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Title: Fort Ticonderoga - A Short History
Author: Pell, S. H. P.
Language: English
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*** Start of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Fort Ticonderoga - A Short History" ***
Cover: Montcalm Congratulating His Victorious Troops,
Battle of Carillon, Fort Ticonderoga, July 8, 1758.
[Illustration: Fort Ticonderoga: Looking South, Up Lake Champlain]
_Fort Ticonderoga_
A Short History
Compiled from Contemporary Sources
By S. H. P. Pell
Profusely Illustrated
[Illustration: Cannon]
Reprinted for the Fort Ticonderoga Museum
1966
“_The_ little bronze flint _and_ tinder box illustrated, was found in
1888 by _the_ present Museum Director, then _a_ small boy. His brother
dislodged _a_ stone while they were climbing around _the_ fort. Under
_the_ stone was this box with flint _and_ tinder in it. Bronze _and of_
French design, it must have belonged to some important officer, probably
Montcalm de Levis, Bougainville _or_ Bourlamacque. _The_ busts represent
Cupid _and_ Psyche; _the_ faces are extraordinarily beautiful _and_
expressive. _The_ box measures 2¼ _by_ 1¼ inches.
I consider this box _and the_ back plate _for the_ suit _of_ half-armor
(_found a few years ago_) _the_ most interesting _of the_ thousands _of_
articles found _at the_ Fort.
_This_ little box stimulated _the_ Director’s interest. Even as a small
boy he hoped some day to preserve _and_ perhaps restore Fort
Ticonderoga. Many _a_ year was to pass before _this_ dream could become
_a_ reality.”
[Illustration: Flint and Tinder Box Which Started the Fort
Ticonderoga Collection (Found by S. H. P. Pell, when a small boy)
(Drawing by Herbert Sherlock of North Canton, Ohio)
BUSTS _in_ CENTER _of_ TOP _and_ BOTTOM _of_ CASE
BOX OPEN SHOWING INTERIOR
DETAIL _of_ FLOWER DESIGN
_and_ BORDER
REAR _of_ HINGE]
CONTENTS
PAGE
The Aborigines, Chapter One 9
Champlain, Chapter Two 11
The Building of the Fort, Chapter Three 19
Abercromby’s Defeat, Chapter Four 27
The Amherst Campaign, Chapter Five 47
The Calm Before the Storm, Chapter Six 53
Ethan Allen, Chapter Seven 54
Montgomery, Knox, Valcour Island, Chapter Eight 67
Burgoyne Takes the Fort and Brown Fails to Retake it, Chapter Nine 83
The Military History Ends, Chapter Ten 91
The Restoration of Fort Ticonderoga, Chapter Eleven 93
The Fort Ticonderoga Museum 113
The Book Shelf 115
The Fort Ticonderoga Association 117
[Illustration: Major Robert Rogers and An Indian Chief]
ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
Fort Ticonderoga Inside Front Cover
Flint and Tinder Box 2
Major Robert Rogers and an Indian Chief 4
Airview of Fort Ticonderoga and Surrounding Country 6
Indian Costumes 8
Champlain and the Iroquois, Near Ticonderoga 10
Marquis de Lotbiniere 14
Marquis de Vaudreuil 18
Part of the Original Instructions to de Lotbiniere 20
Major Robert Rogers 22
Wounding of Baron Dieskau 24
Abercromby’s Expedition, Embarking at Head of Lake George 26
The Marquis de Montcalm 28
Brig. General Lord Howe 30
Duc de Levis 32
Plan of Town and Fort (Insert) 32-33
Major General Israel Putnam 34
Replica of the Cross Erected by General Montcalm 44
Montcalm Congratulating His Victorious Troops 45
Major Robert Rogers’ Battle on Snowshoes in 1757 46
Sir Jeffrey Amherst 48
General Amherst and the Burning Fort 50
Ethan Allen 54
Catamount Tavern, Where Plans Were Laid to Capture Fort 57
Ethan Allen and Captain Delaplace 59
Letter from Ethan Allen 60-61
Allen Needs You at Ti 63
Ethan Allen’s Blunderbuss 65
Benedict Arnold 66
Major General Richard Montgomery 68
General Knox 70
General Knox Moving Cannon from Ticonderoga to Cambridge 72
Rig of Fleet at Valcour Island 74
Map of the Attack and Defeat of the American Fleet 76
General Schuyler 78
Major-General Arthur St. Clair 79
Major-General Horatio Gates 80
Ticonderoga and Its Dependencies, 1776 81
The Massacre of Jane McCrea 82
General John Burgoyne 84
The Battle of Saratoga 86
Surrender of Burgoyne 88
George Washington at Halfway Brook 90
Stephen H. P. Pell 92
The Pavilion 94
Fort Ticonderoga and the Pavilion, 1827 96
The Silver Bullet 98
Restoration Model of Fort Ticonderoga 100
Thomas Cole Painting of Fort, Early 1820’s 101
Entrance to Place D’Armes 103
The Place D’Armes 105
Fort Ticonderoga in 1959 107
The Ethan Allen Door 109
George Washington in Uniform of American General 112
Powder Horn Map Made at Mount Independence 1776 114
Flag Bastion 118
Fort Ticonderoga: South Barracks Inside Back Cover
[Illustration: Airview of Fort Ticonderoga Showing Strategic
Location of Mount Defiance, Beyond Which Is Lake George]
[Illustration: Indian Costumes, From Lafitau. 1, Iroquois; 2,
Algonquin]
CHAPTER ONE
The Aborigines
When Columbus was landing in the West Indies, and discovering America,
the Champlain Valley was thickly populated. There are signs of Indian
village sites all along the shores and the thousands of stone
implements, arrow and spear points, scrapers, hatchets, pestles and
mortars that are turned up each year indicate an occupation of hundreds,
probably thousands, of years. But when the first white man arrived all
was silence and desolation. The fierce Iroquois from the south had not
long before slaughtered the peaceful Algonquin Indians and driven the
survivors back into the mountains, where they were living a hand to
mouth existence. In fact so degenerate had they become that the Iroquois
referred to them as “Adirondacks” or “Bark-eaters,” because of their
necessity of depending on the bark of trees during the winter when game
was scarce. Remains of these people are so many that for a hundred years
arrow heads and other stone implements have been found on the shore of
the lake under the walls of the Fort and yet each rain and wind storm
discloses new ones. These Indians were a partly agricultural people as
shown by the many bits of pottery and hoes that are found, but little is
definitely known of them or their habits.
[Illustration: Champlain and the Iroquois Near Ticonderoga, July 30,
1609 From “Champlain’s Life and Travels, 1613”]
CHAPTER TWO
Champlain
In May, 1609, the same year that Hendrick Hudson discovered and named
Hudson’s River, Samuel de Champlain with a contingent of eleven
Frenchmen, a small body of Montagnais Indians and between two and three
hundred Hurons left Quebec on an exploring expedition to the south.
At the rapids of the Richelieu, Champlain quarreled with his Indians,
who had assured him that there was smooth water from the St. Lawrence to
the great lake to the south. Three-quarters of them went home and with
them he sent all but two of his white companions. His force now
consisted of three Frenchmen and sixty Montagnais and Hurons.
They traveled in twenty-four canoes and soon entered Lake Champlain,
and, as they now were approaching the Iroquois country, they traveled by
night and hid in the woods by day.
Champlain’s own description of his discovery and the battle at
Ticonderoga from his “Voyages and Discoveries” published in Paris, 1613
... reads as follows:
“We left next day, continuing our route along the river as far as the
mouth of the Lake. Here are a number of beautiful, but low islands
filled with very fine woods and prairies, a quantity of game and wild
animals, such as stags, deer, fawns, roe-bucks, bears and other sorts of
animals that come from the main land to the said islands. We caught a
quantity of them. There is also quite a number of beavers, as well in
the river as in several other streams which fall into it. These parts,
though agreeable, are not inhabited by any Indians, in consequence of
their wars. They retire from the rivers as far as possible, deep into
the country, in order not to be so soon discovered.
“Next day we entered the lake, which is of considerable extent; some 50
or 60 leagues in length, where I saw 4 beautiful islands, 10, 12 and 15
leagues in length formerly inhabited, as well as the Iroquois river, by
Indians, but abandoned since they have been at war the one with the
other.
“Several rivers, also, discharge into the lake, surrounded by a number
of fine trees similar to those we have in France, with a quantity of
vines handsomer than any I ever saw; a great many chestnuts, and I have
not yet seen except the margin of the lake, where there is a large
abundance of fish of divers species. Among the rest there is one called
by the Indians of the country Chaousarou, the divers lengths. The
largest I was informed by the people, are of eight to ten feet. I saw
one of 5, as thick as a thigh, with a head as big as two fists, with
jaws two feet and a half long, and a double set of very sharp and
dangerous teeth. The form of the body resembles that of the pike, and it
is armed with scales that a thrust of a poniard cannot pierce; and is of
a silver grey colour. The point of the snout is like that of a hog. This
fish makes war on all others in the lakes and rivers and possesses, as
those people assure me, a wonderful instinct; which is, that when it
wants to catch any birds, it goes among the rushes or reeds, bordering
the lake in many places, keeping the beak out of the water without
budging, so that when the birds perch on his beak, imagining it a limb
of a tree, it is so subtle that closing the jaws which it keeps half
open, it draws the birds under water by the feet. The Indians gave me a
head of it, which they prize highly, saying, when they have a headache
they let blood with the teeth of this fish at the seat of the pain which
immediately goes away.
“Continuing our route along the west side of the lake, contemplating the
country, I saw on the east side very high mountains capped with snow. I
asked the Indians if those parts were inhabited? They answered me, Yes,
and that they were Iroquois, and that there were in those parts
beautiful valleys, and fields fertile in corn as good as I had ever
eaten in the country, with an infinitude of other fruits, and that the
lake extended close to the mountains, which were, according to my
judgment, 15 leagues from us. I saw others, to the South, not less high
than the former; only, that they were without snow. The Indians told me
it was there we were to go to meet their enemies, and that they were
thickly inhabited, and that we must pass by a waterfall which I
afterwards saw, and thence enter another lake three or four leagues,
long, and having arrived at its head, there were 4 leagues overland to
be traveled to pass to a river which flows toward the coast of the
Almouchiquois, tending towards that of the Almouchiquois, and that they
were only two days going there in their canoes, as I understood since
from some prisoners we took, who, by means of some Algonquin
interpreters, who were acquainted with the Iroquois language, conversed
freely with me about all they had noticed.
“Now, on coming within about two or three days journey of the enemy’s
quarters, we traveled only by night and rested by day. Nevertheless,
they never omitted their usual superstitions to ascertain whether their
enterprise would be successful, and often asked me whether I had dreamed
and seen their enemies. I answered no; and encouraged them and gave them
good hopes. Night fell, and we continued our journey until morning when
we withdrew into the picket fort to pass the remainder of the day there.
About ten or eleven o’clock I lay down after having walked some time
around our quarters, and falling asleep, I thought I beheld our enemies,
the Iroquois, drowning within sight of us in the Lake near a mountain;
and being desirous to save them, that our savage allies told me that I
must let them all perish as they were good for nothing. On awakening,
they did not omit, as usual to ask me, if I had any dream, I did tell
them, in fact, what I had dreamed. It gained such credit among them that
they no longer doubted but they should meet with success.
[Illustration: Marquis de Lotbiniere]
“At nightfall we embarked in our canoes to continue our journey, and as
we advanced very softly and noiselessly, we encountered a war party of
Iroquois, on the twenty-ninth of the month, about ten o’clock, at night,
at the point of a cape which juts into the lake on the west side. They
and we began to shout, each seizing his arms. We withdrew towards the
water and the Iroquois repaired on shore, and arranged all their canoes,
the one beside the other, and began to hew down trees with villainous
axes, which they sometimes got in war, and others of stone, and
fortified themselves very securely.
“Our party, likewise, kept their canoes arranged the one alongside the
other, tied to poles so as not to run adrift, in order to fight all
together should need be. We were on the water about an arrow-shot from
their barricades.
“When they were armed and in order, they sent two canoes from the fleet
to know if their enemies wished to fight, who answered they desired
nothing else; but that just then, there was not much light, and that we
must wait for day to distinguish each other, and that they would give us
battle at sun rise. This was agreed to by our party. Meanwhile the whole
night was spent in dancing and singing, as well on one side as on the
other, mingled with an infinitude of insults and other taunts, such as
the little courage we had; how powerless our resistance against their
arms, and that when day would break we should experience this to our
ruin. Ours, likewise, did not fail in repartee; telling them they should
witness the effects of arms they had never seen before; and a multitude
of other speeches, as is usual at a siege of a town. After the one and
the other had sung, danced and parliamented enough, day broke. My
companions and I were always concealed, for fear the enemy should see us
preparing our arms the best we could, being however separated, each in
one of the canoes belonging to the savage Montagnais. After being
equipped with light armour we took each an arquebus and went ashore. I
saw the enemy leave their barricade; they were about 200 men, of strong
and robust appearance, who were coming slowly towards us, with a gravity
and assurance which greatly pleased me, led on by three Chiefs. Our’s
were marching in similar order, and told me that those who bore three
lofty plumes were the Chiefs, and that there were but these three and
they were to be recognized by those plumes, and that I must do all I
could to kill them. I promised to do what I could, and that I was very
sorry they could not clearly understand me, so as to give them the order
and plan of attacking their enemies, as we should indubitably defeat
them all; but there was no help for that; that I was very glad to
encourage them and to manifest to them my good will when we should be
engaged.
“The moment we landed they began to run about two hundred paces toward
their enemies who stood firm, and had not yet perceived my companions,
who went into the bush with some savages. Our’s commenced calling me in
a loud voice, and making way for me, opened in two parts, and placed me
at their head, marching about 20 paces in advance, until I was within 30
paces of the enemy. The moment they saw me, they halted, gazing at me
and I at them. When I saw them preparing to shoot at us, I raised my
arquebus, and aiming directly at one of the three Chiefs, two of them
fell to the ground by this shot and one of their companions received a
wound of which he died afterwards. I had put 4 balls in my arquebus.
Our’s on witnessing a shot so favorable for them, set up such tremendous
shouts that thunder could not have been heard; and yet, there was no
lack of arrows on one side and the other. The Iroquois were greatly
astonished seeing two men killed so instantaneously, notwithstanding
they were provided with arrow-proof armour woven of cotton-thread and
wood; this frightened them very much. Whilst I was reloading, one of my
companions in the bush fired a shot, which so astonished them anew,
seeing their Chiefs slain, that they lost courage, took flight and
abandoned the field and their fort, hiding themselves in the depths of
the forest, whither pursuing them, I killed some others. Our savages
also killed several of them and took ten or twelve prisoners. The rest
carried off the wounded. Fifteen or sixteen of ours were wounded by
arrows; they were promptly cured.
“After having gained the victory, they amused themselves plundering
Indian corn and meal from the enemy; also their arms which they had
thrown away in order to run the better. And having feasted, danced and
sung, we returned three hours afterwards with the prisoners.
“The place where this battle was fought is in 43 degrees some minutes
latitude, and I named it Lake Champlain.”
Historians agree that this fight took place on the low ground, northeast
of the Fort at Ticonderoga. It was the Iroquois’ first introduction to
firearms and forever alienated that great fighting confederation from
the French.
[Illustration: Marquis de Vaudreuil]
CHAPTER THREE
The Building of the Fort
From 1609 to 1755 nothing of great interest happened at Ticonderoga. War
parties, explorers and traders passed up and down the lake in a steady
stream, but few left records. The English pushed north as far as the
south end of Lake George and built Fort William Henry; the French, as
far south as Crown Point and built Fort St. Frederic. All between was a
wild country, claimed by both France and Great Britain.
In 1755 Michel Chartier, afterwards Marquis de Lotbiniere, under
instruction from the Marquis de Vaudreuil, Governor-General of New
France, came down from Crown Point to select a site for a new fort. His
aide-memoire from de Vaudreuil is in the Fort Library. In October he
started cutting the great trees and leveling the ground to build the
stone fortress which he first called Fort Vaudreuil, but which was
afterwards given the name of Carillon, “A Chime of Bells,” named from
the sound of the falls where the water from Lake George runs into Lake
Champlain. He employed the garrison from Crown Point and at one time as
many as 2,000 men were at work and made extraordinary progress,
considering that he was erecting a fort in the wilderness.
Robert Rogers, the famous ranger, several times during the building of
the Fort reconnoitered and reported on the progress of the work.
September 9, 1756, he says:
“I was within a mile of Ticonderoga fort where I endeavored to
reconnoitre the enemy’s works and strength. They were engaged in raising
the walls of the fort and erecting a large blockhouse near the southeast
corner of the fort with ports in it for cannon. East from the blockhouse
was a battery which I imagined commanded the lake.”
[Illustration: Part of the Original Instructions for de Lotbiniere
to Start Construction of Fort Ticonderoga
(This manuscript is in the Fort Library)]
He also reports the French to be building a sawmill at the lower end of
the falls. On Christmas Eve, 1757, Rogers got close enough to kill about
seventeen head of cattle and set fire to the wood piles of the garrison.
To the horns of one of the cattle, he attached a note to the commander
of the fort:
“I am obliged to you, sir, for the repose you have allowed me to take. I
thank you for the fresh meat you have sent me. I will take care of my
prisoners. I request you to present my compliments to the Marquis de
Montcalm.
(Signed) “Rogers, Commander of the Independent Companies.”
In 1755, Baron de Dieskau had gone from Crown Point to attack Sir
William Johnson at Lake George. Dieskau was wounded, and his defeated
army fought their way back to Ticonderoga.
In March, 1758, Rogers’ famous battle on snowshoes was fought a few
miles from Ticonderoga when the French under Captain Durentaye,
commanding a party of Indians and Canadians, captured and destroyed most
of his force.
The guns which De Lotbiniere mounted on the Fort were mostly from Crown
Point and Montreal but some were brought from Fort William Henry in 1757
when Montcalm captured that fort from Lieut. Col. Munro. It was after
Munro’s surrender that the famous massacre of Fort William Henry
occurred. The British garrison was marching unarmed to Fort Edward when
it was attacked by Montcalm’s Indians. The French officers did their
best to protect the garrison but many were slain.
De Lotbiniere wrote to the Minister from Carillon on the 31st October,
1756:
[Illustration: Major Robert Rogers]
“My Lord:—
“I was so much occupied last year at the departure of the last ships
that it was not possible for me to render you an account of the St.
Frederic campaign, which M. de Vaudreuil ordered me to begin immediately
after M. de Dieskau’s affair. I left with orders to examine the Carillon
Point ... where the waters of the Grande Baye and of Lake St. Sacrement
meet. At this point is the head of the navigation of Lake Champlain. M.
de Vaudreuil feared with reason that, the enemy gaining possession of
it, it would be very difficult for us to dislodge him, and that being
solidly established there, [and we] would be exposed to see him appear
in the midst of our settlements at the moment we least expected, it
being possible for him to make during winter all necessary preparations
to operate in the spring.
“I found on my arrival at St. Frederic an intrenchment begun on wrong
principles which I felt obliged to continue to be agreeable to the
Commandant of the Army who feared the enemy might at any moment attack
the Fort. At last, on the 12th October, on the order of M. le Marquis de
Vaudreuil, these works ceased and we moved the camp from St. Frederic to
Carillon to begin a Fort at the location which I should find to be most
suitable for such purpose.
“I decided to establish it on the ridge of rock which runs from the
point to the falls of Lake St. Sacrement. As the season did not permit
of our hoping to accomplish much work before winter I was obliged to
restrict my efforts more than I would have liked so as to at least place
the garrison under cover until the spring.
“I contented myself with reserving sufficient ground in the front for a
camp of 2,000 to 3,000 men, if need be, covered by the Fort, and
although I was obliged to operate in the midst of a wood without being
able to see while surveying more than thirty yards ahead of me, I think
I was fortunate enough to have made the best use of the ground I was
ordered to fortify. We were not prepared to build in stone, having
neither the material assembled nor the workmen. We were therefore
obliged to line the works in oak which fortunately was plentiful on the
spot. I began the parapet of the whole work which I formed in a double
row of timbers distant ten feet from one another and bound together by
two cross-pieces dovetailed at their extremities, to retain the timbers.
This had reached the height of seven feet by the 28th November, date of
the departure of the army, which could not remain longer owing to the
ice beginning to form.
[Illustration: Wounding of Baron Dieskau. From a Painting in the
Museum]
“I remained until February hoping to be able to use the garrison to
advance the works; but finding that it was not possible to make the
garrison work, I decided to return to Montreal after the barracks had
been finished, to recuperate from the fatigues of the campaign and the
unwholesome food I had taken.
“I left [Montreal] this year [1756] at the end of April and arrived at
the Fort the first days of May, when I resumed work which dragged on for
nearly a month not having the required workmen. During this campaign we
raised all the Fort to the height of the cordon. The earth ramparts were
made,—the platforms of the bastions completed, a cover built for each
bastion bomb-proof, two stone barracks built, the ditches of the place
dug to the rock everywhere, part of the rock even removed on two fronts,
the ditches of the two demi-lunes also excavated to the rock, a
store-house established outside the Fort as well as a hospital. The
parapet was raised on the two fronts exposed to the enemy’s batteries if
he undertook to besiege this place, the exterior part of the Fort
supported by masonry resting on the solid rock. The next campaign will
be devoted to overhauling the main body of the place and building the
two demi-lunes proposed, as well as the redoubt at the extreme of the
Carillon Point. We will also work at the covered way and the glacis.
There will be two barracks to build in stone in the interior of the
Fort. As there is but one bastion exposed to attack I think it would be
well to protect it by a counter guard. This would constitute an
additional obstruction which might discourage the enemy from any attack
on that side and, should he do so, I would hope that the place, once
completed, he would not succeed. I would be flattered, My Lord, if you
gave me your orders to work with more latitude and, if you approve the
counter guard which would not be very expensive, I would beg of you to
order it by the first ships coming from France in order to embrace at
the same time the whole works. M. le Comte de la Galissoniere to whom I
communicated the information which I have acquired on this district will
not let you ignore how advantageous it is and of what consequence it is
to France. I presume to flatter myself, My Lord, that you will consider
me for the position occupied heretofore by M. de Lery. I think I have
worked in a manner to deserve it.”
It was during the summer of 1757 that De Lotbiniere started to
substitute stone for most of the timbers he had used on the outer walls
of the Fort.
[Illustration: Abercromby’s Expedition Against Fort Ticonderoga
Embarking at Head of Lake George
Courtesy Glens Falls Insurance Company]
CHAPTER FOUR
Abercromby’s Defeat
In 1758 the Fort was almost completed. General James Abercromby had
gathered at the head of Lake George the greatest army ever seen on the
American continent, almost 15,000 men, of which 6,000 were British
regulars and the rest provincials from New England, New York and New
Jersey.
In July, 1758, this great army, great for its day and place, left Fort
William Henry in hundreds of batteaux and whale boats to attack Fort
Carillon. It must have been an extraordinarily beautiful sight, that
vast fleet of little boats filled with the Red Coats and the plaids of
Highlanders. Early in the morning of July 6th the army landed on what is
now known as Howe’s Cove at the northern end of Lake George. The army
immediately advanced in three columns but was soon lost in the dense
forest which then covered the whole country. An advance party of French
under the Sieur de Trepezec had been watching the landing from what the
French called Mount Pelee, but which is now called Roger’s Rock. In
trying to return to the Fort they had also lost their way and met one of
the advancing columns, commanded by George Augustus, Viscount Howe, a
grandson of George the First of England. At the first fire Lord Howe was
killed and with his death the heart went out of the army. He was the
real leader of the expedition. Captain Monypenny, his aide, reported his
death in the following letter:
[Illustration: The Marquis de Montcalm
(From a Pastel in the Museum.)]
To Mr. Calcraft, dated Camp at Lake George, 11th July, 1758:
“Sir:
“It is with the utmost concern, I write you of the death of Lord Howe.
On the 6th the whole army landed without opposition, at the carrying
place, about seven miles from Ticonderoga. About two o’clock, they
march’d in four columns, to invest the breast work, where the enemy was
encamp’d, near the Fort. The Rangers were before the army and the light
infantry and marksmen at the heads of the columns. We expected, and met
with some opposition near a small river, which we had to cross. When the
firing began on the part of the left column, Lord Howe thinking it would
be of the greatest consequence, to beat the enemy with the light troops,
so as not to stop the march of the main body, went up with them, and had
just gained the top of the hill, where the firing was, when he was
killed. Never ball had a more deadly direction. It entered his breast on
the left side, and (as the surgeans say) pierced his lungs, and heart,
and shattered his back bone. I was about six yards from him, he fell on
his back and never moved, only his hands quivered an instant.
“The French party was about 400 men, ’tis computed 200 of them were
killed, 160, whereof five are officers, are prisoners; their commanding
officer, and the partizan who conducted them were killed, by the
prisoner’s account, in short, very few, if any, got back.
“The loss our country has sustained in His Lordship is inexpressible,
and I’m afraid irreparable. The spirit he inspired in the troops,
indefatigable pains he took in forwarding the publick service, the
pattern he show’d of every military virtue, can only be believed by
those, who were eye witnesses of it. The confidence the army, both
regular and provincial, had in his abilities as a general officer, the
readiness with which every order of his, or ev’n intimation of what
would be agreeable to him, was comply’d with, is almost incredible. When
his body was brought into camp scarce an eye was free from tears.
“As his Lordship had chose me to act as an aide de camp to him, when he
was to have commanded on the winter expedition, which did not take
place, and afterwards on his being made a brigadier general, had got me
appointed Brigade Major, and I had constantly lived with him since that
time....”
“(Signed) Al. Monypenny.”
[Illustration: Brig. General Lord Howe]
The three columns returned to the landing place on the 6th, and on the
7th the army again advanced, this time by way of the bridge over the
small stream connecting Lake George with Lake Champlain. The French had
destroyed the bridge in retreating but it was soon repaired. On the
night of the 7th the whole army lay on their arms, in what is now the
Village of Ticonderoga, and on the morning of the 8th advanced again in
three columns to attack the Fort. In the meantime Montcalm had elected
not to wait until the Fort was invested but to fight in the woods. With
almost superhuman energy he threw an earthwork across the whole
peninsula of Ticonderoga, about three-quarters of a mile from the Fort.
It consisted of a great wall of logs, and an abatis of trees with their
branches sharpened, a hundred feet or so from the trenches. He, himself,
commanded the center, the Chevalier de Lévis the right, and the Colonel
de Bourlamaque the left. Early in the morning the British columns
attacked. All through that hot, sultry July day the fight went on.
Abercromby had established his headquarters at the French sawmill but
had been deceived as to the strength of Montcalm’s defenses. In this
fight the 42nd Highlanders, the famous Black Watch, suffered enormously.
Many of the Highlanders fought their way through the abatis and some
even reached the great log wall, only to be killed by bayonet or bullet.
The Royal American, a regiment still in the British army as the King’s
Royal Rifle Corps, had losses second only to the Black Watch. And at the
end of the day Abercromby’s army was forced to retreat, leaving the
French in command of the field. The British and Colonial losses in this
fight were almost as great as the whole French defending force.
Account of the Victory Won By the Royal Troops at Carillon on the 8th
Day of July, 1758
(Translated from a contemporary French manuscript report in the Museum
Library)
“The Marquis de Vaudreuil, uncertain of the movements of the enemy,
thought necessary at the beginning of this campaign to distribute his
forces. He appointed the Chevalier de Lévis to execute a secret
expedition with a picked detachment, of which 400 men were chosen from
the land troops. The rest of these troops were sent by order of the
Marquis de Montcalm to defend the border of Lake Saint Sacrement [Lake
George]. The Marquis de Montcalm arrived at Carillon the 30th of June.
The report of prisoners made a few days before left him no doubt that
the enemy had gathered, near the ruins of Fort William Henry, an army of
20,000 to 25,000 men and that their intention was to advance immediately
upon him.
[Illustration: Duc de Lévis]
“He imparted at once this news to the Marquis de Vaudreuil and did not
hesitate to take an advanced position which would deceive the enemy,
retard his movement and give time for the colonial help to arrive. In
consequence, le Sieur de Bourlamaque was ordered to take possession of
the portage at the head of Lake Saint Sacrement, with the battalions of
La Reine, of Guyenne and of Bearn. The Marquis de Montcalm, with those
of La Sarre, of the Royal Roussillon, of the Languedoc Regiment and the
1st battalion of Berry, occupied personally the two banks of the Chute
River, thus named because in that spot the Lake St. Sacrement, narrowed
by the mountains, pours its bubbling waters into the St. Frederic River
and Lake Champlain. The 2nd Berry battalion took charge of the defense
and service at the Fort of Carillon.
[Illustration: A PLAN of
_the TOWN and FORT of_
CARILLON
at
TICONDEROGA;
with
the ATTACK made by the
_BRITISH ARMY_
Commanded by Gen^l. Abercrombie.
_on July 1758_
Engraved by
_Tho^s. Jefferys, Geographer to his Royal Highness the_
Prince of Wales.]
“The Marquis de Montcalm made the Sieurs de Pontleroy and Désandrouins,
Engineers, reconnoitre and determine a site for a fortified position
which could cover this fort; and as we had only a few Canadians and only
15 savages, he took from the French battalions two troops of volunteers,
the command of which was given to the Sieur Bernard, captain in the
Bearn Regiment, and Duprat, captain in La Sarre Regiment.
“In the evening of the 5th scouts which we had on Lake Saint Sacrement
informed us that they had seen large numbers of barges which might be
and were, in fact, the vanguard of the enemy’s army. At once the order
was given to the troops of the Portage and the Chute camps to take their
armaments, to spend the night at the bivouac, and to clear the
equipages. The volunteers of Duprat were sent to take position on a
creek called the Bernetz which, flowing between the mountains that cover
this part of the country, runs into the Chute River. The enemy could
pass around us by the back of these mountains. It was essential to be
aware of such a movement. 350 men under the command of the Sieur de
Trepezec, captain in the Bearn Regiment, were detached to take a
position between the Pelee Mountain and the left bank of Lake Saint
Sacrement and the volunteers of Bernard occupied another post
intermediary between the Pelee Mountain and the Portage camps. Measures
were taken also to throw light on a possible disembarkment which the
enemy might make on the right bank of the lake.
“The 6th. At four o’clock in the morning, the vanguard of the opponent’s
army was located in sight of the portage. At once the Marquis de
Montcalm sent orders to the Sieurs de Pontleroy and Désandrouins to lay
out, in front of Carillon on the ground already marked, trenches and
abatis and to the 2nd Battalion of Berry to work at them with its
ensigns.
[Illustration: Major General Israel Putnam]
“The enemy began to disembark at nine o’clock; the Sieur de Bourlamaque
retreated then in their presence with the 3rd battalion from the portage
and in the best of order. He joined the Marquis de Montcalm who was
waiting for him, formed for battle, on the heights at the right bank of
the Chute, with Roussillon Regiment and the first Berry Battalion; these
five battalions passed the river, destroyed the bridge and combined with
La Sarre and Languedoc Regiments occupied the heights which edge the
left bank. This retreat would have been carried out without the loss of
a single man, if the detachment of the Sieur de Trepezec had not lost
its way. Abandoned by the few savages that acted as guides, it strayed
in those wood-covered mountains and came, after walking 12 hours, upon
an English column bound for the Chute River. Of this detachment 6
officers and about 150 soldiers were killed or made prisoners. They
defended themselves a long time, but they had to retreat before a
superior force. The English made an important loss in the person of Lord
Howe, quartermaster general of their army and Colonel of one of the
Regiments of old England.
“At six o’clock in the evening, the Sieur Duprat, having announced that
the enemy was heading towards the Bernetz Creek with pioneers and that
their plan was evidently to throw a bridge over it, the Marquis de
Montcalm sent the order to retreat and started his own retreat towards
the heights of Carillon, where he arrived at sunset. That same evening a
portion of the opponents’ regular troops and Rangers occupied the two
banks of the Chute River, going towards the Bernetz Creek and
entrenching there. The rest of their army occupied the place of
disembarkment and the portage, and entrenched there also.
“The 7th. The French army was all employed working at the abatis which
had been started the day before by the 2nd Berry Battalion. The officers
were setting the example and the flags were hoisted—the plan of the
defences had been laid out on the heights, 650 fathoms from Carillon
fort.
“On the left side it was backed up by an embankment 80 fathoms away from
the Chute River, the top of which was capped by a wall. This wall was
flanked by a gap back of which 6 cannon were to be placed to fire at it
as well as to the river. On the right it was also backed by an
embankment the slope of which was not as steep as the one on the left;
the plain between this hill and Lake Saint Sacrement River was bordered
by a branch of the trenches and also by a battery of 4 cannon which were
only placed there the day after the battle. Also the guns of the Fort
were pointed toward this plain as well as at any other disembarkment
which might be effected on the left.
“The center followed the sinuosities of the ground, keeping the top of
the height, and all the parts flanked one another reciprocally. Several,
to tell the truth, were hit there, as well as on the right and on the
left by a cross fire of the enemy, but it was because we didn’t have
time to put up traverses. That kind of defence was made by tree trunks
put one on top of the other, and had in front of it fallen trees the
branches of which, cut and sharpened, gave the effect of a chevaux de
frise.
“Between 6 and 8 o’clock in the evening the piquets of our troops,
detached by order of the Chevalier de Lévis, arrived at the camp and the
Chevalier de Lévis himself went there at night.
“All day our volunteers fired against the Rangers of the enemy. General
Abercromby with the main part of the militia and the balance made up of
regular troops advanced up to the falls. He had sent there several
barges and pontoons mounted with two guns each. These troops built also
on the same day several trenches, one in front of the other, of which
the nearest one to our abatis was hardly a cannon range away. We spent
the night in bivouac along side the trenches.
“The 8th. At dawn we beat the drums so as to let all the troops know
their posts for the defense of the entrenchment, following the above
arrangement, which was about that in which they worked. The army was
composed at the right of battalions of La Reine, La Sarre, Royal
Roussillon, Languedoc and Guyenne Regiments and two Berry and the one
battalion of the Bearn Regiment and also of 450 Canadians or Marines
which brought the total to 3,000 fighting men.
“At the left of the line they posted the Sarre and the Languedoc
battalions and the two piquets that had arrived the day before. The
volunteers of Bernard and Duprat were guarding the gap on the Chute
River.
“The center was occupied by the first Berry Battalion, by one Royal
Roussillon and by the rest of the piquets of the Chevalier de Lévis.
“Battalions of La Reine, the Bearn and the Guyenne defended the right
and in the plain between the embankment of this right [flank] and the
Saint Frederic River they had posted the colonial troops and the
Canadians, defended also by abatis. On the whole front of the line each
battalion had back of itself a company of grenadiers and a piquet in
reserve to support their battalion and also to be able to move where
they might be needed. The Chevalier de Lévis took charge of the right,
the Sieur de Bourlamaque of the left, the Marquis de Montcalm kept the
center for himself.
“This arrangement, fixed and known, the troops at once fell back to
work, some of them busy improving the abatis, the rest erecting the two
batteries mentioned above and a redoubt to protect the right.
“That day in the morning, Colonel [Sir William] Johnson joined the
English army with 300 savages of the Five Nations with ‘Tchactas,’ the
Wolf, and Captain Jacob with 140 more. Soon after we saw them, as well
as some Rangers, standing on a mountain opposite Carillon on the other
side of the Chute River. They even discharged much musketry which
interrupted the work. We did not bother answering them.
“At half past twelve, the English army debouched upon us. The company of
grenadiers, the volunteers and the advanced guards retreated in good
order and joined the line again. At the same movement and at a given
signal all the troops took their posts.
“The left was attacked first by two columns, one of which was trying to
turn the trenches and found itself under the fire of La Sarre Regiment,
the other directed its efforts on a salient between the Languedoc and
the Berry battalions. The center, where the Royal Roussillon was, was
attacked almost at the same time by a third column; a fourth attacked
the right between the Bearn and La Reine battalions. All these columns
were intermingled with their Rangers and their best riflemen, covered by
the trees, kept up a murderous fire.
“At the beginning of the fight several barges and pontoons coming from
the Chute advanced in sight of Carillon. The steadiness of the
volunteers of Bernard and Duprat, supported by Sieur de Poulharies at
the head of a company of grenadiers and of a piquet of the Royal
Roussillon, with a few cannon shots fired from the fort, made them
retreat.
“These different attacks were almost all in the afternoon and almost
everywhere of the greatest intensity.
“As the Canadians and the colonial troops had not been attacked they
directed their fire upon the column which was attacking our right and
which from time to time was within their range. This column, made up of
English grenadiers and of Scotch Highlanders, charged repeatedly for
three hours without either being rebuked or broken up, and several were
killed at only fifteen feet from our lines.
“At about five o’clock the column which had attacked vigorously the
Royal Roussillon threw itself back on the salient defended by the
Regiment of Guyenne and by the left wing of the Bearn, the column which
had attacked the right wing drew back also, so that the danger became
urgent in those parts. The Chevalier de Lévis moved there with a few
troops of the right [wing] at which the enemy was shooting. The Marquis
de Montcalm hastened there also with some of the reserves and the enemy
met a resistance which slowed up, at last, their ardor.
“The left was still standing up against the firing of two columns which
were endeavoring to break through that part. The Sieur de Bourlamaque
had been dangerously wounded there at about 4 o’clock and Sieur de
Senezeraque and de Privast, Lieutenant Colonels of La Sarre and the
Languedoc Regiments were taking his place and giving the best of orders.
The Marquis de Montcalm rushed there several times and took pains to
have help sent there in all critical moments.
“At 6 o’clock the two columns on the right gave up attacking the Guyenne
battalions and made one more attempt against the Royal Roussillon and
Berry. At last, after a last effort to the left, at 7 o’clock, the enemy
retreated, protected by the shooting of the Rangers, which kept on until
night. They abandoned on the battlefield their dead and some of their
wounded.
“The darkness of the night, the exhaustion and small number of our
troops, the strength of the enemy which, in spite of its defeat, was
still in numbers superior to us, the nature of these woods in which one
could not, without assistance of the savages, start out against an army
which must have had from 400 to 500 of them, several trenches built in
echelon from the battlefield up to their camp, those are the obstacles
that prevented us following the enemy in its retreat. We even thought
that they would attempt to take their revenge and we worked all night to
escape attack from the neighboring heights by traverses, to improve the
Canadian abatis, and to finish the batteries of the left and of the
right [flanks] which had been begun in the morning.
“The 9th. Our volunteers having informed the Marquis de Montcalm that
the post of the Chute and of the portage seemed abandoned, he gave
orders to the Chevalier de Lévis to go the next day at day break with
the grenadiers, the volunteers and the Canadians to reconnoitre what had
become of the enemy.
“The Chevalier de Lévis advanced beyond the portage. He found everywhere
the vestige of a hurried flight wounded, supplies, abandoned equipage,
debris of barges and charred pontoons, unquestionable proofs of the
great loss which the enemy had made. We estimate it at about 4,000 men
killed or wounded. Were we to believe some of them, and judge by the
promptitude of their retreat, it would be still more considerable. They
have lost several officers and generals, Lord Howe, Sir Spitall, Major
General Commander in Chief of the forces of New York, and several
others.
“The savages of the Five Nations remained as spectators at the tail of
the column; they were waiting probably to declare themselves after the
result of a fight which, to the English, did not seem doubtful.
“The orders which were published in their colonies for the levying and
upkeep of this army, announces the general invasion of Canada and the
same statements are made in all the commissions of their officers and
militia. We must do them justice in saying that they attacked us with
the most ardent tenacity. It is not ordinary that trenches have stood
seven hours’ attack at a stretch and almost without respite.
“We owe this victory to good manœuvres of our generals before and during
the action and to the extraordinary, unbelievable gallantry of our
troops. All the officers of the army behaved in a way that each one of
them deserves special praise. We have had about 350 men killed and
wounded, 38 of which were officers.”
A British account of the fight from “An Historical Journal of the
Campaigns in North America,” London, 1759, is as follows:
“A schooner arrived, from Boston, this morning; by this vessel we had
the satisfaction to receive a bag of letters, some from Europe, and
others from the southward, but none from the eastward; among those which
I got was the following one, from my friend in the Commander in Chief’s
army, dated Albany, July the 29th, 1758.
‘I scratched a few lines to you, on the 11th instant, from Fort Edward,
and, as I wrote in great pain, I think it was scarce legible;—such, as
it was, shall be glad to hear it reached you safe: in a few days after I
dispatched it to you, my fever abated, and I was judged to be out of
danger; for some time, however, it was apprehended I should lose my arm;
as all my baggage remained here since last winter, I obtained leave to
remove to this place, knowing I could be better accommodated here, than
in my confined situation at Fort Edward: in my last, I promised you a
particular account of our unhappy storm of the 8th instant; it is a
mortifying talk, but you shall be indulged, as I know you are curious
after every occurrence. It will be needless to have retrospect to any
events preceding the 4th of this month, as there was not any thing
remarkable, except preparing for the expedition, and embarking our
provisions, stores, and artillery; the latter were mounted on floats or
rafts, for the protection of our armament upon the lake, and to cover us
at our landing. On the 5th, the whole army, amounting to about sixteen
thousand men, embarked likewise; our transports were bateaux and
whaleboats, and in such numbers as to cover the lake for a considerable
length of way, as may well be supposed; we proceeded soon after in great
order, and, as I was in one of the foremost divisions, as soon as we
were put in motion, I think I never beheld so delightful a prospect. On
the 6th, we arrived early in the morning at the cove, where we were to
land: here we expected some opposition; but a party of light troops
having got on shore, and finding all clear, the whole army landed
without loss of time, formed into columns and marched immediately; upon
our approach, an advanced guard of the enemy, consisting of several
hundred regulars and savages, who were posted in a strong intrenched
camp, retired very precipitately, after setting fire to their camp, and
destroying almost every thing they had with them; we continued our march
through dark woods and swamps that were almost impassable, till at
length, having lost our way, the army being obliged to break their order
of march, we were perplexed, thrown into confusion, and fell in upon one
another, in a most disorderly manner: it was at this time that Brigadier
Lord Howe, being advanced a considerable way ahead of us, with all the
light infantry, and one of our columns, came up with the
before-mentioned advanced guard of the enemy, who we also suppose to
have lost themselves in their retreat, when a smart skirmish ensued, in
which we were victors, though with some loss; trifling, however, in
comparison to that which the army sustained by his Lordship’s fall, who
was killed at the first charge, and is universally regretted both by
officers and soldiers; the enemy suffered much in this encounter, being
very roughly handled; and we made many men and several officers
prisoners. On the morning of the 7th we marched back to the
landing-place, in order to give the troops time to rest and refresh
themselves, being by this time not a little harrassed, as may well be
conceived: here we incamped, got a fresh supply of provisions, and
boiled our kettles; we had not been there many hours, when a detachment
of the army (to which I belonged) were sent off under Colonel
Bradstreet, to dispossess the enemy of a post they had at a saw-mill,
about two miles from Ticonderoga; but they did not wait for us; for,
upon receiving intelligence, by their scouts of our approach, they
destroyed the mill, and a bridge that lay across the river; the latter
we soon replaced, and lay, upon our arms until the evening, when we were
joined by the remainder of the army. I wish I could throw a veil over
what is to follow; for I confess I am at a loss how to proceed:—our army
was numerous, we were in good spirits, and, if I may give you my own
private opinion, I believe we were one and all infatuated with a notion
of carrying every obstacle, with so great a force we had, by a mere Coup
de Musqueterie; to such chimerical and romantic ideas I entirely
attribute our great disaster on the 8th, in which we were confirmed by
the report of our chief engineer, who had reconnoitred the enemy’s
works, and determined our fate, by declaring it as his opinion, that it
was very practical to carry them by a general storm; accordingly, the
army being formed, and every thing in readiness, we proceeded to the
attack, which was as well conducted and supported as any bold
undertaking ever was;—but alas! we soon found ourselves grossly
deceived;—the intrenchments were different from what we had expected,
and were made to believe, their breast-works were uncommonly high, and
the ground in their front, for a great length of way, was covered with
an Abatis de Bois, laid so close and thick, that their works were really
rendered impregnable. The troops, by the cool and spirited example of
the General, made many eager efforts to no purpose; for we were so
intangled in the branches of the felled trees, that we could not
possibly advance; the enemy were sensible of this, and remained steady
at their breast-works, repeating their fire, which, from their numbers,
was very weighty, and, from a conviction of their own safety, was served
with great composure. Such was our situation for almost five hours,
when, at length, finding our loss considerable, and no prospect of
carrying our point, we were ordered to desist, and retire;—the army
retreated to the ground we had occupied on the preceding night at the
sawmill, and the wounded were sent off to the bateaux without delay,
where the remains of our shattered forces joined us early on the ninth,
and the whole re-embarked, and continued our retreat to Lake George;
there we arrived the same evening and encamped. That place is computed
to be about thirty miles from Ticonderoga (though I believe it is more)
and fourteen from Fort Edward, whither, as also to this town (from which
I now write) all the wounded were sent the next day. Our loss is indeed
very considerable, as you will see by the inclosed return. The valiant
Colonels Donaldson, Bever, and Major Proby, with many other of our
friends, I am heartily sorry to acquaint you, are among the slain. So
that what we find so feelingly expressed by the poet is here fatally
verified,
‘For, How many mothers shall bewail their sons!
How many widows weep their husbands slain!’
[Illustration: Replica of the Cross Erected by General Montcalm,
Commemorating the French Victory at Carillon]
What loss the enemy sustained, or if any, it is impossible for us to be
able to give the least account of; they did not attempt to pursue us in
our retreat.—Let me hear from you upon receipt of this packet, and, if
anything should occur in the farther course of this campaign, you shall
hear from me again; but, I presume the French general will cut out such
work for us, as will oblige our forces to act on the defensive.’”
In August of this year Israel Putnam, while scouting near Fort Miller,
was captured by some French and Indians, and, after being stripped of
his coat, vest, stockings and shoes, was loaded with the packs of the
wounded and marched toward Ticonderoga. During this trip he was stripped
naked, tied to a tree, and preparations were made for burning him when a
French officer interposed. Reaching Ticonderoga, he was examined by the
Marquis de Montcalm and sent to Montreal as a prisoner. Afterwards
exchanged, he lived to have a distinguished career in the Revolution.
[Illustration: Montcalm Congratulating His Victorious Troops After
the Battle of July 8, 1758
(Painting by Harry A. Ogden in the Fort Ticonderoga Museum)]
[Illustration: Major Robert Rogers’ Battle on Snowshoes in 1757
(From a Painting in the Glens Falls Insurance Co. Building)]
CHAPTER FIVE
The Amherst Campaign
The next year, 1759, General Jeffrey Amherst, who had succeeded General
Abercromby, again advanced down Lake George to attack the Fort. On July
21st with 5743 British regulars and about the same number of provincials
he left Fort William Henry. In the meantime, the French garrison at
Ticonderoga had been much reduced. Montcalm had gone to the defense of
Quebec, leaving General Bourlamaque, who had been slightly wounded the
year before, in command. Amherst’s army followed Abercromby’s route but
instead of attacking proceeded to invest the Fort. Bourlamaque soon
realized that he would be starved out and captured within a reasonable
time, so, after a few days defense decided to evacuate. He left Captain
Hebecourt with 400 of the garrison and with the balance retreated to
Crown Point and eventually to Isle aux Noix. Hebecourt kept up a heavy
artillery fire as the British advanced through the French lines and
threw up counter defenses. Amherst was then within 600 yards of the
Fort. He did not know that Bourlamaque had retreated with most of the
French Army. On the 3rd night Hebecourt embarked the balance of his
force, set fire to the Fort and left a lighted match headed for the
powder magazine, which was located in the South East Bastion. The Fort
was soon in flames and the magazine blew up with a tremendous explosion.
Hebecourt made good his retreat to Isle aux Noix where he joined
Bourlamaque.
An excellent description of the taking of the Fort by Amherst is
contained in a letter from a Massachusetts soldier, Eli Forbush, in the
Museum collection. It follows herewith:
[Illustration: Sir Jeffrey Amherst]
Camp at Ticonderoga or Fort Carillon
Aug. 4, 1759.
“Very Rev’d & Hon’d Sr.
“Tis an old saying better late than never, therefore I presume (tho too
unseasonably) to wait upon you with a line, to tell you what God has
done for us the army and his Chh [Church] and people in gen’l. On ye 21
of July ye army imbarked for this place, which consisted of 11756, the
Invincible rydau sail’d in ye rear of grenadiers, light infantry and
rangers, and in ye front of remaining army and ye sloop Halifax brought
up ye rear of ye whole. The fleet reached Sabbath Day Point by day
light, then the Invincible came to anchor, and ye whole Fleet lay upon
ye ores, till break of day, when ye signal was given for sailing, and
the whole landed without opposition, between ye hours of nine and
eleven, 22d, the light infantry, rangers, and grenad’rs marched
immediately for the mill, where they found the enemy posted, in three
advantageous places, but as soon as they saw the dexterity and
resolution of our advancing parties, they fled and left ye grounds in
our possession and as our people got ye first fire and received only a
running fire from them, little execution was done on either side, we
obtain 3 prisoners and kild 3 on ye spot, and received only a slight
wound or two from them. The whole army marched forward, beside what was
necessary to guard the landing place, with ye vessels and stores, some
were imployed in persuing the enemy, some in clearing the roads, and ye
water course from ye mill, others in taking possession of all ye most
advantageous ground near ye Fort—the whole was performed with ye
greatest regularity, ye least noise, a noble calmness and intrepid
resolution, ye whole army seemed to pertake of ye very soul of ye
commander. As ye enemy had not force nor courage to man ye lines yt
provd so fatal to our brave troops last year, we took possession of them
without much opposition, and before day of ye 23d began to intrench and
ye body of ye army incamped behind ye breastwork, which covered them
from ye enemies fire, as soon as it was light and ye enemy perceived our
disposition, they raised a smart canonade upon us, but without effect,
those that were intrenching, between ye Breastwork and ye Fort had by
this time covered ymselves, and ye breastwork was a defence to ye camp,
they continued to canonade and to throw yr shells, and we continued to
intrench, advancing nearer and nearer, the Gen’l ordered yt no fire shd
be returned upon ye enemy (except in case of necessary defence) till he
had all ye batteries ready to open at once, and as ye trenches were long
ye digging bad, the whole could not be compleated till Thursday night ye
26 or rather Fryday morning ye 27. When ye batteries were to be opened
at once, the enemy seemed fully sensible of ye fatal consequences of
such heavy batteries for a little after midnight between ye 26 & 27.
they blew up ye magazine and made off, some by land on ye east side of
ye lake and some by water with all yt they could carry (which could be
but a little), nineteen of those that went off by land got lost and came
into our camp next morning, some of ye light infantry yt were posted on
ye left by ye lake side hearing ye enemies boats fire several cannon
loaded with grape in among ym which greatly dismad and destresd them,—we
found 3 of ye boats adrift loaded with powder and other stores, others
broke and sunk.
[Illustration: General Amherst and the Burning Fort
From a painting in the Museum Collection]
“Six o’Clock 27. the French flagg was struck and ye English hoisted on
ye same staff, but as ye Fort was in flames and cannon loaded and a
large number of small armes, which kept a continual fire as ye wood
burnt, the Gen’l gave orders yt ye greatest caution shd usd in taking
possession, About 8 o’Clock they began to attempt to extinguish ye fire,
and to draw ye charges from those cannon yt ye fire had not reached,—We
found 13 pieces of cannon mounted, 4 Mortars two 13 Inch, two 9. Other
artillery is found since sunk in ye waters, the strength of ye Fort
exceeds ye most sanguine imagination, nature and art are Joind to render
it impregnable, and had not ye enemy behaved like cowards and traitors
they might have held out a long siege. Our loss is very inconsiderable
(except Col. Townsend) who was killed with a cannon ball on ye 25th
besides him we have lost none of note, the whole according to ye returns
yt have been made is 96 killd and wounded, 20 only of which was kild on
ye spot—We have had one killed as he stood centry and one Stockbridge
Indian, an Ensign, which is all ye loss that we have sustained by ye
savages since the Fort was abandoned. It came out in Gen’l Orders that
publick thanks shd be given at ye head of every core for ye conquest
obtained, ever since we got possession ye whole army has been imploy’d
in extinguishing ye fire of ye Fort, repairing ye breeches made by ye
explosion, gitting over ye beteaus and boats, provisions, and artilery
stores, in rebuilding ye mills and in erecting two more rydaus all whch
are near accomplished. August 3. A scout in from Crown-Point and brot
certain intelligence that the enemy have destroyed and abandoned that
also, upon which ye Gen’l sent a party immediately to take possession,
and this morning saild himself with his artilery and ye main body of ye
army leaving only such numbers as are necessary to defend ye several
posts which he has established and to carry on the works at ye mills and
ye Fort, tis supposd yt ye whole army will be ready to cross the Lake
Champlain in about ten days. We have two rydaus that carry Six 12
pounders in yr sides and one 24 in ye bowes. four roe galleys yt carry
one 18 in each of yr bowes one flat boat and one six pounder and four
bay-boats with swivals and a brig in great forwardness, all which we
hope will be sufficient against the 3 schooners which ye enemy having
cruzing in ye Lake, so yet our success is not only great but ye prospect
still clear yt we shl by ye divine aide do ye business we came upon—The
health of ye army is very extraordinary in ye two battalions where I am
concerned, yr has died but two with sickness and one kild by ye enemy,
(ye sentery above mentioned) when I visited the fort which was about 9
o’Clock Friday morning 27th I found many monuments of superstition which
would furnish a curious mind with aboundant matter for speculation—one
thing I cant omit, near ye breast-work where so many spilt yr blood last
year, was a cross erected of 30 feet high, painted red with this
inscription in lead on yt side next to ye breastwork ‘Sone Principes
eorum Sicut oneb et heb et Zebee et ...’ and under this at ye foot of ye
cross was an open grave—on ye opposite side of ye cross next to ye Fort
was this inscribed in lead viz ‘Hoc Signum Vincit’—These are the most
remarkable, yt has feel within my notice since I wrote last. I hope you
will pardon my prolixity and overlook ye many imperfections of my
relation, tis a good story tho it is not well told, if you please let
Mr. Breek see the contents as I have not time to write particularly to
him nor anything new besides to communicate.
“Please to give all proper salutations to all friends on ye river and
give me leave to subscribe your most obd’t and affectionate son
Eli Forbush
“Last night I was hon’d with the reception of yr fav’r of ye 16 ulto for
which I thank you.”
To the Reverend Mr. Steven Williams
in Springfield, Lon Meadow Precinct. [Mass.]
CHAPTER SIX
The Calm Before The Storm
From 1759 to 1775 it was peaceful and tranquil at Ticonderoga. There are
but few records, though the British maintained a garrison at the Fort
and also one at Crown Point. The Fort was used as a storehouse for
military supplies, and presumably the garrison did its best to entertain
itself in what was then a wilderness. Major Gavin Cochrane commanded for
four years, and in 1765 Major Thomas James went down from Ticonderoga to
New York to aid in enforcing the Stamp Act. On February 15th, 1767,
Lieutenant-Governor Carleton wrote from Montreal to Major General Gage:
“The forts of Crown Point and Ticonderoga are in a very declining
condition ... should you approve of keeping up these posts, it will be
best to repair them as soon as possible.”
Crown Point caught on fire in April, 1773, and a large part of the
barracks was destroyed by an explosion in the magazine. Detachments of
the 60th Regiment, the Royal American Regiment of Foot, was stationed
here for many years, and Major General Haldimand spent a short time at
the Fort. Early in 1775 Major Philip Skene of Skenesborough was
appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Crown Point and Ticonderoga. However,
as he was captured on his return from England the same year and confined
as a Loyalist, (though afterwards exchanged and was with Burgoyne in
1777) he could not have done very much Lieutenant-Governoring.
[Illustration: Ethan Allen]
CHAPTER SEVEN
Ethan Allen
In 1775, while the trouble in Boston was brewing, Samuel Holden Parsons,
Colonel Samuel Wyllys and Silas Deane, all of Connecticut, and probably
at the suggestion of Colonel John Brown of Pittsfield, Massachusetts,
conceived the idea of seizing Ticonderoga and capturing the great
quantities of military supplies known to be stored in the Fort.
The Colony of Massachusetts voted a considerable sum and Colonel
Benedict Arnold was authorized to raise a force and seize the fort.
About the same time, however, Ethan Allen, leader of a body of irregular
troops known as the Green Mountain Boys, also conceived the idea. Allen
and Arnold met in Castleton, Vermont, and both claimed the command. The
Green Mountain Boys absolutely refused to serve under anyone but Allen.
Eventually a compromise was made and a joint command agreed on. A
rendezvous was agreed on in Hand’s Cove on the east side of Lake
Champlain about two miles north of the Fort and on the night of May 9th
about 350 men had gathered. There was a scarcity of boats, however, and
the few obtainable were rowed back and forth all night, landing just
north of the present Fort Ticonderoga Ferry. Shortly before daylight
only 83 men and a number of officers had reached the west shore. Not
daring to postpone the attack, Allen proceeded by the wood road then
running across the swamp which formerly existed in what is now the North
Field. His own account of the capture is as follows:
“I landed eighty-three men near the garrison, and sent the boats back
for the rear guard commanded by Col. Seth Warner; but the day began to
dawn, and I found myself under a necessity to attack the fort, before
the rear could cross the lake; and, as it was viewed hazardous, I
harangued the officers and soldiers in the manner following:
‘Friends and fellow soldiers, you have, for a number of years past, been
a scourge and terror to arbitrary power. Your valour has been famed
abroad, and acknowledged, as appears by the advice and orders to me
(from the general assembly of Connecticut) to surprise and take the
garrison now before us. I now propose to advance before you, and in
person conduct you through the wicket-gate; for we must this morning
either quit our pretensions to valour, or possess ourselves of this
fortress in a few minutes; and, in as much as it is a desperate attempt,
(which none but the bravest of men dare undertake) I do not urge it on
any contrary to his will. You that will undertake voluntarily poise your
firelocks.’
“The men being (at this time) drawn up in three ranks, each poised his
firelock. I ordered them to face to the right; and, at the head of the
centre-file, marched them immediately to the wicket-gate aforesaid,
where I found a centry posted, who instantly snapped his fusee at me; I
ran immediately toward him, and he retreated through the covered way
into the parade within the garrison, gave a halloo, and ran under a
bomb-proof. My party who followed me into the fort, I formed on the
parade in such a manner as to face the two barracks which faced each
other. The garrison being asleep, (except the centries) we gave three
huzzas which greatly surprised them. One of the centries made a pass at
one of my officers with charged bayonet and slightly wounded him: My
first thought was to kill him with my sword; but, in an instant, altered
the design and fury of the blow to a slight cut on the side of the head;
upon which he dropped his gun, and asked quarter, which I readily
granted him, and demanded of him the place where the commanding officer
slept; he showed me a pair of stairs in the front of a barrack, on the
west part of the garrison, which led up to a second story in said
barrack, to which I immediately repaired, and ordered the commander
(Capt. Delaplace) to come forth instantly, or I would sacrifice the
whole garrison; at which the capt. came immediately to the door with his
breeches in his hand, when I ordered him to deliver to me the fort
instantly, who asked me by what authority I demanded it; I answered, ‘In
the name of the great Jehovah, and the Continental Congress.’ (The
authority of the Congress being very little known at that time) he began
to speak again; but I interrupted him, and with my drawn sword over his
head, again demanded an immediate surrender of the garrison; to which he
then complied, and ordered his men to be forthwith paraded without arms,
as he had given up the garrison; in the meantime some of my officers had
given orders, and in consequence thereof, sundry of the barrack doors
were beat down, and about one-third of the garrison imprisoned, which
consisted of the said commander, a Lieut. Feltham, a conductor of
artillery, a gunner, two serjeants, and forty-four rank and file; about
one hundred pieces of cannon, one 13 inch mortar, and a number of
swivels. This surprise was carried into execution in the gray of the
morning of the 10th day of May, 1775. The sun seemed to rise that
morning with a superior lustre; and Ticonderoga and its dependencies
smiled on its conquerors, who tossed about the flowing bowl, and wished
success to Congress, and liberty and freedom of America.” The flowing
bowl evidently had its effect as Allen’s first account of the capture of
the Fort reads as follows:
[Illustration: Catamount Tavern in Bennington Where Ethan Allen And
the Others Laid Plans To Capture The Fortress of Ticonderoga]
To the Massachusetts Council,
“Gentlemen: I have to inform you, with pleasure unfelt before, that on
the break of day of the tenth of May, 1775, by the order of the General
Assembly of the Colony of Connecticut, I took the fortress of
Ticonderoga by storm. The soldiery was composed of about one hundred
Green Mountain Boys and nearly fifty veteran soldiers from the Province
of Massachusetts Bay. The latter was under command of Colonel James
Easton, who behaved with great zeal and fortitude,—not only in council;
but in the assault. The soldiery behaved with such resistless fury, that
they so terrified the Kings troops, that they durst not fire on their
assailants, and our soldiery was agreeably disappointed. The soldiery
behaved with uncommon rancour when they leaped into the Fort; and it
must be confessed, that the Colonel has greatly contributed to the
taking of that fortress, as well as John Brown, Esq., attorney at law,
who was also an able counsellor, and was personally in the attack. I
expect the Colonies will maintain this fort. As to the cannon and
war-like stores, I hope they may serve the cause of liberty instead of
tyranny, and I humbly implore your assistance in immediately assisting
the Government of Connecticut in establishing a garrison in the reduced
premises. Colonel Easton will inform you at large. From, gentlemen, your
most obedient, humble servant.
Ethan Allen”
On the 12th, however, he sent a more temperate account to the Governor
of Connecticut, the original manuscript of which is now in the Fort
Library and reads as follows:
“Hon’ble Sir: I make you a present of a Major, a Captain, and two
Lieutenants in the regular Establishment of George the Third. I hope
they may serve as ransoms for some of our friends at Boston, and
particularly for Captain Brown of Rhode Island. A party of men, under
the command of Capt. Herrick, has took possession of Skenesborough,
imprisoned Major Skene, and seized a schooner of his. I expect, in ten
days time, to have it rigged, manned and armed, with six or eight pieces
of cannon, which, with the boats in our possession, I purpose to make an
attack on the armed sloop of George the Third, which is now cruising on
Lake Champlain, and is about twice as big as the schooner. I hope in a
short time to be authorized to acquaint your Honour, that Lake
Champlain, and the fortifications thereon, are subject to the Colonies.
“The enterprise has been approbated by the officers and soldiery of the
Green Mountains boys, nor do I hesitate as to the success. I expect
lives must be lost in the attack, as the commander of George’s sloop is
a man of courage, etc.
“Messrs. Hickock, Halsey and Nichols have the charge of conducting the
officers to Hartford. These gentlemen have been very assiduous and
active in the late expedition.
“I depend upon your Honour’s aid and assistance in a situation so
contiguous to Canada.
“I subscribe myself, your Honour’s ever faithful, Most obedient and
humble servant.
Ethan Allen
“At present commander at Ticonderoga. To the Hon’ble Johnathan Trumbull,
esq., Capt. General and Governor of the Colony of Connecticut.”
[Illustration: Ethan Allen and Captain Delaplace at The Capture of
Fort Ticonderoga]
It is interesting to note that in neither of Allen’s reports does he
mention Arnold, who had a joint command with him. Hard feeling between
the two commanders had already developed. Arnold was a commissioned
officer in the Connecticut Militia and Allen, an amateur. Professional
soldiers and amateurs never have hit it off.
[Illustration: Letter From Ethan Allen, Ticonderoga, May 12, 1775,
Manuscript in the Museum Collection]
Ticonderoga 12^th. May 1775
Hono^bl Sir I make You a Present of a Major a Captain and Two Lieut^s in
the regular Establishment of George the Third I hope they may serve as
ransoms for some of our Friends at Boston and particularly for Capt
Brown of Rhodiseland a Party of men under the Command of Cap^t Herich
has Took Posession Scenesborough Imprisoned Major Sceen^e and Seized a
Schooner of his, I Expect in ten days Time to have it rigged and man’d
and armed with 6 or 8 Pieces of Canon which with the Boat in our
Possession I Purpose to make an attack on the armed Sloop of George the
Third which is Now Cruising on Lake Champlain and is about Twice as bigg
as the Schooner. I Hope in a Short Time to be authorized to acquaint
your Hoour that Lake Champlain ^^& the fortifications thereon are
subjected to the Colonies The Enterprise has been approbated by the
Officers and Soldiary of the Green Mountain Boys Nor do I hesitate as to
the Success I Expect Lives must be Lost in the attack as the Comander of
George’s Sloop is a man of Courage &c.
[Illustration: Letter, continued]
I Conclude Cap^t Warner is by this time in Possession of Crown Point the
Ordnance Stores &c I Conclude Governor Carlton will Exert himself to
oppose us & Command the Lake &c—Messers Hickock Halsey & Nichols have
the Charge of Conducting the ^Officers{illegible} to Harford These
Gentlemen have been Very Assiduous and active in the Late Expedition I
depend upon Your Honours Aid and Assistance in a Situation so Contiguous
toCanandaigaCanada—I Subscribe my Self Your Honours Ever Faithfull most
Obedient and Humble Servant
Ethan Allen,
at Present Commander of Ticonderoga
THE BRITISH SIDE OF THE CAPTURE
A few years ago Mr. Allen French discovered the manuscript of Lieutenant
Feltham’s report, which reads as follows:
New York, June 11th 1775.
“Sir
“Capt. Delaplace of the 26th regt has given me directions to lay before
you in as plain a narrative as I can the manner of the surprizal of the
fort of Ticonderoga on 10th May with all the circumstances after it that
I thought might be of any service in giving you Exy any light into the
affair.
[Illustration: “Allen Needs You at Ti”
(Courtesy National Life Insurance Company of Vermont)]
“Capt. Delaplace having in the course of the winter applied to Gen.
Carleton for a reinforcement, as he had reason to suspect some attack
from some circumstances that happend’d in his neighborhood, Gen Carleton
was pleased to order a detachment of a subaltern and 20 men to be sent
in two or three separate parties the first party of which was sent as a
crew along with Major Dunbar who left Canada about the 12th April, I
being the first subaltern on command was ordered down with 10 men in a
few days more, to give up to Capt Delaplace with whom Lt Wadman was to
remain, having receiv’d orders from the regt some time before to join
there. as he was not arrived when I came I had orders to wait until he
did. I was 12 days there before he came which was about an hour after
the fort was surprised. I had not lain in the fort on my arrival having
left the only tolerable rooms there for Mr. Wadman if he arrived with
his family, but being unwell, had lain in the fort for two or three
nights preceding the 10th May, on which morning about half an hour after
three in my sleep I was awaken’d by numbers of shreiks, & the words no
quarter, no quarter from a number of arm’d rabble I jump’d up about
which time I heard the noise continue in the area of the fort I ran
undress’d to knock at Capt. Delaplaces door & to receive his orders or
wake him, the door was fast the room I lay in being close to Capt
Delaplace I stept back, put on my coat & waist coat & return’d to his
room, there being no possibility of getting to the men as there were
numbers of the rioters on the bastions of the wing of the fort on which
the door of my room and back door of Capt Delaplaces room led, with
great difficulty, I got into his room, being pursued, from which there
was a door down by stairs in to the area of the fort, I ask’d Capt
Delaplace who was by now just up what I should do, & offer’d to force my
way if possible to our men, on opening this door the bottom of the
stairs was filld with the rioters & many were forcing their way up,
knowing the Commg Officer lived there, as they had broke open the lower
rooms where the officers live in winter, and could not find them there,
from the top of the stairs I endeavour’d to make them hear me, but it
was impossible, on making a signal not to come up the stairs, they
stop’d, & proclaimd silence among themselves, I then address’d them, but
in a stile not agreeable to them I ask’d them a number of questions,
expecting to amuse them till our people fired which I must certainly own
I thought would have been the case, after asking them the most material
questions, I could think viz by what authority they entered his
majesties fort who were the leaders and what their intent &c &c I was
informd by one Ethan Allen and one Benedict Arnold that they had a joint
command, Arnold informing me he came from instructions recd from the
congress at Cambridge which he afterwards shew’d me. Mr. Allen told me
his orders were from the province of Connecticut & that he must have
immediate possession of the fort and all the effects of George the third
(those were his words) Mr. Allen insisting on this with a drawn sword
over my head & numbers of his followers firelocks presented at me
alledging I was commanding officer & to give up the fort, and if it was
not comply’d with, or that there was a single gun fired in the fort
neither man woman or child should be left alive in the fort. Mr. Arnold
begg’d it in a genteel manner but without success, it was owing to him
they were prevented getting into Capt Delaplaces room, after they found
I did not command. Capt. Delaplace being now dress’d came out, when
after talking to him some time, they put me back into the room they
placed two sentry’s on me and took Capt Delaplace down stairs they also
placed sentrys at the back door, from the beginning of the noise till
half an hour after this I never saw a Soldier, tho’ I heard a great
noise in their rooms and can not account otherwise than that they must
have been seiz’d in their beds before I got on the stairs, or at the
first coming in, which must be the case as Allen wounded one of the
guard on his struggling with him in the guard room immediately after his
entrance into the fort. When I did see our men they were drawn up
without arms, which were all put into one room over which they placed
sentrys and allotted one to each soldier their strength at first coming
that is the number they had ferry’d over in the night amounted to about
90 but from their entrance & shouting they were constantly landing men
till about 10 o’clock when I suppose there were about 300, & by the next
morning at least another 100 who I suppose were waiting the event & came
now to join in the plunder which was most rigidly perform’d as to
liquor, provisions, &c whether belonging to his majesty or private
property, about noon on the 10th May, our men were sent to the landing
at L. George, & sent over next day, then march’d by Albany to Hartford
Connecticut where they arrived on the 22d they would not allow an
Officer to go with them tho’ I requested it. They sent Capt Delaplace
his Lady, family & Lt Wadman & myself by Skenesborough to Hartford where
we arrived the 21st.”
Shortly after Allen’s capture of the Fort Congress decided to garrison
the place, and what was afterwards called the Northern Army was
concentrated there. It consisted mostly of New York, New Jersey and
Pennsylvania troops with the Pennsylvanians the best equipped and
organized. General Philip Schuyler of New York was in command through
1775. The Fort was repaired and the old French Lines strengthened and a
number of redoubts started.
[Illustration: Ethan Allen’s Blunderbuss in the Museum Collection]
[Illustration: Benedict Arnold]
CHAPTER EIGHT
Montgomery, Knox, Valcour Island
A number of important things happened at Ticonderoga during the American
occupation between Allen’s capture, May 10th, 1775, and St. Clair’s
evacuation before Burgoyne, July 6, 1777.
An expedition for the invasion of Canada was planned. By the middle of
July, 1775, General Schuyler arrived at Ticonderoga and found but little
progress had been made to advance the expedition, few bateaux, no
boards, little material and few workmen able to build boats. He repaired
the French sawmill, sawed boards, requisitioned carpenters, nails,
provisions and teams and forwarded matters with so much dispatch that by
the beginning of August regiments which were to form the army began to
move toward Ticonderoga. The Continental troops began to arrive by the
middle of August, and on the 13th General Richard Montgomery arrived and
reviewed the troops. On the 28th the army advanced and after a few
skirmishes on the way reached St. Johns on the 6th of September. The
army consisted of about 1000 men under command of General Philip
Schuyler, almost wholly Connecticut troops excepting about 250 of the
first battalion of New Yorkers, under command of Lieutenant Colonel
Ritzma. On the 13th of September General Schuyler was forced to return
to Ticonderoga on account of illness, leaving General Richard Montgomery
in command. The fort at St. Johns held out until November 2nd, when the
garrison surrendered to the American invaders. Among the officers who
surrendered and who were sent down to Ticonderoga, a prisoner with the
rest was Lieutenant John Andre, afterwards executed as a spy.
[Illustration: Major General Richard Montgomery]
On Monday morning, November 13th, a detachment from the Continental Army
took possession of Montreal. Unfortunately, the time of many of the
Connecticut troops had expired and most of them decided to go home. The
General offered as a bounty for those who would enlist for only five
months, a watch great coat, coat, jacket and breeches, stockings and
shoes, shirt, caps, mittens, socks and an English Crown. About 200
volunteered to stay.
General Montgomery shortly afterwards joined Benedict Arnold who was
besieging Quebec, and lost his life in the unsuccessful attack on that
place. The remnants of two armies reached Ticonderoga in the spring of
1776 in a terrible condition.
It was while serving under General Montgomery that Ethan Allen,
advancing toward Montreal to ascertain whether the Canadians were with
or against the Americans, was captured, sent to England as a prisoner
and not returned and released until May, 1778. He took no further part
in the Revolution, though Congress granted him the rank and pay of a
colonel.
On the 16th of November General Washington sent the following
instruction to Henry Knox, then a Colonel of Artillery:
“You are immediately to examine into the state of the artillery of this
army, and take an account of the cannon, mortars, shells, lead and
ammunition that are wanting. When you have done that you are to proceed
in the most expeditious manner to New York, there to apply to the
President of the Provincial Congress and learn of him whether Colonel
Reed did anything or left any orders respecting these things, and get
him to procure such of them as can possibly be had there. The president,
if he can, will have them immediately sent hither; if he cannot, you
must put them in a proper channel to be transported to this camp with
despatch before you leave New York. After you have procured as many of
these necessaries as you can there, you must go to Major-General
Schuyler and get the remainder from Ticonderoga, Crown Point, or St.
John; if it should be necessary, from Quebec, if in our hands. The want
of them is so great that no trouble or expense must be spared to obtain
them. I have wrote to General Schuyler, he will give every necessary
assistance, that they may be had and forwarded to this place with the
utmost despatch. I have given you a warrant to the Paymaster General of
the Continental Army for a thousand dollars, to defray the expense
attending your journey and procuring these articles, an account of which
you are to keep and render upon your return.
[Illustration: General Knox]
“Given under my hand at headquarters at Cambridge, this 16th day of
November, Annoque Domini 1775.
G. Washington.
“(Endeavor to procure what flints you can)”
The Continental Army, approximately 16,000 men, was besieging Boston,
but without heavy artillery it would be impossible to force the British
out. Apparently Colonel Knox had submitted a plan to Washington for the
removal of the guns from Ticonderoga.
On the 5th of December Knox reached Ticonderoga and by the 6th was busy
removing heavy guns from the Fort to a gondola, a type of flat-bottomed
boat used on the lake. By the 9th they had all been transported to the
carrying-place and were loaded on the scows to take them to the head of
Lake George. With the greatest difficulty he transported them over-land,
having had made forty-two strong sleds and hired eighty-one yoke of
oxen. Not until January 4th did the first brass 24 pounder reach Albany,
and on the 24th of the same month with his “noble train of artillery,”
he arrived at the camp in Cambridge. It was a great undertaking
considering the roads and bridges of the period.
[Illustration: General Knox Moving Cannon From Fort Ticonderoga To
Cambridge
(Courtesy Joseph Dixon Crucible Co.)]
Fort Ticonderoga’s Immortal Guns go to General George Washington ...
winter of 1776 ... over hundreds of miles of roadless, trackless,
snowclad mountains and valleys, through thick forests, over
ice-covered lakes and rivers ... on sledges hauled by oxen ... in
charge of General Knox and his artillery men in their red-trimmed
regimentals, who deliver the guns at Dorchester Heights. There,
roaring down at the enemy, they drive him out of Boston Town.
The guns removed from Ticonderoga by Knox consisted of:
MORTARS and COHORNS
Dim of bore. Ft. & Weight Total
ins. of w’ht.
length.
Brass
2 Cohorns 5 - 7/10 1-4 150 300
4 do. 4½ 1-1 100 400
1 Mortar 8½ 2-0 300 300
1 do. 7½ 2-0 300 300
8
Iron
1 do. 6½ 1-10 600 600
1 do. 10 3-6 1800 1800
1 do. 10¼ 3-6 1800 1800
3 do. 13 3 2300 6900
(average)
6
HOWITZERS
Iron
1 8 3-4 15.2.15 15.2.15
1 8¼ 3-4 15.2.15 15.2.15
2 (16)
CANNON
Brass
8 3 pounders 3 - 1/20 3-6 350 2,800
3 6 do. 3 - 7/10 4-6 600 1,800
1 18 do. 5½ 8-3 2000 2,000
1 24 do. 5 -11/12 5-6 16.3.18 1,800
Iron
6 6 do. 3 - 7/10 9-7 2500 15,000
4 9 do. 4 - 4/10 8-4 2500 10,000
10 12 do. 4¾ 9 2800 28,000
7 18 do. 5½ 9 4000 28,000
dble fortif.
3 18 do. 5½ 11 5000 15,000
To. can., 43 Total Weight, 119,900
Mortars, 16
[Illustration: From Contemporary Water Colors. Showing Rig of Fleet
at Valcour Island. (Original in the Museum)]
In the spring of 1776, Benedict Arnold returned to Ticonderoga from the
unsuccessful siege of Quebec. His spies soon told him that the British
under Sir Guy Carleton intended to invade from the North. Arnold, one of
the best soldiers this country ever has produced, realized that a fleet
on Lake Champlain should be the first line of defense. With super-human
efforts he collected shipwrights and carpenters at Ticonderoga and
Skenesborough, erected ways, and, in spite of the lack of men and money,
by the end of August the fleet was ready. It consisted of:
Guns Men Capt.
Schooner ROYAL SAVAGE 12 50 Wynkoop
(Arnold Flagship)
Schooner REVENGE 10 80 Seamen
Sloop LIBERTY 10 35 Plummer
Sloop ENTERPRIZE 12 50 Dickson
Galley WASHINGTON 3 45 Warner
(Gen. Waterbury on
board)
Galley TRUMBULL 3 45 Colonel Wigglesworth
Galley CONGRESS 3 45 Capt. Arnold
Galley CUTTER LEE 6 50 Davis
Gondola BOSTON 3 45 Sumner
” PROVIDENCE 3 45 Simmons
” NEW HAVEN 3 45 Mansfield
” SPITFIRE 3 45 Ulmer or Ustens
” PHILADELPHIA 3 45 Rice
” JERSEY 3 45 Grimes
” CONNECTICUT 3 45 Grant
” NEW YORK 3 45 Lee
[Illustration: The Attack and Defeat of the American Fleet under
Benedict Arnold, by King’s Fleet Commanded by Captain John Pringle,
upon Lake Champlain, the 11th of October, 1776.]
The British, in the meantime, had also been building a fleet. Several
ships in the St. Lawrence had been taken apart, carried around the
rapids, and rebuilt at St. Johns.
The two fleets met near Valcour Island on October 11th. After a two day
fight the American Fleet was almost entirely destroyed, but Arnold had
accomplished his object, he had held back the invaders for a whole year,
as by the time Sir Guy Carleton reached and took Crown Point it was too
late for his army to advance.
The British fleet in the battle consisted of:
Ship INFLEXIBLE 16 Guns Lt. Schank
Schooner MARIA 14 Guns Lt. Starke
(Pringle’s Flagship)
Schooner CARLETON 12 Guns Lt. Dacres
Radeau THUNDERER 14 Guns Lt. Scott
Gondola LOYAL CONVERT 7 Guns Lt. Longcroft
Twenty Gun or Artillery Boats with one gun each.
Four Long Boats—one field piece or howitzer each.
But three of the American Fleet escaped, the “Revenge,” “Trumbull” and
“Enterprise.”
[Illustration: General Schuyler]
[Illustration: Major-General Arthur St. Clair]
[Illustration: Major-General Horatio Gates]
[Illustration: Ticonderoga and Its Dependencies, August 1776]
[Illustration: The Massacre of Jane McCrea
(From a painting in the Museum.)]
CHAPTER NINE
Burgoyne Takes the Fort and Brown Fails to Retake It
The winter of 1776-1777 was a terrible one. The sufferings among the
troops at Ticonderoga exceeded anything at Valley Forge. Men were frozen
to death in their tents, smallpox broke out in the spring and altogether
it was almost unbearable. General Gates succeeded General Schuyler as
commander-in-chief of the Northern Army. Anthony Wayne was succeeded by
Arthur St. Clair as commander at Ticonderoga, in the spring of 1777 and
took command of 2500 Continental troops and 900 militia. General John
Burgoyne had succeeded Sir Guy Carleton as commander-in-chief of the
British Army in Canada.
With the destruction of the American Fleet at Valcour Island the autumn
before, there was nothing to stop the advance of the British, and their
army moved south up Lake Champlain in a great flotilla of bateaux and
little sailing vessels. A large part of the American army was
concentrated at Mount Independence directly across the lake from
Ticonderoga and a floating bridge had been built connecting the two
posts.
[Illustration: General John Burgoyne]
Early in July Burgoyne invested the defenses on the New York side of the
lake. John Trumbull in 1776 had suggested the fortifying of Mount
Defiance which commanded the Fort, but it was never done. On July 5th
the British succeeded in drawing a battery of guns to the top and opened
up on the Fort. General St. Clair decided to retreat by way of the
bridge and Mount Independence, the only road open. The retreat was well
conceived, but someone set fire to General de Fermoy’s house and the
British outposts discovered the American army retreating. A rear guard
had been left at the Mount Independence end of the bridge, but
unfortunately, they found a cask of wine and when the British succeeded
in repairing and crossing the bridge, the whole guard was hors de
combat. Part of the Americans retreated toward Skenesborough, the
Whitehall of today, in the few gondolas and row galleys that had escaped
the defeat at Valcour Island the year before. Most of the army, however,
marched east toward Castleton. The British soon cut the boom which had
been thrown across the lake from Willow Point to the Vermont shore and
part of their army went on up the lake by water after the fleeing
Americans. General Fraser pursued the retreating army and overtook the
American rear guard under Seth Warner near Hubbardton. A sharp
engagement took place and the Americans were defeated, losing 324 in
killed and wounded. It was the German troops under Baron Riedesel, who,
coming into the action a little late, forced the Americans from the
field. On July 6th some of the British ships pursued the American
galleys as far as Whitehall, then Skenesborough, and captured two of
them, forcing the Americans to blow up the remainder. Burgoyne left a
garrison at Ticonderoga under General Powell and proceeded to follow out
his plan of taking northern New York and meeting General Howe at Albany.
St. Clair was courtmartialed for retreating but was exonerated as it was
the only thing he could have done under the circumstances. In the
meantime the army from Ticonderoga formed the nucleus that eventually,
having received an enormous number of recruits from New York, Vermont
and New Hampshire, forced the capitulation of Burgoyne and the surrender
of his whole army at Saratoga late in the autumn. It was Burgoyne’s
bombastic proclamation to the settlers to be loyal to the King, or he
would unloose his Indians, coupled with the unfortunate murder of Jane
McCrea by some of his Indians, which aroused the countryside.
A determined attempt to recapture the Fort was made by Colonel John
Brown, the same Brown who probably was the originator of the capture by
Allen two years before. He was supported by Colonel Johnson whose duty
it was to take Mount Independence and by Captain Ebenezer Allen, whose
job it was to capture Mount Defiance. The attack was by way of the foot
of Lake George and his own account reads as follows:
[Illustration: The Battle of Saratoga. (From a painting in the
Museum.)]
Colonel Brown to General Lincoln:
“North end of Lake George landing.
thursday Sept. 20 1777
Sir; with great fatigue after marching all last night I arrived at this
place at the break of day, after the best disposition of the men I could
make, immediately began the attack, and in a few minutes carried the
place. I then without any loss of time detached a considerable part of
my men to the mills, where a greater number of the enemy were posted,
who also were soon made prisoners, a small number of them having taken
possession of a blockhouse in that vicinity were with more difficulty
bro’t to submission; but at a sight of a cannon they surrendered. During
this season of success, Mount Defiance also fell into our hands. I have
taken possession of the old French lines at Ticonderoga, and have sent a
flag demanding the surrender of Ty and of mount independence in strong
and peremptory terms. I have had as yet no information of Col. Johnson’s
attack on the mount. My loss of men in these several actions are not
more than 3 or 4 killed and 5 wounded, the enemy’s loss is less. I find
myself in possession of 293 prisoners, viz, 2 captains, 9 subs, 2
commisaries, non Commissioned officers and privates, 143 British, 119
Canadians, 18 artificers, and retook more than 100 of our men, total
293, exclusive of the prisoners retaken—The watercraft I have taken is
150 bateaus below the falls on Lake Champlain 50 above the falls
including 17 gunboats and one armed sloop, arms equal to the number of
prisoners. Some ammunition and many other things which I cannot now
ascertain. I must not forget to mention a few cannon which may be of
great service to us. Tho my success has hitherto answered most sanguine
expectations, I cannot promise myself great things, the events of war
being so dubious in their nature, but shall do my best to distress the
enemy all in my power,—having regard to my retreat—There is but a small
quantity of provisions at this place which I think will necessitate my
retreat in case we do not carry Ty and independence—I hope you will use
your utmost endeavor to give me assistance should I need in crossing the
lake &c—The enemy has but a very small force at Fort George. Their boats
are on an island about 14 miles from this guarded by six companies,
having artillery—I have much fear with respect to the prisoners, being
obliged to send them under a small guard—I am well informed that
considerable reinforcements is hourly expected at the lake under command
of Sir John Johnson—This minute received General Powel’s answer to my
demand in these words, ‘The garrison intrusted to my charge I shall
defend to the last.’
[Illustration: Surrender of Burgoyne. (From a painting in the
Museum.)]
“Indeed I have little hopes of putting him to the necessity of giving it
up unless by the force under Colonel Johnson.
I am &c, John Brown.”
Brown, running short of provisions for his own men and his numerous
prisoners, retreated up Lake George and made an unsuccessful attack on
Diamond Island.
Sir John Johnson, son of Sir William Johnson, of Johnson Hall, arrived
at Ticonderoga shortly before Burgoyne’s surrender at Saratoga. Numerous
deserters from Saratoga informed Powell of the situation there and he
immediately made preparations to retreat to Canada. He burned the houses
and barracks at Ticonderoga and Independence and made good his escape.
[Illustration: George Washington at Halfway Brook, 1783
From a Painting Owned by Glen Falls Insurance Company]
CHAPTER TEN
The Military History Ends
In 1781 Ira and Ethan Allen were negotiating with the British
authorities as to the feasibility of making Vermont a Canadian province.
Congress had refused to admit Vermont as the fourteenth state and were
considering dividing it between New York and New Hampshire. Rather than
submit to this the Allens and Governor Chittenden opened negotiations
with Lieutenant-Governor Haldimand of Canada, the object of which was
probably to force Congress to act in their favor, and they succeeded.
In July, 1783, General George Washington, accompanied by Governor
Clinton, Col. Alexander Hamilton and others, visited the Fort on a tour
of inspection, returning to the headquarters at Newburgh on the 5th of
August.
Shortly after the treaty of peace between Great Britain and the United
States was signed the whole country began to be rapidly settled. No
guard was kept at Ticonderoga and it provided a convenient quarry for
the early settlers. All the furniture and movable objects were taken
first, then the doors and windows, floors were ripped up and the great
beams removed, and in a short time the barracks collapsed. Even the
abandoned cannon, most of them spiked, were removed to be melted up for
their iron.
[Illustration: Stephen H. P. Pell]
CHAPTER ELEVEN
The Restoration of Fort Ticonderoga
by John H. G. Pell
After the Revolution, all crown lands reverted not to the national
government, but to the States in which they were situated. The Garrison
Grounds at Fort Ticonderoga and other pieces were designated by the
State of New York for educational purposes on March 31, 1790. On Sept.
12, 1803, the Garrison Grounds were deeded to Columbia and Union
Colleges jointly by the State.
William Ferris Pell, a New York business man, spent these years in
Burlington, Vermont. He made many trips between Canada, Burlington and
New York. While traveling up and down Lake Champlain he was struck by
the beauty of the point of land on which the Fort stands, and the
romantic interest of the ruins of the Fort. He determined to build a
house there, if ever able to do so.
Returning to New York he organized the firm of Pells and Company,
importers of mahogany and marble. This firm flourished for a hundred
years. Mr. Pell leased the property from Columbia and Union Colleges and
shortly thereafter built a house which he called “Beaumont.” The house
was situated below the Fort between the garden laid out by the French
officers in 1756 and the shores of Lake Champlain. Mr. Pell was much
interested in horticulture and he restored the old garden and imported
many plants from Europe and from the nurseries on Long Island to
embellish and beautify it.
In 1820, he undertook to secure the deeds to the Garrison grounds and
they were purchased by him from Union College on July 28, 1820 and from
Columbia College on September 4, 1820.
[Illustration: The Pavilion—Built in 1826]
In addition to building a house and replanting the garden, he tried to
stop the depredations which were occurring to the Fort. The two
buildings that were standing after the Revolution, the South and West
Barracks, were ruined by the early settlers, who removed everything
movable—doors, windows, floor boards, etc., and eventually the very
beams themselves. Thousands of loads of stone were carted away for
foundations. Some men had repaired the French lime kiln and were burning
the walls of the Fort for lime. Mr. Pell had to buy up the numerous
squatters’ rights but he eventually succeeded in stopping the
destruction. He fenced in various earthworks and redoubts to prevent
them being plowed under and did his best to preserve what was left. He
was a man of vision. Had it not been for William Ferris Pell and those
who came after him not a stone in Fort Ticonderoga would be in place
today. Every one would have been carted away or destroyed.
In 1825, “Beaumont” burned and in 1826, he built “The Pavilion” which is
still standing and occupied by his descendants. “The Pavilion” was built
on the edge of “Le Jardin du Roi,” a garden laid out by Captain de
Pontleroy, an engineer officer stationed here during the French
occupation, and renamed “The King’s Garden” by the British, which name
it has borne ever since. Mr. Pell spent his summers here. His oldest
son, Archibald, had decided to be a gentleman farmer and took over the
management of the place, but was killed by the explosion of a cannon he
was firing as a salute to his father who was coming up the Lake, April
19th, 1838. Thereafter William Ferris Pell could not bear to live at his
beloved Ticonderoga. He died intestate and no will was ever found, but
he was a good business man and it is unlikely that he failed to make a
will, but safe deposit boxes were unknown in that day and wills were
kept in desks. Family tradition is that one of his sons found and read
the will, was dissatisfied with his share, and destroyed it. At any
rate, the property then passed in equal shares to his ten children. None
of them could afford to keep up “The Pavilion,” so it was rented to
various people who ran it as a boarding house and hotel for many years.
However, seldom a summer went by without some member of the family
spending time at “The Pavilion,” James Kent Pell, son of William Ferris,
managed the property for his brothers and sisters for many years and
struggled to preserve it. He was shocked on coming up one summer to find
that the breast-high wall running from the Fort to the lake, and a large
part of the Pontleroy and Germain Redoubts had been carted to the lake
front and thrown in for a steamboat landing. The farmer in charge said
that the contractor told him he had permission. It was too late to do
anything about it.
[Illustration: Fort Ticonderoga and The Pavilion—1827]
When James Pell died, John Howland Pell, a grandson, managed it for some
time and later Howland Pell, a great-grandson, ran the property for a
great many years. Howland always hoped that some member of the family
would some day take it over and if it had not been for Howland it would
have passed out of the family. Some people offered almost as much as the
whole property was worth for fifty acres between the Fort and the West
shore of the Lake. They wished to build a hotel, but he refused to sell.
Towards the end of the century, Stephen Pell, a little boy of eight and
his brother, Howland, were sent up to visit their grandmother who was
spending the summer at Fort Ticonderoga at “The Pavilion” which was then
rented as a hotel. Filled with self importance at being intrusted with
tickets and money for such a long trip alone, the boys finally arrived
at Fort Ticonderoga. It is not hard to imagine how the Fort at once
captured their interest. Little boys of eight and ten have vivid
imaginations and with a doting grandmother who told delightfully the old
tales of capture and recapture, these imaginations soon ran riot. They
were in turn Montcalm, Allen, Arnold, Burgoyne (always a successful
officer). They ran up the hills and over the walls, demanding the
surrender, or holding the fort. Thrill of thrills came one day when
Stephen found the bronze flint box, containing a flint. It is typical of
little boys that an argument resulted—Howland claiming that it was half
his as he had dislodged the stone, under which it lay, as he climbed up
the hill. It was a beautiful little box that had belonged to a man of
means and of distinction. One can see them standing there after the
first raptures of finding it were over, eyes shining, picturing the Fort
in all its past glory, with the proud walls standing, the flags flying
and men in bright uniforms on the parade grounds. The lives of men are
swayed by seemingly unimportant things and in Stephen Pell’s life always
there was the little flint box and the youthful dream. As he grew older
the imagination became an obsession, and the obsession became reality as
stone by stone, timber by timber, wall by wall, he repaired and restored
the Fort until it stands the old Fort Ticonderoga, all built from a
flint box, a little boy’s vivid imagination and a man’s hard work,
research and intelligence.
[Illustration: SIR HENRY CLINTON’S DISPATCH.]
[Illustration: THE SILVER BULLET.]
THE SILVER BULLET
The famous silver bullet, carried by a messenger to General Burgoyne
from Sir Henry Clinton. The bullet was hollow and concealed a message.
The messenger, on being captured by American Troops, swallowed the
bullet. He was given an emetic and forced to disgorge it. Later he was
hanged as a spy. The bullet was preserved in the Tallmadge family and
presented to the Fort Ticonderoga Museum by Henry O. Tallmadge, Esq.
The important contribution of the Pell family during a period
approaching 150 years has been an appreciation of historical values and
a sense of responsibility towards them. There has always been at least
one member of the family who refused to allow any part of the property
sold, who kept up the gardens and planted trees and who, above all,
cherished and preserved the Fort.
In 1908, Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Pell decided to rehabilitate the
“Pavilion” and spend their summers in it so that Mr. Pell could
undertake the restoration of the Fort. There were legal, financial,
architectural, political and engineering problems, and just plain
problems. There was a horse living in one of the rooms of the
“Pavilion.” There was of course no plumbing, central heating or
electricity in the house. The land belonged to 17 members of the family
and the problem of locating them and arranging satisfactory terms of
purchase was a long and complicated one. There were squatters living all
along the shores of Lake Champlain, and these squatters had acquired
squatters’ rights. Nevertheless, the house was painted and
rehabilitated, plumbing was installed and Mr. and Mrs. Pell moved in.
While Mr. Pell made a complete study of fortifications before one stone
was touched at the Fort, Mrs. Pell worked incessantly on plans for the
“Pavilion” and the Jardin du Roi. From various members of the Pell
family she painstakingly gathered together pieces of furniture
originally from the “Pavilion,” and added to it her collection of
furniture from her family, Gibbs and Thompson. She purchased only the
most minor items, old hooked rugs, curtains and draperies. She was
always tremendously interested in the Fort and contributed generously
not only valuable additions to its Museum collection, but a vast
knowledge of the authenticity of relics and was a true partner in the
restoration of Fort Ticonderoga.
[Illustration: Restoration Model of Fort Ticonderoga]
Alfred C. Bossom of New York was selected to be the architect of the
restoration of the Fort. The Tercentenary Celebration on Lake Champlain
provided an occasion for getting the work under way.
At that time President Taft visited the Fort together with the
Ambassadors of France and England, the Governor of the States of New
York and Vermont and a most distinguished company. The preparations for
this were started in 1908, and with such good results that by the time
of the celebration the west barracks were ready for a preliminary
inspection.
The natives in the surrounding country had to a very large extent
appropriated for use in their own houses the stone walls that had fallen
down but by careful excavation the precise plan of the original Fort has
been entirely laid bare. To aid this, and to verify many points that
were more or less uncertain, exceeding courtesy was extended by the
British Museum. Photographs and reproductions of all the drawings there
existing were forwarded and permission was given to search the records
in both the English and French War Departments. At Ottawa the archivist
of the Canadian Government also provided all the information available
and photographs of the drawings on file. Of course in America all of the
various authorities have cooperated to the utmost of their ability, and
with this it has been possible to carry on the work of restoration
without any uncertainty.
[Illustration: Thomas Cole Painting of Fort, Early 1820’s]
One of the best maps of the Military Reservation was made by a man named
Jeffreys, who was sent out to make surveys of the forts in this country
by the Prince of Wales, who afterward became George III. His work was
conducted under considerable handicap and was not as accurate as it
might have been, but this map contains a lot of very useful information
that is not given on any other.
The engineer who laid out the Fort, de Lotbiniere, followed the plans
and specifications of the great French engineer, Vauban. When the work
of restoration was started Mr. Pell obtained from France the original
manuscript of Vauban’s “Traite des Fortifications.” The book is a
fascinating leather bound folio containing many illuminated
illustrations of bastions, demilunes, moats, and all paraphernalia of
eighteenth century fortifications. This book is one of the most
priceless possessions of the Fort library today.
The Fort itself is about 530 feet in diameter from point to point as
seen on the various plans. The wall on the north is comparatively low,
the fort on this side being approached by a glacis, but on the west
could be approached from the level along a grassy slope which ran to the
top of a wall at the Fort about 4 feet and 6 inches high, which formed a
counterscarp. To the south, a wall guarded the entrance to Lake George
and was of a very considerable height, and below this existed the French
Village. The French Village of traders and settlers had been behind a
stockaded wall, protected by the guns of the Fort. The houses were built
on either side of a center walk, and consisted of small stone dwellings,
sutler’s stores, warehouses and a blacksmith shop. On the east side a
wall approached very close to the bastions and it was from about this
point a wide covered way (which was never completed) extended through
the rock to the Grenadiers’ Battery, an outlying fort located at the
extreme end of the promontory.
The Place d’Armes in the center of the fort was surrounded on three
sides by barracks and on the fourth or north side by a bomb-proof. The
bomb proof was of arched masonry construction where the garrison kept
stores that would be damaged by weather.
Of the barracks, the most important was that located towards the west,
and it was here that Ethan Allen found Captain Delaplace at the time of
the capture. The ground floor of this building was divided up into a
mess room with a kitchen at one end and a scullery at the other. The
oven in the scullery when excavated was found to be in perfect
condition, the iron doors and dampers still being in their original
position.
[Illustration: Entrance To Place D’Armes]
In the second story a number of rooms existed which could be approached
by the exterior wooden staircase, and these are now used as a library
and office. The outer sides of the various barracks were protected by
the curtain walls and the walk behind these was generally at a level of
about 8 feet above the Place d’Armes.
The drinking water for the barracks could be obtained in the usual way
from a military well located about one hundred yards to the north of the
fort, but under the northwest bastion and under the south barracks are
two large stone cisterns about 18 feet deep to which all the rain that
fell upon the roofs of the buildings was directed by means of
underground drains. The one under the bastion was found to be in perfect
condition with its pump and plunger as good as when last used.
The accumulation of a century had to be excavated from between the walls
of the various buildings. The courtyard of the fort was between six and
seven feet below and in the west barracks, particularly under the
bastions, the excavation necessary was over 16 feet to get down to the
original surface. Everything that was found during the restoration
period was kept for the museum, and the workmen in handling this showed
particular interest, and all of the time this work of excavating
continued most interesting finds were made, such as pottery, firearms,
pieces of hardware and buttons. So many of the numbered buttons have
been found that it is possible to trace by them the name of each of the
regiments that was stationed at the Fort.
Some of these buttons belong to regiments of which no other account has
been found of their residence here, such as the Twenty-first, and in
this case it is inferred that they belonged to British prisoners of war
who were brought down from St. Johns. One of the most interesting relics
was a piece of a punch bowl of white china decorated in blue, and across
the bottom of which is inscribed, “Success to General Amherst.” This in
all probability must have been a presentation piece made either before
the General left England or at some point on his way to take up his
command at the Fort, and left behind when he departed. This has come
down to us in as good condition as it was in the day it was made.
The roof of tile had fallen in, but sufficient remained so that more
could be produced to fill out the deficiencies, though some hundreds of
different specimens of clay had to be baked before one was found that
was exactly the same form and color of those originally used.
The flooring of the first floor was also of very heavy, thick tile and
the same condition was experienced with these. Enough bricks have been
found to make it unnecessary to get any new ones, for apparently these
were of so little value to the natives that they were not purloined. In
the rebuilding of the walls the stones were replaced in their identical
positions, similar mortar was used, and heads and jambs of all openings
had remained in approximately the positions from which they fell, so
much so that with care these today occupy the same position that they
had before the walls were torn down.
[Illustration: The Place D’Armes]
The mode of procedure followed in making the excavations was to cut the
trench on either side of any walls uncovered and by this means specimens
of all the hardware, such as door handles, latches, window catches,
bolts and bars were recovered. In many cases the hinges had portions of
the old timber still attached and from this it was possible to determine
the wood used and its thickness. In some cases the larger bar hinges had
the wood so well preserved that the different pieces that were joined
together to form the doors were very readily discernible. The timber
used was largely local chestnut and oak, which have since almost
disappeared from the locality, but enough trees have been found to
enable the restored work in all cases to be of the same material as that
originally employed. The ceiling of the first floor was composed of
rough hewn logs with a heavy double floor on top. The walls throughout
the first and second stories were of rough plaster and in many cases the
stones projected right through and showed on the face.
The fireplaces resembled the construction on the outside being of rough
stones with cut stone jambs and heads.
The four bastions at the corners of the fort were used respectively for
powder magazine, bakery and two for stores, and under these were
unearthed a very considerable quantity of cannon balls, picks, shovels,
china and glass, cutlery, bar shot and complete material such as a
fortress of this kind would require. Upon excavating these the form of
construction originally employed was quite apparent. The floor was built
up from rock with a complete system of drains beneath to carry off any
surface water, and the roof was carried upon heavy wooden beams and
posts, crowned by flagstones forming the deck of the bastion itself. The
drains beneath the floor had outlets leading to the moat or ditch, which
in the usual way was dry, but when an attacking force was anticipated it
was possible to dam the outlet from this and the moat could be flooded
by the melting of the winter snows, as several months’ advance
information in those days could readily be obtained before an attack was
likely to take place.
[Illustration: Fort Ticonderoga in 1959]
SHOWING:
SECTION THROUGH A-B (ENLARGED)
GLACIS
COVERED WAY
DITCH
NORTH DEMI-LUNE
NW BASTION
NE BASTION
COVERED WAY
PARADE GROUND
BRIDGE
WEST DEMI-LUNE
WEST BARRACKS
RAMP
SOUTH BARRACKS
RAMP
RUINS OF EAST BARRACKS
ENTRANCE TO FORT
DUNGEON
SW BASTION SE BASTION
ENTRANCE ARCHWAY
SOUTH WALL
The job of repairing and restoring Fort Ticonderoga has consisted mostly
of putting stones back in place. At least ninety per cent of the walls
are built from the original stone, which had fallen or slipped into the
moat. (The floor tiles were originally made on the place from a blue
clay from the lake shores by French potters. The same clay was used in
the restoration, and the same methods, and it is impossible to tell
today which are the originals and which the copies.) Every bit of iron
work used in the restoration was copied from an example found in the
ruins. The great oak beams came from a half dozen jobs in the
Adirondacks and were rough-hewn as were the originals. The carriages
upon which the guns are mounted, if not original, are exact copies and
the cannon themselves are all French, British and American of the
period, presented by the American, British, Dutch, Haiten, San Dominican
and Nicaraguan Governments, or presented by individuals (notably
DeLancey Kountze) or purchased whenever they were found on the market.
An immense amount of material has been found on the place itself—a
cannon, thousands of cannon balls, hand grenades, swivel balls and grape
shot, barrels of bullets and barrels of flints, tomahawks, hatchets,
axes, hoes, gun barrels, gun locks, bayonets, sword blades, keys,
hinges, door locks and every kind of tool—everything that an army could
use—dug up wherever a spade is put in the ground and only a couple of
years ago one of the rarest finds we have ever made—the breast plate of
a suit of half-armor, French, early 18th century.
First restorations actually were carried out a wall a season. The first
wing completed (the officers’ mess and quarters) was filled with relics
which Mr. Pell and other members of his family had been accumulating
through the years. This was accomplished just in time to lock it for
protection of its contents when he went off to World War I.
Before Mr. Pell had gone to France he had no idea of charging admission
to see the ruins and relics. But during his absence so many visitors
came asking for admittance that Mrs. Pell, who spent her summers there
superintending the work while her husband was overseas, was forced to
hire a full-time guide and charge sight-seers a small sum to pay his
salary. The first balance left after his salary was paid was used for
the purchase of some cannon of the Revolutionary period which Mr. Pell
had located in the West Indies years before.
When restoration got under way after the war, Mr. Pell’s infectious
enthusiasm for Fort Ticonderoga and his host of friends all over the
world, brought forth assistance from many unexpected sources. Only a few
of the cannon actually used at Ticonderoga could be located, since
George Washington himself had ordered those there during the early days
of the Revolution sent over the snow to the siege of Boston. But Mr.
Pell wanted the demilunes rearmed with authentic guns of the period.
Lord Charles Beresford and Lord Haldane, hearing of the effort to
restore the fort where some of their ancestors had fought, became
interested and persuaded the British government to send fourteen large
24-pounders, actually cast in England for use in America during the
Revolution but never shipped because the war ended too soon. After that,
as Mr. Pell expressed it, he was literally bombarded with cannon, from
unexpected sources.
[Illustration: The Ethan Allen Door (Upper Left)]
Colonel Robert Means Thompson, father of Mrs. Pell, found and purchased
twelve French bronze guns and mortars of the type used by the fort’s
first builders. Yale University deposited cannon donated by an old
graduate, DeLancey Kountze, but never displayed for lack of space. H.
Jermain Slocum, retired Charleston, South Carolina, financier and nephew
of the late Russell Sage, at his own expense went cannon hunting through
the West Indies and South America, buying and donating many, and
persuading Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Panama and Nicaragua to send
others to the fort. The Netherlands, as well as the United States Army,
also helped him arm the ramparts until they took on their original
warlike aspect.
Archer M. Huntington became interested, and through the years was a
large contributor to Ticonderoga’s restoration fund.
Scions of Philip Schuyler, Alexander Hamilton, Israel Putnam, Anthony
Wayne and many other men in some way connected with Ticonderoga have
deposited possessions of their ancestors within the fort. Collectors of
Revolutionary rifles, swords, powder horns and snuff boxes have willed
their entire collections, the result of many years’ searches, to be kept
intact here. Even casual visitors have been so impressed that they have
gone home and shipped family relics that the museum could never have
acquired by purchase. Others have appointed themselves Ticonderoga
scouts who voluntarily tipped Mr. Pell off when they located desirable
objects.
One of the museum’s proud possessions is a blunderbuss used by Ethan
Allen in taking the fort from the British, then given by him to Benedict
Arnold, who in turn gave it to John Trumbull, the Revolutionary artist.
It was purchased by the grandfather of Maj. Philip Rhinelander at a sale
of Trumbull’s effects, and the Rhinelander family in turn presented it
to the museum. Mr. Pell’s pet treasure was a hollow silver bullet taken
from one of Sir Henry Clinton’s messengers to Burgoyne just before the
latter surrendered at Saratoga. On capture, so papers accompanying the
bullet show, the courier swallowed this container of secret dispatches
and refused to take a “physick” until tough colonials threatened to “rip
his bellie” open. The silver bullet was presented to the fort by Henry
O. Tallmadge, a descendant of a Colonel Tallmadge, who was present when
it was captured. Other bullets show marks of teeth made while being held
in soldiers’ mouths during floggings or amputations.
At the present time the Fort is visited by some 200,000 people every
summer. Schools in Vermont and parts of New York State send their
children in busloads every year to see it. Many people come back
regularly every season to revisit the Fort and re-enjoy the surrounding
scenery. The beauty of the point on which the Fort stands overlooking
Lake Champlain and of the surrounding meadows and woods is appreciated,
consciously and unconsciously, by all of the many visitors. It is a
commonplace thing for people who have entered the Fort to return to pick
up cameras in their parked autos in order to be able to take photographs
in the beautiful surroundings.
Fort Ticonderoga is a living page of American history—the most
faithfully restored Fort in America and houses the greatest collection
of Revolutionary and Colonial objects.
Although the history of the Fort extends back over 200 years, its
present condition, and the incomparable museum which it contains have
resulted from the vision and work of one man, Stephen Pell. It is
fortunate indeed that as a boy he found a beautiful little bronze flint
box containing a flint. And it is fortunate that he grew to be the kind
of man who was capable of turning a dream into a living fact.
Mrs. Stephen Pell, through her great vision and understanding encouraged
Mr. Pell in his life work, and in addition gave generously in time and
money for the restoration.
In 1931, Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Pell established the Fort Ticonderoga
Association, a non-profit membership corporation organized under the
educational laws of the State of New York. The objectives of the
Association are to preserve, maintain and develop the Fort and Museum
and the surrounding grounds for the benefit of the public. Mr. Stephen
Pell remained President of the Fort Ticonderoga Association until his
death in 1950, and his son, John H. G. Pell, has carried forward this
great work as President since that time.
[Illustration: George Washington; in Uniform of American General
with Nassau Hall, Princeton College in Background
_By Charles Peale Polk, nephew of Charles Wilson Peale_
Painting in Fort Ticonderoga Museum]
THE FORT TICONDEROGA MUSEUM
John H. G. Pell
_President_
Hon. Robert T. Pell
_Historian_
Col. Edward P. Hamilton
_Director_
Miss Eleanor S. Murray
_Curator_
Mrs. Thomas V. Lape
_Librarian_
Life Members
Dwight W. Garber
Stephen V. Grancsay
Col. Edward P. Hamilton
Anna Hyatt Huntington
Eleanor Murray
Theodore R. Pell
Benoni T. Phillips
Col. Arthur Shadis, USA
C. Otto von Kienbusch
ADMISSION:
The Fort and Museum are open from mid-May to mid-October, including
Sundays and holidays from 8 A.M. to 6 P.M. The admission charge is
$1.00. There is no charge for children under twelve or for school
children in study groups, supervised by a teacher.
LIBRARY:
The library and manuscripts are available for students of history by
arrangements made with the Management.
PUBLICATIONS:
The publications of the Museum are for sale at the Log House at the
entrance to the Fort, except the Bulletins. Some of the recent bulletins
are available at $1.00 each, but unfortunately many of the early ones
are entirely out of print. Also sold at the Log House are historical
novels pertaining to our neighborhood. Information on any of these may
be had from the Management.
GIFTS TO THE MUSEUM:
Appropriate articles are acceptable and the President will be glad to
discuss desirable gifts and ways of assisting in the work of the Museum
with friends who may desire to help. Gifts are deductible for Federal
income tax purposes.
[Illustration: Powder Horn Map Made at Mount Independence 1776]
The Book Shelf
ETHAN ALLEN, John Pell (_New Edition_)
A sound and carefully researched biography of that controversial
leader of Vermont’s Green Mountain Boys
$5.00
ARUNDEL, Kenneth Roberts
The story of the early history of Maine, and the magnificent march
of Arnold’s troops up Dead River and across the Height of Land to
attack Quebec
4.00
RABBLE IN ARMS, Kenneth Roberts
A sequel to ARUNDEL. The romance of the two-year struggle of the
American Northern Army to halt the British invasion from the north
4.00
NORTHWEST PASSAGE, Kenneth Roberts
The epic story of the greatest Indian fighter, Major Robert Rogers,
and his incredible adventure in the Old French War
4.00
TOWN FATHER, _A Biography of Gamaliel Painter_, W. Storrs Lee
The tale of a small man, a small town, a small college, that
combined present the greatness that founded this country
3.75
MARINUS WILLETT, HOWARD THOMAS
The biography of an American patriot whose lifetime embraced the
entire span of the American struggle for independence
3.75
FORT TICONDEROGA: KEY TO A CONTINENT, Edward P. Hamilton
The concise and violent story of a brief 20 year active span in the
Colonial and Revolutionary Wars, centering in and around the Great
Stone Fortress at Ticonderoga
5.95
TICONDEROGA, _The Story of a Fort_, Bruce Lancaster
Designed for a teen age audience, this unusual volume whose real
hero is the Fort itself, will delight the adult reader as well
1.95
INDIAN WARS AND WARRIORS EAST, Paul I. Wellman
Every major struggle between the white man and the Indian, from
Champlain’s attack upon the Iroquois to the subjugation of the
Seminoles. Ages 11-up
1.95
WASHINGTON AND THE REVOLUTION, Lynn Montross
The inspiring story of the American Revolutionary Army, the army
that wouldn’t stay beaten, and its great-hearted leader, George
Washington. Ages 11-up
1.95
FORT TICONDEROGA, _A Short History_, S. H. P. Pell
A comprehensive, well illustrated history of the Fort at
Ticonderoga, detailing the part it played in the history of three
nations
1.00
THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WARS, Edward P. Hamilton
_Mainstream of America Series_: The Story of Battles and Forts in
the Wilderness
5.95
LAKE CHAMPLAIN AND THE UPPER HUDSON VALLEY, Edward P. Hamilton
A concise picture of the military struggles for control of the
Champlain waterway, illustrated with carefully plotted population
maps detailing the progress of the westward colonial expansion
1.00
THE BLACK WATCH AT TICONDEROGA, Frederick B. Richards, L.H.D.
A complete account of the 42nd Royal Highland Regiment from the time
it left Scotland in 1756 until after the capture of Ticonderoga by
Amherst in 1759
1.00
ROBERT ROGERS OF THE RANGERS, John R. Cuneo
A sympathetic biography of that great Indian fighter who was a
controversial figure in his own time and so continues today
6.00
ADVENTURE IN THE WILDERNESS: THE AMERICAN JOURNALS OF LOUIS ANTOINE DE
BOUGAINVILLE, _Edited by_ Edward P. Hamilton
The colonial experiences of an intelligent and articulate observer
who served on the frontiers of North America
5.95
NAVIES IN THE MOUNTAINS, Harrison K. Bird
The Battles on the Waters of Lake Champlain and Lake George,
1609-1814
6.50
MARCH TO SARATOGA, Harrison K. Bird
General Burgoyne and the American Campaign, 1777
6.50
GEORGE WASHINGTON’S GENERALS, _Edited by_ Dr. George A. Billias
A series of penetrating essays depicting the military geniuses who
engineered the birth of this nation
6.00
Set of 12 postcards of the French Regiments that served at Ticonderoga,
from paintings by Col. Harry C. Larter, Jr.
1.00
Set of 12 postcards of the American Regiments that served at
Ticonderoga, from paintings by Col. Harry C. Larter, Jr.
1.00
Set of 12 postcards of the British Regiments that served at Ticonderoga,
from paintings by Alex. R. Cattley
1.00
Set of 12 postcards of the German Regiments that served with Burgoyne
1.00
Supplemental Set of 8 postcards, British Regiments
.75
THE FORT TICONDEROGA ASSOCIATION
Stephen H. P. Pell, _Founder_
Benefactors
John H. G. Pell
Archer M. Huntington
Sarah G. T. Pell
Robert M. Thompson
Gladys Pell Blankarn
Hon. Robert T. Pell
Members of the Fort Ticonderoga Association
Mrs. Marshall Blankarn
Mrs. Roger Dechame (Director)
Mrs. Edwin Dunning
Hon. Robert T. Pell (Director)
Anthony D. S. M. Pell
Robert Livingston Pell
Hon. Claiborne Pell (Director)
Clarence C. Pell
Duncan C. Pell, Jr.
Duncan C. Pell III
Francis L. Pell, Jr.
Howland H. Pell
John B. Pell
John H. G. Pell (Managing Director)
Stuyvesant B. Pell (Director)
Theodore R. Pell
Rev. Walden Pell II
Eben W. Pyne
H. Pendleton Rogers
[Illustration: Flag Bastion
_The old guns of Fort Ticonderoga still stand guard over the waters
of Lake Champlain, in memory of the days when our forefathers fought
and bled in the many struggles which led to the foundation of this
great nation of ours._]
[Illustration: Fort Ticonderoga: South Barracks]
Transcriber’s Notes
—Silently corrected a few typos.
—Retained publication information from the printed edition: this eBook
is public-domain in the country of publication.
—In the text versions only, text in italics is delimited by
_underscores_.
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