Fort Ticonderoga, Lake Champlain, NY
Today we did another one of our “hmmmmm….that sounds intriguing” maneuvers after seeing the signs pointing off the highway toward Fort Ticonderoga. Turned out to be a great decision where we enjoyed the scenic route out to and up around Lake Champlain before and after the fort visit. The fort itself was saved over the years and rebuilt by the generosity of one individual William Pell, who acquired it the 1800’s and spent his whole life rebuilding it for us to see and experience. Amazing how the government doesn’t have enough foresight to ensure that our heritage isn’t pilfered and left to crumble. Without people like Pell we wouldn’t have Mt. Vernon, Monticello, Williamsburg and many other national historic landmarks. During our visit we watched a well orchestrated presentation of the Drum and Fife corps, and learned that the purpose of the corps was to provide a communication system to the troops. Always did wonder why they would be concerned with musical flutes in the background while cannons are firing, people are dying and mayhem is engulfing everything. Well, the low base of the drum and the high pitch of the flute allowed the commanders to give specific commands that were broadcast by this corps, for both daily routines (they didn’t wear watches of course and didn’t know what time to get up, eat and get to work), and for the battlefield. The fort was apparently a significant military control point between the British forces in Canada and American forces during the Revolutionary War, which started out as a British fortress and ended up under American control thanks to Benedict Arnold and Ethan Allen, both very famous names for very different reasons. Poor Arnold, come to learn, mostly switched sides after the newly emerging American Government put him through the ringer, by giving away medals of honor to military personnel who lied and took credit for his achievements, continually pressing charges against him for “dishonorable actions” that were always disproven by investigators, and finally handed a bill for funds owed to the US Congress after having donated most of his fortune to the revolutionary cause…which is apparently the straw that broke Arnold’s back and drove him to the more noble behavior of his British ancestry. Granted, he could have just walked over the line and switched sides without trying to take assets with him (the fort at West Point), but interesting to learn more than I ever saw in my high-school history books on the guy. These are things that I did not learn at the fort, but rather part of my reasons for making this trek…find something interesting and dig into the culture and history online while having lunch in the parking lot.
Today we did another one of our “hmmmmm….that sounds intriguing” maneuvers after seeing the signs pointing off the highway toward Fort Ticonderoga. Turned out to be a great decision where we enjoyed the scenic route out to and up around Lake Champlain before and after the fort visit. The fort itself was saved over the years and rebuilt by the generosity of one individual William Pell, who acquired it the 1800’s and spent his whole life rebuilding it for us to see and experience. Amazing how the government doesn’t have enough foresight to ensure that our heritage isn’t pilfered and left to crumble. Without people like Pell we wouldn’t have Mt. Vernon, Monticello, Williamsburg and many other national historic landmarks. During our visit we watched a well orchestrated presentation of the Drum and Fife corps, and learned that the purpose of the corps was to provide a communication system to the troops. Always did wonder why they would be concerned with musical flutes in the background while cannons are firing, people are dying and mayhem is engulfing everything. Well, the low base of the drum and the high pitch of the flute allowed the commanders to give specific commands that were broadcast by this corps, for both daily routines (they didn’t wear watches of course and didn’t know what time to get up, eat and get to work), and for the battlefield. The fort was apparently a significant military control point between the British forces in Canada and American forces during the Revolutionary War, which started out as a British fortress and ended up under American control thanks to Benedict Arnold and Ethan Allen, both very famous names for very different reasons. Poor Arnold, come to learn, mostly switched sides after the newly emerging American Government put him through the ringer, by giving away medals of honor to military personnel who lied and took credit for his achievements, continually pressing charges against him for “dishonorable actions” that were always disproven by investigators, and finally handed a bill for funds owed to the US Congress after having donated most of his fortune to the revolutionary cause…which is apparently the straw that broke Arnold’s back and drove him to the more noble behavior of his British ancestry. Granted, he could have just walked over the line and switched sides without trying to take assets with him (the fort at West Point), but interesting to learn more than I ever saw in my high-school history books on the guy. These are things that I did not learn at the fort, but rather part of my reasons for making this trek…find something interesting and dig into the culture and history online while having lunch in the parking lot.
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