Henry Knox and His Noble Train of Artillery

American Revolution
Written By Tom Hand

The siege of Boston, which began after the Battles of Lexington and Concord, could not have been broken by the colonists without long range artillery. Fortunately, the Continental Army had a large supply of these guns 300 miles away at Fort Ticonderoga.

Tom Hand, creator and publisher of Americana Corner, discusses how it took Colonel Henry Knox and his militiamen 53 frozen days and nights to deliver the needed guns to General George Washington, and why it still matters today.

Images courtesy of the Yale University Art Gallery, Newberry Library, Library of Congress, Brown University Library, Wikipedia.

RELATED ARTICLES
George Washington and the Crossing of the Delaware
George Washington and the Crossing of the Delaware

In late December 1776, the American Revolution had reached its low point. The 16,000-man Continental Army that had driven the British out of Boston in March 1776, had lost countless battles over the course of nine months and dwindled to a skeletal force of 3,000 soldiers on the west side of the Delaware River.

The Continental Army Retakes Boston
The Continental Army Retakes Boston

The siege of Boston was the longest siege in our nation’s history, running from April 19, 1775, to March 17, 1776. The “noble train of artillery” brought from Fort Ticonderoga by Colonel Henry Knox arrived in Boston on January 27, 1776, and it gave General George Washington the long-range guns he needed to bring the matter to an end.

Boston Under Siege
Boston Under Siege

At the beginning of April 1775, the British army was the unquestioned master-of-affairs in Massachusetts. Incredibly, in less than a year, England, the most powerful nation on earth, would be forced out of Boston, one of their most important colonial cities, by American militiamen.

Tom Hand
Previous

The Continental Army Retakes Boston
Next

The Battle of Bunker Hill