CHAPTER SIX The Calm Before The Storm

From 1759 to 1775 it was peaceful and tranquil at Ticonderoga. There are but few records, though the British maintained a garrison at the Fort and also one at Crown Point. The Fort was used as a storehouse for military supplies, and presumably the garrison did its best to entertain itself in what was then a wilderness. Major Gavin Cochrane commanded for four years, and in 1765 Major Thomas James went down from Ticonderoga to New York to aid in enforcing the Stamp Act. On February 15th, 1767, Lieutenant-Governor Carleton wrote from Montreal to Major General Gage:

“The forts of Crown Point and Ticonderoga are in a very declining condition ... should you approve of keeping up these posts, it will be best to repair them as soon as possible.”

Crown Point caught on fire in April, 1773, and a large part of the barracks was destroyed by an explosion in the magazine. Detachments of the 60th Regiment, the Royal American Regiment of Foot, was stationed here for many years, and Major General Haldimand spent a short time at the Fort. Early in 1775 Major Philip Skene of Skenesborough was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Crown Point and Ticonderoga. However, as he was captured on his return from England the same year and confined as a Loyalist, (though afterwards exchanged and was with Burgoyne in 1777) he could not have done very much Lieutenant-Governoring.

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Ethan Allen