Battlefield Visits, Revolutionary War Edition: Fort Ticonderoga

From my travels, June 5, 2021.

Since my brother had moved to upstate New York, and had done a little of his own history tourism, he invited me to join him and his girls on a trip through some of the historical sites north of him. We coordinated on an itinerary and set a date.

Our first stop was going to be the farthest north that my boys had ever been: Fort Ticonderoga. This was going to be a first visit for all of us except for my brother, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but it was a really beautiful place. After a few hours in the car, we arrived just in time for a really well done artillery demonstration.

While the fort and scenery are beautiful, it has a less-than-successful history. It seems that no one – not the French, British, nor Americans – was ever able to really defend the place from attack. It changed hands constantly almost from the time it was built. Part of the issue is that the fort is dominated by nearby Mt. Defiance.

The fort has quite a collection of French and British artillery dating from the 1730s – 1750s at various spots around the structure. The barracks-turned-museum also holds some pretty cool artifacts and is well put together.

One of the coolest parts for me was the plaque at the entrance to the fort that lists all the famous historical figures whose footsteps you are about to walk in. I just had to get a photo of my guys rubbing shoulders with these greats.

After a few hours, we had seen all that we could, and my brother suggested heading over to Mt. Defiance to get the perspective from there. It was a long road up to the top – and I appreciated the cell tower up there – a mixing of history with modernity. The view was very impressive, and a small shelter at the summit had a few waysides to give more context for the actions that took place around Ticonderoga.

It was a great start to an awesome weekend road trip with more historical nerdery to come!