Untold Revolutionary War stories unveiled at new Fort Ticonderoga exhibit

In a place rich with Revolutionary War history, never-before-seen artifacts go on display

By Tim Rowland

In 1781 the French Touraine Infantry Regiment was ordered to set sail from what is today Haiti to Virginia, in support of a 23-year-old Marquis de Lafayette, whose American troops had been birddogging British Gen. Charles Cornwallis. The American troops were awaiting the arrival of General Washington and the Comte de Rochambeau, who were able to polish off the Redcoats once and for all.

It stands to reason that on Oct. 19 of that year, an officer in the Touraine Regiment wearing a cream-colored coat with rose trim was among those looking on as Cornwallis surrendered to the Americans and their French allies. The name of this officer is lost to history, but the coat was not — on Friday, it made its formal appearance at Fort Ticonderoga’s unveiling of 110 artifacts never before seen in public, the first historical salvo in the buildup to the nation’s 250th anniversary in 2026.

History on display

Introduced as “A Revolutionary Anthology: Power of Place,” the exhibit will run through Oct. 27 and be changed to display a new tranche of unique artifacts each season through 2028.

Power of Place opens windows into nine settings important to the war, including New York City, Yorktown, the Caribbean, Iroquoia and the Champlain Valley. Many of the artifacts are connected to specific individuals whose experiences lend a personal perspective to the American Revolution.

Ticonderoga curator Matthew Keagle said to his knowledge the French coat is the only surviving French army uniform from the War of Independence’s final battle.

“The American Revolution is an event of earth shattering significance,” Keagle said, introducing the new exhibit. “These are artifacts from across the country, across the hemisphere and across the globe. And it was the Champlain Valley that shapes the way the revolution unfolds.”

The exhibit draws heavily from a 3,000-artifact haul Fort Ticonderoga acquired from the late New Jersey collector Robert Nittolo, adding to what fort officials say was was already one of the world’s best military collections from the time period. 

Keagle, who struck up a friendship with Nittolo in 2015, said he was “astounded” at the scope of the collection. “He wanted it to go someplace where it would be appreciated, (and) the fort had special significance to him,” Keagle said. “These are pieces you will not see anywhere else.”

The chore was to whittle down the immense treasure trove of artifacts into a manageable number for the new exhibit. Fort Ticonderoga President and CEO Beth Hill “had to talk me down from adding more,”  Keagle said.

RELATED READING: The Pavilion in Ticonderoga: An American treasure

“It’s quite a coup that we were able to add this to our collections,” said Hill, adding that plans are in the works for a major new museum that would allow public display of more of the tens of thousands of artifacts that are stored in fort repositories.

Fort Ticonderoga and control of Lake Champlain were vital in the first years of the war as the British and Americans jockeyed for position. Benedict Arnold was able to slap together a navy and keep the far superior British fleet off balance long enough to set the stage for the Americans’ resounding victory to the south at Saratoga in 1777.

With the new exhibit, Hill said the fort looks to tell a wider story than the events in the Champlain Valley, and position itself as “a leading institution of colonial and American history” ramping up to the nation’s 250th celebration in two years.

Old stories, modern lessons

With the nation divided today, Hill said history can also unify.

The Nittolo artifacts, such as the French officer’s coat, were selected and paired to tell poignant stories about the war, which despite the joyful exaltation of July 4 turned into a nearly decade-long slog. “Declaring independence is one thing,” Keagle said. “Winning is another.”

T.J. Mullen, the fort’s exhibit designer and fabricator, said many pieces of the Nittolo collection dovetailed with artifacts already owned by the fort, and in some cases served as missing pieces to the puzzle.

In one display, alongside the musket used by John Gordon at what became known as the Battle of Bunker Hill, but was more accurately fought on Breed’s Hill, is the commission of 37-year-old Joseph Spaulding of Pepperell, Massachusetts, who had marched toward Boston in the spring of 1775. His papers were signed by the superpatriot Joseph Warren — for whom Warren County, N.Y., is named — a charismatic leader of the colonial resistance and president of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress.

Although a general, Warren insisted on fighting on the front lines alongside Gordon and Spaulding. All three of these men, reunited 249 years later in a case of glass, died on Breed’s Hill on June 17, 1775, fighting for a country they would never live to see.