Posted on 06/29/2006 8:38:53 PM PDT by SandRat
FORT TICONDEROGA, N.Y. (June 24, 2006) -- Sometimes history does repeat itself. A French garrison force at Fort Ticonderoga discovered this to devastating effect on June 25.
Battles frequently captivate the imagination of people centuries after they are fought and long after the participants once lived.
More than 4,500 spectators attended a weekend display of colonial battle between nearly a thousand French and British "re-enactors" at Fort Ticonderoga.
Once a year, re-enactors clad in colonial period clothing and carrying flintlock weapons of the day descend upon Fort Ticonderoga in upstate New York for a England vs. France battle.
"We drive down almost every year, take in the sights and make us a picnic, said Claudia Visancon, a French-Canadian from outside Montreal. "It's good to recall history. Even if we did lose today."
"I can't begin to imagine what it was like to be in a battle back then," said Judy McCaullay, a visitor from Maine.
In 1758, during a single afternoon, more than 2,000 soldiers died and many more were wounded at the fort.
The re-creation of the battle showed how fortunes swung back and forth between the two sides, and it was often hard in the fog of combat and cordite smoke to tell who was winning and who was losing.
But ultimately the French lost this year's battle. Some years, a battle lost at the fort by the British is recreated.
Fort Ticonderoga has a long and storied role in early American history. Fighting during two wars occurred at the fort, the French and Indian War and then the American Revolution.
The fort's historic standing was recognized by the U.S. Navy. From 1944-1973, the aircraft carrier USS Ticonderoga was in active service for three wars.
"I became interested in doing reenactments after I was a guide on Bunker Hill in Boston," said a proudly uniformed red coat for the day named John Cook of Pawtucket, R.I. "While I was at Bunker Hill, I gave a tour to John Wayne for the Bicentennial in '76. I got to see then how moved people can get about seeing history," said Cook.
Fort Ticonderoga was the scene of intense fighting during the French and Indian War.
The French and Indian War began in 1754 when a 22-year old Virginian named Maj. George Washington was sent with British troops to eject the French from the Ohio Valley. They failed spectacularly. Washington managed to ignite a long war, but he learned from his mistakes.
During the American Revolution, then Gen. Washington, directed a handful of American rebels from Vermont to surprise the British, capture the fort and seize its cannon. The victors took the cannon and hauled them by mule from Fort Ticonderoga.
It was the fort's cannon staring down upon the British that convinced them to give Washington and his small rebel army their first victory in 1775, when they evacuated Boston.
"I find from history that things are often decided ultimately by a small number of men working quietly against the odds and with resolve," said Cook.
Enjoy a little history that still holds true today.
There are less reliable lists of French-Canadian militia in the same war.
American genealogy enthusiasts who find a stray Frenchman in the woodpile would be well advised to check these lists first to see if they had a soldier ancestor who stayed behind after the war. After all, the Brits didn't give them a free ride home!
I found a group of bitter-enders (beider-einderen) at Vincinnes ~ they're fathers and grandfathers fled South after the loss, but they held out until the American Revolution and instantly signed up with George Rogers Clark to continue the battle for North American freedom and independence.
I could be wrong, but I don't think cordite smoke and flintlocks belong together.
The "Froggies"have been"Throwin' In The Towel"for as long as I've been a fact of life!!!May,8th,1950(and LONG before that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hell, when Chirac caved to the demonstrators last month, the French finally surrendered to themselves. Which makes sense - considering they've surrendered to everyone else.
Thought you might like this for your ping list.
During the American Revolution, then Gen. Washington, directed a handful of American rebels from Vermont to surprise the British, capture the fort and seize its cannon. The victors took the cannon and hauled them by mule from Fort Ticonderoga.Washington "directed" Benedict Arnold to sieze the fort. But when Arnold got to Vermont, Ethan Allen and his band of vigilantes had already decided to do so on their own.
Arnold tried to assert command, but the Green Mountain Boys refused to recognize his authority. But Allen let Arnold tag along during the campaign.
Ah, the French... doing what they do best.
As they say, "The more things change, the more they stay the same."
SCREW THE FROGS!!!!
Only if you want to blow up the flint-lock, cordite was an early smokeless powder, think .303 British.
It looks like thin strands of spaghetti.
BTTT
They've done a wonderful job at the site. It's well worth a visit :)
I used to think The French National Anthem was:"Le Marseillaise".I was wrong!It's actually:"I Surrender, Dear"!!
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Cannon emplacements on the walls of Ft. Ticonderoga, NY watchfully defend the approaches from Lake Champlain, threatening to rain fury upon any approaching attacker. During the Revolutionary War, Ft. Ticonderoga was the scene of a daring surprise raid by American rebels that seized the fort from the British garrison.