Fort Ticonderoga

There’s a moment right before an exhibit opens where the gallery is full of people in gloves, crouching down to check sight lines, measuring mounts, moving something two inches to the left and then two inches back. Or final objects are being packed up and transported from collections storage to the exhibit gallery like you see in these photos. It’s quiet and focused work. The kind of work that disappears completely once the doors open.

That’s where we’ve been this week.

“Revolutionary Possibilities”, part of our A Revolutionary Anthology series, is coming together object by object, and watching dozens of pieces from our collection find their places in this exhibit has been nothing short of extraordinary.

These aren’t reproductions. These aren’t approximations. These are the real objects that witnessed the American Revolution and they deserve to be seen exactly right.

May 2nd, you can do that. In person here at Fort Ticonderoga, or through the companion online exhibit launching the same day. No road trip 🚗 or plane ticket ✈️ required for the second option, but we’d love to see you either way!

Drop a 👇 if you’re planning to visit in person, or tell us where you’re tuning in from for the companion online exhibit!

To learn more, head to our website at the link in bio ⬆️

#RevolutionaryPossibilities #ARevolutionaryAnthology #FortTiconderoga #BehindTheScenes #MuseumInstallation

We’re painting cannon carriages for the Guns for Ticonderoga project, in partnership with @americanacorner Behind the scenes, we first painted Spanish brown as a primer. This mix of linseed oil and rust seals the wood. Over that we apply a coat of artillery grey, a mix of white and black linseed oil paint. See these cannon carriages in action with our daily cannon demonstrations. Watch the process of painting the travelling carriages, as we use period brushes and our 18th-century linseed oil paint the beautiful woodwork from Hansen’s Wheel & Wagon. This project is made possible with the generous support of Americana Corner’s Preserving America Partners program.
Explore the start of our Campaign Season Saturday, May 2, 2026
https://fortticonderoga.org/experience/explore-adirondacks/living-history/
#preservingamerica #REALTIMEREVOLUTION #America250

On this Trades Tuesday, we’re driving our newest pair of oxen Jack & Joe! This pair of Red Devon steers arrived in October, with a good understanding of all basic movements and commands. They are technically working steers for the next two years, as our drivers continue to reinforce their training, build their strength, and get them used to the sounds and sites that surround them here at Fort Ticonderoga. Once they reach four years of age with this training, they are true oxen. In the meantime, watch them work and grow as part of our REAL TIME REVOLUTION® daily programs and events.

#TradesTuesday #America250 #REALTIMEREVOLUTION

Continental Army officers crisscrossed Pennsylvania in early 1776, working to recruit thousands of soldiers for the colony’s six new regiments. The quicker these soldiers could be found, the better, as they were needed urgently to reinforce the American army in New York City and in Canada. The recruiters filled their companies to fighting strength, but some new recruits apparently had no plans to serve their full year-long term.

An issue of The Pennsylvania Gazette published April 10, 1776—250 years ago today—contains two announcements advertising a reward for the capture of deserters. Captain John Huling of the 2nd Pennsylvania Battalion lists 14 deserters from his company, and Captain Joseph Hubley of the 3rd Pennsylvania Battalion lists 10 deserters. A full-strength company contained 79 officers and soldiers, so both companies had already lost over an eighth of their theoretical maximum strength before reaching their intended stations.

The advertisements contain much more detailed information on each deserter than is found in a typical muster roll; the more identifying information included in a description, the more likely it was that a reader could identify a deserter attempting to blend in. Some of the descriptions are quite evocative: Simon Palmer of Hubley’s company is “of German descent, 18 years of age, 5 feet 6 inches high, of a swarthy complexion; he lurks about the town of Manheim, in Lancaster county.” Richard Mayberry of Huling’s company is “about 21 years of age, 5 feet 5 or 6 inches high, black curled hair, thin visage, slender made, by trade a taylor; plays on the fife.”

The captains offered an 8-dollar reward for each deserter captured and warned that a Pennsylvania law set a 50-dollar penalty for “harbouring or concealing” any known deserter. The advertisements were not identical, though. Hubley stated, “If any of the above will return to the company within the space of ten days from the date, [they] shall be pardoned”. Huling offered no such amnesty.

Learn about this newspaper (object ID MS.7323, property of Robert Nittolo) on the Ticonderoga Online Collections database: https://fortticonderoga.catalogaccess.com/archives/31123

Most people pack clothes for a trip. We packed Revolutionary War firearms. ✈️ 🚚

You know that pre-travel checklist we all run through before a big trip? Museum collections staff do the same thing. And a big part of that checklist is condition reporting.

Before any object leaves the museum`s care for a loan to another institution, our collections team conducts a thorough examination of every surface. We document it all, in writing and in photographs, so there`s a clear record of exactly how the object looked before it traveled.

These photos were taken earlier this spring in our collections storage facility while the museum team conducted conditon checks for over a dozen objects headed to the @CodyFirearmsMuseum at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, Wyoming. Fort Ticonderoga is thrilled to partner with them on their new exhibit "Arms of the Revolution" which opens next week.

Want to see more from Fort Ticonderoga`s firearms collection? Browse our online database by visiting the link in bio!

#MuseumLife #BehindTheScenes #CollectionsCare #MuseumLoans #FirearmsHistory #CodyFirearmsMuseum #BuffaloBillCenter #ConditionReporting #ObjectCare #MuseumCollections #FortTiconderoga #PreservingHistory

Today on Trades Tuesday our Curator of Collections, Dr. Matthew Keagle is instructing Artificer Shoemaker, Kevin Maher, in covering a trunk in leather. Though shoemaking and trunk-making both involve leather, they were distinct trades with very different skills. Here, we’re carefully cutting, and pasting calfskin around a relatively plain wooden box. As the paste dries, a series of small brass nails will help hold the leather covering in place and decorate the seams. For the many officers, generals, and gentlemen that stayed at Ticonderoga, their belongings travelled in locked trunks just like these. The transport of officers baggage on boats and on wagons across portages, appears in the many letters and diaries that document the northern army. At the same time the sheets of a paper, quills, and ink used for writing, travelled in these trunks. See this trunk in action in our upcoming, REAL TIME REVOLUTION® Living History Event: Emissaries to Canada, Saturday April 11, 2026.
https://fortticonderoga.org/ft_events/real-time-revolution-living-history-event-emissaries-to-canada/

#TradesTuesday #HistoricTrades #America250

Fort Ticonderoga holds a portrait of Margaret Schoolcraft Brush Wall and a portrait of her daughter Frances (Fanny) Montresor Buchanan Allen Penniman in its collection. The two women lived through the American Revolution facing challenges and forced to make difficult choices.

Both portraits recently underwent conservation treatment that included stabilizing the paint, re-lining the canvas, and removing old yellow varnish. With conservation completed, you will be able to see the portraits of mother and daughter on exhibition together for the first time in decades in the upcoming exhibit "A Revolutionary Anthology: Revolutionary Possibilities." Both the physical and digital exhibit open May 2.

You can get a sneak peek at the objects that will be on display in the upcoming exhibit through Ticonderoga’s Online Collections database.

https://fortticonderoga.catalogaccess.com/advanced-search?includedFields=Objects%2CPhotos%2CLibrary%2CArchives%2CPeople%2CContainers&Subject=%22A+Revolutionary+Anthology%3A+Revolutionary+Possibilities%22&page=1&size=50&withImages=false

#TiconderogaCollections #ARevolutionaryAnthology #MuseumExhibits #AmericanRevolution

In the early months of the Revolution, the majority of Americans were not fighting for independence. Many still saw themselves as British subjects loyal to King George III and believed that their quarrel was only with Parliament. They hoped to defend their rights with arms, then negotiate with Britain for a more equal union. As the war went on, though, the once-radical idea of independence gained traction.

On April 1, 1776—250 years ago today—Ebenezer Watson published a new issue of his paper, The Connecticut Courant. The four-page issue was packed with news and opinions about the war. The Courant was one of the most prominent Patriot papers in New England after Boston’s papers were disrupted by the siege of the city. Watson supplied his readers with the war news they wanted to hear. He also printed commentary that advocated for independence.

The first page of the issue contains an essay by the pseudonymous author “Candidus”. Candidus spends his essay eviscerating the moderate faction’s desire for an reunion with Great Britain “on equitable terms”. He rejects the metaphor of America as Britain’s child, describing Britain as exploiting its colonies and using force, not reason, to exert its power. “What then are the honest, industrious, and independent freemen of America to do in this case? My guide I have so long followed tells us, Declare independence immediately!”

Attitudes towards King George shifted along with views on independence. While moderates respected him as the head of state, radicals viewed him as part of the problem. One report on British treatment of American prisoners printed in this issue addresses him directly without formality: “Oh! George! Who is the savage?... can any man blame the Americans should they retaliate?” Even in the radical Courant, though, not all contributors had identical views. Dispatches from Canada and Cambridge refer to the “ministerial troops”, implying that the British troops waging war had been sent by the king’s ministers, not George himself.

Learn about this paper (object ID MS.7331, property of Robert Nittolo) on the Ticonderoga Online Collections database: https://fortticonderoga.catalogaccess.com/archives/31131