These Green Mountain Boys took their name from the
district of Vermont which means Green Mountain. That district,
under the name of New Hampshire Grants, had been claimed by New
York colony. But the Green Mountain Boys had resisted the claim,
and by force of arms proved their right to be considered a separate
colony. Thus having settled their own little revolution they were
now ready to take part in the great one.
At Castleton, Vermont, Arnold met Ethan Allen and his men, and
claimed the leadership of the expedition. But the Green Mountain
Boys scouted the idea. They would fight under their own leader or
not fight at all, they said, and as Arnold had gathered very few
of his four hundred men he had to give way. So instead of leading
the expedition he joined it as a volunteer.
This matter settled the little company marched on to Lake Champlain,
and in the middle of the night they arrived at the southern
end, opposite Fort Ticonderoga. Here the lake is hardly more than
a quarter of a mile wide and the men began at once to row across.
But they had only two or three boats and when day began to dawn
only about eighty men had got over. With these Allen decided to
attack, for he feared if he waited till daylight that the garrison
would be awake and would no doubt resist stubbornly. So placing
himself at the head of his men with Arnold beside him, he marched
quickly and silently up the hill to the gateway of the fort.
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