Region celebrates 250th anniversary of ‘Knox Artillery Train,’ 1775 key in Revolution

By Cathy DeDe, Chronicle Managing Editor

From Dec. 4-13, Henry Knox’s ‘Noble Train of Artillery’ will be celebrated as part of the nation’s 250th Anniversary of the American Revolution.

In the winter of 1775, Knox — a 25-year-old bookseller — led the way in transporting 60 tons of cannon from Fort Ticonderoga to Boston.

Their arrival ‘changed the tide of the Revolution,’ Fort Ticonderga writes,’ freeing Boston from a nearly year-long siege by the British.’

“When the fight for independence broke out, Henry Knox was just 25 years old with a passion for military science and a deep belief in the cause of liberty,” says Saratoga County’s 250th Anniversary American Revolution website.

“What Knox lacked in formal training, he made up for with fearless determination and intellect,” it says.

Knox knew of the cannons at Fort Ticonderoga captured by Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys in May 1775, Lake George Battlefield Alliance president John DeNuzzo told The Chronicle.

What became known as the Henry Knox Noble Train of Artillery was daring, grueling and logistically complex.

The procession traveled, on foot and with 42 sleds pulled by oxen and horses, for more than 300 miles over 56 days, December 1775 to March 1776, on military roads and over frozen waterways including Lake George and the Hudson River.

Some today tout it tongue-in-cheek as “Henry Knox’s Heavy Metal Tour.”

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Here are area events for the 250th anniversary of the Knox Noble Train.

Crown Point & Fort Ticonderoga

• Crown Point State Historic Site & War Cannon Spirits, Thursday, Dec. 4: Special Knox program, details TBA. Artillery from Crown Point was included in the transport.
• “Ticonderoga’s Treasures” Premium Ticketed Experience, Friday, Dec. 5, at Fort Ticonderoga. Original archival documents, rare books, prints and artifacts illuminating the Knox Noble Train. Virtual “seats” to view the event are available on the Fort Ti website, for $35 per screen. In-person tickets ($50) were nearly sold out, says the fort.
• Noble Train Begins, Saturday, Dec. 6, 9:30 a.m.-on, reenactment at Fort Ti. Watch New York soldiers examine the guns of Ticonderoga for fatal faults, “before scaling and cleaning them with the explosive force of gunpowder.”
• The Noble Train to Lake George begins, Sunday, Dec. 7, 11 a.m. in the Town of Ticonderoga. Largest assembly of period vehicles, pulled by oxen and horses, since December 1775, costumed reenactors soldiers and teamsters, says the fort, and a parade.

LG Battlefield Park Alliance
Events in conjunction with the Warren County Commission for the 250th Anniversary of the American Revolution:

“Henry Knox” arrives at Lake George by boat, with cannon, Friday, Dec. 12, 3 p.m. at Lake George Battlefield Park. Re-creation of Knox’s arrival at the head of Lake George in a replica bateau, with fife and drum, 40-plus 18th-century soldier re-enactors, demos of camp life and soldiering skills, flag give-aways. “Knox” and replica artillery transported by horse and sled to Fort George — where Knox actually stayed — to speak about “his perilous journey.”

Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Rick Atkinson in Lake George Friday, Dec. 12. Author of bestsellers The British Are Coming and

The Fate of the Day, is featured prominently in Ken Burns’ new American Revolution documentary on PBS. Sold-out reception at 4:30 p.m. at Lake George Holiday Inn Resort. Free public conversation and Q&A with Rick Atkinson, 7 p.m. at Lake George High School. Books available for purchase and signing. The author will also meet during the day with Lake George Junior-Senior High School students whose summer reading assignments focused in part on the historian’s writings about the American Revolution and World War II.
Old Fort House, Fort Edward

Washington County Knox Parade, Saturday, Dec. 13, 9 a.m. from Fort Edward High School to the Old Fort House, Fort Edward, and then Fort Miller. Wreaths laid at markers along the route. Veterans, students, families, local businesses, and history enthusiasts are invited to join. Register at 747-9108.

Saratoga County & beyond

• The Noble Train Arrives in Saratoga County, Saturday, Dec. 13, 1 p.m. at Dix Bridge in Hudson Crossing Park, Schuylerville. Official passing from Washington to Saratoga County of the replica linstock, the long stick used to light cannons. It’s provided by The Saratoga Sons of the American Revolution
• Knox Fest 250, 1 p.m. at Fort Hardy park. Horse-drawn wagon rides, reenactors portray Knox and General Philip Schuyler, Knox Board Game, tavern fare, Daughters of American Revolution recognition to BOCES replica sled makers, twilight lantern walk and artillery salute.
• Popular Music of Knox’s Era, Saturday, Dec. 13, 6:30 p.m. at Arts Center on the Hudson, Mechanicville. By Musicians of Ma’alwyck.
• Noble Train passes from Saratoga to Albany County, Sunday, Dec. 14. 9 a.m. procession and ceremony at Soldiers and Sailors Park in Waterford. 10 a.m. at Peebles Island State Historic Park. 10:30 a.m. Linstock handoff at Van Schaick Mansion in Cohoes, with speakers, refreshments, tours.

Note: Last spring, students of WSWHE BOCES built two replicas of the sleds used to transport the cannons that will figure in the reenactments.

Students of the BOCES Conservation program at the Southern Adirondack Education Center in Hudson Falls harvested and milled the lumber from stands on the Queensbury school campus. Construction Trades students at F. Donald Myers Education Center in Saratoga Springs cut the lumber and constructed the replica sleds using period-inspired tools and techniques.

Join Knox Train march in Fort Edward, Dec. 13

“Veterans, students, families, local businesses, and history enthusiasts” are invited to join the Fort Edward leg of the Knox Noble Train commemoration — a 1.1-mile ceremonial march on Saturday, Dec. 13, beginning at 9 a.m. at Fort Edward Central School and continuing to the Old Fort House Museum. Call by Sunday, Dec. 7, to register: 747-9108.

The Washington County Draft Animal Association and their animals, will haul replica artillery on period-style sleds made by BOCES students.

Stewart’s special ice cream: ‘Knox Cannonball Crunch’

In honor of the 250th anniversary of Henry Knox’s ‘Noble Train of Artillery,’ Stewart’s Shops is offering a limited edition commemorative ice cream called “Knox Cannonball Crunch.”

Saratoga Battlefield talk

Saratoga Battlefield National Historical Park presents “Myths and Realities of Col. Henry Knox’s Mission to Lake Champlain,” Thursday, Dec. 11, at 6:30 p.m. Speaker J.L. Bell is author of The Road to Concord: How Four Stolen Cannon Ignited the Revolutionary War, and administrator of the Boston1775.net website. Register: sara_reservations@nps.gov.

Ken Burns new series: American Revolution

Superstar documentary filmmaker Ken Burns’ latest offering, on the American Revolution, premiered on PBS stations Sunday, Nov. 16.

A separate PBS documentary on Henry Knox’s Noble Train will premiere at a date to be announced, said Saratoga County’s 250th American Revolution Commemorative committee.

See their website for trailers and details of this and area commemorations of Knox’s Noble Train.

Knox’s ‘Heavy Metal Tour’

This light-hearted promo for 250th anniversary events, à la “School of Rock,” was created by Saratoga County 250th committee member Alex Portal, also a cartoonist and a Post-Star writer.

Note at the bottom, the wooden sleds that carried the cannons. BOCES students made replicas that will be used in the Knox events.

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