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Fort Ticonderoga is a large 18th century fort built at a strategically important narrows in Lake Champlain where a short traverse gives access to the north end of Lake George in the state of New York, USA. The fort controlled both commonly used trade routes between the English-controlled Hudson River Valley and the French-controlled Saint Lawrence River Valley. The name "Ticonderoga" comes from an Iroquois word meaning "the place between two waters". Fort Ticonderoga was the site of four battles over the course of 20 years.
The French built a fort called Fort Carillon there in 1755. That name apparently derived from the musical sounds of a nearby waterfall.
On July 8, 1758 the British, under General James Abercombie, staged a frontal attack with 16,000 troops and were soundly defeated by 4,000 French defenders. This battle gave the fort an undeserved reputation for invulnerability. The 42nd Highland Regiment (the Black Watch) was especially badly mauled in the attack on Fort Carillon, giving rise to a legend involving the Scottish Major Duncan Campbell.
The terrifying reputation of the Native Americans, for the most part allied to the FrenchThe French Republic or France ( French: Republique francaise or France is a country whose metropolitan territory is located in western Europe, and which is further made up of a collection of overseas islands and territories located in other continents., is thought to have provoked the wave of panic that apparently took over BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain was created by the merger of the Kingdoms of Scotland and England in 1707 (see Act of Union 1707). A single parliament and government, based in Westminster in London, ran the entire kingdom. They had shared a monarch si troops retreating in great disorder by day's end. French patrols later found equipment strewn about, boots left stuck in mud, and many wounded on their stretchers left to die in clearings. In fact, few Natives where actually present during the battle, a large contingent of them having been dispatched by French governor VaudreuilPierre Francois de Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil-Cavagnal ( 1698 1778) was a French Canadian colonial governor in the Americas. He was born November 22, 1698 to the governor of New France, Philippe de Rigaud Vaudreuil and his wife Louise-Elisabeth de Joybe on a useless mission to Corlar . This gave MontcalmJoseph de Montcalm-Gozon, marquis de Saint-Veran ( February 12, 1712 September 14, 1759) was the commander of the French forces in North America during the French and Indian War. He is most remembered for his role in the Fall of Quebec, and remains a cont more reason to pester at his rival Vaudreuil, who had thus deprived him of the means to completely destroy the retreating British forces that eventually regrouped south of Lake George. This was the first Battle of TiconderogaFor other battles at Fort Ticonderoga, see Battle of Ticonderoga. The first Battle of Fort Ticonderoga was fought on July 7-8, 1758, during the French and Indian War. A British army under General James Abercrombie tried to take the fort from a French garr.
The fort was captured the following year by the British, under General Amherst, in the second Battle of TiconderogaFor other battles at Fort Ticonderoga, see Battle of Ticonderoga. The Battle of Ticonderoga in 1759 was not so much a battle as an investment. In 1758, at the Battle of Ticonderoga (1758) a major British Army was broken by the 'Gibraltar of the West'..
On May 10, 1775, a sleeping British garrison of 22 soldiers was taken by surprise by a small force of Americans (calling themselves the Green Mountain Boys) under Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold, walked into the fort through an unlocked gate. A single shot was fired — probably by accident. The colonials obtained a large supply of cannon and powder, much of which was hauled 300 km to Boston where it was used to lay siege to the town.
In 1776, the British returned to Canada and moved down Lake Champlain under General Carleton. A ramshackle fleet of American gunboats delayed the British until winter threatened (see: Battle of Valcour Island), but the attack resumed the next year under General Burgoyne.