A Hero for Fort Ticonderoga

Update: 2025-05-04

Description

Every Bostonian knows Fort Ticonderoga as the source of the cannons that Henry Knox brought to Boston, secretly hauled to the top of Dorchester Heights in the middle of the night, and used to drive the redcoats out of Boston forever. We’ll cover that story later in our 250th anniversary season, but this week I want to think about the other end of the chain. Before Henry Knox could bring his noble train of artillery to Boston, somebody had to take those cannons, and the fort they belonged to, from the redcoats. We usually give credit for the daring capture of Fort Ticonderoga to Ethan Allen, whose homestead you can visit outside Burlington, Vermont these days. The capture is actually at least as much a Boston story as it is a Vermont story, as the orders to capture the fort were issued by our local patriots. We forget about this part of the story because the officer who was chosen to lead the expedition to Fort Ti was one of the greatest heroes of the revolution, right up until the point when he became one of history’s greatest traitors. That’s right, Benedict Arnold.

Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/326/

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A Hero for Fort Ticonderoga

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The fort looms high above the lake
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Walls reconstructed in the 20th century
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You wouldn’t want to storm these walls
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The gate that was indifferently guarded in 1775
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The barracks inside the fort
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Your humble host in 2021
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Your humble host in the 1980s or 1990s
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1830s postcard of the ruined fort
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