Two very different events, in very different places, and both very important — which do you think was most important?
Fort Ticonderoga
All was quiet at old Fort Ticonderoga, near the southern end of Lake Champlain. In the early morning of May 10, the British soldiers stationed there were sleeping, unaware that nearby, a group of Americans was preparing to attack them.
Out by the lake, the American commanders — a tall, rugged frontiersman named Ethan Allen, and a short, stocky merchant named Benedict Arnold — were rallying their troops for the attack. They had only about 85 men at their command; the rest — 100 or more — hadn’t been able to cross the lake yet. Most of them, like Allen himself, were rough-and-ready members of the Green Mountain Boys, a militia organization from the area then known as the New Hampshire Grants (now Vermont). Since their numbers were relatively few, and their plan to surprise the fort seemed risky, Allen wanted to make sure his men were committed.
I now propose to advance before you, [he said,] and in person conduct you through the wicket-gate [a small gate in the fort]; for we must this morning either quit our pretensions to valor, or possess ourselves of this fortress in a few minutes; and in as much as it is a desperate attempt, (which none but the bravest of men dare undertake) I do not urge it on any contrary to his will. You that will undertake voluntarily, poise your firelocks.
All of the men poised their muskets, showing that they were ready and willing to make the attack. But they weren’t there just to prove their bravery. They had a more practical objective in mind: the artillery in Fort Ticonderoga.
Without heavy artillery, the hodgepodge American army had little hope of driving the British out of Boston. They had precious few cannons, and the siege would likely continue as a stalemate unless they could get some more. Several American leaders realized that they could probably get what they needed, without too much trouble, at Fort Ticonderoga, which was guarded by about 45 British troops, most of whom were “invalids” (i.e., soldiers who were physically unfit for anything other than guard duty). There was also an old, mostly ruined fort at Crown Point, north of Ticonderoga, which had lots of artillery and was guarded by no more than 10 men. Both Massachusetts and Connecticut, acting independently of each other, moved quickly to get the forts and their artillery into American hands. The Massachusetts Committee of Safety sent Benedict Arnold on a secret mission to capture the fort, while a group of Connecticut leaders recruited the Green Mountain Boys and others to do the job.
When Ethan Allen had finished making his speech to his men, they marched quietly toward the fort. There was a small wicket gate in the fort’s stone walls, guarded by only a single sentry. The Americans caught this unfortunate man off guard, and as he ran into the fort to wake up his comrades and warn them of the attack, they stormed after him.
One of the British soldiers in the fort at the time was Lieutenant Jocelyn Feltham. He had arrived there from Canada a couple weeks earlier, bringing with him 10 British soldiers to reinforce the garrison, which was commanded by Captain William Delaplace. Feltham was supposed to leave the soldiers there and return to Canada once his replacement arrived — but his replacement, a Lieutenant Wadman, didn’t show up until about an hour after the Americans did. Feltham wrote:
About half an hour after three in my sleep I was awaken’d by numbers of shrieks, & the words “no quarter, no quarter” from a number of arm’d rabble. I jump’d up about which time I heard the noise continue in the area of the fort. I ran undress’d to knock at Capt Delaplaces door & to receive his orders or wake him. The door was fast. The room I lay in being close to Capt Delaplaces, I stept back, put on my coat & waist coat and return’d to his room, there being no possibility of getting to the men… The bottom of the stairs was filld with the rioters & many were forcing their way up, knowing the Commanding officer lived there… I ask’d them a number of questions, expecting to amuse them till our people fired…
But the British soldiers didn’t fire; the American “rioters” had caught most of them in bed, and the battle was over before it even started. Ethan Allen recalled the scene years later:
I…ordered the commander (Capt. Delaplace) to come forth instantly, or I would sacrifice the whole garrison; at which the Capt. came immediately to the door with his breeches in his hand, when I ordered him to deliver to me the fort instantly, who asked me by what authority I demanded it: I answered him, “In the name of the great Jehovah and the Continental Congress.”
Captain Delaplace surrendered, and the British soldiers were made prisoners of war. Two days later, they captured Crown Point as well. Without firing a single shot, the Americans had captured two forts and over 100 serviceable cannon. However, simply capturing the forts didn’t get the artillery to where it needed to be. It wasn’t until December 1775 that Henry Knox showed up and began the monumental task of transporting the heavy guns overland to be used in the siege of Boston.
The Second Continental Congress
The Second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia on May 10, 1775. The First Continental Congress, which had met the previous fall, had set this as the date for the representatives of the 13 colonies to meet again, if their complaints had not been addressed by the British government. Now, not only did they still have to worry about oppressive British laws and policies, but they had a war on their hands — and they were the ones in charge of it all, with no one they could pass the buck to!
Although the delegates from the southern colonies had already arrived, many of the northern delegates didn’t reach Philadelphia until May 10. Silas Deane of Connecticut described how they were escorted into the city as part of a grand parade:
Set out for Philadelphia, & were met at about Six Miles on this side the City by about Two Hundred of the principal Gentlemen on Horseback with their Swords Drawn… At about Two Miles distance We were met, by a Company on Foot, & then by a Company of rifle Men in their Uniform which is very Curious. Thus rolling & gathering like a Snowball, we approached the City which was full of people, & the Crowd, as great as at New York, the Bells all ringing, and the air rent with Shouts & huzza’s. My little bay Horses were put in such a Fright that I was in fear of killing several of the spectators, however No harm was done, and after much fatigue, We were landed at the New City Tavern.
The delegates from Rhode Island hadn’t arrived yet, so the congress couldn’t do much business during the first few days. But there was a lot that needed to be done: as John Adams of Massachusetts put it, “Such a vast Multitude of Objects, civil, political, commercial and military, press and croud upon Us So fast, that We know not what to do first.” Silas Deane observed, “The scenes before us are so vast, That I can give no kind of Judgement as to The Term We Shall be detained here, and I tremble when I think of their vast importance — may the God of Wisdom preside!” One of the few things the congress did that first day was appoint Reverend Jacob Duché, a local pastor, to open their session with prayer the next day.
Despite the tremendous challenges they faced, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia was encouraged by the spirit of unity he observed among the members of the congress: “There never appeared more perfect unanimity among any sett of Men than among the Delegates, and indeed all the old Provinces, not one excepted, are directed by the same firmness of union, and determination to resist by all ways and to every extremity.” That unity and determination would be severely tried in the days ahead.
Some interesting facts about the Second Continental Congress:
- There was no national American government at this time — no constitution, and no precedent for what the delegates were doing. But the colonies saw the need to band together, and they did their best to iron out differences and work together.
- Peyton Randolph of Virginia was chosen as its first president. He had served as president of the first congress as well. But he had to leave in late May to attend a session of the Virginia House of Burgesses, of which he was the Speaker. When he left, John Hancock of Massachusetts was chosen as president in his place. Randolph died soon after arriving back in Virginia.
- The secretary to the congress was Charles Thomson, who was not actually a member of congress.
- While the first congress had met in Carpenter’s Hall, the second congress met in the Pennsylvania State House (now known as Independence Hall).
- Georgia, which hadn’t sent any representatives to the first congress, at first didn’t send any to the second congress either; not until September 1775 was Georgia represented in the congress. This was partly due to Georgia’s remote location — the farthest south of the 13 colonies — and to the fact that it had been more recently settled than the other colonies, and was still in more of a frontier state.
Sources
“Lieutenant Feltham’s report to General Gage, June 11, 1775.” In The Taking of Ticonderoga in 1775: the British Story; a study of captors and captives, by Allen French, 43-44. (Punctuation added for clarity.)
A narrative of Col. Ethan Allen’s captivity. 1779. In The American Revolution: Writings from the War of Independence, ed. John Rhodehamel, 71-72.
“A Map of Ticonderoga with the Old and New Lines and Batteries. taken from an Actual Survey & other Authentick Informations.” 1777. https://www.loc.gov/item/78692736/
Letters of Delegates to Congress, 1:337, 346-47, 364.