Battle of Ticonderoga (1775)

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The Battle of Ticonderoga took place in the early morning of May 10, 1775 and was the first major combat operation in the American Revolutionary War . Colonels Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold surprised the small British garrison of Fort Ticonderoga and captured them.

The Ticonderoga campaign

The Connecticut Security Committee had decided to capture the British Fort Ticonderoga on Lake Champlain . Among other things, Ethan Allen and other forces were contacted for support. James Easton gathered 40 volunteers in Pittsfield, Massachusetts . Allen called together more than a hundred of his Green Mountain Boys . They met on the evening of May 9th at Bennington, Vermont, and planned further actions.

Ethan Allen was elected Colonel, Easton and Seth Warner were appointed lieutenants to his side. Samuel Herrick was sent to Skenesboro and Asa Douglas to Panton, Vermont , to commandeer boats. Should all the rest of the group to a point a few miles below Ticonderoga lead to the Lake Champlain to cross there. The council had just disbanded when Benedict Arnold arrived with orders from the Connecticut Committee, insisting that he be in command, which was ignored.

Local volunteers strengthened the force up to around 200 men. By the moonset they had gathered at Hands Gorge and were ready to cross the lake. However, only two boats requisitioned by Douglas were available. 83 of the Green Mountain Boys were ferried over with Arnold and Allen. Douglas should also embark the remaining troops, but the sunrise came before, and Arnold and Allen attacked in order not to lose the element of surprise. To their surprise, only the guard at the south gate was at their post, so they overran the fort. Allen and Arnold climbed the steps to the officers' quarters and demanded surrender.

The Fort Ticonderoga was no longer in a state such as 1758. It was largely left to decay, and the crew consisted of two officers and 64 men. However, it housed a large amount of artillery. Only one shot was fired and there were no serious injuries on either side.

Aftermath

Seth Warner led a unit down the lakefront, captured Crown Point, New York, and captured other supplies along with nine prisoners. On May 12th, Allen sent the important prisoners to the Connecticut Governor Jonathan Trumbull sr. with the message "I'm going to give you a present, consisting of a major, a captain and two lieutenants from the regular troops of George the Third."

Arnold and 50 volunteers brought a small schooner and several river boats from Skenesboro. On May 18, they captured another garrison in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu , along with the Enterprise , a 17-ton corvette. Aware of the fact that several companies were stationed twelve miles down the river in Chambly, Québec , they loaded up the most valuable supplies, burned down the boats they could not take, and returned to Crown Point.

Ethan Allen and his men went home. Benedict Arnold stayed at Fort Ticonderoga with some replacement troops from Connecticut. At first the Continental Congress wanted to return the men and forts to the British, but on May 31, it bowed to pressure from Massachusetts and Connecticut and agreed to keep them. Connecticut sent a regiment under Colonel Benjamin Hinman to hold Ticonderoga. When Arnold learned that he was to serve under Hinman, he resigned from Connecticut and went home.

In winter 1775/1776 managed Henry Knox , the guns of Ticonderoga to Boston , the Siege of Boston to support. The captured ships, along with others, were used by General Arnold in 1776 to thwart the British attempt to recapture them at the Battle of Valcour . Ticonderoga was retaken during the British Saratoga campaign in 1777 , but abandoned after the surrender after the Battle of Saratoga .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ cf. Lerg, Charlotte A. The American Revolution . A. Francke Verlag (UTB Profile), Tübingen 2010. ISBN 978-3-8252-3405-8 , p. 31.
  2. ↑ cf. Lerg, Charlotte A .: "The American Revolution." , P. 44: "[...] American troops had captured Fort Ticonderoga and captured several cannons" .

Coordinates: 43 ° 50 ′ 29 "  N , 73 ° 23 ′ 17"  W.