The+Siege+of+Fort+Ticonderoga

= **The Siege of Fort Ticonderoga** =


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The site controlled a [|river portage] alongside the mouth of the rapids-infested [|La Chute River] in the 3.5 miles (5.6 km) between Lake Champlain and [|Lake George] and was strategically placed in conflicts over trade routes between the British-controlled [|Hudson River] Valley and the French-controlled [|Saint Lawrence River] Valley. The terrain amplified the importance of the site. Both lakes were long and narrow, oriented north–south, as were the many [|ridge] lines of the [|Appalachian Mountains] extending as far south as [|Georgia], creating the near-impassable mountainous terrains to the east and west of the [|Great Appalachian Valley] that the site commanded. The name "Ticonderoga" comes from the [|Iroquois] word //tekontaró:ken//, meaning "it is at the junction of two waterways". [|[3]] During the 1758 [|Battle of Carillon], 4,000 French defenders were able to repel an attack by 16,000 British troops near the fort. In 1759, the British returned and drove a token French [|garrison] from the fort merely by [|occupying high ground that threatened the fort]. During the [|American Revolutionary War], the fort again saw action in May 1775 when the [|Green Mountain Boys] and other state militia under the command of [|Ethan Allen] and [|Benedict Arnold] [|captured] it in a surprise attack. Cannons captured were transported to [|Boston] where [|their deployment] forced the British to [|abandon the city] in March 1776. The Americans held it until June 1777, when British forces under General [|John Burgoyne] again [|occupied high ground above the fort] and threatened the [|Continental Army] troops, leading them to withdraw from the fort and its surrounding defenses. The only direct attack on the fort took place in September 1777, when [|John Brown] led 500 Americans in an unsuccessful attempt to capture the fort from about 100 British defenders. The British abandoned the fort following the failure of the [|Saratoga campaign], and it ceased to be of military value after 1781. It fell into ruin, leading people to strip it of some of its usable stone, metal, and woodwork. It became a stop on tourist routes of the area in the 19th century. Its private owners restored the fort early in the 20th century. .media type="youtube" key="F_AKmHfJs9w" width="425" height="350"
 * Fort Ticonderoga**, formerly **Fort Carillon**, is a large 18th-century [|fort] built by the Canadiens and the French at a narrows near the south end of [|Lake Champlain] in upstate [|New York] in the [|United States] . It was constructed by [|Canadien] [|Michel Chartier de Lotbinière, Marquis de Lotbinière] between 1754 and 1757 during the [|Seven Years' War], often referred to as the [|French and Indian War] in the USA. It was of strategic importance during the 18th-century colonial conflicts between Great Britain and France, and again played a role during the [|American Revolutionary War].