A place called Ticonderoga

[alikws]

Over the weekend I was at the Ticonderoga war college. Sundays speakers were Jay Cassel ,talking on the French side, and Ian McCulloch, taking on the English side. This was followed by a walk on the French lines, a commemoration [with piper] at the Black Watch cairn, and a trip to the portion of the lines the Black Watch managed to break through on. This was a steep uphill, covered with a tangle of dropped trees, and topped with 8 feet of breastworks. The difficulty really comes across when seen. Ian also gave me some kilt tips. This made for an interesting weekend.

The 250th reenactment will be the last weekend in June, with other events running through the next week. The re-enactors information site is at
http://www.fort-ticonderoga250th.org
A pointer to the fort site and spectator information and schedules is there as well.

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

Over the weekend I was at the Ticonderoga war college. Sundays speakers were Jay Cassel ,talking on the French side, and Ian McCulloch, taking on the English side. This was followed by a walk on the French lines, a commemoration [with piper] at the Black Watch cairn, and a trip to the portion of the lines the Black Watch managed to break through on. This was a steep uphill, covered with a tangle of dropped trees, and topped with 8 feet of breastworks. The difficulty really comes across when seen. Ian also gave me some kilt tips. This made for an interesting weekend.

The 250th reenactment will be the last weekend in June, with other events running through the next week. The re-enactors information site is at
http://www.fort-ticonderoga250th.org
A pointer to the fort site and spectator information and schedules is there as well.

Benedict Arnold was present at the attack on Fort Carillion (the French name for Ticonderoga) and later, during the American War for Independence, the Massachusetts Colony put him in command of the expedition sent to capture Fort Ticonderoga from the British. Captain Arnold overtook Ethan Allen's similarly intentioned group from Vermont and together they took the fort, mostly by stealth. (The Americans, by the way, referred to Ticonderoga as Fort Ti.) This action very much set the seal on Arnold's military career, which culminated in his being placed in command of the fort at West Point on the Hudson.

Arnold, of course, ultimately remained a Loyalist and his role in the revolution was written out of the history books.

[Nervous Jock]

Over the weekend I was at the Ticonderoga war college. Sundays speakers were Jay Cassel ,talking on the French side, and Ian McCulloch, taking on the English side. This was followed by a walk on the French lines, a commemoration [with piper] at the Black Watch cairn, and a trip to the portion of the lines the Black Watch managed to break through on. This was a steep uphill, covered with a tangle of dropped trees, and topped with 8 feet of breastworks. The difficulty really comes across when seen. Ian also gave me some kilt tips. This made for an interesting weekend.

The 250th reenactment will be the last weekend in June, with other events running through the next week. The re-enactors information site is at
http://www.fort-ticonderoga250th.org
A pointer to the fort site and spectator information and schedules is there as well.

It is often thought the Watch should have received a battle honour for this action however they don't tend to get dished out when you lose

[Woodsheal]

Here are some views of the Black Watch cairn at Ticonderoga. The regiment should have gotten battle honors for this fight. Even though the Brits lost the battle, the 42nd fought magnificently and shortly after were rewarded by being made a Royal Regiment....



In this one you can see the remains of the French Lines inthe background:




Really looking forward to the reenactment in June...!

[beloitpiper]

The talk about this in "Instrument of War, part 2". Sounds great, I wish I could be there for the reenactment!

[macwilkin]

One of my favourite stories involves the Battle for Ticonderoga:

http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.c...avidperry/ty2/

Scott mentioned Arnold & Allen's attack on Ticonderoga during the Revolution; ironically, the Royal Highland Regiment refused battle honours for that action, since it was believed that battle honours should not be given for a war between "kith & kin", according to the regimental history.

Regards,

Todd

[Riverkilt]

My ancestors fought for both sides at Ticonderoga during the Revolutionary War...that is really spooky to me. Glad their mutual aims were poor.

Sorta speaks to the insanity of war that foes would one day have common descendents.

Ron

[macwilkin]

My ancestors fought for both sides at Ticonderoga during the Revolutionary War...that is really spooky to me. Glad their mutual aims were poor.

Sorta speaks to the insanity of war that foes would one day have common descendents.

Ron

It certainly supports the theory that the American Revolution was our first "Civil War" anyway.

T.

[SteveB]

This piece of history is a reminder that not all siblings get along well. I descend from all five sons of Jacob Van Wart, four of them fought on the side of the patriots the fifth fought on the side of the Loyalists. Jacob Junior and John allegedly injured each other in this battle. History has not really proven one way or the other.
There are very few wars that do not split families. Many clans were split during the early battles in Scotland. A practice that is still going on today, only it is Iraqi families enduring the scars instead of ancient Scots.

[Woodsheal]

FYI, the cairn commemorates the 42nd's service in the 1758 battle (during the French & Indian War), not the Revolutionary War. I don't think the Black Watch served at or near Ticonderoga during the latter conflict....