Revolution250.blog

This is the story of an American Patriot.

He was from New Haven, CT, and his father died when he was very young; as a result, he could not afford to attend Yale with his cohorts. This left him with a sense of insecurity that he overcame by sailing on numerous trade voyages to the West Indies, becoming a pretty good sea captain himself, and then developing a very successful trading business. Everyone who met him could tell that this man had ambition.

On the afternoon of April 21, 1775, he was working in his shop – the one with a sign out front that read, “Sibi Toque” which means “for himself and everyone” in Latin – when a dusty post rider named Israel Bissell rode into town with shocking news that something important had happened just two days earlier up near Boston. Folks quickly gathered at the biggest building in town, the Middle Brick Church, to hear the “Lexington Alarm” read aloud. At which point, an argument broke out over what New Haven should do. Conservatives in the congregation argued against sending any aid to Boston, but the Patriot convinced fifty men to get ready to march north. The next morning, the Patriot paraded his men and the Reverend Jonathan Edwards gave an exhortation. When they was denied access to the local powder house, the Patriot threatened to break open the door to the magazine. The city fathers gave him the keys, he got his supplies, and he headed out with his men.

When he arrived near Boston, the Patriot went before the Massachusetts provisional government and proposed a daring plan. Out in the valley between New York and Vermont, there was an old fort on the western shore of Lake Champlain. It had been built in 1755 by the French, who named it Carillon. But the British had captured it during the French and Indian War, and renamed it Ticonderoga. Since then, the fort had fallen into disrepair, but it was in a strategic position and it contained a store of cannon and material. Best of all, it was probably lightly defended.

The Patriot wins his case and receives a commission to conduct a secret mission. He and his men head west, but on their way, they encounter another militia group, Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys, also headed west with the same intention. Though the Patriot has the senior authority, the two leaders do a little thumb-wrestling and agree to share command to keep everybody happy. And off they all go to Champlain.

Around midnight on May 10, 1775, the Americans are on the eastern shore of Champlain and ready to attack, but they don’t have enough boats to carry everyone across. Wanting to maintain the element of surprise, the two leaders ferry a force of just 83 men across and attack the fort. As they hoped, it is defended by only 48 British soldiers. The Americans push the lone sentry aside and capture Ticonderoga in a matter of minutes.

And what did they find inside? The first prize was a large quantity of liquor that the Green Mountain Boys broke open and got very victoriously drunk.

But the true value of victory at Ticonderoga was something more permanent: 43 heavy brass and iron cannons, 6 light mortars, 8 heavy mortars, and 2 howitzers. In the coming months, they would be disassembled, hauled about 200 miles east, and prove to be a difference-maker in the conflict developing outside Boston.

And why is this episode not very well known to most Americans? Because, in the not-too-distant future, before the war is over, the Patriot will go on to bigger and better, and then notoriously worser, things.

The Patriot’s name is Benedict Arnold.