Fort Ticonderoga boasts one of North America’s largest 18th century artillery collections including 2 cannons from Fort Ticonderoga that were hauled by Henry Knox to Boston in the winter of 1776.
Fort Ticonderoga’s Fort Fever Series continues on Sunday, March 17, at 2 pm with “Evacuation Day 1776” presented by Director of Education Rich Strum. The cost is $10 per person and will be collected at the door; free for members of the Friends of Fort Ticonderoga.
While March 17 is widely celebrated as St. Patrick’s Day, it is officially known as “Evacuation Day” in Boston. On March 17, 1776, the British evacuated Boston after a months-long siege by the Continental Army under the command of General George Washington. Evacuation Day commemorates that pivotal turning point in the early years of the Revolution.
“The presentation traces the growing confrontation between colonists and the British government through the 1760s and early 1770s, including the Stamp Act Crisis, the Boston “Massacre,” and the Boston Tea Party,” said Rich Strum, Director of Education. “Even before fighting erupted in Lexington and Concord in 1775, Boston was in essence an occupied city, with British troops patrolling the streets.”
Shortly after the skirmishes at Lexington and Concord, the rebels under General Artemas Ward and then General George Washington surrounded the city of Boston, bottling up the British on the Boston peninsula. The siege was not broken until Washington had artillery placed on Dorchester heights—artillery that had come from Ticonderoga through the herculean efforts of Henry Knox earlier in the winter. Finally, on March 17, 1776, the Royal Navy evacuated British troops and loyal subjects. Boston was in Patriot hands.
This program takes place in the Deborah Clarke Mars Education Center. The doors open at 1:30 pm, with the program commencing at 2 pm and lasting approximately an hour.