Allen, Ethan (1738-1789), a fiery patriot and soldier, led the Green Mountain Boys in the capture of Fort Ticonderoga from the British in 1775. This was one of the first important American victories of the Revolutionary War. See Fort Ticonderoga .
Allen was born on Jan. 10, 1738, in Litchfield, Connecticut. Historians know little of his early life. He served briefly in the French and Indian War in 1757, and then settled in the New Hampshire Grants, now Vermont.
New Hampshire granted land to settlers to the west, but in 1764, the British decreed the land belonged to New York. In 1770, New York courts ruled that land titles in Vermont were not good unless purchased from New York. The settlers resisted this ruling by force. Allen and Seth Warner organized the Green Mountain Boys. They terrorized settlers from New York and fought off officials. New York’s governor offered a reward of 20 pounds and later, 100 pounds, for Allen’s arrest.
With the outbreak of the American Revolution in 1775, Allen and the Green Mountain Boys supported the patriot cause. Early on May 10, 1775, Allen and Colonel Benedict Arnold led a force of 83 men in the attack on Fort Ticonderoga. They had little trouble subduing the British garrison and capturing cannon and other weapons for the American cause.
In the early fall of 1775, Allen tried to seize Montreal, Canada. Captured by the British and held prisoner until 1778, he wrote A Narrative of Col. Ethan Allen’s Captivity (1779). After his release, he petitioned the Continental Congress for Vermont’s statehood. When Congress refused, he negotiated with the British to make Vermont a British province. Allen was accused of treason, but no one could prove his guilt. He then settled in Burlington, Vermont. He died on Feb. 12, 1789. A statue of Allen represents Vermont in Statuary Hall in the Capitol in Washington, D.C.
See also Green Mountain Boys .
