Fort Ticonderoga presents an exciting two-day living history event “No Quarter” May 8-9, 2021, recreating the American capture of Fort Ticonderoga on May 10, 1775. In this weekend-long event, visitors will experience “America’s First Victory” from the perspectives of both the British Garrison and the Green Mountain Boys and come face-to-face with the historical characters including Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold.
The Calm Before the Storm
Saturday, May 8, the event will portray the last moments of British-held Fort Ticonderoga. Visitors will be immersed in the daily life of British soldiers and their families with activities such as cooking, laundry, and guard duty. Musket and cannon demonstrations will show the firepower held at Fort Ticonderoga that made it such a strategic target for the Green Mountain Boys. A lively Fife & Drum concert will bring to life the sound of the 26th Regiment of Foot, whose soldiers guarded the fort. See how British soldiers worked to maintain their clothing, shoes, and the weapons housed at Fort Ticonderoga. Discover how Fort Ticonderoga was part of the community of settlers in the Champlain Valley, even as the Green Mountain Boys made their way towards the fort.
The Surprise Attack!
During a dramatic evening program on Saturday, May 8, witness the alarm of the British Garrison at Ticonderoga as the American surprise attack dramatically unfolds. Watch as the Green Mountain Boys led by Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold rush into the fort with war cries and screams of “No Quarter!” Listen as British Officers try to buy time and reason with the American rebels. See the tension between Revolutionaries Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold as they each try to assert control. What will happen to the soon to become British prisoners of war? See for yourself in this stunning recreation of America’s first victory at the very place where it happened 246 years ago.
Gates open at 7:00 p.m. (last ticket sold at 7:45 p.m.) and the reenactment will begin at 8:00 p.m. A Battle Briefing Tour at 7:30 p.m. will show you where these events actually happened inside Fort Ticonderoga on May 10, 1775. Tickets are limited and are encouraged to be purchased online in advance.
The Aftermath
Sunday, May 9, visitors will step into the newly captured, American-held Fort Ticonderoga. See the fate of the British Guards who unwittingly arrived the day after the American capture of the fort and meet the Green Mountain Boys who overnight became Revolutionaries. Watch as the rest of the Green Mountain Boys arrive by bateau after the capture and much-needed supplies finally catch up to the raiders by packhorse. From weapons demonstrations to tours, programs will highlight how the fort went from a sleepy old British outpost to the center of a new theatre in the War for Independence.
Fort Ticonderoga and Mount Defiance are open for visitation May 1-October 31, 2021 Tuesday-Sunday from 9:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. (last entry 4:30 p.m.). Tickets are encouraged to be purchased in advance by visiting www.fortticonderoga.org or by calling 518-585-2821.
About Fort Ticonderoga:
Welcoming visitors since 1909, Fort Ticonderoga preserves North America’s largest 18th-century artillery collection, 2,000 acres of historic landscape on Lake Champlain, and Carillon Battlefield, and the largest series of untouched Revolutionary War era earthworks surviving in America. As a multi-day destination and the premier place to learn more about our nation’s earliest years and America’s military heritage, Fort Ticonderoga engages more than 75,000 visitors each year with an economic impact of more than $12 million annually and offers programs, historic interpretation, boat cruises, tours, demonstrations, and exhibits throughout the year, and is open for daily visitation May through October. Fort Ticonderoga is supported in part through generous donations and with some general operating support made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.