A Conversation with Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold at Fort Ticonderoga
Dan Blanchard (DB): Gentlemen, welcome to the present day and back to Fort Ticonderoga. In 1775, you two pulled off a bold move here, surprising the British garrison in the dead of night. Looking around now at this restored historic site, what’s it like to see it standing as a museum?
Ethan Allen (EA): By the eternal God, sir, it is a marvel. When I last stormed through these gates, it was to roust the king’s men from their slumber. Now I see schoolchildren and tourists strolling about where once I bellowed for surrender. A different kind of garrison indeed!
Benedict Arnold (BA): Aye, though I’ll add, Dan, that the fort still exudes power. Its walls, its vantage between the lakes — such things do not lose their command with time. To think that today it is visited in peace rather than war — that is a transformation worth beholding.
DB: In 1775, you caught the British completely by surprise. They didn’t even realize a war had begun after Lexington and Concord. How did it feel to seize this fort without a single shot fired?
EA: It felt righteous! The garrison was but a skeleton crew, asleep with their families. They awoke to find Green Mountain Boys at their door and had no choice but to yield. Swift, decisive action — that is how liberty advances.
BA: And let it not be forgotten, sir, that such swiftness was born of initiative. While others debated, Allen and I moved. We understood the cannons here were not mere iron, but the very leverage by which Boston might be freed.
DB: And indeed, Henry Knox dragged those cannons all the way to Boston, forcing the British to evacuate the city. Without your boldness, that might never have happened. But tell me, gentlemen — what was the true leadership lesson of Ticonderoga?
EA: Initiative! One cannot wait upon fortune to knock politely. We seized opportunity as one seizes an enemy by the collar — with force, with boldness, with certainty.
BA: And hard work, Dan. Do not overlook the labor. In 1776, the colonists fortified this place with an almost unbelievable exertion — earthworks, trenches, redoubts, all hewn from the wilderness. That work alone deterred the king’s army from even attempting an assault. Leadership requires both daring and diligence.
DB: That’s a powerful combination — bold initiative and relentless hard work. Now, today visitors stand on Mount Independence or look out from Mount Defiance to imagine how the cannons once changed history. What do you think when you see those heights?
EA: Ha! I think of sweat and powder. Men bled and toiled upon those ridges. To see them now, quiet and green, makes one almost forget the thunder they once bore.
BA: Those heights were the very reason this place mattered. Whoever held Ticonderoga and its surrounding ground held the doorway between New England and the Hudson Valley. Lose it, and the rebellion could be strangled. Hold it, and liberty might yet breathe.
DB: Finally, gentlemen, if today’s leaders were to learn one lesson from Fort Ticonderoga, what would you each tell them?
EA: Seize the moment. When opportunity presents itself, tarry not. Boldness, even brashness, may win where hesitation surely loses.
BA: And after boldness, labor. Grand ideas mean little unless backed by the sweat of men and women willing to toil for them. Victory is not gifted — it is earned, day by day.
DB: Well said. Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold, thank you for your reflections. Fort Ticonderoga truly stands as a reminder that freedom was won not only by daring gambles but also by unrelenting effort.
EA: And perhaps, sir, next time you might allow me to lead the tour!
BA: (smirking) Aye, though I should caution the visitors — Allen’s voice carries louder than any cannon.
DB: (laughs) On that note, thank you both.
