On this day 250 years ago—May 12, 1775—Ethan Allen was in command at Fort Ticonderoga, but few people knew it. News of major events could move quickly through the colonies on horseback, but without intentional coordination it often moved slowly, especially in sparsely populated regions like the Champlain Valley. By the time Allen sat down on May 12, two days after capturing the fort, to write this letter to Connecticut governor Jonathan Trumbull, Trumbull had no idea that the plan his government had authorized was such a success.
Allen opens his letter grandly, telling Trumbull, “I make you a Present of a Major a Captain and Two Lieuts in the regular Establishment of George the Third”. This “Present” included Captain William Delaplace, former British commander of Ticonderoga, and Major Andrew Skene, who had been captured at his father Philip’s estate at Skenesborough at the south end of Lake Champlain. Allen hopes that his prisoners will be useful “as ransoms for some of our Friends at Boston”.
Major Skene was not the most important prize gained from the capture of Skenesborough. The party that took Skenesborough also captured Philip Skene’s schooner, and Allen had plans for it. “I Expect in Ten days Time to have it rigged man’d and arm’d with 6 or 8 Pieces of Canon… I Purpose to make an Attack on the arm’d sloop of George the Third which is Now Crusing on Lake Champlain… I Hope in a Short Time to be authorised to acquaint your Honour that Lake Champlain & the fortifications thereon are subjected to the Colonies.”
While capturing Ticonderoga was a victory, keeping control of it would be a more difficult task. Outfitting a fleet of American ships to gain naval control of Lake Champlain was an important step. Reinforcements were also needed, and Allen writes, “I Depend upon Your Honours Aid and Assistance in a Situation so Contiguous to Canada”. Allen signs himself “at Present Commander of Ticonda[roga]”. At that moment, Ticonderoga was in his hands, but the real work to keep it was just beginning.
View the Allen letter (object ID MS.1933) and learn more on the Ticonderoga Online Collections database here.