Capture of Fort Ticonderoga facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Capture of Fort Ticonderoga |
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Part of the American Revolutionary War | |||||||
![]() An 1775 idealized depiction of Ethan Allen demanding the fort's surrender |
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Belligerents | |||||||
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Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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Strength | |||||||
83 at Ticonderoga 50 at Crown Point 35 at Saint-Jean |
48 at Ticonderoga 9 at Crown Point 21 at Saint-Jean |
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Casualties and losses | |||||||
1 captured near Fort Saint-Jean |
All captured |
The Capture of Fort Ticonderoga occurred during the American Revolutionary War on May 10, 1775, when a small force of Green Mountain Boys led by Ethan Allen and Colonel Benedict Arnold surprised and captured the fort's small British garrison. The cannons and other armaments were later transported to Boston by Colonel Henry Knox and used to fortify Dorchester Heights and break the standoff at the Siege of Boston.
Capture of the fort marked the beginning of offensive action taken by the Americans against the British. After seizing Ticonderoga, a small detachment captured the nearby Fort Crown Point on May 11. Seven days later, Arnold and 50 men raided Fort Saint-Jean on the Richelieu River in southern Quebec, seizing military supplies, cannons, and the largest military vessel on Lake Champlain.
Although the scope of this military action was relatively minor, it had significant strategic importance. It impeded communication between northern and southern units of the British Army, and gave the nascent Continental Army a staging ground for the invasion of Quebec later in 1775. It also involved two larger-than-life personalities in Allen and Arnold, each of whom sought to gain as much credit and honor as possible for these events. Most significantly, in an effort led by Henry Knox, artillery from Ticonderoga would be dragged across Massachusetts to the heights commanding Boston Harbor, forcing the British to withdraw from that city.
Images for kids
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The flag of the Green Mountain Boys
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A 1902 photo of the Fort Crown Point ruins
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An engraving of Benedict Arnold after John Trumbull by H. B. Hall, published 1879
