文|史说百家
Editor|史说百家
When Delaplace protested the seizure of his private liquor store, Allen issued him a receipt from the store, which he later submitted to Connecticut for payment.
ArnoldThe feud with Allen and his unruly men was severe enough that at times some of Allen's men would draw their weapons. On May 12, Allen delivered the prisoners to Connecticut Governor Jonathan Trumbull and wrote: "I present to you the regular establishment of George III a major, a captain and two lieutenants."
Arnold was busy cataloging the military equipment at Ticonderoga and Crown Point, a task made difficult because some of the armament walls had collapsed.
Crown Point and the Raid on Fort Saint-Jean
Seth Warner led a detachment up the lake and captured the nearby Fort Crown Point, which was garrisoned by only nine men.
The capture is generally believed to have occurred on May 10; this is thanks to a letter Arnold wrote to the Massachusetts Committee of Safety on May 11, claiming that the attempt to sail to Crown Point was thwarted by headwinds. However, Warner claimed in a letter from "Crown Point Headquarters" on 12 May that he had "occupied the garrison" the day before. It seems likely that
, after failing on May 10, tried again the next day and succeeded, as reported in Warner's memoir. A small force was also sent to capture Fort George in Lake George, which had only two soldiers there.
Troops recruited by Arnold's captains began to arrive, and some captured Philip Skane's brig "Catherine" and several boats at Skenesborough. Prisoners reported that the only British warship on Lake Champlain was at Fort Saint-Jean on the Richelieu River in Hubei.
Arnold, unsure whether news of Ticonderoga's capture had reached Saint-Jean, decided to attempt a raid to seize the ship. Allen did not want Arnold to take all the credit for the capture, so he followed in small boats with some of his men, but Arnold's small fleet had the advantage of sail and put some distance between themselves and Allen's boats.
By May 17, Arnold's small fleet had reached the northern end of the lake. In order to seek intelligence, Arnold sent people to reconnoiter the situation at Fort Saint-Jean. Scouts returned later that day and reported that the British were aware of the falls of Ticonderoga and Crown Point, and that the army was apparently moving toward Saint-Jean. Arnold decided to act immediately.
Arnold and 35 of his men rowed all night to bring their small boats close to the fort.
After a brief reconnaissance, they attacked the fort's small garrison and captured the supplies there as well as the Royal George, a 70-ton sloop . The prisoners warned that several companies were setting out from Chambly, and they loaded the George with more valuable supplies and cannon, which Arnold renamed the Enterprise.
The ships they could not take were sunk, and the enlarged fleet returned to Lake Champlain. Moses Hasson, a retired British officer who lived near the fort, observed the activity.
Hasson rode to Montreal and reported the operation to the local military commander, then continued on to Quebec City to report the news to General Carleton on May 20. Major Charles Preston and 140 men were immediately dispatched from Montreal to Saint-Jean in response to Hyson's warning.
Fifteen miles above the lake, Arnold's fleet met Allen's fleet, which was still heading north. After a celebratory firefight, Arnold opened his storehouse to provide food for Allen's men, who rowed 100 miles (160 km) in open boats without food.
Allen, thinking he could capture and hold Fort Saint-Jean, continued north while Arnold sailed south.Allen arrived in Saint-Jean on May 19, where he was warned by a sympathetic Montreal merchant of the approaching British troops, and he rode ahead of these troops.
After writing a letter to the citizens of Montreal for the merchant, Allen returned to Ticonderoga on May 21, leaving Saint-Jean just as the British troops arrived. As Allen hurriedly fled the arriving army, three men were left behind; one was captured, but the other two eventually returned south overland.
Aftermath
Ethan Allen and his men eventually moved away from Ticonderoga, especially after the alcohol began to run out, and Arnold essentially took control of affairs from his base at Crown Point. He oversaw the assembly of two large ships, and due to a lack of knowledgeable sailors , he eventually took command of the Enterprise. His men began rebuilding the Ticonderoga's barracks and worked to extract weaponry from the ruins of the two forts and build gun carriages for them.
Connecticut sent about 1,000 men to defend Ticonderoga under the leadership of Colonel Benjamin Hinman, while New York also began to raise militia to defend Crown Point and Ticonderoga to prevent the British from attacking from the north. When Hinman's troops arrived in June, leadership conflicts resumed.
None of the letters from the Massachusetts committee to Arnold indicated that he would serve under Hinman; when Hinman attempted to assert authority over Crown Point, Arnold refused because Hinman's instructions included only Ticonderoga. The Massachusetts State Commission eventually sent a delegation to Ticonderoga.
When they arrived on June 22, they made it clear to Arnold that he would be working under Hinman. After two days of deliberation, Arnold disbanded his command, resigned his commission, and returned home, spending over £1,000 of his own money in the capture of the fort.
When Congress received news of these events, it drafted a second letter to the residents of Quebec, which was sent north in June, along with James Price, another businessman sympathetic to Montreal. This letter and others from the New York Congress, coupled with the activities of vigorous American supporters, aroused the enthusiasm of Quebec residents in the summer of 1775.
When news of the fall of Ticonderoga reached England, Lord Dartmouth wrote that it was "very unfortunate; very unfortunate indeed."
Reaction in Quebec
The news of the capture of Ticonderoga and Crown Point, especially the attack on Fort Saint-Jean, excited the residents of Quebec. Colonel Dudley Templer, who was in charge of the Montreal garrison, issued a call on May 19 to form a militia to defend the city, and asked the Indians living nearby to also take up arms.
Only fifty men, mostly French-speaking landowners and minor nobles, were mustered in and around Montreal, and they were sent to Saint-Jean; no Indians came to help them. Templer also prevented merchants sympathetic to the American cause from sending supplies south in response to Allen's letter.
General Carleton, upon being notified of Hasson's incident on May 20, immediately ordered the garrisons of Montreal and Troyes-Rivière to strengthen the defense of Saint-Jean. Some troops stationed in Quebec were also sent to Saint-Jean.
Most of the remaining Quebec troops were sent to other locations along the St. Lawrence River , as far west as Oswegatch, to guard against potential invasion threats. Carleton then moved to Montreal, from where he oversaw the defense of the province, leaving Quebec City in the hands of Lieutenant-Governor Hector Kramach.
Before leaving, Carleton persuaded Quebec Bishop Jean-Olivier Bourian to issue his own call to arms to support the province's defense, which was circulated mainly in the areas around Montreal and Troyville.
Later operations near Ticonderoga
From the day of the capture of the fort, Allen and Arnold began a war of words, each trying to gain as much credit as possible for their actions.
Unable to exercise any power over Allen and his men, Arnold began recording a diary of events and actions in which Allen was highly criticized and disparaged. Allen also began writing his memoirs in the days following the action. The memoirs published a few years later made no mention of Arnold at all.
Allen also wrote several versions of the event, John Brown and James Easton who took it to various Congresses and committees in New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts..
Randall claims that Easton took the report written by Arnold and Allen to the Massachusetts State Commission, but that Arnold's report was conveniently lost along the way, ensuring that Allen's version, which greatly embellished his role in the incident, was more popular.
Smith (1907) noted that Easton may well have intended to secure Arnold's order for himself. On June 10, Allen and Easton returned to Crown Point and held a council of war while Arnold was with the fleet on the lake, an apparent breach of military protocol.
With Arnold's men now dominating the garrison, Easton insulted Arnold, who responded by challenging Easton to a duel.
Arnold later reported: "As he refused to draw his gun like a gentleman, he had a sword by his side and several loaded pistols in his pockets, I gave him a sharp kick and ordered him to leave the point.
Reference:
"The American Revolution"
"America: Independence After Eight Years of Struggle"
