[1] The British forces, nicknamed “red-coats,” were reinforced after the
battle of Lexington.—_Lossing’s Pict. Field Book of the Rev._, vol. i.,
p. 537.
[2] “The provisional Assembly of Connecticut, after the battle of
Lexington, concerted a plan to seize the munitions of war at Ticonderoga,
for the use of the army ... at Cambridge and Roxbury.”—_Lossing’s Pict.
Field Book of the Rev._, vol. i., p. 123.
[3] “Ed. Mott and Noah Phelps ... committee to ascertain ... strength of
... fort and to raise men.... Sixteen men went with them.”—_Idem._
[4] “At Pittsfield Col. Easton and John Brown (afterwards Col.) joined
them.... Col. Easton by the time he reached Bennington had enlisted forty
of his men.”—_Idem._
[5] “At Bennington, they found Ethan Allen ... he sent the alarm through
the hills ... about one hundred Green Mountain Boys and near fifty
soldiers from Massachusetts ... rallied.”—_Bancroft’s Hist. U. S._, vol.
vii., ch. 32, p. 339.
[6] Lossing says in all about two hundred and seventy men went on the
expedition.—_Pict. Field Book_, vol. i., p. 124.
[7] “The men unanimously elected Ethan Allen their chief.”—_Bancroft’s U.
S._, vol. vii., ch. 23, p. 339.
[8] “Arnold joined them here with a commission from the Committee of
Safety in Cambridge, and claimed the right to command. After Ticonderoga
was taken, he assumed command, but his orders were not heeded. He then
sent a written protest to Massachusetts, but this State sustained
Allen.”—See _Lossing’s Pict. Field Book_, vol. i., p. 124, etc.
[9] “It was arranged that Allen ... with the main body should march
to Shoreham, opposite Ticonderoga; that Capt. Herrick should push to
Skenesborough, ... seize all the boats there and join Allen at Shoreham,
and that Capt. Douglas should go ... beyond Crown Point and secure all
boats that way.”—_Idem._
[10] “With the utmost difficulty ... eighty-three men crossing the lake
with Allen, landed near the garrison. The boats were sent back; ... if
... waited for their could be no surprise.”—_Bancroft’s U. S._, vol.
vii., ch. 32, p. 339.
[11] “As the first beams of morning broke ... Allen addressed them, ...
‘we must ... quit our pretentions to valor, or possess this fortress ...
it is a desperate attempt, I do not urge it contrary to will. You that
will undertake voluntarily, poise your firelocks.’”—_Idem._
[12] “At the word, every firelock was poised.”—_Idem._
[13] Allen “drew up his men in three ranks on the shore, ... and in a
low, distinct tone harangued them.”—_Lossing’s Pict. Field Book_, vol.
i., p. 124.
[14] “The king in council had ... dismembered New Hampshire, and annexed
to New York the country north of Massachusetts and west of Connecticut
River ... it was, therefore, held by the royalists that the grants
made under the sanction of the royal governor of New Hampshire were
annulled. Many of the lands for which the king had received the price
... were granted anew, and the former purchasers were compelled to
redeem them.”—_Bancroft’s U. S._, vol. v., ch. 10., p. 214. “Sixty-seven
families in as many houses ... had elected their own municipal officers;
founded three several public schools; set their meeting-house among the
primeval forests ... called their village Bennington. The royal officers
at New York disposed anew of that town, as well as of others near it, so
that the king was known ... chiefly by his agents, who had knowingly sold
his lands twice over.”—_Bancroft’s U. S._, vol. v., ch. 14., pp. 291, 292.
[15] Allen led the party, “Arnold keeping emulously at his side.”—_Idem_,
vol. vii., ch. 32, p. 339.
[16] “They marched quickly but stealthily ... to the sally
port.”—_Lossing’s Pict. Field Book_, vol. i., p. 124.
[17] “The sentinel snapped his fusee at (Allen), but it missed, and he
retreated within the fort under a covered way. The Americans followed,
and were thus guided ... to the parade within the barracks. There another
sentinel made a thrust ... but a blow upon the head from Allen’s sword
made him beg for quarter.”—See _Idem_.
[18] “The Americans rushed into the fort ... and raising the Indian
war-whoop, ... formed on the parade in hollow square to face each of the
barracks.”—_Bancroft’s U. S._, vol. vii., ch. 32, p. 339.
[19] “Allen ... went ... to the door of the quarters of Capt. Delaplace,
... and giving three loud raps ... ordered him to appear, or the whole
garrison should be sacrificed.”—_Lossing’s Pict. Field Book_, vol. i., p.
125.
[20] “Delaplace appeared in shirt and drawers, with the frightened face
of his pretty wife peering over his shoulder.”—_Idem._
[21] “‘Deliver me the fort instantly!’ said Allen. ‘By what authority?’
asked Delaplace. ‘In the name of the great Jehovah and the Continental
Congress.’ answered Allen. Delaplace ... at sight of Allen’s drawn sword
near his head ... gave up the garrison.”—_Bancroft’s U. S._, vol. vii.,
ch. 32, p. 340.
[22] “The garrison of forty-eight men were surrendered prisoners of war,
and ... sent to Hartford.”—See _Lossing’s Pict. Field Book_, vol. i., p.
125.
[23] “120 pieces of cannon, 50 swivels, 2 ten-inch mortars ... 10 tons of
musket-balls, three cartloads of flints ... 100 stand of small-arms, 10
casks of powder, 2 brass cannon, 30 barrels of flour, 18 barrels of port,
etc.”—See _Idem_.
[24] “This success was followed by others; the capture of a
sloop-of-war and St. John’s Fort.... In the autumn of the same year,
he was twice sent into Canada to excite rebellion against the English
government.”—_Appleton’s Cyclopædia of Biography._
[25] “Allen was sent to Canada in 1775; was taken prisoner and carried
to England, where his appearance excited great interest. On his return,
he was received with great demonstrations of joy in Bennington, and made
Maj.-Gen. of Vermont. He died in 1789, aged fifty.”—See _Idem_.
[26] Allen is said to have had a remarkably keen and expressive eye.