In the summer of 1758 the
Marquis de Montcalm occupied the fortress of
Ticonderoga, on
Lake Champlain, with about 4,000 men, French and Indians.
General Abercrombie personally commanded the expedition designed to capture this fortress, and at the beginning of July he had assembled at the head of
Lake George about 7,000 regulars, nearly 9,000 provincials, and a heavy train of artillery.
Viscount George Augustus Howe, colonel of the 60th (Royal American) Regiment, and then a brigadier-general, was
Abercrombie's second in command.
Howe was then thirty-four years of age, a skilful soldier, and greatly beloved by his men. The army moved (July 5) down the lake in 900 bateaux and 125 whale-boats, and spent the night at a place yet known (as then named) as Sabbath-day Point.
At dawn they landed at the foot of the lake, about 4 miles from
Ticonderoga.
The whole country was covered with a dense forest, and tangled morasses lay in the way of the
English.
Led by incompetent guides, they were soon bewildered; and while in that condition the right column, led by Lord Howe, was suddenly attacked by a small French force.
A sharp skirmish ensued.
The
French were repulsed with a loss of 148 men made prisoners.
At the first fire Lord Howe was killed, when the greater part of the troops fell back in confusion to the landing-place.
From the prisoners
Abercrombie learned that a reinforcement for
Montcalm was approaching.
He was also told of the strength of the garrison and the condition of the fortress; but the information, false and deceptive, induced him to press forward to make an immediate attack on the fort without his artillery.
This was a fatal mistake.
The outer works were easily taken, but the others were guarded by abatis and thoroughly manned.
Abercrombie ordered his troops to scale the works in the face of the enemy's fire (July 8), when they were met by insuperable obstacles.
After a bloody conflict of four hours, the assailants were compelled to fall back to
Lake George, leaving about 2,000 men dead or wounded in the forest.
Abercrombie then hastened to his camp at the head of the lake.
The loss of the
French was inconsiderable.
Pitt conceived a magnificent plan for the campaign of 1759, the principal feature of which was the conquest of all
Canada, and so ending the puissance of
France in
America.
Abercrombie, who had been unsuccessful, was superseded by
Gen. Sir Jeffrey Amherst in the command of the
British forces in
America in the spring of 1759.
The new commander found 20,000 provincial troops at his disposal.
A competent land and naval force was sent from
England to co-operate with the
Americans.
The plan of operations against
Canada was similar to that of
Phipps and
Winthrop in 1690.
A powerful land and naval force, under
Gen. James Wolfe, were to ascend the
St. Lawrence and attack
Quebec.
Another force, under Amherst, was to drive the
French from
Lake Champlain, seize
Montreal, and join
Wolfe at
Quebec; and a third expedition, under
General Prideaux, was to capture Fort
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Niagara, and then hasten down
Lake Ontario and the
St. Lawrence to
Montreal.
Amherst appeared before
Ticonderoga (July 22, 1759) with about 11,000 men. The French commander had just heard, by Indian runners, of the arrival of
Wolfe before
Quebec (June 27), and immediately prepared to obey a summons to surrender.
The garrison left their outer lines on the 23d and retired within the fort, and three days afterwards, without offering any resistance, they abandoned that also, partially demolished it, and fled to
Crown Point.
That, too, they abandoned, and fled down the lake to the
Isle aux Noix, in the
Sorel.
Amherst pursued them only to
Crown Point.
When, in 1775, it became apparent that war was inevitable, the importance of the strong fortresses of
Ticonderoga and
Crown Point, on
Lake Champlain, and their possession, became subjects of earnest consultation among patriots.
The subject was talked of in the
Connecticut legislature after the affair at
Lexington, and several gentlemen formed the bold design of attempting their capture by surprise.
With this view, about forty volunteers set out for
Bennington to engage the cooperation of Ethan Allen, a native of
Connecticut, and the leader of the
Green Mountain boys (q. v.). He readily seconded their views.
They had been joined at
Pittsfield, Mass., by
Colonels Easton and
Brown, with about forty followers.
Allen was chosen the leader after the whole party reached
Castleton, at twilight, on May 7.
Colonel Easton war chosen to be
Allen's lieutenant, and
Seth Warner, of the
Green Mountain Boys, was made third in command.
At
Castleton Colonel Arnold joined the party.
He had heard the project spoken of in
Connecticut just as he was about to start for
Cambridge.
He proposed the enterprise to the
Massachusetts committee of safety, and
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was commissioned a colonel by the Provincial Congress, and furnished with means and authority to raise not more than 400 men in
western Massachusetts and lead them against the forts.
On reaching
Stockbridge, he was disappointed in learning that another expedition was on the way. He hastened to join it, and claimed the right to the chief command by virtue of his commission.
It was emphatically refused.
He acquiesced, but with a bad grace.
On the evening of the 9th they were on the shore of
Lake Champlain, opposite
Ticonderoga, and at dawn the next morning the officers and eighty men were on the beach a few rods from the fortress, sheltered by a bluff.
A lad familiar with the fort was their guide.
Following him, they ascended stealthily to the sally-ports where a sentinel snapped his musket and retreated into the fort, closely followed by the invaders, who quickly penetrated to the parade.
With a tremendous shout the New-Englanders awakened the sleeping garrison, while
Allen ascended the outer staircase of the barracks to the chamber of the commander (
Captain Delaplace), and beating the door with the handle of his sword, cried out with his loud voice, “I demand an instant surrender!”
The captain rushed to the door, followed by his trembling wife.
He knew
Allen, and recognized him. “Your errand?”
demanded the commander pointing to his men,
Allen said, “I order you to surrender.”
“By what authority do
You demand it?”
inquired Delaplace.
“By the authority of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress!”
answered
Allen, with emphasis, at the same time flourishing his broadsword over the head of the terrified commander.
Delaplace surrendered the fort and its dependencies, and a large quantity of precisely such munitions of war as the colonists needed—120 iron cannon, fifty swivels, two mortars, a howitzer, a coehorn, a large quantity of ammunition and other stores, and a warehouse full of naval munitions, with forty-eight men, women, and children, who were sent to
Hartford.
Two days afterwards
Col. Seth Warner made an easy conquest of
Crown Point.
In June, 1777, with about 7,000 men,
Lieutenant-General Burgoyne left St.
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Johns, on the
Sorel, in vessels, and moved up
Lake Champlain.
His army was composed of British and German regulars, Canadians and
Indians.
The
Gemans were led by
Maj.-Gen. Baron de Riedesel, and
Burgoyne's chief lieutenants were
Major-General Phillips and
Brigadier-General Fraser.
The invading army (a part of it on land) reached
Crown Point, June 26, and menaced
Ticonderoga, where
General St. Clair was in command.
The garrison there, and at
Mount Independence opposite, did not number in the aggregate more than 3,500 men, and not more than one in ten had a bayonet; while the invaders numbered between 8,000 and 9,000, including a reinforcement of
Indians, Tories, and a splendid train of artillery.
There were strong outposts around
Ticonderoga, but
St. Clair had not men enough to man them.
On the 29th
Burgoyne issued a grandiloquent proclamation to the people, and on July 1 moved against the fort.
He secured important points near it, and finally planted a battery on a hill 700 feet above the fort, since known as
Mount Defiance.
The battery there made
Ticonderoga absolutely untenable, and a council of war determined to evacuate it. On the evening of July 5, invalids, stores, and baggage were sent off in boats to Skenesboro (afterwards
Whitehall); and at 2 A. M. on the 6th the troops left the fort silently, and withdrew to
Mount Independence across a bridge of boats.
Thence they began a flight southwards through the forests of
Vermont before daylight.
The movement was discovered by the
British by the light of a building set on fire on
Mount Independence, and pursuit was immediately begun.
The
Americans lost at
Ticonderoga a large amount of military stores and provisions, and nearly 200 pieces of artillery.
While
Burgoyne was pressing down the valley of the upper
Hudson towards
Albany,
General Lincoln, in command of troops eastward of that river, attempted to recover
Ticonderoga and other posts in the rear of the invaders.
On Sept. 13, 1777, he detailed
Col. John Brown with 500 men for the purpose.
Brown landed at the foot of
Lake George, and by quick movements surprised all the posts between that point and
Fort Ticonderoga, 4 miles distant.
He took possession of
Mount Defiance and
Mount Hope, the old French lines, 200 bateaux, several gunboats, an armed sloop with 290 prisoners, besides releasing 100 American prisoners.. He then proceeded to attempt the capture of
Ticonderoga and
Mount Independence opposite, but it was found impracticable, and abandoned the enterprise and rejoined
Lincoln.
