Fort Ticonderoga

The Revolutionary War was also a civil war. Explore how in our newest video!

Thousands of Americans, including recent immigrants and long-established families, remained loyal to King George III during the American Revolution. Many Loyalists faced intimidation and violence, and some fled their homes to seek safety behind British lines. The British organized many of these refugees and volunteers into Provincial units, raised in America for wartime service alongside regular British troops. As many as 50,000 men served in these units. They campaigned in almost every theater of the war, from Canada to the Gulf Coast, sometimes fighting against neighbors and relatives. Their experiences complicate the familiar story of a unified drive for independence.

Explore the objects that shed light on the global conflict of the American Revolution in Fort Ticonderoga`s newest exhibit in the A Revolutionary Anthology series-- Revolutionary Possibilities! And be sure to see these incredible objects in person in our NEW exhibit, A Revolutionary Anthology: Revolutionary Possibilities, open now!

Watch the video now at our link in bio!

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On May 3, 1776—250 years ago today—the sergeants of Captain Persifor Frazer’s company made their first entry in a new orderly book. Their 4th Pennsylvania Battalion had been authorized on January 5, nearly four months before. The battalion’s officers had spent those months working to recruit men and supply them with all they needed for service. The process was slower for Frazer’s company than some of the others; three companies had marched for Canada by late February, but Frazer and his men were still in Pennsylvania as of April 8. By early May, though, they were in camp at Long Island, finally ready to serve.

Three of the sergeants of Frazer’s company signed the first page of the book. Sergeant Edward Verner started things off, writing in large and ornate letters, “An orderly Book of Capt. Frazers Company Kept by Edwd. Verner.” Two other sergeants added their own, much smaller signatures to the page, Daniel Harris and Evan James, and one of them wrote, “an orderly Book kept by the serjeants of Capt. Frazers Company.” This additional inscription proved to be more accurate than Verner’s title. The entries that follow, dating from May through August, are written in at least three different hands.

The May 3 entry contains a wide variety of orders. Several pertain to keeping things clean, with one stating, “Cleanness and well dressd is a great help to the health of a Soldier”. “Necessary Houses” were ordered to be built to keep human waste confined to one area: “any Soldier that should be found to Make any Nastiness anywhere else about the Camp shall be severely Punished.” The streets were to be swept daily, and tents were to be opened and aired out. Other orders pertained to roll calls, officers of the day, and camp business: “No beating of Drums [or] fife plays in the Camp will be allowd Except the ordinances. The Drummers & fifers must Exercise themselves Every Day Near the Waterside and not in camp.”

See this orderly book for yourself in The Archaeology of Independence exhibit in the Mars Education Center! Or learn more about it (object ID MS.7200) on the Ticonderoga Online Collections database: https://fortticonderoga.catalogaccess.com/archives/30799

Experience 1776 in Real Time at Fort Ticonderoga!

Starting tomorrow, May 2, our immersive daily programs bring to life the immense pressure, difficult choices, and uncertain outcomes faced by the men and women who secured our independence.

Join us this Campaign Season to discover the story of 1776 and Ticonderoga’s many other epic chapters through new programs, guided tours, weapon demonstrations, exhibits, gardens, daily narrated boat tours, engaging soldiers’ life programs, the Mount Defiance experience, family activities, & more!

To learn more and plan your Revolutionary War adventure, visit www.fortticonderoga.org

#REALTIMEREVOLUTION® #America250 #AmericanRevolution #BucketListDestination #America250Destination

As the nation marks its 250th anniversary, Fort Ticonderoga stands at the forefront of the commemoration, recognized by USA Today, Smithsonian Magazine, and other national publications as a PREMIER America 250 destination.

Through our REAL TIME REVOLUTION® initiative, we are moving beyond static history to capture the raw contingency of war as it unfolded in 1776. By bringing history to life in the moment, we allow our visitors to experience the immense pressure, difficult choices, and uncertain outcomes faced by those who secured our independence. We are thrilled to welcome guests to this season of discovery, where the power of the past meets the vibrant beauty of our 2,000-acre landscape.

Join us this Campaign Season (May 2-October 25) to discover the story of 1776 and Ticonderoga’s many other epic chapters this Campaign Season through new programs, guided tours, weapon demonstrations, exhibits, gardens, daily narrated boat tours, engaging soldiers’ life programs, the Mount Defiance experience, family activities, & more!

To learn more and plan your Revolutionary War adventure, visit www.fortticonderoga.org

#REALTIMEREVOLUTION® #America250 #AmericanRevolution #BucketListDestination #America250Destination

Captain Samuel Peck had a busy year in 1775. On May 1, 1775, he was commissioned as a captain in Colonel David Wooster’s 1st Connecticut Regiment. His regiment spent the summer on Long Island and in Harlem, then marched to Canada, stopping at Fort Ticonderoga along the way. After the siege and fall of Fort St. Jean, they traveled north to Montreal, then to the outskirts of Quebec City, where they participated in the siege of the city.

After Peck’s enlistment expired that December, he did not return to regular service until June 1776. He likely spent the spring of 1776 at home in Milford, CT with his wife Mehitable and their seven children, including a new son, Dan, born while Peck was in Canada. This was precious time for Peck to recover from the rigors of a military campaign, prepare for another one, handle business at home, and spend quality time with his family. However, even months after the end of his service with the 1st Connecticut, Peck wasn’t free from military responsibilities.

On April 30, 1776—250 years ago today—Peck was in Hartford on business, about 50 miles away from home. On that day, the Connecticut Committee of the Pay Table signed a pay order ordering colony treasurer John Lawrence to pay Peck 2 pounds, 19 shillings, and 6 pence “for Arms lost by Soldiers of his Company in the Coleny’s Service by Inevitable Casualty”. Peck signed the back of the order, affirming that he had received the money. It is not known what “inevitable casualty” led to the loss of these arms, although the company’s journey of hundreds of miles, punctuated by sieges and skirmishes, offers many possibilities.

Peck was responsible for his company’s accounts. It fell to him to ensure that all government money was properly accounted for and that soldiers received what they were due. While the work was time-consuming and the settling of accounts could drag on for months, Peck and men like him helped keep the army running smoothly and professionally.

Learn about the pay order (object ID MS.7748, property of Robert Nittolo) on the Ticonderoga Online Collections database: https://fortticonderoga.catalogaccess.com/archives/31663

On April 29, 1776—250 years ago today—the Connecticut Committee of the Pay Table ordered that Colonel John Strong be paid 16 shillings, 6 pence “for Expence of a Guard from Chamblee with Prisoners”. The prisoners may have been Fort Chambly’s garrison of 84 soldiers and 100 women and children, who surrendered on October 18, 1775. Strong likely waited for up to six months to be paid for his services, but Chambly’s garrison had waited just as long for their release, and they would continue to wait.

The Chambly prisoners had traveled far since their capture. They first marched south to Connecticut, which played host to other British prisoners from the first months of the war. At least some of them stayed in Connecticut long enough to cause trouble: a meeting of the colony’s Council of Safety on November 23, 1775 described several prisoners from Chambly being held in Farmington who were “turbulent and disorderly… and say they will escape unless imprisoned”.

On November 17, the Continental Congress resolved “That the prisoners taken at Chambly and St. John’s, be sent to, and kept in, the towns of Reading, Lancaster, and York, in the colony of Pennsylvania.” Chambly’s garrison was on the move again, traveling deeper into the American colonies. Captured soldiers marched on foot, while women, children, and baggage were transported by water. The groups reunited at their temporary homes in inland Pennsylvania, where they would stay for nearly a year.

Congress arranged for the prisoners to be housed and fed, allowing them the same rations that Continental Army privates received, and urged that they be treated with civility. They were initially allowed to roam freely around the towns in which they stayed. But tensions grew between the prisoners and their hosts as the gulf widened between Britain and America. By the summer, British prisoners were being kept confined in stockaded barracks. The odyssey of Chambly’s prisoners finally ended in early December, when they were exchanged and released.

Learn about this item (object ID MS.7523, property of Robert Nittolo) on the Ticonderoga Online Collections database: https://fortticonderoga.catalogaccess.com/archives/31388