The Fort That Three Wars Built

Fort Ticonderoga is unusual among Revolutionary War sites because it carries the weight of three conflicts. The French built it, the British took it, and the Americans seized it twice. Each layer is visible in the architecture and the landscape, and part of our work is helping visitors understand what they are looking at.

The stone walls that visitors see today are largely the French construction, restored in the early twentieth century by the Pell family, who purchased the site and began archaeological work. But the Revolution left its own marks. The American earthworks on Mount Independence, across the lake, are among the best-preserved Revolutionary War fortifications in the country. The ground where the 1777 evacuation began is still walkable.

The story we tell most often is Knox's cannon train, because it connects Ticonderoga to the siege of Boston in a way that makes the war's geography real. People know about Lexington and Concord, and they know about the British evacuation of Boston. But they do not always know what happened between those events: a young bookseller dragged 60 tons of artillery across 300 miles of winter landscape. That story starts here, in the rooms where the cannon were stored.

Mount Defiance is the part of the story that military visitors find most instructive. The Americans knew the height was a potential threat, and they debated fortifying it. They did not. When the British hauled guns to the top in July 1777, the fort became indefensible overnight. It is a textbook lesson in the cost of leaving a vulnerability unaddressed.

Visitors who climb Defiance — and we encourage them to — can look down at the fort and see exactly what the British gunners saw. The entire position is exposed. The decision to evacuate, which seemed like cowardice to Congress, looks like the only sane choice when you stand on that summit.