History, Natural History & the Arts
After the fall of the forts at Ticonderoga and Crown Point during the French and Indian War in the fall of 1759, General Jeffrey Amherst ordered the building of the Crown Point Road.
The road was to run across what is now Vermont between Crown Point and The Fort at No. 4 on the Connecticut River in what is now Charlestown, New Hampshire. [Read more…] about Crown Point Road: Opening Northern New England & Lake Champlain
After the British capture of Fort Ticonderoga on July 5, 1777, Major General Benjamin Lincoln was ordered to Vermont to organize militia being raised in New England, with part of his mission to harass General John Burgoyne‘s long supply and communication lines to Canada. That September, following the Battle of Bennington, Lincoln sent three 500-man detachments to take on this task. [Read more…] about Fort Ticonderoga To Reenact 1777 Brown’s Raid
During autumn of 1776, Mount Independence and Fort Ticonderoga were being prepared by the American troops for the arrival of the British. At that time, the two garrisons made up one of the largest population centers in the United States.
An illustrated talk, “The Autumn of 1776: Making Preparations to Receive the Enemy,” by historian and site interpreter Paul Andriscin, has been set for Saturday, October 5th, at the Mount Independence State Historic Site in Orwell, Vermont. The program will run from 1 to 2:30 pm. [Read more…] about Autumn of 1776 Talk at Mount Independence
The Mount Independence-Hubbardton Military Road was built after the September 7, 1776, order of Gen. Horatio Gates to connect the Revolutionary War fortification being constructed at Mount Independence on Lake Champlain to Hubbardton, Rutland, and Fort No. 4 in New Hampshire.
Gates considered the road “so Essential to the Interest of the United States” and “the safety and protection of the inhabitants of all the Middle States of this Union.” Soldiers, ammunition, and stores used the road to reach the Mount. On the night of July 5 and 6, 1777, as the British invaded the lake, American forces withdrew from Mount Independence and Fort Ticonderoga along the road, engaging the British at the Battle of Hubbardton on July 7. [Read more…] about Touring A Revolutionary War Military Road By Car
Mount Independence is located in Vermont, just across Lake Champlain from Fort Ticonderoga, for which it was a critical base of operations. It can easily be reached by the Ticonderoga Ferry, and offers a great way to hike into history.
“The Mount” was built in 1776 and 1777 by the Continental Army following their capture of Fort Ticonderoga in 1775. A bridge was built to connect the cantonment on Mount Independence (and the road to Castleton) to Fort Ticonderoga on the New York side of the lake. Over 400 yards long, with more than 20 piers with 12 foot wide floating pontoons between them, the bridge allowed troops camped at Mount Independence easy access to the Fort Ticonderoga. [Read more…] about Hike Into History At Mount Independence
Since 2016 the Green Mountain Boys Project have been researching the celebrated military unit, which lived and served along what was then the New York and New Hampshire border (in modern day Vermont) from the 1760s until 1779.
The Green Mountain Boys, led by Ethan Allen and his brother Ira, controlled the area of disputed land grants. Based at a tavern in Bennington, they evaded arrest warrants from New York State and harassed settlers from New York, surveyors, and other officials, often with severe beatings and destruction of their belongings. [Read more…] about Green Mountain Boys in the American Revolution
The Mount Independence State Historic Site in Orwell, Vermont (near the New York border) is set to host a book discussion and learning program on Christopher Wren’s book, Those Turbulent Sons of Freedom: Ethan Allen’s Green Mountain Boys and the American Revolution, on Saturday, June 8th. [Read more…] about ‘Turbulent Sons of Freedom’ Discussion at Mt. Independence
The Chimney Point, Mount Independence, and Hubbardton Battlefield State Historic Sites in Vermont on the east side of Lake Champlain are set to open for the 2019 season on Saturday, May 25, at 10 am. These sites also host a variety of programs, exhibits, lectures, nature and history tours, and more. [Read more…] about Lake Champlain Area VT State Historic Sites Opening
The Mount Independence State Historic Site in Orwell, Vermont, opposite Ticonderoga, is set to host a pre-opening day guided history walk on Sunday, May 5th from 1 to 4 pm.
Revolutionary War expert Mike Barbieri, Mount Independence Coalition president Stephen Zeoli, and site administrator Elsa Gilbertson will lead a walk on and off the trails to explore this Revolutionary War site. The focus will be on the camps and brigade layouts here in 1776-77. [Read more…] about Guided History Hike at Mount Independence
Mount Independence in Orwell Vermont is set to host “Muster at the Mount: A Day of Revolutionary Discovery” on Saturday, October 20th, from 10:30 am to 4 pm. The day explores the story of Mount Independence with a wide variety of presentations and presenters.
The day’s offerings will include historians, archaeologists, reenactors, and others giving illustrated talks, an interpretive tour of a major archaeological feature, viewing and interpreting artifacts, an interview with historical personages, a hands-on demonstration, and the latest report of 2017 geospatial mapping project using remote sensing and traditional survey. [Read more…] about Muster at Mount Independence: Special History Program