Friday, September 25, 2026 – 8am to 5pm
Leaving from Fort Ticonderoga, NY
Our Tour Leader: Dr. Bruce Venter
Registration Fee: $195
Fort Ticonderoga and America’s History will partner again this year to offer a one-day Revolutionary War tour in connection with the Fort’s 22nd Annual American Revolution Seminar. This is a new tour created especially for the Fort Ticonderoga Seminar.
This tour takes place on the Friday of Fort Ticonderoga’s American Revolution Seminar. Please see www.fortticonderoga.org for the seminar program and details. You may take the “Behind Enemy Lines” tour without attending the seminar.
In September 1777 during Lt. Gen. John Burgoyne’s campaign to capture Albany, American militia commanded by Maj. Gen. Benjamin Lincoln staged a daring raid on the British army’s supply line from Fort Ticonderoga to Lake George and Skenesborough. It is one of the most unappreciated operations of the campaign.
Although the Pawlet Expedition had some successes and some failures, in the main, it created major consternation in Burgoyne’s mind, forcing him to roll the dice in a failed attempt to turn the left flank of Maj. Gen. Horatio Gates’ army at Bemis Heights. Burgoyne’s defeat on October 7, 1777 paved the way for an ultimate retreat back to Saratoga (Schuylerville, NY) and the surrender of his army on October 17.
During this tour we will trace the march of Col. John Brown’s force from Pawlet to Ticonderoga Landing and Mount Defiance, Col Samuel Johnson’s attack on Mount Independence, and Col. Benjamin Woodbridge’s actions at Skenesborough. We will take a boat ride to interpret Brown’s attack by water on the British supply depot on Diamond Island. Weather permitting (for docking purposes), we will land on the island, unlike Col. Brown, to see it from the British perspective.
We will return to Fort Ticonderoga in time for you to attend the opening session of Fort Ticonderoga’s American Revolution Seminar. This is a unique tour that will inform you about a seemingly overlooked aspect of the Saratoga campaign.
Other important information: This tour is limited to 39 participants, so please register early. A minimum of 20 participants is needed to run the tour. This is a land and water tour. The bus will leave the main parking lot of Fort Ticonderoga at 8:00 a.m. and return by about 5:00 p.m. Check Fort Ticonderoga’s American Revolution Seminar information for hotels in the Ticonderoga area.
What’s included: Motor coach transportation, a boat ride to Diamond Island, lunch, snack and beverage breaks, all admissions and gratuities, a map and materials package and the services of a tour leader selected for his knowledge and expertise on this topic. Of course, Lynne’s world famous brownies will be onboard.
Our Tour Leader: Dr. Bruce Venter, president of America’s History, LLC is an experienced tour leader of the Colonial and Revolutionary War period. He is the author of The Battle of Hubbardton: The Rear Guard Action that Saved America and an article entitled “Behind Enemy Lines: Americans Attack Burgoyne’s Supply Line.” Bruce & Lynne Venter are the purveyors of the nationally acclaimed “premier” conference on the American Revolution in Glen Allen, Virginia.
Register by phone, e-mail or postal mail:
- Phone: 1-703-785-4373
- Email us at: info@AmericasHistoryLLC.com
- Postal mail: America’s History LLC, P. O. Box 1076, Goochland, VA 2306
This tour will feature the raids, forts, and battles in the Schoharie Valley during the American Revolution.
America’s History, LLC will again partner with Fort Ticonderoga to offer a one-day Revolutionary War bus tour.
One of the most iconic operations of the Revolutionary War was the transport of artillery and military munitions from Fort Ticonderoga and Crown Point to Boston by Col. Henry Knox. In the dead of winter, the “Noble Train of Artillery” was floated south on Lake George. After a heavy snowfall, the guns were pulled by sled from Lake George to Albany after crossing the Mohawk and Hudson rivers, and then hauled over the Berkshires to Boston. Here the guns were placed on Dorchester Heights by George Washington’s army in March 1776, much to the surprise of the British currently under siege in Boston. A young, former Boston bookseller, Knox, who had a penchant for artillery, was given the chance to command the expedition which he completed successfully. It is a story worth telling as we approach the 250th anniversary of this event next year. We’ll avoid the snow drifts, ice and sleet experienced by Knox’s men by traversing the route in June, rather than the blistery cold days of December through February in 1775-76. But it will be a memorable trek, nonetheless. 