Fort Ticonderoga

250 years ago this week—May 22 and 23, 1775—Benedict Arnold was making plans. After capturing the British sloop Betsey at Fort St. Jean, the Americans were ”masters of the Lake”, but Arnold and his troops had more work to do to maintain their advantage.

The American army on Lake Champlain now had both the Betsey and the schooner Katherine, originally the property of Loyalist landowner Philip Skene. The Betsey and the Katherine, renamed the Enterprise and the Liberty, gave Arnold’s forces control over the lake. However, experienced and specialized sailors would allow the American forces to get the most use out of their ships. In a memorandum written by Arnold on May 22 and titled “List of Men Wanted for the Sloop Enterprise”, he listed the men needed to crew the Enterprise and the Liberty. Captains had been found for both ships, but each of them needed a first mate, a gunner, a “Carpenter who understands making [gun] Carriages”, a gunners’ mate, a boatswain, and a crew of regular seamen.

Arnold’s May 23 letter to the Massachusetts Committee of Safety echoed across the continent. A survivor from Ethan Allen’s failed raid on St. Jean had returned with news that British troops there were planning to re-take Ticonderoga and Crown Point. Arnold “Sent Expresses to Fort George & SkenesBorough to rally the country”, and this letter was circulated to officials in New York, Connecticut, and the Continental Congress. But a lack of gunpowder dramatically affected Arnold’s capabilities. He writes, “I have sent to Albany Repeatedly for Powder, and Can Get None there… I have Written to Connecticut, but can have No Dependence from that Quarter as it is Very Scarce there.” He hopes that Massachusetts will be able to send the powder that the other colonies lack, along with one more thing: “I hope Some Gentleman Will Soon be appointed in my Room here, who is better able to Serve the Public than I am”.

View Arnold’s memorandum on the Ticonderoga Online Collections database (2001.0084.001A) here: https://fortticonderoga.catalogaccess.com/archives/29424 and his letter to Massachusetts (MS.3017) here: https://fortticonderoga.catalogaccess.com/archives/30168

#OTD 250 years ago—May 23, 1775, a survivor of Ethan Allen`s failed attack on St. Jean returned to Crown Point with news of British troops on the march. This caused Benedict Arnold to issue an urgent call for reinforcements and write to the governments of Connecticut and Massachusetts for more men and supplies.

Arnold`s May 23rd alarm got all the way to the Continental Congress and eventually prompted the first wave of Connecticut forces to reinforce Ticonderoga. But even by the end of May 23rd, Arnold had pulled back on some of the urgency with more intelligence arriving in camp later in the day.

Learn more about Arnold`s regimental memorandum book (object ID MS.7160) and his time at Ticonderoga and Crown Point on our website: https://fortticonderoga.org/news/whos-in-command-at-fort-ticonderoga/

#Spring iris and peony buds will make the end of May spectacular, even as early iris and delphiniums stand out in the #KingsGarden now.

#OTD 250 years ago—May 21, 1775, Benedict Arnold learned of the failure of Ethan Allen`s attack on the British post of St. Jean, fulfilling his expectations.

Learn more about Arnold`s regimental memorandum book (object ID MS.7160) and his time at Ticonderoga and Crown Point on our website: https://fortticonderoga.org/news/whos-in-command-at-fort-ticonderoga/

On this day 250 years ago—May 21, 1775—Benedict Arnold sent a letter from Ticonderoga to Captain John Stevens, commander of the American garrison to the south at Fort George. On May 23, Stevens wrote back. Two hundred fifty years later, these letters have been reunited. The Fort Ticonderoga Museum recently acquired Arnold’s May 21 letter to Stevens, bringing together the letters and providing insight into the weeks after Ticonderoga’s capture.

On May 17, Arnold had led a raid on the British fort at St. John’s, capturing the only British sloop on Lake Champlain. On his way back, he crossed paths with a group led by his rival Ethan Allen, who intended to capture St. John’s. Allen’s expedition was much less successful. “Col. Allen & his Party is Just Arivd from St. Johns, when they were Attacked,” a slightly smug Arnold writes, “& were obliged to make a precipitate Retreat… They have returned without Provision, & much Fatigued.”

Arnold asks Stevens, “Pray Send On all the Provisi[ons] you have immediately & then Men who will Engage for the Summer”. He is planning to travel to Crown Point “& make a stand there In Order to Secure the Cannon at that Place”, but he is not worried about British attacks, since after his capture of the British sloop, “we are masters of the Lake”.

In Stevens’ reply, he reports news from Albany in response to Arnold’s pleas for provisions and men: “the City of Albany and Country are sending in Provisions Continually… I am informed there is A Great Quantity More Coming from Different Parts of the County ”. His news about recruits is less promising. Stevens had sent agents south to enlist men to serve under Arnold, but “the People Below Opposed Inlisting men among them… Saying that thay Should want the same men to fill up their own Levies”. While one agent had managed to recruit “12 or 15 Men”, the troops to defend Ticonderoga would have to come from elsewhere.

View Arnold’s letter (MS.7853, in memory of Mr. George M. Jones, III) on the Ticonderoga Online Collections database here: https://fortticonderoga.catalogaccess.com/archives/32746 and Stevens’ reply (MS.7025) here: https://fortticonderoga.catalogaccess.com/archives/30257

On this Trades Tuesday we’re celebrating the look of the women’s riding habit, that many British officers’ wives wore, matching their husband’s uniforms. As the name suggests, riding habits were a style of lady’s dress for horseback riding. Yet the fitted jackets and matching petticoats were popular for ladies sporting in the outdoors or traveling, like the lifestyle of a British officer’s wife. Though we don’t know if she had a matching riding habit, Sarah Delaplace, wife of Captain William Delaplace was traveling on this date in 1775. Her journey as a prisoner of war began with the capture of Fort Ticonderoga on May 10, and continued with her eventual arrival and parole, along with her husband, in Hartford, Connecticut, while the Continental Congress discussed how to handle their first British prisoners.

#TradesTuesday #HistoricTrades #America250

Vibrant colors peaking out of the #KingsGarden on the #spring morning, with bearded iris, alliums, spirea, and strawberry #flowers.