The noble train of artillery, also known as the Knox Expedition, was an expedition led by Continental Army Colonel Henry Knox to transport heavy weaponry that had been captured at Fort Ticonderoga to the Continental Army camps outside Boston during the winter of 1775–76.
Knox went to Ticonderoga in November 1775 and moved 60 tons of cannon and other armaments over the course of three winter months by boat, horse, ox-drawn sledges, and manpower along poor-quality roads, across two semi-frozen rivers, and through the forests and swamps of the lightly inhabited Berkshires to the Boston area, covering approximately . Historian Victor Brooks has called Knox's exploit "one of the most stupendous feats of logistics" of the entire American Revolutionary War. The route which he followed is now known as the Henry Knox Trail, and the states of New York and Massachusetts have erected markers along the way.
Background
The American Revolutionary War erupted with the Battles of Lexington and Concord in April 1775. Benedict Arnold was a militia leader from Connecticut who had arrived with his unit in support of the Siege of Boston; he proposed to the Massachusetts Committee of Safety that Fort Ticonderoga on Lake Champlain in the Province of New York be captured from its small British garrison. One reason that he gave to justify the move was the presence of heavy weaponry at Ticonderoga. On May 3, the committee gave Arnold a Massachusetts colonel's commission and authorized the operation.
The idea to capture Ticonderoga had also been raised to Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys in the disputed New Hampshire Grants territory in Vermont. Allen and Arnold joined forces, and a force of 83 men captured the fort without a fight on May 10. The next day, a detachment captured the nearby Fort Crown Point, again without combat. Arnold began to inventory the two forts for usable military equipment, but he was hampered by a lack of resources and conflict over command of the forts, first with Allen and then with a Connecticut militia company sent to hold the fort in June. He eventually abandoned the idea of transporting the armaments to Boston and resigned his commission.
Expedition planning
In July 1775, George Washington assumed command of the forces outside Boston, and one of the significant problems which he identified in the nascent Continental Army was a lack of heavy weaponry, which made offensive operations virtually impossible. It is not known who proposed the operation to retrieve the Ticonderoga cannons, but historians tend to credit either Henry Knox or Benedict Arnold with giving Washington the idea; regardless, Washington chose Knox for the job.
Knox was a 25-year-old bookseller with an interest in military matters who served in the Massachusetts militia, and he had become good friends with Washington on his arrival at Boston. When Washington gave him the assignment, he wrote that "no trouble or expense must be spared to obtain them." On November 16, Washington issued orders to Knox to retrieve the cannons and authorized £1000 for the purpose, and he wrote to General Philip Schuyler asking him to assist Knox in the endeavor. Washington's call for the weapons was echoed by the Second Continental Congress, and they issued Knox a colonel's commission in November—although it did not reach him until he returned from the expedition.
Knox departed Washington's camp on November 17 and traveled to New York City for supplies, reaching Ticonderoga on December 5. He shared a cabin with a young British prisoner named John André at Fort George at the southern end of Lake George. André had been taken prisoner during the Siege of Fort St. Jean and was on his way south to a prison camp. The two were of a similar age and temperament, and found much common ground to talk about. The next time they met, however, Knox presided over the court martial which convicted André and sentenced him to death for his role in Benedict Arnold's treason.