Fort Ticonderoga: Key to a Continent

by Edward P. Hamilton

Edward P. Hamilton's Fort Key to a Continent remains an important book today. Here you will find the dramatic story of the Fort told in lively, concise prose. You will meet first-hand, and hear in their own words, everyone from officers to private soldiers, telling both of broad strategy and the daily slog and tedium of army food and fatigue duty. You never forget the geographical significance of this narrow chokepoint on the great water highway linking New York and Montreal. You taste the spruce beer, smell the musket's black powder, and heft countless bateaux over the portages. No fort anywhere in the world has a history such as that possessed by Fort Ticonderoga, yet it's active life was but a score of years. Six times armies had marched against the little fort in the course of twenty years; thrice it held, and thrice it fell. No other fort in history can boast of such a record, Such was Ticonderoga, the key to the vital Champlain Valley.

Genres: History, Military History, American Revolution, New York

241 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

Reviews

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

I purchased Fort Ticonderoga: Key to a Continent at, of all places, Fort Ticonderoga. My thought process was that it would make a good souvenir, support the fort through a purchase at its store, and give me a better grounding in the history of the fort and its surroundings. My interest was further piqued by the fact that it was a reprint of a 1964 history written by the then director of the Fort Ticonderoga Museum.

All of this is prologue to saying that I approached the book with high hopes. What I got was a mixed bag. Colonel Hamilton is at times a gifted writer and provides a very clear understanding of why the Hudson River/Lake George/Lake Champlain waterway was so key to the defense of both Canada from the south and New York from the north during the colonial and revolutionary periods. His history is very detailed, probably because he clearly relied on many primary sources for his research. I was especially impressed with his even-handed views of Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold… two men whom history has unfairly codified into twin peaks of virtue and vice.

On the other hand, much of Colonel Hamilton's effort struck me as being somewhat pedestrian and incapable of holding my attention. And it is also important to note that this is a history from 1964, and is littered with the kind of casual racial assumptions one might expect from that time period. Native Americans, especially, are stereotyped into a monolithic collection of "redskins" who are cannibalistic, unreliable, often drunk, usually cowardly "savages". I don't fault the colonel for that — he is a product of his times — but that particular aspect of the book lessened its impact for me… and lowered my rating from 4 stars to 3.

[Lloyd · Rating 5 out of 5]

This history book explains the importance of the Hudson River, Lake George, Lake Champlain corridor that permitted travel between the British colonies and French Canada during colonial times in North America. Simply put, roads especially in the interior away from the Atlantic coast were nonexistent. Waterways were the primary method for moving people and commerce then. Since the French controlled Canada and the British the American colonies, Forts were built along this passageway to ensure safety and access to the waterway. Fort Ticonderoga was one of the largest of these forts and in a location that could monitor or impede traffic in Lake Champlain. Even before a fort was built on the Ticonderoga peninsula, battles were fought here between native Indian tribes for control of this peninsula. In 1609, the French introduced firearms into these conflicts. Control of this peninsula continued until the end of the American Revolutionary War. The author covers the reasons for the various battles here and the tactics used in those battles. He explains why the forts often deteriorated between battles. All in all, a very insightful look at the strategic importance of this location and the fort that held the key to invasion either from the north or the south.