Siege of Fort Ticonderoga
North Country
July 2-6, 1777
British victory
In 1777, British General John Burgoyne devised a plan to divide New England from the colonies by attacking southward via Lake Champlain to the Hudson River. British troops captured Mount Defiance, which overlooked Fort Ticonderoga, the Continental Army’s first line of defense, forcing the Army to evacuate.
The siege was an initial setback for the Continental Army, but it regrouped and went on to achieve a series of victories in the ensuing Battle of Saratoga.
A View of Ticonderoga from a Point on the North Shore of Lake Champlain, 1777, by James Hunter. Courtesy of the British Library.
A view of Fort Ticonderoga from Mount Defiance. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Visitors can follow in the footsteps of General Burgoyne to the summit of Mount Defiance and witness a bird’s eye view of the fort. Courtesy of Fort Ticonderoga.