White House Marks 251st Anniversary of Fort Ticonderoga Capture

WASHINGTON, May 10, 2026 — President Trump released a presidential message on the 251st anniversary of the May 10, 1775, capture of Fort Ticonderoga, the first American offensive victory of the Revolutionary War.

The operation, led by Ethan Allen, Benedict Arnold and a small band of Green Mountain Boys and Massachusetts militiamen, seized the British-held fort on Lake Champlain without firing a shot. The arsenal yielded more than 100 cannons, mortars and howitzers that Col.

Henry Knox then transported 300 miles to Boston. Those weapons allowed Continental forces under Gen. George Washington to fortify Dorchester Heights in March 1776, forcing the British evacuation of the city on March 17.

The statement notes that the victory supplied critical artillery at a moment when the Continental Army possessed almost none. It also highlights the role of irregular forces in the opening phase of the conflict against the British Empire, then the world's preeminent military power.

The release forms part of the America 250 commemoration of the nation's semiquincentennial. No new funding, statutory directives or changes to federal programs accompany the message. It stands as an official White House acknowledgment of the event's place in the Revolutionary War timeline.

Downstream, the statement adds to the calendar of official commemorations that federal, state and local governments will reference in planning America 250 events through 2026. The National Park Service, which administers the Fort Ticonderoga National Historic Landmark, and the Vermont and New York state historical societies routinely align programming with such presidential messages.

Congress separately authorized semiquincentennial activities in legislation passed in 2016 and 2021; those measures direct the America250 Commission to coordinate observances but do not tie specific actions to this anniversary.

This message continues a pattern of annual White House statements on Revolutionary War milestones. Similar releases have marked the Battles of Lexington and Concord, Bunker Hill and the signing of the Declaration of Independence in prior years under multiple administrations. The Fort Ticonderoga anniversary has drawn consistent presidential recognition since the 1976 bicentennial.