Boston Patriot Henry Knox Arrives at Fort Ticonderoga on December 6, 1775 to Transport 59 Canons Back to Boston

 

Image Courtesy of Wikipedia 

On December 5, 1775, Boston bookseller and young patriot Henry Knox (1750-1806) arrived at Fort Ticonderoga in New York, to transport 59 cannons and assorted artillery and ammunition back to Boston to use against the British forces who had captured the town.

Knox was the mastermind and commander of what became known as the Noble Train of Artillery, a 300 mile trek across a frozen landscape in the dead of winter. Knox and his men dragged the arsenal across hills and mountains, frozen lakes and fields, on boats and sleds, with horse and oxen, through dozens of small villages in eastern New York and across all of Massachusetts until they arrived at their destination. His younger brother John Knox, age 19, was also on the expedition.

Knox and his team of patriots, which included his youngest brother John, dragged the cannons across the frozen landscape of eastern New York and western Massachusetts, finally arriving in Cambridge on January 24, 1776.

Soon after, the cannons and munitions were dragged up to Dorchester Heights. On March 5, British General Howe saw the guns aiming down at his fleet, and by March 17, 1776, the British troops, along with their sympathizers, evacuated Boston.

The expedition became known as "The Noble Train of Artillery," and is considered a pivotal episode in the history of the American Revolution. Read Knox's diary of the expedition from the Mass Historical Society.

General George Washington named Knox Chief of Artillery and later, appointed Knox the first U.S. Secretary of War, because of the crucial contributions Knox made throughout the American Revolution.

Born on July 25, 1750, Knox was the seventh of ten sons born to William Knox and Mary Campbell, who had emigrated from the Provence of Ulster in Ireland. The family was among the original Ulster Scots, also known as Scots-Irish, who emigrated to Boston starting around 1717.

The family belonged to the Church of Presbyterian Strangers established on Federal Street by Reverend John Moorhead in 1729, and were among the original members of the Charitable Irish Society, founded in 1737.

Read about the Revolutionary Irish Trail 250 to chronicle public landmarks and institutions the pertain to Irish and Scots-Irish contributions to the American Revolution.