page_title: Fort Ticonderoga
section_title: Early Revolutionary War
hierarchical_section_title: Fort Ticonderoga / Military history / Early Revolutionary War
caption_attribution_description: Español: Rendición del Captura del Fuerte Ticonderoga el 10 de mayo de 1775 a Ethan Allen English: 1875 engraving depicting the capture of Fort Ticonderoga by Ethan Allen on May 10, 1775
context_page_description: Fort Ticonderoga, formerly Fort Carillon, is a large 18th-century star fort built by the French at a narrows near the south end of Lake Champlain, in northern New York, in the United States. It was constructed by Canadian-born French military engineer Michel Chartier de Lotbinière, Marquis de Lotbinière between October 1755 and 1757, during the action in the "North American theater" of the Seven Years' War, often referred to in the US as the French and Indian War. The fort was of strategic importance during the 18th-century colonial conflicts between Great Britain and France, and again played an important role during the Revolutionary War.
  The site controlled a river portage alongside the mouth of the rapids-infested La Chute River, in the 3.5 miles between Lake Champlain and Lake George. It was thus strategically placed for the competition over trade routes between the British-controlled Hudson River Valley and the French-controlled Saint Lawrence River Valley.
  The terrain amplified the importance of the site. Both lakes were long and narrow and oriented north–south, as were the many ridge lines of the Appalachian Mountains, which extended as far south as Georgia.
context_section_description: In 1775, Fort Ticonderoga, in disrepair, was still manned by a token British force.  They found it extremely useful as a supply and communication link between Canada (which they had taken over after their victory in the Seven Years' War) and New York. On May 10, 1775, less than one month after the Revolutionary War was ignited with the battles of Lexington and Concord, the British garrison of 48 soldiers was surprised by a small force of Green Mountain Boys, along with militia volunteers from Massachusetts and Connecticut, led by Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold.  Allen claims to have said, "Come out you old Rat!" to the fort's commander, Captain William Delaplace.  He also later said that he demanded that the British commander surrender the fort "In the name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress!"; however, his surrender demand was made to Lieutenant Jocelyn Feltham and not the fort's commander, who did later appear and surrender his sword.
  With the capture of the fort, the Patriot forces obtained a large supply of cannons and other armaments, much of which Henry Knox transported to Boston during the winter of 1775–1776.  Ticonderoga's cannons were instrumental in ending the Siege of Boston when they were used to fortify Dorchester Heights.  With Dorchester Heights secured by the Patriots, the British were forced to evacuate the city in March 1776. The capture of Fort Ticonderoga by the Patriots made communication between the British Canadian and American commands much more difficult.
  Benedict Arnold remained in control of the fort until 1,000 Connecticut troops under the command of Benjamin Hinman arrived in June 1775. Because of a series of political maneuvers and miscommunications, Arnold was never notified that Hinman was to take command.  After a delegation from Massachusetts (which had issued Arnold's commission) arrived to clarify the matter, Arnold resigned his commission and departed, leaving the fort in Hinman's hands.
  Beginning in July 1775, Ticonderoga was used as a staging area for the invasion of Quebec, planned to begin in September.  Under the leadership of generals Philip Schuyler and Richard Montgomery, men and materiel for the invasion were accumulated there through July and August.  On August 28, after receiving word that British forces at Fort Saint-Jean, not far from the New York–Quebec border, were nearing completion of boats to launch onto Lake Champlain, Montgomery launched the invasion, leading 1,200 troops down the lake.  Ticonderoga continued to serve as a staging base for the action in Quebec until the battle and siege at Quebec City that resulted in Montgomery's death.
  In May 1776, British troops began to arrive at Quebec City, where they broke the Continental Army's siege.  The British chased the American forces back to Ticonderoga in June and, after several months of shipbuilding, moved down Lake Champlain under Guy Carleton in October. The British destroyed a small fleet of American gunboats in the Battle of Valcour Island in mid-October, but snow was already falling, so the British retreated to winter quarters in Quebec. About 1,700 troops from the Continental Army, under the command of Colonel Anthony Wayne, wintered at Ticonderoga.  The British offensive resumed the next year in the Saratoga campaign under General John Burgoyne.
caption: Ethan Allen, demanding that the fort be surrendered
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