join me today on the ancestral findings podcast as we ask the question who was
Ethan Allen and what role did he play in the American Revolution the man known as
the father of Vermont was instrumental in a couple
of key revolutionary battles and he is captured by the British made him a hero
ethan allen may be best known as the father of vermont but he was also a revolutionary
war hero in his own right he was born in rural Connecticut and raised as a farmer but one with
an impressive education that included philosophy his experience as a farmer led to him becoming
interested in land speculating and he purchased land in the New Hampshire grants in so doing he
became involved in legal disputes surrounding this territory which was claimed by both the
New York and New Hampshire colonies Allen got involved when the Green Mountain Boys formed to
protect the grants from New York in fact Allen became the leader of the group and they began
a campaign of intimidation and destruction of property to force the New York settlers off the
grant land they were already deeply involved in this campaign when the Revolutionary War
started shortly after the battles of Lexington and Concord Allen received a letter from a member of
one of the Connecticut militias informing him they were going to capture Fort Ticonderoga in New York
from the British and asked for his assistance he agreed to bring the Green Mountain Boys to help
in his own account Allen states his motive was patriotism but it also could have been because
it would improve New Hampshire's claim to the Grant land by weakening New York's at any rate
sixty men from Connecticut and Massachusetts met with Allen and his boys on May 2nd 1775
to discuss the logistics of taking the fort Allen was elected leader of the expedition that day the
raid on the fort was planned for May 10th and two small regiments were sent to get boats to
help them get to where they needed to be on May 9th Benedict Arnold arrived without notice to
meet with the raiding party this was long before his infamous betrayal of the colonies when he was
still considered one of the top commanders of the Continental Army Arnold brought with him a
commission from the Massachusetts Committee of Safety and and form the men he was the rightful
leader of the expedition the men refused Arnold's leadership and said they would only follow Alan
Alan and Arnold met in private and worked out a solution of co-leadership of the raiding party
this meant they would both be at the front of the troops when they went to take the fort the raid
on the fort went as planned happening when most of the fort's residents were asleep the Raiders
took the lone century by surprise who woke up the fort's British commander when the commander
saw Alan Arnold and all their men he handed over his sword and surrendered fort ticonderoga without
any violence to anyone on either side being done Alan's Fame and the revolutionary cause
was established quite firmly in this victory however his second revolutionary endeavor did
not go quite as well in September 1775 he led an army to gain control of Montreal which was
not successful and resulted in him being captured by the British he was put on a ship and sent to
England where he was in his own words treated very badly in his prison in Cornwall the King decided
that prisoner exchanges were a better method of dealing with these things as many British
soldiers and commanders have been captured by the colonists Allen was put back on a ship
and returned to New York City a stop was made in Ireland on the way where villagers in Cork learned
the famous Ethan Allen was among them and took up donations to buy better food and clothing for him
and the other American prisoners then the British were providing once he was in New York City Allen
was granted limited parole as a colonial officer this meant he could walk around the city on his
own but had to report daily to a British officer while on parole Allen's brother IRA sent him money
to pay to improve the conditions in which he was being kept and to buy him the luxuries he was used
to however it was also during this parole that Allen learned of the death of one of his young
sons Thomas one of Allen's 8 children among wives to smallpox this caused Alan to become despondent
for a while and he wandered away from his parole post wandering away and his recapture soon after
meant Alan was put in solitary confinement and not allowed to roam the city unattended it didn't
matter much in the long run as Alan was released very soon after this incident being exchanged for
a British prisoner in 1778 after being repatriated Alan reported to George Washington at Valley Forge
where Washington made Alan a colonel in the Continental Army on May 14th 1778 Washington
cited Alan's fortitude firmness and zeal in the cause of his country manifested during his long
and cruel captivity as well as on former occasions Alan was granted military pay of $75 a month his
new rank however meant there was no active role for him in the war unless called upon to do
something as he was never called upon his payments were eventually discontinued after being made
a colonel and released to return home Alan went back to the grants which had declared independence
from either New York or New Hampshire in 1777 during Alan's absence the grants were now the
newly independent nation of Vermont Alan resumed political activity in Vermont assisting the new
tiny nation in its ongoing dispute for control over the territory with New York once New York
backed off Alan was instrumental in efforts by the leadership of Vermont to be recognized as a nation
by the Continental Congress he also participated in negotiations with Great Britain for the
possibility of Vermont becoming a British province Ethan Allen died at the age of 50 after losing his
first wife and eldest daughter remarrying and having three more children by his second wife
the last one being born posthumously he died at his home in Burlington Vermont which was part
of the original grant land he purchased though he died two years before Vermont was admitted the new
United States as its first state that wasn't an original colony he is still considered the father
of Vermont because of his efforts to make it free and was honored as such after his death Vermont
still honors him and his name is practically synonymous with the state he helped create did you
know that there was a change in our calendar in 1752 there was and it changed the way things were
dated join me the next time on ancestral findings podcast and we'll try to figure it all out and get
the date correct in your research copyright by ancestral findings all rights reserved
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