History, Natural History & the Arts
After a late-summer of preparations, too late in the fall of 1775, the Colonial Army mounted a two-pronged invasion of Canada. General Schuyler invaded Montreal from Fort Ticonderoga and General Benedict Arnold attacked Quebec.
Schuyler fell ill and was replaced by General Richard Montgomery. Montgomery took Montreal and then marched to assist Arnold at Quebec. [Read more…] about Revolutionary Albany: Setbacks As The War Presses Toward Albany
Schoharie Crossing State Historic Site will host Hudson Valley Community College professor Mathew Zembo to present on the Battle of Fort Anne during the second installment of Tuesday Talks, November 8th.
Zembo will discuss how the battle, usually overlooked as a minor skirmish on the way to Saratoga, was one of the fiercest fire-fights of the American Revolution as 190 British Regulars fought off the determined attacks of over six times their number of American Continentals and Militia. [Read more…] about Battle of Fort Anne Program at Schoharie Crossing Tuesday
Historians recognize the taking of Fort Ticonderoga in 1775 as one of the first great American military victories of American Revolution. As early as the fall of 1776, however, there were hints from the fort’s commander that, owing to a lack of men, the Americans may not be able to hold the spot. General Anthony Wayne (1745-1796) wrote in November 1776: “We shall be hard pushed for time and materials, to put this place in any tolerable state of defence.”
In February 1777 Wayne reported “I have done everything in my power to render this place tenable—by surrounding the Works with wide and good Abbettus [abbatis, a type of breastwork defense]—I have also provided timber for two Block Houses—which will be erected in a few days—and dropt the Notion of Pickets as we could not man them.” Wayne somewhat underestimated Ticonderoga’s readiness.