Henry Knox’s Revolutionary cannon feat to be celebrated next December

March 14, 2025 Hot Copy

By Cathy DeDe, Chronicle Managing Editor

Next December Henry Knox’s key contribution to the success of the American Revolution will be celebrated as part of the “Semiquincentenial” 250th birthday of the United States.

Monument at north end of Crandall Park commemorating Gen. Henry Knox’s arduous wintertime transport of artillery from Fort Ticonderoga to Boston in 1775-76. The plaques are erected every five miles along the route Knox took. Note: Historian John DiNuzzo says it was horses, not oxen, that mostly did the heavy work. Chronicle 2010 photo/Mark Frost

During the harsh winter of 1775-1776, Knox’s men and horses transported 60 tons of cannons over 300 snow- and ice-covered miles from Fort Ticonderoga to Boston in 56 days.

It’s said that the display of artillery prompted the British to flee Boston.

Warren, Washington, Saratoga and Albany Counties will all be involved locally in the December commemoration.

Warren County’s events will take place on Friday, Dec. 12, at 3 p.m. A reenactor portraying Henry Knox will land in a bateau at the head of Lake George in the south basin.

Cannon “tubes” or barrels will be placed on sleds and pulled by horses about a half mile on Fort George Road, to Lake George Battlefield Park, accompanied by a procession of reenactors.

Note: Artwork often depicts oxen pulling cannons in the snow, but John DiNuzzo, president of the Lake George Battlefield Alliance and spokesman for Warren County’s Knox commemoration says it was mostly horses that did the work.

At 4:30 p.m., Knox historian Rick Atkinson will be celebrated with a reception at the Holiday Inn Resort. At 7 p.m. he gives a talk at Lake George High School.

Events will continue in Washington County Saturday, Dec. 13, with a 9 a.m. parade from Fort Edward High School to the Old Fort House museum. A wreath will be laid at Fort Miller at 10:30.

Washington County will hand off to Saratoga County at 1 p.m., on the Dix Bridge at Hudson Crossing Park. They’ll proceed to Fort Hardy Park for a Knox Festival from 1 to 4 p.m.

Tentative plans also include a program at Stillwater High School.

Saratoga will hand off to Albany County on Sunday, Dec. 14, at 10 a.m., Peebles Island State Park. Later events that day are to include an event at Schuyler Mansion in Albany.

Fort Ticonderoga has its own plans for the first weekend in December 2025, Mr. DiNuzzo said.

The through-piece for celebrations will be a small historic tool called a “linstock,” a long stick used to light cannons. The Saratoga Sons of the American Revolution chapter has a replica linstock that will be passed from county to county along the route Knox took.

Mr. DiNuzzo says he hopes Warren County will have ceremonial stops with the linstock in Hague and Bolton, in addition to the other planned events, even if not as part of a formal procession.

“The entire route from Crown Point to Boston has monuments to Knox every five or six miles,” Mr. DiNuzzo notes.

“At some point we’re trying to simultaneously, in all the counties involved, have a cleaning of those plaques and memorials to raise attention to Knox’s feat…maybe in late August or early September.”

Glens Falls Chronicle Serving the Glens Falls/Lake George region; Warren, Washington and northern Saratoga counties since 1980

Henry Knox’s Revolutionary cannon feat to be celebrated next December

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