Commemorations Scheduled at Site of Great French Victory of Fort Carillon on the shores of Lake Champlain, Ticonderoga, New York, USA

Ticonderoga, New York, USA – Exciting programs taking place now through 2009 are bringing history to life at the site of the greatest French victory in North America during the French and Indian (Seven Years’) War.

On 8 July 1758, Louis-Joseph, the Marquis de Montcalm, defeated a British force five-times larger at the Battle of Carillon, marking the high point of French rule in North America during the colonial period.  The Marquis erected a wooden cross at the site of his victory.

Fort Ticonderoga, as it has been known since its capture by the British in 1759, was called Carillon when built by the armies of New France beginning in 1755 at a point controlling the strategic route between Montreal and modern-day New York City.  The star-shaped wooden fort, later reinforced with stone, was constructed in the classic 17th-century style of Marshal Vauban, military engineer to Louis XIV, and was the newest and greatest French fort in all of North America.  The fort occupies the peninsula on which Samuel de Champlain stepped ashore during his North American explorations in 1609.

Programs each summer include the annual War College of the Seven Years’ War in May, the Grand Encampment of the French and Indian War in late June, the July 8 wreath-laying at the Montcalm Cross, and performances by a fife and drum corps outfitted in the uniform of the Royal-Roussillon Regiment from June through August. In 2008, Fort Ticonderoga will observe the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Carillon in June, and also will open the magasin du Roi, the final major structure to be reconstructed on the historic parade ground.  In 2009, Fort Ticonderoga will celebrate its centennial as a museum.

Fort Ticonderoga is located on Lake Champlain in the beautiful Adirondack Park in northern New York State, two hours south of Montreal and three hours north of New York City.  Charming accommodations, abundant recreational opportunities, and great natural beauty abound.  The Fort is open daily from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, May  through October. 

Fort Ticonderoga, National Historic Landmark
PO Box 390, Ticonderoga, NY  12883

For more information, including a calendar of events, please visit
www.fort-ticonderoga.org or call (518) 585-2821.

Contact: Marci Hall, (518) 585-2121, ext. 21
mhall@fort-ticonderoga.org

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Programmes et Activities Celebrent L’Histoire de la Nouvelle-France
an Amerique du Nord: Commémorations sur le site de la très grande victoire française de Fort Carillon en Nouvelle-France sur les bords du Lac Champlain, Ticonderoga, New York, USA