R-92 Page 1 of 1
2025
VT LEG #382505 v.1
No. R-92. House concurrent resolution commemorating May 9, 2025 as the 250th
anniversary of Ethan Allen’s arrival in Castleton in association with the American
War of Independence.
(H.C.R.72)
Offered by Representative Harvey of Castleton
Offered by Senators Weeks, Collamore, and Williams
Whereas, the Battles of Lexington and Concord, fought on April 19, 1775, initiated the
long and deadly conflict between rebellious residents of the American colonies and the
government of Great Britain, and
Whereas, as a result of a Committee of War held with the Green Mountain Boys and
others in Zadock Remington’s tavern in Castleton, their local field commander, Ethan
Allen, dispatched Samuel Herrick to lead 30 men to lock down Skenesborough (now
Whitehall, New York) and to seize British Lieutenant Philip Skene’s fleet of boats in
order to transport the Green Mountain Boys across Lake Champlain, and Ethan Allen
also directed Gershom Beach to run more than 60 miles to alert men living in towns
along Otter Creek and beyond of the need to rush to Hand’s Cove in Shoreham on the
east shore of Lake Champlain, where they would meet Ethan Allen and more Green
Mountain Boys, and
Whereas, this plan was finalized at Castleton and the Green Mountain Boys
successfully seized the British-held forts and liberated 78 cannons at Ticonderoga and
111 cannons at Crown Point, and these events were seen as early patriot triumphs in the
American War of Independence from Great Britain, and
Whereas, over the next winter, an oxen crew that Bostonian Henry Knox led, moved
29 cannons from Crown Point and 30 from Ticonderoga to Boston, where they were
placed on high ground in order to force the British navy to evacuate Boston Harbor, and
Whereas, these epic military operations enhanced the reputation of the Green
Mountain Boys and contributed to the securing of American independence from Great
Britain and began Vermont’s journey towards admission as the nation’s 14th state, now
therefore be it
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives:
That the General Assembly commemorates May 9, 2025 as the 250th anniversary of
Ethan Allen’s arrival in Castleton in association with the American War of Independence,
and be it further
Resolved: That the Secretary of State be directed to send a copy of this resolution to
the Castleton Town Clerk and the Vermont State University Castleton campus.