Introducing a Most Noble Tour

If you’re looking to start America’s semiquincentennial year with a bang, the American Battlefield Trust has you covered with a brand-new tour commemorating the 250^th anniversary of Henry Knox and his larger-than-life haul of 60 tons of cannon from Crown Point, New York to the outskirts of Boston, Massachusetts— 

AKA: the Noble Train of Artillery.  

Wait, “what’s noble train” you ask? Well. It’s the most important—and completely crazy—road trip of the earliest days of the Revolution.  

Here’s some background.   

After April 1775, the shot heard around the world still echoed from Lexington and Concord. In the immediate aftermath of the opening shots of the American Revolution, the British retreated and began their siege of Boston. Thousands of patriot militia swarmed from nearby colonies to support the city, eventually leading to the Battle of Bunker Hill in June. The British won and kept control of the city, but at a huge cost—and what the patriots won there was a massive morale boost. But what followed was a stalemate. Patriots lacked the firepower to dislodge the British from Boston. That firepower, as newly-appointed commander-in-chief General George Washington realized, was at patriot-controlled Fort Ticonderoga—recently taken from the British by Ethan Allen and his Green Mountain Boys. 

On November 16, Washington issued a command: that all military stores that could be spared from New York—including those at Fort Ticonderoga—be sent to Washington’s army for their use against the British in Boston. It wasn’t an easy ask. Washington himself wrote that “the want of [the artillery] is so great that no trouble or expense must be spared to obtain them.” Washington would need a master logistician to pull this off. He picked Henry Knox, a 25-year-old bookseller with a passion for military science and artillery. If he succeeded, the patriots might stand a chance at rattling the British Army out of Boston.  

Spoiler alert—Knox did it. Seriously, this young bookseller with naught but some militia service and book smarts used his noggin, his gumption, and exuberance for the American cause to haul, drag, and sled 60 tons of metal through the snow and ice of a brutal Northern winter. And when he and this artillery train finally rolled into town, the British didn’t stand a chance.  

So we’ve put together the ultimate noble road trip, taking you to many of the sites that witnessed Knox and company’s herculean feat from December 1775 – January 1776, hauling nearly 60 pieces of artillery across frozen rivers, slippery slopes, and snow-slept mountains to ultimately secure General George Washington’s first real win of the American Revolution in Boston.  

But get this--what Henry Knox did in 56 days, you can do it in just seven! And we’ve pinpointed additional museums, historic homes, and even unique pit-stops to add to your journey. 

Henry Knox only wishes he had that kind of insider info. 

So, what are you waiting for? Grab your crew, hop in the car (or sled) and follow along the most crazy road trip of the American Revolution. It’s America’s 250^th birthday—and you’re on the Liberty Trail.