NewYorksHighest

On May 10, 1775, a sleeping British garrison of 22 soldiers was surprised by a small force of Vermonters who called themselves the Green Mountain Boys, and were led by Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold, who walked into the fort through an unlocked gate. Allen later claimed that he demanded to the British commandant that he surrender the fort "In the name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress!"; however, his surrender demand was made to a junior officer, not the commandant, and no other witnesses remembered Allen uttering such a phrase.[4] Not a single shot was fired. The colonies obtained a large supply of cannons and powder, much of which was hauled 300 km by Henry Knox during the winter of 1775-1776, to Boston, to support the Siege of Boston. In 1776, the British returned from Canada and moved down Lake Champlain under General Carleton. A ramshackle fleet of American gunboats delayed the British until winter threatened (see: Battle of Valcour Island), but the attack resumed the next year under General Burgoyne.