Fort Ticonderoga (Lake George)

On May 10, 1775, early in the American Revolutionary War, a modest band of Green Mountain Boys under Ethan Allen, joined by Colonel Benedict Arnold, caught the British garrison at Fort Ticonderoga off guard and took the post with little resistance. Colonel Henry Knox would later haul the fort's cannons and other weapons to Boston as part of what became known as the noble train of artillery, equipment that helped fortify Dorchester Heights and ultimately break the deadlock during the siege of Boston.

This victory represented the first offensive move made by American forces against the British. Following the fall of Ticonderoga, a separate detachment seized the neighboring Fort Crown Point on May 11. A week after that, Arnold led fifty men on a raid against Fort Saint-Jean, situated on the Richelieu River in southern Quebec, coming away with military stores, artillery pieces, and the biggest warship then on Lake Champlain.

Though the fighting itself was small in scale, its strategic consequences ran deep. British communication between their northern and southern forces was disrupted, and the young Continental Army gained a foothold from which to launch its invasion of Quebec later that year. The episode also brought together two outsized figures, Allen and Arnold, both eager to claim as much glory as possible from what had happened. Above all, under Henry Knox's direction, the guns taken at Ticonderoga were hauled across the whole of Massachusetts to the high ground overlooking Boston Harbor, a feat that ultimately compelled the British to abandon the city altogether.

Colonial forces assemble

The moment his orders were in hand, Arnold set out, with captains Eleazer Oswald and Jonathan Brown at his side, tasked with gathering the troops needed for the mission. By May 6 he had crossed into the region separating Massachusetts from the Grants, and there he discovered that the Connecticut Committee had already begun recruiting, and that Ethan Allen's Green Mountain Boys were already marching north. Pushing his horse hard enough that the animal later died from the effort, he made it to Allen's base in Bennington the following day. There he learned that Allen had gone on to Castleton, some 50 miles (80 km) further north, to wait for supplies and additional recruits. He also received a caution: though Allen's operation carried no official backing, the men under him would almost certainly refuse to follow a different leader. Setting off again at dawn, Arnold made it to Castleton just as a war council was convening, and there he argued for command of the expedition, citing his official authorization from the Massachusetts Committee.

By this point Allen had gathered roughly 100 Green Mountain Boys in Castleton, along with about 40 men that James Easton and John Brown had recruited in Pittsfield, plus another 20 from Connecticut. The assembled force chose Allen as colonel, naming Easton and Seth Warner to serve beneath him as lieutenants. Before Arnold's arrival, Samuel Herrick had already been dispatched toward Skenesboro and Asa Douglas toward Panton, each leading a detachment tasked with securing boats. Meanwhile Captain Noah Phelps, serving on the "Committee of War for the Expedition against Ticonderoga and Crown Point," had slipped into the fort disguised as a peddler in search of a shave to scout its defenses. He found the walls in poor repair, and the garrison's commander let slip that the soldiers' powder had gotten wet and that reinforcements were expected soon. Phelps brought this news back to Allen, and the two set about planning an assault at first light.

Arnold's bid for command met resistance from many of the Green Mountain Boys, who declared they would rather return home than take orders from anyone but Ethan Allen. Some sort of arrangement was eventually reached between Arnold and Allen, though no record survives detailing its exact terms. Arnold himself later claimed he had been granted joint command over the operation. While certain historians have accepted this version of events, others believe he was granted nothing more than the privilege of marching alongside Allen.

Crown Point and the raid on Fort Saint-Jean

A detachment under Seth Warner moved by water toward Fort Crown Point and overwhelmed its garrison of just nine defenders. Most accounts place this event on May 10, a date drawn from Arnold's own letter to the Massachusetts Committee of Safety written May 11, in which he explained that unfavorable winds had blocked his own attempt to reach Crown Point. Warner told a different story, however. Writing from "Head Quarters, Crown Point" on May 12, he stated that he had secured the post the previous day. The likely explanation is that the initial effort on May 10 failed, and the mission succeeded only when tried again the following day, a sequence consistent with Warner's own recollections later in life. Separately, a smaller party was dispatched to seize Fort George on Lake George, defended by a mere two soldiers.

Meanwhile, recruits gathered by Arnold's officers started filtering in, several of them fresh from taking Philip Skene's schooner Katherine and a handful of bateaux at Skenesboro. Arnold gave the captured schooner a new name, Liberty. From prisoners, he learned that the only British warship on Lake Champlain was stationed at Fort Saint-Jean, along the Richelieu River to the north. Unsure whether news of the fall of Ticonderoga had yet reached that outpost, Arnold resolved to strike quickly and capture the vessel. He armed Liberty with cannon and set out northward on May 14 with fifty men under his command. Allen, unwilling to let Arnold claim sole credit for such a prize, set off in pursuit with bateaux carrying some of his own men, but lacking sails, his boats soon fell behind Arnold's swifter craft. By May 17, Arnold's small flotilla had reached the lake's far northern reaches. He sent a scout ahead to assess conditions near Fort Saint-Jean, and that same day the man returned with troubling news: the British already knew of the losses at Ticonderoga and Crown Point, and reinforcements appeared to be converging on Saint-Jean. Facing this, Arnold chose to move without delay.

Through the night, Arnold and thirty five of his men rowed their boats toward the fort. A short scouting mission preceded their surprise assault on the lightly held garrison, where they seized supplies and captured HMS Royal George, a seventy ton sloop of war. Learning from prisoners that additional companies were marching in from Chambly, Arnold's men hastily loaded the most useful supplies and artillery onto the George, which Arnold then renamed Enterprise. Any vessels too cumbersome to bring along were scuttled, and the now larger fleet withdrew back toward Lake Champlain. A retired British officer named Moses Hazen, living in the vicinity, witnessed the raid unfold. He rode first to Montreal to alert the military commander stationed there, then pressed on to Quebec City, arriving on May 20 to inform General Carleton personally. In response, Major Charles Preston led 140 men out from Montreal toward Saint-Jean without delay.

About fifteen miles up the lake, Arnold's returning ships crossed paths with Allen's, which was still pushing northward. The two groups exchanged celebratory gunfire, after which Arnold shared his provisions with Allen's exhausted men, who had rowed some 100 miles (160 km) through open water with nothing to eat. Confident he might still take and hold Fort Saint-Jean himself, Allen pressed on north while Arnold turned his fleet south. Allen reached Saint-Jean on May 19, where a Montreal merchant sympathetic to his cause, having outridden the approaching British soldiers, warned him of their approach. After drafting a note for the merchant to carry to Montreal's citizens, Allen withdrew and reached Ticonderoga again by May 21, departing Saint-Jean just as British troops arrived on the scene. Amid the rushed retreat, three of his men were left behind; one fell into British hands, while the remaining two eventually made their way south on foot.