Virtual Author Series featuring J. L. Bell

The Fort Ticonderoga Author Series features presentations by authors of books related to Colonial and Revolutionary War history.

The British march to Concord in April 1775 set off the Revolutionary War, but what exactly were the redcoats looking for? Looking at General Thomas Gage’s papers reveals that his main goal was to destroy four brass cannon that Patriots had spirited out of Boston months before. In the early months of 1775, while the provincials worked to build an artillery force, General Gage used military spies and paid agents to locate those weapons. Those maneuvers led to a fatal clash on the road to Concord.

J. L. Bell is proprietor of the Boston 1775 website, sharing daily helpings of history, analysis, and unabashed gossip about Revolutionary New England. He wrote the report “Gen. George Washington’s Home and Headquarters–Cambridge, Massachusetts” for the National Park Service and many articles, book chapters, and even history comics. Bell is an elected Fellow of the Massachusetts Historical Society, a Member of the American Antiquarian Society, and a Member of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts.

Your participation in this online program through the Center for Digital History supports Fort Ticonderoga’s mission to preserve, educate, and provoke an active discussion about the past and its importance to present and future generations.