Vermont. Militia - Ethan Allen: his life and times

Alexander Hamilton: A Life

George Washington: A Life

Thomas Jefferson: A Life

Benedict Arnold: Patriot and Traitor

A Little Revenge: Benjamin Franklin and His Son

Building Six: The Tragedy at Bridesburg (with Stephen D. Solomon)

Founding City (with David R. Boldt)

Thomas Chittendens Town (with Nancy Nahra)

American Lives (with Nancy Nahra)

Forgotten Americans (with Nancy Nahra)

HIS LIFE AND TIMES

W. W. NORTON & COMPANY
NEW YORK LONDON

Frontispiece: Ethan Allen demands the surrender of Fort Ticonderoga. (Courtesy of Fort Ticonderoga Museum)

Copyright 2011 by Willard Sterne Randall

All rights reserved

First printed as a Norton paperback 2012

For information about permission to reproduce
selections from this book, write to Permissions,
W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.,

500 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10110

For information about special discounts for bulk purchases,
please contact W. W. Norton Special Sales at
specialsales@wwnorton.com or 800-233-4830

Manufacturing by RR Donnelley, Harrisonburg

Book design by Ellen Cipriano

Production manager: Anna Oler

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Randall, Willard Sterne.

Ethan Allen : his life and times / Willard Sterne Randall. 1st ed.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-393-07665-3 (hardcover)

1. Allen, Ethan, 17381789. 2. SoldiersUnited StatesBiography.
3. United StatesHistoryRevolution, 17751783Biography.
4. VermontHistoryRevolution, 17751783. 5. Fort Ticonderoga (N.Y.)Capture, 1775. 6. VermontMilitiaBiography.
7. VermontHistoryTo 1791. I. Title.

E207.A4R36 2011

973.3'31092dc22

[B]

2011007522

ISBN 978-0-393-34229-1 pbk.

eISBN 978-0-393-08228-9

W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.

500 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10110

www.wwnorton.com

W. W. Norton & Company Ltd.

Castle House, 75/76 Wells Street, London W1T 3QT

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0

Further praise for

ETHAN ALLEN

The definitive biography of the frontier hero and founder of Vermont.... Authoritative, vivid.... Colorful, well-written and nuanced.

Kirkus Reviews, starred review

Randall incorporates a wealth of research and colorful detail into an absorbing, well-paced narrative that highlights Allens distinctively American energiesand contradictions.

Publishers Weekly , starred review

Willard Sterne Randall has provided for us a long overdue biography of this first hero produced by the American Revolution.

James A. Percoco, Washington Independent Review of Books

Randall has penned a balanced and exciting study of the original Green Mountain Boy and the roiling times in which he lived.

Ron Soodalter, HistoryNet.com

Willard Sterne Randall has few equals as a writer. A careful and meticulous historian and an esteemed biographer, Randall has marshaled his many talents to produce the definitive biography of Ethan Allen, one of the most fascinating figures in the founding of the American nation.... A must-read.

John Ferling,
author of Independence

This is a powerful story about an essential and little-understood figure in American history. Willard Randall writes with grace and insight, and Ethan Allen is an engaging biography.

Jon Meacham, author of American Lion

This is the first full biography of Ethan Allen in half a century, and the only one to render him a psychologically complicated, fully flawed hero of the American Revolution.

Joseph J. Ellis, author of Founding Brothers and American Sphinx

To Nan and Lucy
close editors
and to
John W. Heisse Jr.
close friend

Ethan Allen demands the surrender of Fort Ticonderoga. (COURTESY FORT TICONDEROGA MUSEUM)

Aerial view of Fort Ticonderoga.

Ethan Allens America.

Ethan Allen at age thirty-seven.

The blunderbuss Ethan Allen lent to Benedict Arnold. (COURTESY FORT TICONDEROGA MUSEUM)

Benedict Arnold in his only portrait from life, by Pierre Eugene du Simitiere.

George Whitefield preaching. (NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY, SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION / ART RESOURCE, NY)

Royal Governor Benning Wentworth of New Hampshire. (NEW HAMPSHIRE ARCHIVES)

The Reverend Jonathan Edwards.

Ethan Allens Vermont.

The Catamount Tavern in Bennington, Vermont. (COURTESY IMAGES OF THE PAST)

Governor Thomas Chittenden of Vermont. (COURTESY UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT SPECIAL COLLECTIONS)

George Clinton.

Ira Allen, Ethan Allens youngest brother, founder of the University of Vermont.

Statue of Seth Warner, cousin of Ethan Allen, Bennington, Vermont.

Montreal in 1762. (PUBLIC ARCHIVES OF CANADA)