The immediate object of the attack on the British Forts at on May 10 and 11, 1775 was first to capture the fortsthemselves, but also to obtain a cannon and supplies to usefor the impending seige of Boston. Washington, who assumed command of the American forces on July 2, 1775,could not attempt this attack without heavy artillery, which was procured by Colonel Ethan Allen, Colonel BenedictArnold and Colonel Seth Warner with Vermont GreenMountain Boys. Green Mountain Boys, was the name of a group of soldiers from Vermont led by Allen, Warner andArnold. They took their name from the Green Mountains inVermont. The Green Mountain Boys were originallyorganized by Ethan Allen before the revolution to protest the claims of the New York government to Vermont territory, and were later joined by Seth Warner and Benedict Arnold.
Seth Warner, was born in Connecticut and later moved toVermont, where he was declared an outlaw in 1771 forforcibly resisting a New York claim to the area, and had areward offered for his capture. Under Ethan Allen andBenedict Arnold, he participated in the seizure of FortTiconderoga and led the force that took Crown Point thenext day. Later that year, he was elected lieutenant-colonelcommandant of the Green Mountain Boys. Ethan Allen was also born in Connecticut, moving to Vermont in 1769. Hebecame involved in the struggle between New York andNew Hampshire for control of the region, just like Allenwas.
The New York authorities rejected an appeal that theregion be established as a separate province, and Allenorganized a volunteer militia, called the Green MountainBoys, to resist the New York cause. Volunteers were raisedby the Committee of Correspondence. They recruited fiftymen and three hundred pounds to set up the GreenMountain Boys. Allen too, was declared an outlaw by thegovernor of New York. At the outbreak of the Revolution,Allen and The Green Mountain Boys offered to fight against the British. Arnold was born in Connecticut and enlisted inthe militia during the French and Indian War.
Later, as amilitia colonel, Arnold joined with Allen and The GreenMountain Boys to take Fort Ticonderoga . Allen andArnold, by order of the Connecticut legislature, crossed lakeChamplain in two boats with a total of eighty-three men andcaptured Fort Ticonderoga early in the morning of May 10,1775, while the British garrison was still sleeping. Allendemanded that the British commander surrender in the nameof the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress. Thecommander complied and consequently there was nobloodshed. Military supplies from the fort were used to aidGeorge Washington’s ill-equipped American forces, whowere attempting the seige of Boston.
