We Were Fighters - Ethan Allen

We were fighters  (part 1)

Patriot Inspirations

Ethan Allen - quick history

Can you imagine the moment a great patriot entrenched in a sneak attack on the enemy said the words, "We demand your surrender in the name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress" ?  It makes me smile to remember the time we were fighters, we were soldiers, and we were winners. 

The Patriot known as Ethan Allen was was shaped by a frontier childhood. Born in 1738 in Litchfield, Connecticut, he moved as an infant to the frontier town of Cornwall for religious freedom. Growing up on the rugged frontier, he likely learned hunting, fighting, farming crops, and survival skills in a harsh environment with rough cabins and wilderness threats. He faced challenges like isolation, building settlements, and family farming duties. Largely self-educated with philosophical leanings, he could quote Bible verses and debated theology with adults as a boy.   At 17, his father's death devastated him, halting college plans and leading to militia enlistment at 19.

Ethan Allen was shaped into one of the most impressive, tough, physically imposing patriots around. He was the legendary leader of the Green Mountain Boys and a key figure in the early days of the American Revolutionary War.  He was a rugged frontiersman from the wilds of what is now Vermont (then the disputed New Hampshire Grants). Standing tall and powerfully built, he was known for his immense physical strength, fearless demeanor, and unbreakable resolve. He grew up in a hardscrabble frontier life that forged him into a man who could handle himself in fights, land disputes, and the harsh wilderness. 

His most famous exploit came right at the start of the Revolution in May 1775. With Benedict Arnold and about 80-100 of his Green Mountain Boys—a band of rough, determined frontiersmen—Allen led a daring nighttime surprise attack on the British-held Fort Ticonderoga on Lake Champlain. This strategic fortress was loaded with heavy artillery that the patriots desperately needed.  Allen and his men rowed across the lake under cover of darkness, stormed the fort, and captured it without firing a single shot. The British garrison was caught completely off guard and surrendered peacefully. Allen reportedly demanded the fort's surrender "in the name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress!" It was a bold, bloodless victory that gave the young American cause a huge boost in morale and much-needed cannons.

Allen was a fierce defender of his region's independence from New York land claims before the war, using intimidation and direct action to protect settlers. Later captured by the British during a failed invasion of Canada, he endured brutal imprisonment aboard prison ships and in England, yet he never wavered in his patriotism. He refused to break, even when offered bribes or threats, and eventually returned home a hero.  Ethan Allen embodied the tough, self-reliant spirit of the American frontier patriot—physically strong, mentally unyielding, and completely dedicated to liberty. His actions helped spark the Revolution and paved the way for Vermont's eventual statehood. Ethan Allen was a larger-than-life figure who was as strong in body as he was in conviction, never wavering in his commitment to patriotism!

May we all be more like Ethan Allan holding onto fearless resolve, integrity, and Christian faith and remember, we were fighters, We were soldiers, We were winners, and be these things again.