During the French and Indian War (1754-63), Fort Ticonderoga, known as Fort Carillon to the French and located almost on the southern end of Lake Champlain, was one of the most crucial outposts between Canada and the British North American colonies. The French began to build the fort in 1754 to protect against a British thrust up to Canada through Lake Champlain. In 1757 General Montcalm used the fort as the base of his operations in the attack on Fort William Henry. In July 1758 General James Abercromby approached Fort Carillon with 16,000 British and colonial troops. Although this force vastly outnumbered the 3,500 French under Montcalm, on July 8, 1758, Abercromby launched an ill-fated direct assault on entrenched positions with disastrous results: His army lost about 2,000 men, and he retreated in humiliating defeat. The following summer, however, another British army under General Jeffrey Amherst had more success. After a four-day siege, a much-depleted French garrison abandoned the fort and blew up its ammunition depot. Amherst subsequently rebuilt the fort and named it Fort Ticonderoga.

With the British victory, and with both Canada and the colonies under the British flag, the fort became less important. At the outbreak of the Revolutionary War (1775-83), it was a backwater post with a small garrison. However, after the Battles of Lexington and Concord (April 19, 1775), several Revolutionary leaders recognized its strategic value. Encouraged by Connecticut backers, Ethan Allen led 200 of his followers, called the Green Mountain Boys, to capture the fort. The same idea had occurred to Benedict Arnold, who left his own Connecticut regiment to participate in the attack. Though Arnold and Allen argued over who should be in command, both men set out with the Green Mountain Boys and surprised the garrison on the morning of May 11, 1775.

This capture was important. The guns from the fort would be brought to Boston the following winter to be a part of the armament placed on Dorchester Heights, compelling a British withdrawal from the city. Fort Ticonderoga would also be the starting point of a Revolutionary invasion of Canada in late summer 1775 and the centerpiece in the Continental army's defense against British invasions of New York in 1776 and 1777.

In his most important victory during the invasion of New York in summer 1777, British general John Burgoyne recaptured the fort on July 6, 1777. The Revolutionaries had prepared elaborate defenses on both sides of the lake, including entrenched positions on Mount Independence on the eastern shore and a boom bridge across the lake to facilitate the movement of troops and to prevent British boats from passing south of the defenses. However, the Continental commanding officer, General Arthur St. Clair, did not fortify Mount Defiance, the highest point in the area directly south of Fort Ticonderoga, because he believed it would be impossible for the British to carry heavy guns up its steep incline. Burgoyne recognized the mistake instantly and, landing just north of the fort, slipped units around the Revolutionaries and, with some backbreaking labor on the part of his troops, placed artillery on top of Mount Defiance. From these heights he could lob artillery shells into Fort Ticonderoga and destroy St. Clair's defenses. Seeing that his position was untenable, St. Clair ordered a retreat on the night of July 5, sending his wounded down Lake Champlain to Skenesboro and marching the rest of his army across the boom bridge and down the eastern shore of the lake. Although the British caught up to the rear guard of the Revolutionary forces at the Battle of Hubbardton (July 7, 1777) and captured other soldiers at the Battle of Skenesboro (July 6, 1777), most of the revolutionary army escaped to fight at the Battle of Bennington (August 16, 1777) and contribute to Burgoyne's surrender at Saratoga (October 17, 1777).

After Burgoyne was cut off from his supplies in autumn 1777, the British burned and abandoned Fort Ticonderoga, and it was not garrisoned again during the Revolutionary War.

Bibliography:

1) Fred Anderson, Crucible of War: The Seven Years' War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754-1766 (New York: Knopf, 2000)

2) Richard M. Ketchum, Saratoga: Turning Point of America's Revolutionary War (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1997)

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