NY monument to mark start of 1776 artillery expedition

CROWN POINT, N.Y. – A monument is being installed at the upstate New York starting point of an American military expedition that played a key role early in the Revolutionary War.

The Crown Point State Historic Site on Lake Champlain is unveiling a monument commemorating Gen. Henry Knox and the soldiers who hauled 59 artillery pieces from Crown Point and Ticonderoga to Boston’s outskirts in the winter of 1775-76.

Those guns forced the British to evacuate Boston on March 17, 1776.

In 1927, 55 monuments were installed in New York and Massachusetts to mark what’s known as the Knox Trail, but Crown Point was omitted.

The Friends of Crown Point State Historic Site will dedicate the new monument Saturday.

Part of the funding came from the New York State Daughters of the American Revolution.