The statue of Ethan Allen, represents a folk hero of Vermonters, who spent much of his life pursuing independence for Vermont. It is one of the Vermont statues in the Statuary Hall Collection of the US Capitol.
There are no portraits of Ethan Allen, but based on written accounts it is believed that Ethan Allen was over 6-feet tall which was unusual for that time. This is backed up by the Ethan Allen Homestead Museum, which also says that “according to contemporary evidence, he was a confrontational, even belligerent person, yet had that power to attract the most devoted and loyal followers.”
That was the case with the Green Mountain Boys, a citizens’ militia that was founded in Bennington in 1770. The Green Mountain Boys formed to keep “Yorkers” (New York Colonists) from taking over what they felt was their land in the region which is now Vermont. (I guess that the contested region now belongs to Vermont says something about who prevailed.)
The rowdy, rebellious Green Mountain Boys were picky about who they would allow to lead them. Ethan Allen was one of the few men they would follow.
In 1775, when Ethan Allen roared at the closed door of British Commander Captain Delaplace’s quarters at Fort Ticonderoga, “Come out, you old rat,” Lieutenant Feltham stepped out immediately, almost fully dressed, except for the breeches that he still held in his hands.
The Lieutenant hadn’t had time to fully dress. He began talking, stalling for time, in hopes that other British soldiers would come to his aid. But none did. Captain Delaplace, his Lieutenant and the few British soldiers that were stationed at the stone fort located on Lake Champlain had been sleeping and were quite surprised by Ethan Allen and his Green Mountain Boys.
When Captain Delaplace finally stepped out from behind the closed door, he was fully dressed. Ethan Allen announced to the Captain that he had orders from the state of Connecticut to take the fort. Allen added that Benedict Arnold who shared command with him had similar instructions from Massachusetts. Captain Delaplace knew he and his men were outnumbered by Allen, Arnold and the Green Mountain Boys so he surrendered the fort.
The fort was situated at an important strategic location, and a large supply of its cannons and other armaments were moved to Boston where they were badly needed in the battle for freedom.
George Washington wrote the following words about Ethan Allen, “There is an original something about him that commands attention.”
Diana Erbio is a freelance writer and author of “Coming to America: A Girl Struggles to Find her Way in a New World”. Read more in her series Statues: The People They Salute visit The Table of Contents and the Facebook Page. (I’ll be adding to the Substack Table of Contents as I transfer the Blog Posts. Please subscribe to this Substack 😊🇺🇸🤓)
I now have a more complete comprehension of the character of Ethan Allen. Thank you Diana!