A featured one-day exhibit displays a collection of rare books Henry Knox recommended to John Adams about the art of war
Fort Ticonderoga will present a one-day living history event on December 7 to highlight Henry Knox’s epic feat as he prepared to move massive cannon from Ticonderoga to Boston to force the British evacuation of 1776.
“In addition, a one-day exhibit will reconstruct the reading list Henry Knox prepared in 1776 drawn from Fort Ticonderoga’s rich collection of rare books,” said Fort Ticonderoga Curator Matthew Keagle. “Before setting out for Ticonderoga, John Adams inquired of Henry Knox what books he recommended American officers should read to learn the art of war. Knox’s reply had to wait until he completed his expedition, but revealed his breadth of knowledge and printed military culture of the Atlantic World.”
This list includes French and British authors and covered topics such as artillery, fortifications, and engineering that he felt were “necessary for a people struggling for Liberty and Empire.” The exhibit will bring together nearly all the titles Knox recommended.
“During the event, step into a hive of military activity as you meet the soldiers working feverishly to maintain Fort Ticonderoga,” said Beth Hill, Fort Ticonderoga president and CEO. “Walk along teamsters and oxen as they help in the work. Visit a trades shop to discover how tradesmen known as artificers worked to resupply soldiers with clothing, shoes, and equipment. Discover how meals were prepared and rationed to feed an entire army.”
Highlighted programming throughout the day will immerse visitors in the daily life of December 1775 at Ticonderoga. Watch as soldiers work as carpenters to maintain the fort structure. See horsepower, ox-power, and manpower in action to move, test, and load cannon and learn how this process was vital for weapons destined for the siege of Boston. Examine the science of gunnery, preserved in Fort Ticonderoga’s massive cannon and manuscript collection. Explore the lives and labor of women here at this frontier post on Lake Champlain. Stand inside Fort Ticonderoga on the very spot where Henry Knox began his Noble Train of Artillery.
Bring your family along to experience this exciting living history event during Fort Ticonderoga’s new schedule of programs during the Winter Quarters season. From now through April, visitors will be immersed in a more intimate experience at Fort Ticonderoga. From exciting living history events, insightful seminars, specialty programs, and hands-on workshops, guests will have the opportunity to explore Fort Ticonderoga during what was traditionally the “Winter Quarters” season for armies of the 18th century.
About Fort Ticonderoga:
Welcoming visitors since 1909, Fort Ticonderoga preserves North America’s largest 18th-century artillery collection, 2,000 acres of historic landscape on Lake Champlain, and Carillon Battlefield, and the largest series of untouched Revolutionary War era earthworks surviving in America. As a multi-day destination and the premier place to learn more about our nation’s earliest years and America’s military heritage, Fort Ticonderoga engages more than 75,000 visitors each year with an economic impact of more than $12 million annually and offers programs, historic interpretation, boat cruises, tours, demonstrations, and exhibits throughout the year, and is open for daily visitation May through October. Fort Ticonderoga is supported in part through generous donations and with some general operating support made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.