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Daily Visitation: May 4-Oct. 27, 2024 | Tues-Sun | 9:30am-5pm
Experience the blend of history and natural beauty like nowhere else when you visit Fort Ticonderoga! Explore 2000 acres of America’s most historic landscape located on the shores of Lake Champlain and nestled between New York’s Adirondack and Vermont’s Green Mountains. Create lasting memories as you embark on an adventure that spans centuries, defined a continent, and helped forge a nation.
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JULY 27-28: Living History Event: The Sound of 1776
Hear the rousing sounds of the Fifes & Drums, which hoisted the spirits of an American Army in 1776! Through musical concerts, living history vignettes and weapon demonstrations discover the story of the Northern Continental Army, which rebuilt itself at Ticonderoga beginning in July 1776. See rebellion transform into a war for independence as the Declaration of Independence officially reached troops digging in to defend Ticonderoga during a dramatic reading.
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About Fort Ticonderoga
Welcoming visitors since 1909, Fort Ticonderoga is a major cultural destination, museum, historic site, and center for learning. As a multi-day destination and the premier place to learn more about North America’s military heritage, Fort Ticonderoga engages more than 75,000 visitors each year with an economic impact of more than $12 million annually. Presenting vibrant programs, historic interpretation, boat cruises, tours, demonstrations, and exhibits, Fort Ticonderoga and is open for daily visitation May through October and special programs during Winter Quarters, November through April. Fort Ticonderoga is owned by The Fort Ticonderoga Association, a 501c3 non-profit educational organization, and is supported in part through generous donations and with some general operating support made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts.Instagram @FORT_TICONDEROGA
This summer`s Edward W. Pell Archaeology Fellow Ekin nears the completion of his project and is excited to share some highlights from the rich material culture he has cataloged and photographed. Among the diverse artifacts that offer compelling stories, he begins by showcasing representative pieces from the French occupation that reflect both daily life and military aspects of the era.
The first artifact is a rim fragment of a faience plate, a type of tin-glazed earthenware originally produced in France and commonly used in French colonies in North America. These plates were affordable and produced on a large scale, with designs crafted for rapid and efficient manufacturing. This particular fragment discovered in the Lower Town represents the Rouen style of faience. The three holes likely represent an attempt at repair.
The second fragment is from an iron musket barrel that transitions from an octagonal to a round shape. This type of barrel was used in various French muskets starting as early as 1717 and continued through 1754. It remained in use by the French army until the 1760s and is likely associated with their presence in the region during the Seven Years` War. The barrel fragment from the Lower Town area is most likely from the French Model 1728 Infantry Musket. This model is available in Fort Ticonderoga’s collection and was the most common military musket used by the French. French troops at Fort Carillon used these weapons to great effect in their victory over the British on the Heights of Carillon on July 8, 1758. Numerous parts of the Model 1728 Infantry Musket were also recovered archaeologically during the restoration of the fort in the early 20th century.
The last object is a two-piece copper button from a French military officer, most likely between 1755 and 1759. In the eighteenth century, buttons came in various shapes and sizes, and this variation can help identify the types of clothing they were used on. The Chevalier de la Pause described French officers wearing “gros boutons de cuivre surdoré”, or large gilded copper buttons.
#EWPFellows #TiconderogaArchaeology #Archaeology #18thcentury #French
Jul 26
With the Summer Olympics getting underway today in Paris, did you know there`s a Fort Ticonderoga connection to the Olympics? Colonel Robert Means Thompson, father of Sarah Gibbs Thompson Pell and an early benefactor for the restoration of Fort Ticonderoga, served as President of the American Olympic Committee during the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm, Sweden, and the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris. Here, Thompson accepts the American Flag on behalf of the US Olympic team in Stockholm in 1912.
Jul 26
This summer Fort Ticonderoga was proud to host our 10th annual Teachers Institute, where twelve teachers from all over the country came to study the American Revolution and its effects on the world that we live in. The Fort Ticonderoga Teacher Institute features lecture-based discussions with visiting scholars, experiential and immersive opportunities related to the American Revolution, behind-the-scenes opportunities, document, and artifact analysis using the Fort Ticonderoga Collection, as well as classroom applications. Participants take part in activities revolving around artifacts and documents in Fort Ticonderoga’s renowned collections linked to Historical Thinking practices, the C3 Framework, and applicable state learning standards. We would like to express our gratitutde to our donors who continue to make programs like this possible. #Teachers #teachersprofessionaldevelopment
Jul 26
This Saturday & Sunday (07/27-07/28), Fort Ticonderoga invites you to experience the sights and sounds of the American Army at Ticonderoga during the Sound of 1776 Living History Event!
From historic trades and weapons demonstrations to living history vignettes and music performances, discover how the beats of drums and the sounds of fifes translated orders to nearly 10,000 soldiers that lived and fought for liberty at Ticonderoga.
In addition to a full line-up of activities throughout the day, listen to a dramatic reading of the Declaration of Independence near the same day it was actually read to the troops here in 1776. Witness the first time soldiers at Ticonderoga heard the immortal words of independence and discover what this meant for soldiers on the front lines of the Northern Continental Army in 1776.
General admission tickets are valid for 2 consecutive days! View the full visitor schedule by clicking the link in our bio: https://www.fortticonderoga.org/ft_events/living-history-event-the-sound-of-1776-two-day-event-2/
#FortTiconderoga #LifeLongLearning #FifeandDrum #MusicPerformances #LivingHistory
Jul 25
Edward W. Pell Collections Fellow Victoria recently made an interesting discovery among the rare books in the Robert Nittolo Collection. In the 1861 publication titled “Battles of America by Sea and Land,” she found a piece of silk pinned inside the book. The book was inscribed “Richard Penn Smith from his Sister Dottie April 1 1869” and included a clipping describing Smith’s Civil War service in the 71st Pennsylvania. With the help of Curator Dr. Matthew Keagle and consultation with curatorial staff at the Pennsylvania Capitol Preservation Committee, we were able to determine based on photos and measurements that this silk swatch was likely cut from the 71st Infantry’s flag from the Civil War!
The 71st Infantry, nicknamed the “California Regiment”, was a Union Army infantry regiment that served in the American Civil War. Originally recruited in April 1861, most of these soldiers were from Philadelphia, Chester, and Bucks Counties. The 71st participated in battles including the Siege of Yorktown, Battle of Savage’s Station, Battle of Antietam, and Battle of Gettysburg. The regiment’s last battle as a full unit was at the Battle of Cold Harbor where afterwards, 53 men were mustered out in Philadelphia on July 2, 1864. Those remaining were merged into the 69th Pennsylvania Infantry. Out of 1,665 men, in the end only 153 returned uninjured.
This flag fragment is not the only item to make its way from southeastern Pennsylvania to Ticonderoga. 85 years before the formation of the 71st Infantry, in the spring of 1776, men from Chester, Bucks, and nearby counties enlisted in the 4th Pennsylvania Battalion and marched north. They spent much of the 1776 campaign at Fort Ticonderoga, as the nation declared independence. Today Fort Ticonderoga holds manuscripts, buttons, and other equipment from their service in 1776. These newly discovered scraps of silk remind us of the Pennsylvanians from that very same area who marched under this flag to answer their country’s call “four score and seven years” after their ancestors at Ticonderoga helped create the nation that was then struggling to survive and live up to its highest ideals.
#EWPFellows #TiconderogaCollections
Jul 25
This #TradesTuesday we`re taking a look at siege warfare. When the British landed at Ticonderoga in 1759, after skirmishing with French troops, they setting to work building artillery batteries while the French opened fire with everything they had.
In 1758, Aide de Camp Louis Antoine de Bouganville wrote "Now War is eastablished on the European basis. Projects for the campaign, for armies, for artillery, for sieges, for battles. It no longer is a matter of making a raid, but of conquering or being conquered."
Jul 23
SUMMER BUCKET-LIST OPPORTUNITY! Premium and behind-the-scenes programs provide guests an opportunity to enrich their Fort Ticonderoga experience through tours and demonstrations, focusing on unique aspects of history, led by our staff of knowledgeable and engaging historians. These tours and events are perfect for a family outing, a memorable activity with friends, or for individual enjoyment!
To see the full list of programs and to purchase tickets, visit the link in our bio: https://www.fortticonderoga.org/experience/premium-experiences-and-tours/
*Space is limited and pre-registration is required. Some blackout dates apply.*
Jul 23
Happy #ManuscriptMonday! Last week we highlighted MS.7020.1, the Josiah Goodrich orderly book, and the evidence it gives of how General Jeffery Amherst’s British and provincial army prepared to face the French at Fort Carillon in 1759. This manuscript has more than one story to tell, however. Today we’re returning to the Goodrich orderly book to view its orders that had less to do with preparing to avenge the 1758 Battle of Carillon and more to do with the concerns of daily life. While at Lake George, the army had to feed itself; the book is filled with orders on the distribution of rations, mainly flour and pork. Of course, the men had to drink as well. One order reads, “Eight barrels of Spruce Beer to be Delivered to each Regt this Evening And A Barrel to each Company of Granadears and Light Infantry.” Whether because of the spruce beer or for other reasons, military discipline did not stop soldiers from behaving badly, and courts martial tried those accused of crimes several times a week. Punishments could be harsh: “Thomas Burk waggoner Tri’d… for Abusing and offering to Strick his officer… is found Guilty of ye Crime Laid to his Charge & Sentanced to Receive 400 Lashes… Thomas Bala [tried] for Robbery And being a Notorious Offender Is found Guilty & is Sentenced to suffer Death”.
Even as Amherst’s forces encamped outside Ticonderoga on July 22 and began their attack, their daily concerns still existed alongside the concerns of the siege. On July 24, Colonel David Wooster inserted this advertisement into general orders: “Coll Wooster has Lost A Small Read Quilt four blankets a bolster and Pillow markt DW All Were In A Canvas Sack and through A mistack were put into a wrong battoo [bateau, a boat] at ye Camp at Lake George[.] therefore who can inform of the same shall… Be Well Rewarded- David Wooster”. While we know that Wooster, Amherst, and the British forces went on to successfully capture Fort Carillon, history is silent on the question of whether Wooster ever recovered his lost bedding.
This document can be found on our online database in the link below. #TiconderogaCollections #OpeningTheVault https://fortticonderoga.catalogaccess.com/archives/30790
Jul 22