The Fall of Fort Ticonderoga

2021 ◽  
pp. 102-122
Author(s):  
Kevin J. Weddle
Keyword(s):  
Hudson River ◽  
Lake Champlain ◽  
Lake George ◽  
Major General

This chapter discusses Burgoyne’s successful seizure of Fort Ticonderoga, the vital American position that guarded southern Lake Champlain and Lake George approach to the Hudson River and, ultimately, Albany. The significant leadership failures by the American commanders, especially Major General Arthur St. Clair and Major General Philip Schuyler, is examined in some depth. A combination of American failures—in preparation, execution, and the retreat—and the competent British conduct of operations, including the establishing of artillery on Mount Defiance, something the Americans believed was impossible, is discussed. Improperly sited fortifications, failure to secure key terrain, and an incompetently planned and executed retreat, ensured American failure to hold the fortification.

British Forts in Northern New York State

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
David R. Starbuck
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
American Revolution ◽  
New York State ◽  
Hudson River ◽  
Lake Champlain ◽  
York State ◽  
American Landscape ◽  
Eastern Edge ◽  
Lake George

Numerous British fortifications were constructed in the 1750s along Lake Champlain, Lake George, and the Hudson River, all on the eastern edge of the colony of New York. Many of these positions were reoccupied twenty years later during the American Revolution. The author has conducted excavations for nearly thirty years at several of these forts and encampments, seeking to understand the strategies, provisioning, foodways, and building techniques employed by British Regulars and Provincial soldiers as they fought on the American landscape. These sites include Fort William Henry, Fort Edward, Rogers Island, and Fort George, each of which helped to open up the interior of the colony of New York to further settlement.

The First Invasion

2021 ◽  
pp. 25-50
Author(s):  
Kevin J. Weddle
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Hudson River ◽  
Arms Race ◽  
Lake Champlain ◽  
Lake George

This chapter describes the first British invasion of New York via the historic Lake Champlain, Lake George, and Hudson River route in the autumn of 1776. It starts with General Sir Guy Carleton’s successful defense of Canada and repulse of the American attempt to seize Quebec. The increasingly fraught relationship between Carleton and Lord George Germain is also addressed as is the naval arms race between the Americans and the British. This race delayed Carleton’s offensive south on Lake Champlain more than the celebrated Battle of Valcour Island, and he was forced to abandon the offensive after he reached Crown Point, much to the dismay of his second-in-command, Lieutenant General John Burgoyne. This failed first invasion planted the seeds for a new plan created in part by Burgoyne.

Peter Kalm's geological observations in New France, 1749

1969 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 347-352
Author(s):  
E. H. Kranck
Keyword(s):  
Hudson River ◽  
Early History ◽  
New France ◽  
Lake Champlain ◽  
History Of ◽  
St Lawrence River

In 1749 Peter Kalm, a Finnish professor and naturalist, journeyed up the Hudson River, across Lake Champlain, to Montreal and thence down the St. Lawrence River. His notebooks of this journey contain many geological observations, the accuracy of which is remarkable, and merit him a place in the early history of the geology of Canada.

Laying the Groundwork

2021 ◽  
pp. 86-101
Author(s):  
Kevin J. Weddle
Keyword(s):  
Hudson River ◽  
Major General

This chapter discusses the preparation in Canada for Burgoyne’s expedition south to Albany. It introduces the key British leaders for the campaign including Major General William Phillips, Major General Friedrich Riedesel, and Brigadier General Simon Fraser, and the army’s organization. It also discusses the issues surrounding the use of German troops and Indian auxiliaries. Burgoyne’s overconfidence and disregard of Howe’s letter confirming that he was taking his army to Philadelphia and not up the Hudson River to Albany is covered at length. Finally, the logistics preparation for the campaign and the critical shortage of transport—horses, oxen, and carts—is covered in depth.

Sir Henry Clinton to the Rescue

2021 ◽  
pp. 294-306
Author(s):  
Kevin J. Weddle
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
New York City ◽  
York City ◽  
Hudson River ◽  
Small Force ◽  
Major General

The chapter discusses the attempt by Lieutenant General Sir Henry Clinton to support Burgoyne’s army. Clinton was Howe’s second-in-command and remained in New York with a small force while Howe went to Philadelphia with the main army. Clinton had received only positive reports from Burgoyne, but on September 22, he received a message that Burgoyne was in dire trouble. Clinton organized a small force to go up the Hudson River, hoping to pull Gates south and away from Burgoyne. Burgoyne dug in to wait for Clinton. Clinton quickly captured the American forts Clinton and Montgomery in the Hudson Highlands, but after burning Esopus, New York (present-day Kingston), Clinton’s force—now under Major General John Vaughan—was forced to return to New York City. In the meantime, Howe had captured Philadelphia, but was unable to defeat Washington in a decisive battle, despite winning the battles of Brandywine and Germantown.

A Fluted Point from Long Island, N. Y.

1952 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 263-264
Author(s):  
Arthur George Smith
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Coastal Area ◽  
Long Island ◽  
Distinct Type ◽  
Personal Communication ◽  
The State ◽  
Lake Champlain ◽  
Central Section ◽  
Fluted Points ◽  
Lake George

Although fluted points are not very numerous in New York, it was there that they were first recognized as a distinct type under the name of “Seneca River Points” (Beauchamp, 1897, p. 21, Fig. 13, 14).The majority of the New York finds have been in the central section of the state and along the shores of Lake Champlain and Lake George. A search of the literature, and correspondence with both professional and amateur archaeologists, has revealed no known finds of fluted points closer to the coastal area than one at Colonie in Albany County, New York. This was of an exotic quartz (Ritchie, 1951, personal communication). Therefore the finding of a fluted point in eastern Long Island extends the known range of the type.

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