Fort Ticonderoga

Westport, NY - Events of Saturday, July 20, 2013

One reason we decided to stop in Westport, NY was to see Fort Ticonderoga, which is located about 20 minutes south of the campground. We headed there on Saturday.

Fort Ticonderoga played important roles in both the French and Indian War and the American War for Independence. The fort was originally called Fort Carillon when it was built by the French from 1754 to 1757 during the French and Indian War. The site was chosen to protect the portage route between Lake George and Lake Champlain from possible British attack into Canada from the south.

We arrived at the fort shortly after 10:00 a.m. and paid our admission fee at the entrance booth. Admission is $14.50 for adults and $12.00 for seniors. There is also a 10% discount on all admission fees for AAA members. We drove the long entry road and parked. After a quick stop in the visitor center, we headed past the outer bastions toward the entrance of fort.

Outer bastions

Fort Ticonderoga

We arrived during a demonstration of firing of muskets.

Costumed interpreter firing his musket

We usually don't sightsee on Saturdays to avoid crowds, but going to the fort on Saturday turned out to be a good thing because it was the Annual Fife and Drum Muster with fife and drum corps from several locations throughout the northeast on hand to play. Following the musket demonstration, the Fifes and Drums of Fort Ticonderoga assembled outside the fort to begin a march to the King's Garden. We'll have more on the garden in our next post.

The Fifes and Drums of Fort Ticonderoga

After the fifes and drums had headed off down the path toward the garden, we made our way inside the fort.

View of the inside of the fort looking toward the officers' quarters

We weren't inside the fort very long until the Hanaford's Volunteers Fife and Drum Corps marched up from the visitor center and began playing. Different fife and drum corps took turns playing almost the entire time we were there, which really added a lot to the ambiance.

Hanaford's Volunteers Fife and Drum Corps

With the regular staff of costumed interpreters plus all the fife and drum corps at the fort that day walking around in costume between their scheduled performances, we almost felt like we were back in the 1700s.

Members of other fife and drum corps watching Hanaford's Volunteers

More costumed interpreters

Another costumed interpreter

Yet another interpreter demonstrating mending and sewing

The soldiers' barracks have been converted to a museum. On display are various artifacts relating to the time period of the fort, details about the history of the fort and a section devoted to the 5 U.S. Navy vessels that have been named Ticonderoga.

From the upper floor of the museum, there were great views of the lake.

View of Lake Champlain

The pane of glass in the lower right corner of the window shown below is called "bulls-eye glass," which is created by the process used to make window glass back in the 1700s. Glass was blown into a globe then whirled to flatten and enlarge it by centfugal force. After cooling, The large, round, flat piece of glass would be cut into smaller, rectangular panes. Much of the early glass had ripples from the blowing and flattening process. Since nothing was wasted back in those days, the piece in the center where the worker's rod was attached, the bulls-eye, was also used. The bulls-eye glass at Fort Ticonderoga is reproduction.

View of Lake Champlain through a window with a pane of bulls-eye glass

During the French and Indian War, the British attacked Fort Carillon in 1758 and were soundly defeated by the defending French. In 1759, the British led another attack and this time were successful in capturing the fort. Controlling the route from Canada through Lakes Champlain and George into New York greatly restricted the French supply route. The British changed the name from Fort Carillon to Fort Ticonderoga, which is the Indian name for the area meaning "land between great waters" referring to Lakes George and Champlain.

Following the French and Indian War, the British reduced the garrison at Fort Ticonderoga. In May, 1775, in the early days of the Revolutionary War, Ethan Allen and his Green Mountain Boys along with Benedict Arnold (yes, THAT Benedict Arnold - he was a Revolutionary War hero before he became a traitor) captured Fort Ticonderoga without firing a shot. It seems the small British garrison at the fort was unaware of the hostilities that had broken out at Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts the month before and apparently didn't even have a sentry posted. The Green mountain Boys simply walked into the fort and demanded its surrender. The fort commander was so taken by surprise he had no recourse but to comply.

The capture of the fort in May, 1775 was a key event in the Revolutionary War. During those early days of the war, Boston was under siege by the English Navy. The navy had Boston Harbor under a blockade so no ships could get in or out. Henry Knox, who was the chief artillery officer of the Continental Army under George Washington, persuaded Washington to allow him to go to Fort Ticonderoga and bring its cannons and arms to Boston during the winter of 1775-76.

The trip was arduous during winter. It took teams of oxen 56 days to haul the cannons the 300-mile distance to Boston.

Miniature scene depicting hauling cannons from Fort Ticonderoga to Boston

By early spring, those cannons were placed at Dorchester Heights overlooking Boston Harbor. The British realized they would no longer be able to hold the harbor and were forced to withdraw thus freeing Boston. This was a major victory for the fledgling Continental Army.

Unfortunately, even with the commanding view of Lake Champlian, Fort Ticonderoga has a major weakness - it does not occupy the highest ground in the area. By managing to place cannons on higher ground on nearby Mount Defiance, the British were able to force the Patriots to withdraw from Fort Ticonderoga in July, 1777 without having to fire any of the cannons. With a British defeat in later in 1777 at the Battle of Saratoga, Fort Ticonderoga became increasingly irrelevant, and it was abandoned by the British.  

Following the Revolutionary War, the abandoned Fort Ticonderoga fell into disrepair. We'll tell you about how it was restored in our next post. We also mentioned that one of the fife and drum corps was marching to the King's Garden when we first arrived. We'll also tell you about the King's Garden and how it's related to the restoration of the fort in our next post.

Comments

[Marsha Weaver]

I think I remember visiting Fort Ticonderoga with my parents about a million years ago. I don't remember enjoying the treats that you two had...musket, rifes and drums...oh my!

Just reading how long it took them to haul those cannons and seeing all that snow makes me shiver! Just image what the gloves and boots must have felt like...like not having anything on is my guess.