In June 1776, the Massachusetts legislature received a call for help from the Continental Congress, which asked them to raise militia regiments to reinforce the Continental Army. Massachusetts responded, raising five thousand men for service in Canada and New York. By the time General James Brickett’s militia brigade, intended for Canadian service, was ready to march, the army had retreated south to Fort Ticonderoga. Undeterred, Brickett’s brigade marched northwest, arriving at Ticonderoga in mid-August.
On August 16, 1776—250 years ago today—two new arrivals to Ticonderoga wrote letters home. Isaac Burnet’s letter, written to his wife Esther in Warwick, MA, is short on news, but long on familial affection. “We have had a Very hard march but all warwick men are will and in good halth”, he wrote. “I hant [haven’t] no news but I wood have you send to me as ofen as you can… I remain your true and loving husband till Dath ous [us] Parts.”
Lieutenant Edmund Munro, writing to his wife Rebekah in Lexington, MA, had also had a hard march: “I arived at this place the 12th Instant after a very fatiguing march through the woods… We had rain almost every day.” Like Burnet, Munro shared news about the health of other Lexington soldiers: “Moses Harrington died about ten days ago…there is none sick of the small Pox & it is thought there is No Danger.” He shared his love for Rebekah and his hope that she would write to him: “I shall not rest Easey till I hear from you.”
Munro’s letter had much in common with Burnet’s, but he had more to say, expanding on the situation at Ticonderoga. “We are well fortified and Ready for the King’s troops if they see Cause to pay us a visit,” he claimed. “Our Whole Army are Employ’d in fortifying this place which will soon be strong enough if well man’d to stand a [w]rangle with all Brittain.” Burnet, Munro, and the brigade spent their service working hard, building defenses that could withstand any wrangle.
Learn about Burnet’s (object ID MS.1944) and Munro’s (MS.1964) letters on the Ticonderoga Online Collections database: https://fortticonderoga.catalogaccess.com/archives/29980 https://fortticonderoga.catalogaccess.com/archives/29566