A musket carried by New Hampshire militiaman Simeon Hix in the Battle of Bennington on the August 16, 1777 is currently on display at Fort Ticonderoga, on generous loan from Brigadier General Richard Valente (retired) of Warren, Rhode Island and Putnam, New York. The Fort Ticonderoga Museum is proud to display this physical connection Battle of Bennington, a turning point in the campaign, and the story of one common American soldier that helped achieve that victory.
Visit Fort Ticonderoga this month to commemorate the anniversary of the Battle of Bennington to see Hix’s own musket on display, featured in the museum’s Bullets & Blades exhibition along with other artifacts connected to this critical battle that began to turn the tide against the British invasion of the United States in the summer of 1777.
Made in France, the musket was one of just over 2,000 secured and marked by the state of New Hampshire. During the emergency following the British invasion of 1777, many of the state’s arms not in the hands of the Continentals that had retreated from Ticonderoga were issued to militiamen as they were called up, including Simeon Hix.
Hix, originally from Massachusetts, enrolled in a minute company in 1774, served during the siege of Boston in 1775, and marched to defend Rhode Island in 1776! Later that year he and his family moved to Richmond, New Hampshire where he was called out as John Burgoyne’s British army advanced southward toward Ticonderoga. Hix served for two months in July and August 1777, culminating in the Battle of Bennington on August 16, 1777. Carrying this musket Hix fought through the battle and captured ten prisoners, including a Brunswick Major, one of the highest ranking prisoners of the battle. Hix not only survived the battle but lived into the age of photography, long enough to have a photograph of himself taken on the anniversary of the battle the year before his death.
Fort Ticonderoga offers more than one hundred exciting and unique events, programs, and premium experiences this season! Visit www.fortticonderoga.org for a full list of programs. Museum exhibition tours are offered daily, Tuesday-Sunday through October.
About Fort Ticonderoga
Welcoming visitors since 1909, Fort Ticonderoga is a historic site, museum, center of learning and major cultural destination. Fort Ticonderoga engages more than 70,000 visitors each year on site 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 owned and operated by The Fort Ticonderoga Association, a non-profit educational organization which serves its mission to preserve, educate and provoke an active discussion about the past and its importance to present and future generations. Fort Ticonderoga reaches more than 30 million people through its digital outreach each year through its Center for Digital History and is supported in part through generous donations and with some general operating support made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts. To view Fort Ticonderoga’s electronic press kit, click here. © The Fort Ticonderoga Association. 2023 All Rights Reserved.