frederic was built by the French around 1734 and used as the main base to raid neighboring British settlements throughout New England. As a result, the British military spent years trying to overtake the fort. In 1759, the British troops were finally successful and began the building of their own fort, “His Majesty’s Fort of Crown Point.” Though there was never just one battle at Crown Point, the area was the center for almost 20 skirmishes. » Continue Reading.
Crown Point State Historic Site will host its annual French and Indian War Encampment on August 12 and 13, 2017.
This is the largest event of the year at the site and features authentically clad French, British, and Native American participants camped among the fort ruins.
Guests to the camp will be able to interact with the participants portraying various people of Crown Point’s past and also have the opportunity to purchase some of the 18th century wares produced and exhibited by artisans and merchants. » Continue Reading.
Last fall a rusted old military bayonet was unearthed on private property just east of Loon Lake in Warren County. It was taken to David Starbuck, a noted local historical and industrial archeologist who has written extensively on Fort William Henry on Lake George.
Coincidentally, on that day Jesse Zuccaro, a student who has focused his studies on early bayonets, happened to be visiting Starbuck. Together they inspected this new find. After careful examination they concluded it was French in design and probably dated between 1728 and the 1740s. Twenty thousand of these bayonets were made and sent to New France prior to the American Revolution. » Continue Reading.
On July 22 and 23, Fort Ticonderoga July will host a battle re-enactment highlighting the 1758 Battle of Carillon during the French and Indian War. Visitors will learn how the British amassed the largest army in North American history to date, yet was defeated by a French army a quarter of its size.
Highlighted programming featured throughout the weekend brings to life the story of the French soldiers that protected their lines of defense. Visitors will meet the British and Provincial soldiers who fought to drive the French from the rocky peninsula and fortress of Carillon, later named Ticonderoga. Recreated French and British armies will maneuver in battle re-enactments each day. » Continue Reading.
Lakes to Locks Passage has completed the third in the series of Waterways of War guidebooks. Waterways of War: The Turning Point of the American Revolution focuses on the 1777 northern campaign of British General John Burgoyne. The book is also the centerpiece of a broader initiative to develop the Turning Point Trail, a narrated driving tour from Plattsburgh to Albany. » Continue Reading.
Fort Ticonderoga’s “Fort Fever Series” concludes on Sunday, April 9th, at 2 pm with “Gribeauval’s Guns: French Artillery Reforms from Montcalm to Napoleon” presented by Curator Matthew Keagle.
This Fort Fever presentation will take participants on a tour using the rare examples in Fort Ticonderoga’s collections of reforms of the French artillery in the wake of the French and Indian War, one of the most important technological and tactical developments in artillery during the 18th century.
Matthew Keagle is the Curator of the Fort Ticonderoga Museum and holds degrees from Cornell University, the Winterthur Program in American Material Culture, and the Bard Graduate Center. He has researched and spoken widely on topics related to the material culture of the military in the long 18th century in the US, Canada, and Europe. » Continue Reading.
Fort Ticonderoga will hold a one-day living history event on Saturday, March 25th. Attendees will witness how French soldiers, Canadians, and Native warriors prepared for an attack on Fort William Henry on March 16, 1757.
Programs include tours, living history demonstrations, historic trades, weapons demonstrations, and fife and drum corps performances throughout the day. » Continue Reading.
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. » Continue Reading.
What might Lake George have looked like 260 years ago, on the eve of the French attack on Fort William Henry?
That’s what Steve Collyer, an artist and Fort William Henry’s lead interpreter, has attempted to depict in a new display in the entryway to the museum and historical attraction.
The display, which includes three figures – an American colonial, a British regular and a ranger, all sculpted by the late Jack Binder decades ago – was unveiled in October. » Continue Reading.
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