demanded a commission and authority to raise and lead the troops
against the Champlain forts. This first move of this much-hated man in
the Revolution savored of intrigue and self-seeking--as did most of his
other public acts. He desired the honor of commanding this expedition,
and he was personally courageous enough to march up to the mouths of Old
Ti's guns if need be; but he had no personal following and could not
hope to recruit men himself for the expedition. Nevertheless, he
proposed to have the backing of a regular commission from the
Massachusetts committee and thus supersede Colonel Easton. This desire
on his part might have become a fact had it not been for one person whom
Benedict Arnold did not take into consideration.

The Massachusetts and Connecticut forces were guided to the camp of the
Green Mountain Boys while the leaders held a conference at the Catamount
Inn in Bennington. Colonel Easton was a truly brave man, and as such was
not disturbed by petty jealousy. It was left to fate to decide who
should command the expedition, and Ethan Allen having the largest
personal following, was acclaimed commander. Greatly to Captain--now
Major--Warner's disappointment his own men did not number as many as the
Massachusetts troops; but he gracefully yielded second place to Easton
and accepted third himself. Plans for the march through the wilderness
were then carefully discussed and the leaders rode to Castleton and
reviewed the raw recruits whose valor was, at a later day, to be so
noised abroad.

The Green Mountain Boys, after four years of training, presented much
the better appearance. And every man was practically a sharpshooter.
What their rifles and muskets could do against the thick, if crumbling,
walls of Ticonderoga, might with good judgment be asked; but they lacked
neither courage nor faith in their leader. They would have followed
Ethan Allen through a wall of fire if need be to the line of the British
fortifications. In their eyes he was invincible.

On the morning of the start from Castleton the army was paraded--a few
hundred meagrely armed men to march against a fortress, to capture which
had cost the British two expensive campaigns and the loss of some three
thousand men. Their leaders harangued them, and Ethan Allen's promises
of glory and honor inspired quite as much enthusiasm as the commander of
any expedition could have wished. There had gathered to observe the
departure many gentlemen of