Expeditionary· American Revolutionary War
Reinforcement of Fort Ticonderoga ("The Original Eight")
After Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold seized Fort Ticonderoga in May 1775, the strategic post and its heavy guns had to be held and garrisoned.
Men serving in a Marine role, drawn from the New England forces gathering on Lake Champlain, helped secure the fort and the captured British vessels that gave the Americans control of the lake. This service came months before Congress formally created the Continental Marines in November 1775, so these were proto-Marines rather than members of the established Corps. Holding Ticonderoga mattered: its cannon were later hauled to Boston and helped force the British evacuation in March 1776, and the fort anchored the American position on the Champlain corridor into Canada.
Podcast episodes on American Revolutionary War
Record no. 158