Revolutionary War six-pounder cannonball, recovered at Fort Ticonderoga

Recently I made a trip to upstate New York and the Champlain Valley area. I met up with a lifelong local resident of Ticonderoga and was able to acquire some items from him that he recovered many years ago near the fort.

One of these items is a Revolutionary War 6-pounder solid-shot cannonball recovered at Fort Ticonderoga. It has a diameter of 3 ½”  and weighs 6 pounds, 9 ounces. During the Revolution both sides made extensive use of artillery and 6-pounder cannons. There is one on display in the Fort Ticonderoga Museum (see pictures).

At the beginning of the war the Patriots had almost no artillery of their own, but Washington used captured British guns from Fort Ticonderoga to drive the British out of Boston in 1776 (see period cannon). The Americans eventually developed the capacity to manufacture their own cannon, and they obtained many of the guns they needed from France.

Located on Lake Champlain in northeastern New York, Fort Ticonderoga served as a key point of access to both Canada and the Hudson River Valley during the French and Indian War. On May 10, 1775, Benedict Arnold joined Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys of Vermont in a dawn attack on the fort, surprising and capturing the sleeping British garrison. Although it was a small-scale conflict, the Battle of Fort Ticonderoga was the first American victory of the Revolutionary War and would give the Continental Army much-needed artillery to be used in future battles.

The ball remains in very nice condition with no flaking or chipping, typical of an early recovery. One off these cannon balls were found at Crown Point, NY in 1982 (see pictures). A light coat of varnish was applied for preservation.