Crown Point caught on fire in April, 1773, and a large part of the barracks was destroyed by an explosion in the magazine. Detachments of the 60th Regiment, the Royal American Regiment of Foot, was stationed here for many years, and Major General Haldimand spent a short time at the Fort. Early in 1775 Major Philip Skene of Skenesborough was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Crown Point and Ticonderoga. However, as he was captured on his return from England the same year and confined as a Loyalist, (though afterwards exchanged and was with Burgoyne in 1777) he could not have done very much Lieutenant-Governoring. [Illustration: Ethan Allen] CHAPTER SEVEN Ethan Allen In 1775, while the trouble in Boston was brewing, Samuel Holden Parsons, Colonel Samuel Wyllys and Silas Deane, all of Connecticut, and probably at the suggestion of Colonel John Brown of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, conceived the idea of seizing Ticonderoga and capturing the great quantities of military supplies known to be stored in the Fort. The Colony of Massachusetts voted a considerable sum and Colonel Benedict Arnold was authorized to raise a force and seize the fort. About the same time, however, Ethan Allen, leader of a body of irregular troops known as the Green Mountain Boys, also conceived the idea. Allen and Arnold met in Castleton, Vermont, and both claimed the command. The Green Mountain Boys absolutely refused to serve under anyone but Allen. Eventually a compromise was made and a joint command agreed on. A rendezvous was agreed on in Hand’s Cove on the east side of Lake Champlain about two miles north of the Fort and on the night of May 9th about 350 men had gathered. There was a scarcity of boats, however, and the few obtainable were rowed back and forth all night, landing just north of the present Fort Ticonderoga Ferry. Shortly before daylight only 83 men and a number of officers had reached the west shore. Not daring to postpone the attack, Allen proceeded by the wood road then running across the swamp which formerly existed in what is now the North Field. His own account of the capture is as follows: “I landed eighty-three men near the garrison, and sent the boats back for the rear guard commanded by Col. Seth Warner; but the day began to dawn, and I found myself under a necessity to attack the fort, before the rear could cross the lake; and, as it was viewed hazardous, I harangued the officers and soldiers in the manner following: