As You Prepare for Fort Ticonderoga’s Battle On Snowshoes Re-enactment: What You May Not Have Known About Bobby and His Buddies…
1. Rogers’ Rangers were a remarkably diverse group In spite of the French and Indian War’s moniker, not all Native Americans sided with the French. While the majority of them did, numerous tribes remained neutral, backed the British or shifted allegiances as the war progressed. Robert Rogers had tremendous admiration and respect for the New […]
“Lodging as the Nature of the Campaign will Admit”
The 4th Pennsylvania Battalion, along with the other regiments of their brigade, completed their fortifications along the Old French lines by early September in 1776. Officers and men had lived in tents since they encamped on this hill in July. With the works finished, Colonel Anthony Wayne issued the order to begin building better housing […]
Making History “Real”
Monday, September 16, 1776, breaks at Ticonderoga with a hint of the cold weather yet to come, and the fortifications at Ticonderoga and Mount Independence are draped in the “Thick Fogs, that are peculiar at this place.” Thus another day dawns for the Continental Army’s Northern Department on the shores of Lake Champlain. Dr. Lewis […]
Life Long Learning
A ritual growing up was the inevitable question at dinnertime: “What did you learn today?” The answer varied from day to day. It might be the latest proof in geometry, a tidbit about the African nation of Upper Volta from social studies, or how to throw a spiral pass with a football in gym class. […]
Summertime Reading
“A book worth reading is a book worth owning.” So said my dad. That mantra seems to have rubbed off on me, as the stacks of books at home and in my office can attest. While my historical tastes span from the Middle Ages to the present and in both Europe and America, the vast […]
William Ferris Pell, Horticulturalist
When William Ferris Pell purchased the 546-acre Garrison Grounds encompassing the ruins of Fort Ticonderoga in 1820, he preserved the remaining stonework of the Fort and began shaping the landscape surrounding the summer home he built nearby. Set in a pastoral landscape, the site was described as reminiscent of “park scenery of England; and the view of the ruins from […]
A New Year’s Resolution that Will be Fun to Keep
Many of us make New Year’s Resolution this time of year, only to discover by the end of January that most (or all) of them have fallen by the wayside. I’d like to encourage you to make a resolution that will be a pleasure to keep—why not try participating in one educational program at Fort […]