Fort Ticonderoga

In the summer of 1776, long before his infamous treason, Benedict Arnold was still a loyal officer of the Continental Army. In early August, he was given command of the small American fleet on Lake Champlain and the shipyard at Skenesborough that was working frantically to construct more ships. Naval control over the lake could determine the fate of the American garrison at Fort Ticonderoga, and Arnold’s experience as a ship’s captain and commander could prove vital.

While Arnold was away, his sister Hannah took the lead at home in New Haven. Benedict and Hannah were the sole survivors of their family; their four other siblings all died of childhood illnesses. The siblings were very close, and Hannah was involved in Benedict’s apothecary and merchant business, taking charge of his shop when he was away on business or at war. When Benedict’s wife Margaret died suddenly in June 1775, Hannah stepped up again, enrolling the couple’s two oldest sons in boarding school and caring for their youngest son Henry herself.

On August 17, 1776—250 years ago today—Hannah wrote this letter to her brother. The letter contains both military and family news. “Am glad to hear your fleet is in such forwardness,” she writes. She tells him of the British fleet at New York and the mobilization of the Connecticut militia, opining, “[I] expect a bloody scene will present there soon but our cause is just”.

The two older sons have written their own letters; as for four-year-old Henry, “little Hal says, Aunty shant I write a letter to my pappa, next week, my pappa wants one of Harry’s letters, so tell him to git me a little horse, & a pair of pistols Aunty—he thinks him self big enough for the cavelrey already you see—and as far as courage goes he is so, he is one of your right fear noughts, and a little loving pup too, he gives me twenty kisses a day for pappa.” While Arnold could not receive those kisses himself, it must have heartened him to know that his business and family affairs were in competent, loving hands.

Learn more about this letter (object ID MS.2076) on the Ticonderoga Online Collections database: https://fortticonderoga.catalogaccess.com/archives/30084

Edward W. Pell Fellow Ana Schmid has continued her archaeological work at Fort Ticonderoga, analyzing, cataloging, and photographing over 2,000 artifacts. This includes a group of bones that may point to an unexpected discovery at the fort—evidence of a centuries-old game.

Have you ever heard of the dexterity game "Knucklebones"? A predecessor to the modern game of Jacks, this simple pastime can be traced back several thousand years, with literary references to Trojan War soldiers casting dice known as "astragaloi" (anklebones). This game was most often played using actual ankle or knuckle bones, because their four distinct sides make them easier to stack and place on your hand. However, any type of four-sided bone of roughly the same size can be used to play. The game was a common distraction for both children and adults for thousands of years, staying especially popular during the war-stricken era of the 18th century. To play, place one knucklebone on the back of your hand, toss it high, and catch it with the same hand. Repeat with two knucklebones, then three, four, five, and so on, to see who can get the highest score. Soldiers stationed at forts frequently played games of dexterity and chance like this to pass the long waiting hours. It is likely that soldiers at Fort Ticonderoga played this game and others involving "dice" or "knucklebones."

Take a peek at these four non-butchered but extremely worn bones. They were part of a bag of 101 heavily butchered faunal bones, but only these four show no evidence of cutmarks. Use-wear analysis shows that the original shape of the bone has been heavily worn, making it difficult to determine what specific animal it came from—besides a large mammal. The bones are not worn from chewing, but rather as if they were heavily handled. This could be because they were thrown countless times across many different games and by many different soldiers. After further archaeological analysis, it could be theorized that these four bones might once have been the game pieces of a soldier or camp follower at Fort Ticonderoga.

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If you had smallpox in 1776, there was a 1 in 5 chance you would not survive. It was a brutal and devastating disease.

Americans at Ticonderoga fought for independence from smallpox at the same time they fought for independence against Great Britain.

In 1776, smallpox killed more American soldiers than British bullets did, but how to fight smallpox was hotly debated within the Continental Army. A Council of War on July 7, 1776, decided between remaining at Crown Point and moving to Ticonderoga. At that meeting they indirectly chose between two paths to defeat smallpox: quarantine versus inoculation.

Check out our newest video to watch the story of that choice, and of the second front in the ongoing war for independence. Link to watch in bio 🔗

On August 12, 1776—250 years ago today—General Horatio Gates sent Dr. Jonathan Potts a most intriguing letter. Gates, stationed at Fort Ticonderoga, had heard a rumor from Dr. Potts’ military hospital at Fort George. “I am inform’d,” he writes, “that the Baron de Woedkle some time before his Death, made a Solemn Declaration to you of matters that highly concern the Interest of the United States, you will please forthwith to Communicate to me the Substance of the Barons Declaration.”

Friedrich Wilhelm, Baron de Woedtke, was a cavalry officer who had made his name in the Prussian Army before his expulsion for marrying without the king’s permission. Woedtke traveled to America in early 1776. He made a good impression on the Continental Congress, despite knowing almost no English and little French, and was commissioned as a brigadier general. He joined the army’s invasion of and retreat from Canada, serving on the council of war that made the decision to retreat from Crown Point to Ticonderoga. Only a few weeks later, on July 28, he died at the Fort George hospital. He had earned a reputation as an inept alcoholic during his short time with the army. Many assumed that he died from the effects of alcohol consumption, although he may simply have died of disease.

Potts’ reply to this letter has not been found, so the substance of Woedtke’s deathbed declaration, if it existed, is unknown. What information could Woedtke have had that “highly concern[ed] the Interest of the United States”? His last surviving letter, written to Gates on July 20, urges the arrest of a Mr. Hare, who was falsely claiming to hold a commission as a major and pretending to have Woedtke’s approval—could the Hare situation have been weighing on his mind in the hours before his death, or did he have other information he felt the need to pass along? Unless more sources come to light, the baron’s deathbed confession will stay one of history’s mysteries.

Learn more about this letter (object ID MS.1952) on the Ticonderoga Online Collections database: https://fortticonderoga.catalogaccess.com/archives/29821