Colonists Seize Fort Ticonderoga: Revolution Ignites
Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold led 83 Green Mountain Boys in a dawn assault on Fort Ticonderoga on May 10, 1775, capturing the poorly garrisoned British fort without a single casualty on either side. Allen reportedly demanded the surrender "in the name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress," though the British commander later said he was simply startled out of bed. The real prize was the fort's artillery: 78 cannons, six mortars, and three howitzers. The following winter, Colonel Henry Knox organized an extraordinary overland transport of 60 tons of these weapons 300 miles from Ticonderoga to Boston, using ox-drawn sledges across frozen lakes and mountains. When the guns appeared on Dorchester Heights in March 1776, the British evacuated Boston.
May 10, 1775
251 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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