Fort Ticonderoga facts for kids
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Fort Ticonderoga
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Fort Ticonderoga from Mount Defiance
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 Location in New York Adirondack Park
Location in New York
Location in the United States
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| Location | Ticonderoga, New York |
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| Nearest city | Burlington, Vermont |
| Area | 21,950 acres (34.3 sq mi; 88.8 km2) |
| Built | 1755–1758 |
| Architect | Marquis de Lotbinière |
| Architectural style | Vauban-style fortress |
| NRHP reference No. | 66000519 |
Quick facts for kids Significant dates |
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| Added to NRHP | October 15, 1966 |
| Designated NHL | October 9, 1960 |
Fort Ticonderoga, once called Fort Carillon, is a large 18th-century star-shaped fort. It was built by the French in northern New York, near the southern end of Lake Champlain. The fort was constructed between 1755 and 1757 by a French military engineer named Michel Chartier de Lotbinière, Marquis de Lotbinière. This happened during the French and Indian War, which was part of a bigger war called the Seven Years' War.
Fort Ticonderoga was very important during the 1700s. It played a key role in fights between Great Britain and France. Later, it was also very important during the Revolutionary War.
The fort was built in a special spot. It controlled a river crossing (called a portage) next to the fast-moving La Chute River. This river connects Lake Champlain and Lake George. This location was perfect for controlling trade routes. These routes ran between the British-controlled Hudson River Valley and the French-controlled Saint Lawrence River Valley.
The land around the fort made it even more important. Both Lake Champlain and Lake George are long and narrow, running north to south. The Appalachian Mountains also run north to south, making travel very hard to the east and west of the fort. This meant the fort controlled the main travel path through the area.
The name "Ticonderoga" comes from an Iroquois word, tekontaró:ken. It means "it is at the junction of two waterways," which describes its location perfectly.
In 1758, during the Battle of Carillon, 4,000 French soldiers defended the fort. They successfully stopped an attack by 16,000 British troops. In 1759, the British came back and took the fort from a small group of French soldiers.
During the Revolutionary War, the British held the fort. But on May 10, 1775, the Green Mountain Boys and other American fighters, led by Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold, surprised and captured it. Cannons from the fort were moved to Boston. These cannons helped the Americans win the siege of Boston, forcing the British to leave in March 1776.
Americans held the fort until June 1777. Then, British forces under General John Burgoyne took control of high ground nearby. This threat made the American troops leave the fort and its defenses. The only direct attack on the fort during the Revolution happened in September 1777. John Brown led 500 Americans in an unsuccessful try to capture the fort from about 100 British defenders.
The British left the fort after their plan to win the war (the Saratoga campaign) failed. After 1781, the fort was no longer important for military reasons. After America became independent, the fort fell apart. Local people took materials from it to use for their own buildings. In 1820, a private family bought the fort. They later restored it in the early 1900s. Today, a group called the Fort Ticonderoga Association runs it as a museum and research center.
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Why Fort Ticonderoga Was Built
Lake Champlain, which is between New York and Vermont, and the Hudson River formed a major travel route. Native Americans used this route for a long time before Europeans arrived. The path had few obstacles, with only a few places where boats had to be carried (portages).
One very important spot on this route is at the southern end of Lake Champlain. Here, Ticonderoga Creek (also called La Chute River) flows into the lake from Lake George. Even though the fort offers great views of Lake Champlain, taller hills like Mount Defiance (853 feet high) and Mount Independence overlook the area.
Native Americans lived here for centuries. French explorer Samuel de Champlain arrived in 1609. He wrote that the Algonquins, who were with him, fought the Iroquois nearby. In 1642, French missionary Isaac Jogues was the first European to cross the portage at Ticonderoga.
The French, who had settled the Saint Lawrence River valley to the north, and the English, who had taken over Dutch settlements to the south (which became New York), started fighting over this area in 1691. That year, Pieter Schuyler built a small wooden fort at Ticonderoga. These conflicts grew into the French and Indian War in 1754.
Building the Fort: A Star-Shaped Design
After the Battle of Lake George in 1755, the French decided to build a strong fort here. The governor of French Canada, Marquis de Vaudreuil, sent his cousin Michel Chartier de Lotbinière to design it. The French called it Fort Carillon.
The name "Carillon" might come from a French officer named Philippe de Carrion du Fresnoy. Or, more commonly, it's said to come from the sound of the La Chute River's rapids, which sounded like chiming bells (a carillon).
Construction on the star-shaped fort began in October 1755. Lotbinière based his design on the famous French engineer Vauban's plans. Building was slow during 1756 and 1757. Troops from nearby Fort St. Frédéric and Canada helped.
In 1755, workers started the main walls and a small fort called the Lotbinière redoubt. This redoubt was to the west and helped protect La Chute River. In 1756, the four main bastions (parts of the star shape) were built, along with a sawmill. Work slowed in 1757 because many troops were busy with the attack on Fort William Henry. The barracks (living quarters) and demi-lunes (outer defenses) were finished in spring 1758.
Fort Walls and Defenses
The French built the fort to control the southern end of Lake Champlain. This would stop the British from using the lake for military travel. The most important defenses, the Reine and Germaine bastions, faced away from the lake. Two demi-lunes extended these defenses further inland.
The Joannes and Languedoc bastions faced the lake to the south. They protected the landing area outside the fort. The walls were about 7 feet high and 14 feet thick. The entire fort was surrounded by a sloping area (a glacis) and a dry moat 5 feet deep and 15 feet wide.
When first built in 1756, the walls were made of squared wooden timbers filled with earth. Later, the French started covering the walls with stone from a quarry about a mile away, but they never finished this. Once the main defenses were ready, cannons were brought from Montreal and Fort St. Frédéric to arm the fort.
Inside the Fort and Beyond
The fort had three barracks (places for soldiers to live) and four storehouses. One bastion had a bakery that could make 60 loaves of bread a day. A powder magazine (where gunpowder was stored) was carved out of the rock under the Joannes bastion. All buildings inside the fort were made of stone.
A wooden fence (a palisade) protected the area outside the fort, between the southern wall and the lake shore. This area included the main landing spot for the fort and other storage buildings. In 1756, the French realized the fort was too far west of the lake. So, they built another small fort to the east. This allowed cannons to cover the narrow part of the lake.
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Officers' barracks (right) and soldiers' barracks (left)
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Inside the first wall, with officers' barracks (left) and soldiers' barracks (right)
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Store room and powder magazine (now Mars Education Center), with soldiers' barracks (right)
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Front view of the fort
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View of the lake from the front of the fort
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Back view of the fort
Fort Ticonderoga's Military Role
French and Indian War Battles
In August 1757, the French captured Fort William Henry in an action that started from Fort Carillon. This victory, and others by the French, made the British plan a big attack on Fort Ticonderoga. In June 1758, British General James Abercromby gathered a large army at Fort William Henry. They planned to move up the Champlain Valley.
On July 6, these forces landed near Lake George, only four miles from the fort. The French general Louis-Joseph de Montcalm had just arrived at Carillon in late June. He quickly ordered his troops to improve the fort's outer defenses. In two days, they built trenches and an abatis (felled trees with sharp branches pointing out) around a hill northwest of the fort.
Abercromby did not attack right away on July 7. His second-in-command, Brigadier General George Howe, was killed when his group met French scouts. Abercromby was deeply affected by Howe's death and may have hesitated.
On July 8, 1758, Abercromby ordered a direct attack on the French defenses. He wanted to move fast against the smaller French force. He chose not to use cannons and relied on his 16,000 troops. In the Battle of Carillon, the 4,000 French defenders soundly defeated the British. The battle happened far enough from the fort that its cannons were rarely used. This battle made the fort seem impossible to capture, which influenced later military plans during the American Revolution.
After the French victory, Montcalm expected more British attacks. He ordered more work on the defenses, including new redoubts (small forts) to the northeast. However, the British did not attack again in 1758. So, the French left only a small group of soldiers for the winter.
The British, led by General Jeffery Amherst, captured the fort the next year in the 1759 Battle of Ticonderoga. About 11,000 British troops used cannons to drive away the small French group of 400 soldiers. As the French left, they used explosives to destroy parts of the fort. They also damaged or dumped cannons they couldn't take with them.
The British worked in 1759 and 1760 to fix and improve the fort. But it wasn't involved in any more major battles in that war. After the war, the British kept only a few soldiers there, and the fort began to fall apart. In 1773, Colonel Frederick Haldimand, who was in charge of the fort, wrote that it was in "ruinous condition."
Fort Ticonderoga in the Revolutionary War
In 1775, Fort Ticonderoga was falling apart, but it still had a small British force. It was very useful for supplies and communication between Canada (which the British had taken) and New York. On May 10, 1775, soon after the Revolutionary War began, a small British group of 48 soldiers was surprised. They were attacked by the Green Mountain Boys and other American volunteers, led by Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold.
Allen later said he demanded the fort's surrender "In the name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress!" With the fort captured, the American forces got many cannons and other weapons. Henry Knox later moved many of these cannons to Boston during the winter of 1775–1776. Ticonderoga's cannons were key to ending the siege of Boston. They were used to fortify Dorchester Heights, which forced the British to leave Boston in March 1776.
Benedict Arnold stayed in control of the fort until June 1775. Then, 1,000 Connecticut troops arrived under Benjamin Hinman. Because of some political issues, Arnold was not told that Hinman would take command. After a group from Massachusetts (who had given Arnold his military rank) came to clear things up, Arnold resigned and left. Hinman then took charge of the fort.
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Starting in July 1775, Ticonderoga was used as a base for the invasion of Quebec. This invasion was planned for September. Under generals Philip Schuyler and Richard Montgomery, soldiers and supplies for the invasion were gathered there in July and August. On August 28, Montgomery started the invasion, leading 1,200 troops down the lake. Ticonderoga continued to be a supply base for the Quebec action.
In May 1776, British troops arrived at Quebec City and broke the American siege. The British chased the American forces back to Ticonderoga in June. After months of building ships, the British moved down Lake Champlain under Guy Carleton in October. The British destroyed a small American fleet in the Battle of Valcour Island. But snow was already falling, so the British went back to Quebec for the winter. About 1,700 American troops, led by Colonel Anthony Wayne, spent the winter at Ticonderoga. The British attack started again the next year in the Saratoga campaign under General John Burgoyne.
The Saratoga Campaign and Fort Ticonderoga
In the summer of 1776, the Americans, led by General Schuyler and later General Horatio Gates, added many defenses to the area. Mount Independence, almost surrounded by water, was fortified with trenches, a cannon battery, a small fort (citadel) at the top, and other small forts (redoubts) with cannons. These defenses were connected to Ticonderoga by a floating bridge, protected by cannons on both sides. The defenses on Mount Hope were also improved. However, Mount Defiance remained unprotected.
In March 1777, American generals thought the British might try to attack along the Hudson River. General Schuyler, in charge at Ticonderoga, asked for 10,000 troops for Ticonderoga and 2,000 for the Mohawk River valley. George Washington, who had never visited Ticonderoga, believed an attack from the north was unlikely. He thought Ticonderoga was too strong. Also, British forces in New York City were moving up the Hudson River. Washington believed any attack on Albany would come from the south. This would cut off supplies to Ticonderoga, forcing a retreat.
So, no major steps were taken to strengthen Ticonderoga or increase its soldiers. The fort's group of about 2,000 men, under General Arthur St. Clair, was too small to defend all the existing defenses.
General Gates, who oversaw the northern defenses, knew that Mount Defiance was a threat to the fort. John Trumbull had pointed this out in 1776. Officers found that cannons could be pulled up Mount Defiance. But since there weren't enough soldiers to defend everything, Mount Defiance was left open. Anthony Wayne left Ticonderoga in April 1777. He told Washington that the fort "can never be carried, without much loss of blood."
General Burgoyne led 7,800 British and Hessian (German) soldiers south from Quebec in June 1777. After taking Fort Crown Point without a fight on June 30, he prepared to attack Ticonderoga. Burgoyne understood the advantage of high ground. He had his troops pull cannons to the top of Mount Defiance.
Facing a possible attack from the heights, General St. Clair ordered Ticonderoga to be abandoned on July 5, 1777. Burgoyne's troops moved in the next day. Washington was surprised by the news of Ticonderoga's abandonment without a fight. This caused "the greatest surprise and alarm" throughout the colonies. General St. Clair was later tried in a military court in 1778 but was cleared of all charges.
One Last Attack on the Fort
After the British captured Ticonderoga, it and the nearby defenses were held by 700 British and Hessian soldiers. They were led by Brigadier General Henry Watson Powell. Most of these forces were on Mount Independence. Only about 100 soldiers were at Fort Ticonderoga and a new fort (blockhouse) on Mount Defiance.
George Washington sent General Benjamin Lincoln into Vermont to "divide and distract the enemy." Lincoln knew the British were holding American prisoners in the area. So, he decided to test the British defenses. On September 13, he sent 500 men to Skenesboro. They found the British had left it. He also sent 500 men to attack the defenses on both sides of the lake at Ticonderoga.
Colonel John Brown led the troops on the west side. His orders were to free prisoners if possible and attack the fort if it seemed doable. Early on September 18, Brown's troops surprised a British group holding prisoners near Lake George. At the same time, some of his troops quietly climbed Mount Defiance. They captured most of the sleeping construction crew there.
Brown and his men then moved toward the fort, surprising more troops and freeing prisoners. The fort's soldiers didn't know what was happening until Brown's men and British troops fought near the old French lines. Brown's men then dragged two captured cannons to the lines and began firing on the fort. The men who had captured Mount Defiance also started firing a larger cannon from there.
The group that was supposed to attack Mount Independence was delayed. Its many defenders were warned about the fighting at the fort below before their attack began. Their gunfire and cannon fire from nearby ships stopped the Americans. They never launched a full attack on Mount Independence.
A standstill continued, with cannons firing back and forth, until September 21. Then, 100 Hessians arrived to help the fort. Brown eventually sent a group to the fort to talk about a truce. But the group was fired on, and three of its five members were killed. Brown realized his weapons weren't enough to take the fort. He decided to leave. He destroyed many boats and captured a ship on Lake George. His actions freed 118 Americans and captured 293 British soldiers. He had fewer than ten casualties.
The Fort's Final Abandonment
After Burgoyne's defeat at Saratoga, the fort at Ticonderoga became less important. The British left it and nearby Fort Crown Point in November 1777. They destroyed both as much as they could before leaving. British raiding parties sometimes used the fort in the following years. But it no longer had a major military role in the war. The British finally left it for good in 1781, after their surrender at Yorktown. In the years after the war, local people took usable building materials from the fort. They even melted down some cannons for their metal.
Fort Ticonderoga: A Tourist Destination
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In 1785, the land where the fort stood became property of New York State. The state later gave the property to Columbia and Union colleges in 1803. The colleges sold the property to William Ferris Pell in 1820.
Pell first used the property as a summer home. When railroads and canals connected the area to New York City, tourists started visiting. So, Pell turned his summer house, called The Pavilion, into a hotel for tourists. In 1848, the artist Russell Smith painted Ruins of Fort Ticonderoga, showing how the fort looked then.
The Pell family, an important family in American history, decided to restore the fort. They hired English architect Alfred Bossom to help. They officially opened it to the public in 1909 as a historic site. President William Howard Taft attended the opening ceremonies. These celebrated 300 years since European explorers discovered Lake Champlain.
Stephen Hyatt Pell, who led the restoration, started the Fort Ticonderoga Association in 1931. This group now manages the fort. Money for the restoration also came from Robert M. Thompson, whose daughter married Stephen Pell.
Between 1900 and 1950, the foundation bought important lands around the fort. This included Mount Defiance, Mount Independence, and much of Mount Hope. The fort was rearmed with fourteen 24-pound cannons given by the British government. These cannons were made in England for the American Revolution, but the war ended before they were shipped.
Fort Ticonderoga is now a National Historic Landmark. The foundation operates it as a tourist attraction, an early American military museum, and a research center. The fort opens every year around May 10, the anniversary of its 1775 capture. It closes in late October.
Since 1998, the fort has been on a watchlist of National Historic Landmarks. This is because some of its walls and the 19th-century pavilion built by William Ferris Pell are in poor condition. The pavilion was being restored in 2009. In 2008, the powder magazine, destroyed by the French in 1759, was rebuilt. This was based on the original 1755 plans.
Also in 2008, the museum faced budget problems. A major supporter stopped their financial help. The museum considered selling one of its important artworks, Thomas Cole's Gelyna, View near Ticonderoga. However, enough money was raised to prevent the sale.
The Living History Education Foundation runs teacher programs at Fort Ticonderoga in the summer. These programs teach teachers how to use "Living History" techniques. They also help teachers understand the fort's importance during the French and Indian War and the American Revolution.
The fort also holds other educational events throughout the year. These include the annual War College of the Seven Years' War in May and the Seminar on the American Revolution in September.
The Pell family estate is north of the fort. In 1921, Sarah Pell began restoring the gardens. She hired Marian Cruger Coffin, a famous American landscape architect. In 1995, the gardens were restored and opened to the public. They are now known as the King's Garden.
Remembering Fort Ticonderoga
The U.S. Navy has named five different ships "Ticonderoga." They have also named entire classes of cruisers and aircraft carriers after the fort.
The fort was named a National Historic Landmark in 1960. This landmark area includes Mount Independence and Mount Defiance, as well as the fort itself. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1966. The Ticonderoga pencil, made by the Dixon Ticonderoga Corporation, is also named after the fort.
See also
- Battle on Snowshoes (1757)
- Battle on Snowshoes (1758)
- List of French forts in North America
- Duncan Campbell (died 1758), a Scottish officer with a legend about the fort
- Reit, Seymour. Guns for General Washington: A Story of the American Revolution. Clarion Books, 2001.
