This is the fourth in a series of articles highlighting the 250th anniversary of the real beginning of the American Revolution in upstate New York and specifically Albany County, which in 1775 stretched from Kingston north to Lake George.

However, it was another event on May 10th that made the impending conflict real…and confusing.  In a small action with large consequences, Albany patriots became embroiled in the fog of war. The capture of Fort Ticonderoga and it’s all important artillery changed the lives of many. In an inadvertent and largely haphazard action, two now well-known patriots met for the first time and forged an unplanned alliance.  Unknown to each other, Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold had each received instructions from Connecticut and Massachusetts respectively, to conduct a raid on a British held fort in another colony, without the prior knowledge of that colony. What could go wrong? Fortunately, the capture was bloodless, as was the capture of the small garrison at Crown Point the next day. However, it was to be the first step in the first campaign of the American Revolution that would not end well.

Ethan Allen in his report to the Albany Committee written the next day summarized the action in one long run-on sentence:

Col. Arnold entered the fortress with me side by side the guard was so surprised that contrary to our expectation did not fire on us but fled with precipitancy we immediately entered the fortress and took the garrison prisoners without bloodshed or any opposition they consisted of one Captain and a lieutenant and forty two man little more need to be said

But there was more to be said:  

I expect immediate assistance from you both in men and provisions you cannot exert yourselves too much in so glorious a cause the number of men need to be more at first till the other colonies can have time to muster…

So now, what to do?  The Albany Committee punted. Responding a few days later, after consulting with their New York City Committee brethren, they told Arnold their powers “are too limited to permit either body to take an active step in the matters proposed before we have the opinion of the Provincial or Continental Congress.” Two steps forward, one back.

The Continental Congress in Philadelphia took little time to respond. Concerned about a British counterattack from Canada, they authorized the Albany Committee to supply “an additional body of forces as will be sufficient to establish a strong post.” Calls for men immediately went out to recently organized Albany Districts and two companies were formed and sent to Ticonderoga.  In addition, the Patriot Governor of Connecticut, John Trumbull, agreed to send 1000 militiamen under the command of Col. Benjamin Hinman. Americans were prepared to respond to the British threat by marching off to war. That was the easy part.

The Provincial Congress, “convinced that persons in the vicinity of Albany would be most proper to put the plan in execution” appointed five members of the Albany Committee, including three men from the Saratoga District, George Palmer, Dirk Swart, and Peter Lansingh, to head up the response. Their orders hinted at some of the issues facing the Americans in their attempt to hold onto the forts along Lake Champlain. They were instructed to “cultivate harmony between the New England troops and others…not to countenance any persons to make any incursions into Canada… [and] procure provisions [food and clothing] and materials [weapons and ammunition] necessary to fulfill the design the Congress has in view.” 

In the meantime, the joint leadership of Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold was not working out very well. Allen, impetuous and unfamiliar with the logistics of campaigns, attempted to capture Saint-Jean across the border in Canada and was repulsed by British reinforcements sent south from Montreal after the fall of Fort Ticonderoga. Arnold, with superior organizational and tactical skills, was not pleased with Allen’s decisions. With the arrival of Colonel Hinman who took command, Allen returned to Vermont and Arnold, not willing to serve under Hinman, went home to Connecticut. 

Providing supplies and ammunition to these men proved an even more difficult task than disputes over leadership of the gathering militia. Fortunately, the Albany Committee was able to obtain the services of a prominent member of the community experienced in the logistics of war.

Phillip Schuyler was the most prominent member of one of the wealthiest Dutch Albany families. Their estate grew over generations as a result of success in the fur trade, real estate – Schuyler owned extensive property at Saratoga which included farmland, mills and a country house – and intermarriage with other elite families. As a young man during the French and Indian War Schuyler used his connections to procure military supplies for the British Army that would propel him into a prominent role in the American Revolution. As a member of New York’s General Assembly, he became a leader in opposition to British overreach and readily joined the Patriot cause as war approached. 

In May 1775 Schuyler was one of twelve New Yorkers appointed to serve in the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia. On June 15 he was commissioned as one of four major generals of the Continental Army one day after George Washington was appointed Commander in Chief.  Within days Schuyler and Washington, accompanied by Major General Charles Lee and Brigadier General Horatio Gates, left for New York City.

Arriving on June 25th to festivities and welcoming speeches, the party received a dispatch from Massachusetts bringing news of the bloody Battle of Bunker Hill which resulted in a British “victory” at the expense of 226 British soldiers. The defending Americans lost 138 soldiers and over 300 were wounded. The first conventional battle of the long war propelled Washington to leave immediately for Cambridge to assume command of his battered troops. A few days later Schuyler boarded a sloop and proceeded north to Albany, arriving on July 9. He had his work cut out for him.

Waiting for him in Albany was a late-night letter written by Dr. Samuel Stringer, who had assumed leadership of the Albany Committee when Abraham Yates was appointed to the Provincial Congress six weeks earlier. After congratulating Schuyler on his appointment, Stringer turned to the challenges before him.

I’m afraid that the posts above [Ticonderoga and Crown Point] are in a bad situation for provisions, especially flour which the commissary told me has a supply of only eight days. Your presence is greatly needed here and unless you arrive soon expect you will find the business altogether in greater confusion than you can conceive.

Stringer was correct, as Schuyler soon found out for himself. Upon arriving at Ft. Ticonderoga a few days later he described what he found in a letter to General Washington, stating that “Not one earthly thing for offense or defense has been done. The Commanding officer [Benjamin Hinman] had no orders.”  Hinman had arrived on June 17 with 1,400 Connecticut troops but was unable to deal with the shortage of provisions and the unmanageable troops, writing to Schuyler that “I wait with impatience for your arrival as I find myself very unable to stere in this stormy cituation.”

Schuyler prepared to address the many issues confronting him north of Albany. However, first he was required to deal with unrest to the West. British Loyalists and their Iroquois allies were threating to stand up for the Crown in defiance of the American Rebels.

Sources:

Albany County, Stephan Bielinski in The Other New York, 2005 Colonial Albany Social History Project, Stefan Bielinski, Extensive website of Albany Colonial History and Biographies Welcome To The Colonial Albany Project  Website 

Founders Online, National Archives, George Washington correspondence 

Journals of the Provincial Congress of New York 1775-1777. Google books

Journals of the Continental Congress, Library of Congress, 1775

Minutes of the Albany Committee of Correspondence 1775-1778, compiled by James Sullivan, State Historian, 1923

Papers of Philip Schuyler, New York Public Library Digital Collections

Proud Patriot: Philip Schuyler and the War of Independence 1175-1786, Don R. Gerlach, 1987

The American Revolution in New York, Alexander Flick,1926

The British are Coming, Vol 1 of the Revolutionary Trilogy, Rick Atkinson, 2019