34 



CIVIL HISTORY OF VERMONT. 



Pakt II. 



TICONUEROGA AND CROWN POINT TAKEN. 



EVENTS ON LAKE CIIABIPLAIN. 



two young men, who were a-bed in the 

 chamber, hearing tlie story, conceived the 

 design of deco^'ing on sjiore a large oar 

 boat belonging to Maj. Slcenc, and whicli 

 then lay oil" against Willow point. They 

 dressed, seized their guns and a jug of 

 rum, of wliicli tliey knew the black com- 

 mander to be extremely fond, — gathered 

 four men as they went, and, arriving all 

 armed, they hailed the boat and oflered to 

 help row it to Shoreham, if he would 

 carry them there immediately to join a 

 hunting party, that would be waiting for 

 them. The stratagem succeeded, and 

 poor Jack and his two men suspected 

 notiiing till they arrived at Allen's head 

 quarters, where they were made prison- 

 ers of war. 



Douglas arrived with the scow about 

 the same time, and, some other boats hav- 

 ing been collected, Allen embarked with 

 83 men and landed near the fort As the 

 morning was advancing, it was deemed 

 inexpedient to wait for the remainder of 

 the men to pass over. Arnold now wish- 

 ed to assume the command, and swore 

 that he would lead the men into the fort. 

 Allen swore he should not, but that he 

 himself would be the first man that should 

 enter. As-the dispute grew warm, some 

 of the gentlemen interposed, and it v.ms 

 agreed that they should botii enter at the 

 same time, but that Allen should enter on 

 the right, and have the command. 



Accordingl}-, a little after day break in 

 the morning of the 10th of May, ITT-'j, 

 they advanced towards the works followed 

 by tlieir men.* Tiio sentry at the outer 

 post snapped his fusee at Allen, and, I'e- 

 treating through the cov.crcd way, was 

 followed by the Americans, who were 

 immediately drawn up on the parade 

 within the fort. With so great expedition 

 and silence was this business accomplish- 

 ed that the garrison, excepting the sent- 

 ries, were not awakened from their slum- 

 bers, till aroused by the ^huzzas of the 

 Green Mount idii Boys, already in posses- 

 sion of the fort. The Capt. De Laplace, 

 without waiting to dress himself, hastened 

 to the door of the barrack, when Allen 

 sternly commanded him to surrender, or 

 he would put the whole garrison to the 

 sword. De Laplace inquired by whal 

 authority he dei;ianded it. I demand it, 

 says Allen, '■'■in the name of the Great Je- 

 hovah and the Continental Congress." 



Surrounded by the Americans, the Brit- 



* Allen was guided into iho fort by Nathan Hu- 

 man, a young lad who.se father resided near the 

 lake if. Shoreham. Nathan had passed much oPhis 

 time in company with the boys of the garrison and 

 was familiar with every nook in the fort and every 

 passa;^e and by-path by which it could be ap" 

 preached.— SyfaW;'* ^7/1. Biog. fotumi 1, page 274. 



ish captain perceived that resistance was 

 vain, and surrendered the garrison pris- 

 oners of war, without knowing by what 

 autliority Allen was acting, or that hostil- 

 ities had commenced between Great Brit- 

 ain iind her colonies. As soon as Allen 

 had landed with his party, tlie boats were 

 sent back for the remainder of the men, 

 who had been left under the command of 

 Col. Scth Warner. Warner arrived soon 

 after the place surrendered, and taking 

 the command of a party, set oft' for the 

 reduction of Crovi-n Point, which was 

 garrisoned only by a sergeant and twelve 

 men. They surrendered upon the first 

 summons, and Warner took possession of 

 the fort. Skenesborough was also taken, 

 the same day, by another partv, and Maj. 

 Skene made prisoner. 



By these enterprises, the Americans 

 captured a British Major, a Captain, a 

 Lieutenant, and forty-four privates. In 

 the forts, they found more than 200 pieces 

 of cannon, some mortars and howitzers, 

 and large quantities of military stores ; 

 and also a ware-house filled with materi- 

 als for carrying on the business of build- 

 ing boats. All these cost not the Ameri- 

 cans a single man ; and elated with their 

 success, they now determined to secure 

 the command of lake Cham[)lain, by get- 

 ting possession of an armed sloop, which 

 then lay at St. Johns. For this purpose 

 they armed and manned a schooner, and 

 procured a number of batteaux. Arnold 

 took command of the schooner, and Allen 

 of the batteaux, and they both set out to- 

 geth(;r upon the expedition. But a fresh 

 wind springing up from the south, the 

 schooner out-sailed the batteaux, and Ar- 

 nold soon reached St. Johns, where he 

 surprised and captured the sloop. The 

 wind immediately shifting to the north, 

 Arnold set sail with his jirizc, and met 

 Allen with his batteaux at some distance 

 from St. Johns. Thus, in the course of a 

 few da^'s, and by a few daring individ- 

 uals, was lake Chamjjlain and its impor- 

 tant fortresses secured to the Americans. 



The American Congress, having re- 

 ceived intelligence that the governor of 

 Canada had been making exertions to en- 

 gage the Canadians and Indians to fall 

 ujjon the frontier of the colonies, deter- 

 mined to send a body of American troops 

 into that province, in the hopes that the 

 Canadians would join the other colonies, 

 in opjjosition to Great Britain. For thia 

 purpose, it was proposed to raise 2000 

 men, who were to be placed under the 

 command of Generals Scimylerand Mont- 

 gomery. Much pains were taken to raise 

 the troops, and a large number of bat- 

 teaux and fiat-bottomed boats were built 



