Fort Ticonderoga had once been owned by the French, but after the French and Indian war was
over, it wasn't strategic enough to keep the fort. They blew up some of the supplies before
they abandoned the fort. The British had subsequently taken the fort, although it supposedly
didn't do much for them. The main thing that thefort could do for the Americans was to get them
supplies and weapons that they currently lacked. After the battle of Lexington and Concord,
the British occupants realized that they would have to refortify the worn out and crumbling
fort. Benedict Arnold, had been familiar with the area and knew of its importance, so he was to
be the leader of the capture along with Eleazer Oswald and Jonathan Brown. Eleazer and Jonathan
were in charge of gathering volunteers for the capture, and the majority of them were members of
the green mountain boys military group. The green mountain boys would also cause some troubles
later as they would only listen to their leader Ethan Allen. The majority of the soldiers being
green mountain boys, Ethan Allen was selected to be their leader, and the capture began. They
had to transport the soldiers by water, and they realized that they would lose the element of
surprise if they waited for everyone. There was little to no one guarding the fort, and they
almost immediately took over the fort, with only one on the American side getting injured. The
supplies that were gained from this capture were extremely useful in many larger battles during
the revolutionary war.
