By David Needleman
Staff Writer

May 1775 was a lull in the Revolution. To leaders in London and everyone in the colonies, the battles of Lexington and Concord had driven home the point that an armed revolution had begun. Colonial leaders turned their attention away from the occupation of Boston and towards the next big strategic threat: Canada.

The water route between Canada and Albany, New York consists of Lake Champlain and Lake George as well as the St. Lawrence River. If Britain controlled this waterway, it would effectively split the wealthy, northern, industrial colonies from the food supplies of the south. New York could then be occupied and easily reinforced from two directions, limiting American freedom of movement. The key to control of the waterway lay at Fort Ticonderoga. In May, early planning began in order to make preparations to take the fort from Vermont.

The Green Mountain Boys, guerrillas from the Vermont section of New Hampshire, set out under the command of Samuel Parsons and Ethan Allen. They would later meet up with 200 men under the command of Benedict Arnold. The raiders were to capture boats at the Skenesboro and Panton. Then they could transport their force across Lake Champlain to besiege Ticonderoga.

Ticonderoga had been neglected by the British after the French and Indian wars. Its commander, Cpt.William De la Place, had fifty men under his command. The rebels had no problem getting two barges and landing them within a mile of the fort. They took it by surprise, as there was only one sentry on duty (whose musket misfired). The men of the garrison were either not inclined to fight, or still asleep. De la Place was captured while getting dressed, literally, with his pants down. Ticonderoga and its 100 heavy cannons fell to the American Revolutionists.