“A Day Longer in the Field” Explores Lives of Provincial Soldiers in A Living History Event at Fort Ticonderoga

Fort Ticonderoga will once again be alive with its premier interpretive programming during its next living history weekend, Saturday and Sunday, February 15-16 from 10 am until 4pm each day. The event will highlight the lives of Massachusetts provincial soldiers garrisoned at Fort Ticonderoga in 1759.

The cost for the event is $10 per person and payable at the gate. Friends of Fort Ticonderoga and children 4 years old and under are free. For more details visit www.fortticonderoga.org or call 518-585-2821.

Guests will stand shoulder to shoulder with costumed interpretive staff as they portray American Provincial soldiers facing the challenges of daily life as a soldier at Ticonderoga during the French and Indian war. The weekend-long event will include special tours highlighting General Amherst’s army and the campaign of 1759. Interactive programs will feature soldier’s life activities including cooking, carpentry, tailoring, shoemaking, and maintenance of weapons.

A guest favorite, Fort Ticonderoga’s highly acclaimed musket demonstration, will be offered several times throughout the weekend and will demonstrate how provincial soldiers, using an array of British army muskets, civilian fowlers, and captured French fusils, used their firelocks.

“Recently featured in Travel and Leisure’s America’s Best Winter Rides, Fort Ticonderoga’s winter programs offer guests an intimate historic experience at one of America’s most beautiful and historically significant locations,” said Beth Hill, Fort Ticonderoga President and CEO. “During these winter programs guests are immersed in specific moments in our remarkable past, interact with talented staff that bring the Fort’s history to life in dramatic new ways, and will truly feel the power of the site in the midst of the quiet and rugged winter beauty at Ticonderoga.”

Weekend Event Schedule:

10 am Fort Opens for Visitation

10:15 am Fort Guided Tour (Beginning at the American Flag) Discover how, during a four-day siege, General Amherst’s army finally achieved the goal of four campaign seasons. Learn how Fort Ticonderoga and Lake Champlain fit into the campaign to capture New France.

11 am Musket Demonstration (Fort Demonstration Area) See how provincial soldiers, using an array of British army muskets, civilian fowlers, and captured French fusils, used their firelocks.

11:30 am “All the Workmen and Labourers” (Beginning at the American Flag) March out to meet the provincial soldiers hard at work in the woods felling trees for firewood and to repair the walls of the newly christened Fort Ticonderoga. Hiking boots and winter clothing recommended.

12:30 pm “an Encouragement to the Soldiers who shall proceed in this Year’s Campaign” (in the Mars Education Center) Explore how Massachusetts provincial soldiers were raised and supplied for the campaign, including how soldiers were recruited, and the role of the Massachusetts House of Representatives.

1:15 pm Fort Guided Tour (Beginning at the American Flag) Discover how, during a four-day siege, General Amherst’s army finally achieved the goal of four campaign seasons. Learn how Fort Ticonderoga and Lake Champlain fit into the campaign to capture New France.

2:30 pm Musket Demonstration (Fort Demonstration Area) See how provincial soldiers, using an array of British army muskets, civilian fowlers, and captured French fusils, used their firelocks.

3 pm Fort Guided Tour (Beginning at the American Flag) Discover how, during a four-day siege, General Amherst’s army finally achieved the goal of four campaign seasons. Learn how Fort Ticonderoga and Lake Champlain fit into the campaign to capture New France.

4pm Fort Closes to Visitors

Available Throughout the Weekend:

Tailor and Shoe Shop (Second Floor of the Officers Barracks) There’s nothing wrong with a little entrepreneurship, even while in the service of His Majesty’s arms! It could pay off to be a shoemaker or tailor in the army, with no lack of need for your services. Explore how these skills could be put to use on campaign.

Soldier’s Quarters (Ground Floor of the Officers Barracks) Discover what meager quarters provincial soldiers could cobble together inside the heavily damaged and captured French Fort, as they recuperated from the fatigue of a long campaign.

Soldier’s Life (Fort Parade) Stand with American soldiers, wrapped in their lapelled coats and leggings, as they undertake their daily duties. Whether cooking their rations, cleaning their guns, or even washing their laundry, learn more about how these provincial soldiers took care of themselves while in garrison at Fort Ticonderoga.

Exhibit: “It Would Make a Heart of Stone Melt” (Ground Floor of the Soldiers Barracks) Examine wounds, disease, injury, and the treatment of these ailments for soldiers at Fort Ticonderoga during the American Revolution.

Exhibit: Pork, Pigeon, & Pottery (Ground Floor of the Soldiers Barracks) In this exhibit of original artifacts recovered from the ruins of Fort Ticonderoga, explore the meals of soldiers and officers who served inside this “Old French Fort.”

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