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Naval History and Heritage Command

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Ticonderoga I (Sch)

A village in Essex County, N.Y., on La Chute River, 100 miles north of Albany. The name is an Iroquois Indian term which means "between two lakes" and refers to Lake George and Lake Champlain. Here, the French built a fort called Carillon in 1755, but it was captured four years later by British troops under General Amherst. Early in the American Revolution, on 10 May 1775, Ethan Allen and his "Green Mountain Boys" captured the fort from the British. General Sir John Burgoyne recaptured the fort in May 1777, holding it until his surrender at Saratoga, N.Y., on 17 October 1777.

I
 
(Schooner: tonnage 350; length 120'; armament 8 long 12-pounders, 4 long 18-pounders, 3 32-pounder carronades)

The first Ticonderoga, a merchant steamer built in 1814 at Vergennes, Vt., was purchased by the Navy at Lake Champlain and converted to schooner rigging; and relaunched on 12 May 1814.

Ticonderoga rendered gallant service with Captain Thomas Macdonough's squadron during the Battle of Lake Champlain on 11 September 1814. Commanded by Lt. Stephen Cassin, Ticonderoga compelled sloop HMS Finch (formerly the U.S. sloop Growler) to surrender after riddling her with shot and forcing her aground. She also assisted in the capture of sloop HMS Chubb (formerly the U.S. sloop Eagle), and repelled several boarding attempts by British gunboats. Midshipman Hiram Paulding used his pistol to discharge one of the schooner's cannon when firing matches proved defective. During the two-and-one-half hour engagement, six members of Ticonderoga's crew were killed, and six others wounded.

After the war, Ticonderoga was laid up at Whitehall, N.Y. A decade later, she was pronounced unworthy of repair and sold at public sale on 19 July 1825.

Published: Mon Mar 28 09:44:26 EDT 2016