Fort Independence (Vermont) Explained

"Fort Independence" is an infrequently used and incorrect alternative name for the extensive Revolutionary War fortifications located on Mount Independence in Orwell, Vermont.^[1] Although "Fort Independence" can be found occasionally in Revolutionary War documents referring to the fortifications on Lake Champlain, the proper and official name of the peninsula and fortifications was Mount Independence. During the American Revolution, "Fort Independence" nearly always refers to a fort in the Boston Harbor or one in Bronx County, New York.^{[2] [3] [4]}

Notes and References

1. "In consequence of the disagreeable event which has taken place in the evacuation of Ticonderoga and Fort Independence—though our situation does not make it prudent to send on any very considerable reinforcements immediately besides those already gone, yet it is necessary we should be preparing to throw them in, when it can be more safely done, and the true state of affairs in that quarter is more clearly unfolded. I have therefore to desire, you will order General Glover to hold his Brigade in constant readiness to embark at a moments warning; and, at the same time, that you will collect at your post, as fast as possible, a sufficient number of vessels to transport them with their baggage, tents &c. to Albany." George Washington to General Israel Putnam, 12 July 1777 from the National Archives.
2. Starbuck, David. The Great Warpath: British Military Sites from Albany to Crown Point, University Press of New England (1999), pgs. 124-159
3. Zeoli, Stephen. Mount Independence: The Enduring Legacy of a Unique Historic Place, Hubbardton, Vt. (2011).
4. Williams, John A. "Mount Independence in Time of War, 1776-1783," Vermont History (April 1967) 2: 60-79.