Fort Ticonderoga, Battle of, was an important American victory over the British in the early weeks of the American Revolution (1775-1783). Fort Ticonderoga was a British post on the western shore of Lake Champlain in the colony of New York. On May 10, 1775, American soldiers seized the fort without firing a shot. Key American leaders in the battle included Colonels Benedict Arnold and Ethan Allen. Allen led a group of Vermont soldiers called the Green Mountain Boys.
Fort Ticonderoga controlled an important route between Canada and the American Colonies. After the American Revolution began in April 1775, the Americans organized an expedition to capture the fort. The American force included Arnold, Allen, and about 80 of Allen’s Green Mountain Boys. On May 10, the Americans surprised the 49 British soldiers stationed at Ticonderoga. The British were unprepared for battle, and the Americans captured the fort without resistance. Shortly afterward, the Americans captured another British post at nearby Crown Point. The Americans seized many cannons from the two forts, providing themselves with much-needed artillery (heavy guns).
Soon after General George Washington took charge of the Continental Army in July 1775, he sought to drive the British from Boston. In November, Colonel Henry Knox, Washington’s chief of artillery, proposed a plan to move the heavy guns at Ticonderoga to the Boston area. The Americans carried the guns by sled across the snow-covered Berkshire Mountains, reaching Framingham, near Boston, by late January 1776. By March, the Americans had established a stronghold at Dorchester Heights, south of Boston. With the captured artillery pointed at them, the British realized they could not hold the city. The British evacuated Boston by March 17.
American troops held Fort Ticonderoga until July 1777, when the British, under the command of Lieutenant General John Burgoyne, drove them out. But that October, the Americans defeated Burgoyne’s forces at nearby Saratoga. The British abandoned Fort Ticonderoga in 1780.
See also Fort Ticonderoga .
