Appendix CHIS/115 Version 32British retreated toward Boston, new waves of Colonial militia interceptedthem. Shooting from behind fences and trees, the militias inflicted over 125casualties, including several officers. The ferocity of the encountersurprised both sides.”Lexington and Concord. (2012). Retrieved fromgaining many new recruits.FortTiconderogaAccording to "The Battle Of Ticonderoga 1777" (2012), “In 1775 FortTiconderoga was surprised and captured by the Americans under EthanAllen and Benedict Arnold. The Fort provided the heavy artillery that thecolonists needed to bombard General Gage out of Boston. Ticonderogaagain became an important bastion on the route from the Hudson River toCanada, this time to resist British invasion from North to South. The end ofthe 1776 campaigning season saw British forces, under the governor ofCanada, Guy Carleton, and Major General “Gentleman Johnnie”Burgoyne, advance south down Lake Champlain and threaten FortTiconderoga. But the year was far advanced and Carleton was an old NorthAmerican hand. He considered it would be too difficult to supply agarrison in Ticonderoga over the winter and withdrew his forces toCanada, in the face of considerable objection from Burgoyne and otherswho wanted to seize the fort that year. On 1st July 1777 Burgoyne’s army,carried by flotilla and marching down the lake side, arrived just north ofTiconderoga. Light Infantry under Brigadier Simon Fraser infiltratedaround the western side of the fort over Hope Hill. Fraser’s troops crossedthe river leading to Lake George and circled around the southern side ofTiconderoga. They climbed Sugar Hill and saw, as Trumbull had, that theTiconderoga was an important symbolfor the Americans, who expected thatthe fort would keep the redcoats out ofthe northern colonies, particularly inview of the winter spent improving thefortifications. St Clair’s abrupt retreatcaused alarm and outrage. A militantProtestant chaplain in the garrison, theReverend Thomas Allen, wrote “Ourmen are eager for the battle, ourmagazines filled, our camp crowdedwith provisions, flags flying. Theshameful abandonment of Ticonderogahas not been equaled in the history ofthe world.” This sentiment wasrepeated with fury across the colonies.
