| Show am e 0 icv y pi T th v e re a eh oilda h ZY 8 V 0 E york J 1 l afi T IB nr ampy w jr JERSEY arsey ja m wl 18 mortal continental Conti mm i A washington r li 1 l L s 3 y r s J ll 11 YO 11 V komok KOMO ONG 3 H 1 W I 1 A rss M fc A y locq allx islan f g tl W 1 aw 1 l t NEW f 40 v v A I 1 ysis yS ys r ss 06 03 noc vj A inn 11 i 11 v 4 17 MAP WK THAN F ALLEN ilki BM j art DIED yi inal y lit x ah xh my lF nat map and cletur tr from ell Ellit tn allen alien Ilou courtesy gliton minin bullit company Com panr by IELMO ELMO SCOTT WATSON I 1 D ethan allen alien leader of the green mountain goya boys at the capture of p alcon ou may 10 1775 juat yeara ngo ago call upon the british commandant captain delaplace to surrender in the name of 0 the great jehovah and tiie the continental congress of course tile the schoolbook histories say he did rut but there have been iconoclasts who say pay that this Is just another piece of pretty fiction action with which our school histories lire are burdened then there are those who say that his words on that historic bi occasion lork in reality were nere in the name of godl mighty and the continental congress I 1 and again there ire are those who say that instead of this sonorous son brous statement the words used by the redoubtable ethan were tha more commonplace now get out of here you damned old which are we to believe fortunately for those who would know the truth about historic occasions and aad historic utterances on those occasions there has recently appeared a book which may safely be accepted as an authority upon this particular incident and the saying which it produced it Is ethan allen alien written by john poll pell scion of the family which tins haa preserved ticonderoga as a historic shrine and published recently by the houghton mifflin company a book boob which critics seem unanimous in regarding dingas aa the most authoritative biography of this picturesque revolutionary evolutionary It war character that has yet appeared and in ills book the biographer credits ethan allen alien with both the damned old rat and the great jehovah and the continental congress utterances the the only corree correction tion of commonly accepted history which he makes Is to show that these remarks were addressed not to captain delaplace Dela pince but to a subaltern at tern lieutenant Felt feltham bam nere here Is the story as ie pell tells it after describing how the force of americans led by allen alien and benedict arnold made their way through a break in the center of the south will wall of tho the main tort fort at ticonderoga and came upon a sentry sleeping at his post the sentry awakened from his dream saw la in the pale gray light an enormous apparition rushing at him with a sword waving above his head bead ile he had presence of mind enough to cock his musket and pull the trigger but the flint flashed in the pan and the gun misfired fired taking to his heels lie he ran through the long archway tinder the tha south barracks into tile the place dart darmes nes and across it to a n bombproof on the other side shouting all the while to rouse the garrison ethan rushed after him slid and the men with indian war whoops crowded through the wicket gate and climbed the v walls alls of the bastions ethan ordered them to form a hollow square in the place darmes darries dar roes but after they had given three cheers their oyer overcame came their discipline and shouting no quarter terl I 1 they rushed at the doors and stairways of the barracks the first soldier to emerge from the guardhouse tn in the south barracks made a pass at one of the invaders nv aders with a charged bayonet but ethan coming up just then hit him ill in over ov er the bead with the hat flat of ble bis sword the mans ufa ifa was probably saved by a comb he was wearing in his halt half he begged for quarter which ethan granted on condition that he be point nut the commandants ts room the sol dier led the way to a stairway leading up the facade off the west barracks with arnold beside him and a crowd of his men at his bis back ethan started up lip A door opened at the head of the stairs and there appeared on the landing a man wearing an infantry coat and waistcoat but holding his bre breeches in his hand ethan shouted some such phrase as come out oat of there you damned old rat I 1 aud and witt arnold at his side began to climb the stairs meanwhile demanding the surrender of the fort at the top tol of his lungs the man above mot motioned toned them to stop and then asked by what authority they entered ills majesty Maje 4 fort ethan shouted in the num name e of ta the great jehovah and the continental congress 1 reaching the top with his hh sword waving in the air he told the officer that he be must have immediate possession of the fort and all the effects of george the third adding that if this was not complied compiled with or that there was a single gun fired in the fort neither roan man woman or child should be left alive in the fort finding that the officer whom he had been addressing lieutenant feltham was not the commandant ethan started to break in the door but arnold restrained him the door opened without his aid however and captain delaplace Delapl nce the commandant fully dressed stepped 0 out ut realizing there was nothing ise else to do he handed ills his sword to ethan and ordered hla his mento men to be paraded without arms arnold told the british officers he had rice received ived instructions from the cambridge committee of correspondence Correspond ene to take the fort and ethan told them his orders were from the province of connecticut feltham was immediately locked up in the commandants room with sentries before both doors while ethan and arnold amold took De leplace downstairs to order his men to lay down their arms meanwhile the invaders had broken in the doors of the barracks and captured the regulars in their f bunks at fil thans command they dragged the bewildered prisoners out and lined them up to in the place darmes while were all piled in n a room guarded by a sentry A guard was allotted to each prisoner and they were allowed to break ranks and return to their quarters by now daylight was breaking tho the rear guard was swarming into the fort and the men had discovered the cap bains liquor As ethan afterward rehem 1 bared the occasion the sun seemed to rise that morning with r a superior luster and ticonderoga und and its tiep dep tendencies pende cies smiled on its conquerors who tossed about the flowing bowl and wished success to congress and the liberty and freedom of america pell has preserved other anecdotes of ethan allen alien which offer interesting sidelights on the character of this frontier roughneck horn born january 10 30 1738 in litchfield conn the deest child of a bold domineering and clever fa family nilly lie he was given the name of ethan a hebrew name signifying strong ethan once declared declai ed that only two women were dellver edof seven devils marv bla magdalene dalene and ills his mother at one time two of ills friends thinking to alarm him dressed up in sheets and leaped into the road as he was riding home late at night reining in his horse ethan exclaimed well if youre angels or of light rin im glad to see you and if youre joure devils come on home with me my wife Is the devils sister but if he had no illusions Illus loni about hi his wife she probably had none about him nor did his second wife if you marry general allen alien said a vermont tavern keeper to this woman you will be queen of a new state to which she replied ift should marry the devil id be queen of hell oo on one occasion athan nearly broke up op one of the law suits in which ho I 1 0 o was perpetually engaged by watching marching into the courthouse in full military regalia with a tinge huge sword swinging at ills hla sidy side waving his cocked hot hat to demand silence and turning to the prosecuting attorney he roared out 1 I would have the young gentleman to know that with my logic and reasoning from the eternal fitness of things I 1 can upset his hi blackstone his white stones ills his rave grave stones atones and tile brimstones brim stones 1 and those are only u n few of the s nod and doings which tills this annu alio hu lias has won ile ue a b f pom fr called the typical frontiersman the rob rok ro of a wilderness commonwealth the robin hood of new england and the strong boy ot of the revolution Revo ludo n 11 ethan soon found the nutmeg state too narrow a sphere of action for his tremendous energies and after trying a bit of farming fanning a bit of mining and wandering from place to place he finally landed in the region tie he fitted so perfectly this was the territory which lay between new hampshire and new york known as the new hampshire grants there during his lifetime he acquired some aclei acres of wilderness domain by grants from the new hampshire provincial government ern ment but this ibis territory was the province of new york who tried to colonize it rut but tt it tried in vain already it was held by I 1 squatters called the green mountain boys boyi before long the name of ethan allen alien wa was a name of derror terror t to ci settlers who dared to encroach upon theland the land with new york grants and to the tha officials rials whom governor colden colde n sent out to survey the lands and try to enforce new yorks title cabins were offered as aa burnt sacrifices to the gods cods of the world and the settlers driven out with instructions to go your way now and complain to that damned scoundrel your governor damn your governor laws mug king council and assembly in despair the officials of new york proclaimed ethan allen alien an outlaw and placed a price on his head ethan retaliated with a similar proclamation against the tha governor of NOW new byork york so the war of words and from time to L tine time a more serious war of action conal continued ed 6 tapo came the outbreak of the revolution fun and nthan ethan allen alien embarking upon what was osten sibly a patriotic expedition but what was in reality a amov move e to safeguard the frontier hta his wilderness commonwealth in case of war between canada and the united colonies thundered on the portal of all earthly kings at ticonderoga and won an imperishable place la in american lils his tory unfortunately for that fame the remain remainder det bof f of bis big revolutionary war career breer was a sad anti climax ile he 0 organized a filibustering expedition into canada with the object of capturing montreal but after a short and almost farcical farel cal campaign was captured by the British kertas A prisoner of war or until 1778 he then returned to his wilderness commonwealth by now organized under the name of vermont but still itell not a member of the colonial i family there he rose to even greater power asa sort of an uncrowned king ills his hatred for new york was ns as strong as ever for new alamp hampshire ha be had an aversion almost as great as for the other colony and for the continental congress in whose choso name he had sworn at ticonderoga he had profound contempt tills this congress refusing to deal with allens aliens outlaw administration steadfastly declined to consider adding vermont to the united Col colonies onles so iso allen alien began negotiations with tile british for annexation of vermont to canada under tinder british dominion domIn lon with a certain measure mea ot of independence reserved for tills this lie barre has b been en branded by some historians as a traitor although although his treason to Is doubtful in light of the fact that the congress bad cast Vermont loose to shift NJ cor its own independent existence ethan allens aliens turbulent career came to an end in the roistering mariner manner in which he had lived in february 1780 1789 he deedon died on alcad of hay bay while returning from a joyous drinking party on an island in lake champlain Champl aln A year later new york gave up its claim to the vermont lands landd and recognized the independence of thail colony in 1701 it was taken into the united stites states as the first to be admitted after the thirteen i original colonies and when vermont came to honor her two greatest men by their monuments la in statuary rj ball in the notional national capitol in washington tbt th first one chosen wis waa rahan kanan allem alien |
