Ticonderoga: Provincials Seize the Fort, May 1775

An Eyewitness Testifies to Friction Between Arnold and Allen

The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Photography Collection, The New York Public Library.

The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Photography Collection, The New York Public Library. "Statue of Ethan Allen, Montpelier, Vt." New York Public Library Digital Collections.

The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Print Collection, The New York Public Library.

The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Print Collection, The New York Public Library. "Der Americanische Gener. Arnold" New York Public Library Digital Collections.

Moran, Percy, Artist. Ethan Allen at Ticonderoga / Percy Moran. United States Ticonderoga New York, ca. 1910. Photograph. Library of Congress.

Moran, Percy, Artist. Ethan Allen at Ticonderoga / Percy Moran. United States Ticonderoga New York, ca. 1910. Photograph. Library of Congress.

This powder horn, made from a cow’s horn with a wood plug at the larger end, belonged to Sgt. Levi Gaschet during the Revolutionary War. Sergeant Gaschet enrolled in the Northborough Minutemen in 1775 and served at the Siege of Boston. The engraving on the horn commemorates his service on Dorchester Heights during the siege. American militia often provided their own equipment. Many of them carried a personal powder horn to keep gunpowder dry and to facilitate loading their muskets or rifles.

This powder horn, made from a cow’s horn with a wood plug at the larger end, belonged to Sgt. Levi Gaschet during the Revolutionary War. Sergeant Gaschet enrolled in the Northborough Minutemen in 1775 and served at the Siege of Boston. The engraving on the horn commemorates his service on Dorchester Heights during the siege. American militia often provided their own equipment. Many of them carried a personal powder horn to keep gunpowder dry and to facilitate loading their muskets or rifles.

Ethan Allen’s self-promoting memoir quickly became the authoritative account of the raid, but other sources offer a more fractious account of the events that day.

"“He [Amos Callender] must have been near Allen and Arnold as they entered the fort for when the controversy arose between Allen and Arnold as to who should lead the men, each declaring he would go into the fort first, Allen turned to Amos and said: “What shall I do with the damned rascal? shall I put him under guard?” Callender suggested that they enter the fort together.” “He [Josiah Dunning] witnessed a dispute between Col. Allen and Col. Arnold relative to which one of them was entitled to the command. Both drew their swords and the men under their commands had raised and cocked their muskets when a private named Edward Richards stepped forward and with great firmness commanded both officers to put up their swords and called on the soldiers of both parties to arrest them if they did not desist. This ended the dispute.”"

Robert O. Bascom
Sources
  • Robert O. Bascom, “The Ticonderoga Expedition of 1775,” p. 8.