Fort Ticonderoga Falls to British
In June 1777, Fort Ticonderoga had been in American hands for two years, but little had been done to strengthen its defenses. The fort, commanded by General Arthur St. Clair, was garrisoned by 2,000 Continental troops but was not prepared to withstand an assault. When the vanguard of British General John Burgoyne’s 7,000-man army arrived in front of Fort Ticonderoga, British officers soon discovered Mount Defiance, a hill that dominated the fort, was unoccupied.
Tom Hand, creator and publisher of Americana Corner, discusses how the British were able to take advantage of General Arthur St. Clair and the Continental Army’s precarious position at Fort Ticonderoga, and why it still matters today.
Images courtesy of The New York Public Library, Brown University Library, The John Carter Brown Library, Mount Vernon, The National Guard, National Portrait Gallery – Smithsonian Institution, Library of Congress, Wikipedia.
The first objective for the British task force under the command of General John Burgoyne was the capture of Fort Ticonderoga on the south end of Lake Champlain. This fortress had been the key military site in the region since its construction in 1757, and the scene of conflicts both in the French and Indian War and the American Revolution.