The Henry Knox Trail, also known as the Knox Cannon Trail, is a network of

roads A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

and paths that traces the route of Colonel

Henry Knox Henry Knox (July 25, 1750 – October 25, 1806), a Founding Father of the United States, was a senior general of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, serving as chief of artillery in most of Washington's campaigns. Following the ...

's "

noble train of artillery The noble train of artillery, also known as the Knox Expedition, was an expedition led by Continental Army Colonel Henry Knox to transport heavy weaponry that had been captured at Fort Ticonderoga to the Continental Army camps outside Boston d ...

" from Crown Point to the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies (the Thirteen Colonies) in the Revolutionary-era United States. It was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, and was establis ...

camp outside Boston, Massachusetts early in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

History

Knox was commissioned by

commander

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

in 1775 to transport 59

cannons A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder dur ...

from captured forts on Lake Champlain, 30 from

Fort Ticonderoga Fort Ticonderoga (), formerly Fort Carillon, is a large 18th-century star fort built by the French at a narrows near the south end of Lake Champlain, in northern New York, in the United States. It was constructed by Canadian-born French mi ...

and 29 from Crown Point, to the army camp outside

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

to aid the war effort there against

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

forces. They included forty-three heavy

brass Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other with ...

and

iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...

cannon A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...

s, six

cohorn A Coehorn (also spelled ''cohorn'') is a lightweight mortar originally designed by Dutch military engineer Menno van Coehoorn. Concept and design Van Coehoorn came to prominence during the 1688–97 Nine Years War, whose tactics have been sum ...

s, eight

mortars Mortar may refer to: * Mortar (weapon), an indirect-fire infantry weapon * Mortar (masonry), a material used to fill the gaps between blocks and bind them together * Mortar and pestle, a tool pair used to crush or grind * Mortar, Bihar, a villag ...

, and two

howitzers A howitzer () is a long-ranged weapon, falling between a cannon (also known as an artillery gun in the United States), which fires shells at flat trajectories, and a mortar, which fires at high angles of ascent and descent. Howitzers, like oth ...

. Knox, using

sledges A sled, skid, sledge, or sleigh is a land vehicle that slides across a surface, usually of ice or snow. It is built with either a smooth underside or a separate body supported by two or more smooth, relatively narrow, longitudinal runners s ...

pulled by teams of

oxen An ox ( : oxen, ), also known as a bullock (in BrE British English (BrE, en-GB, or BE) is, according to Oxford Dictionaries, "English as used in Great Britain, as distinct from that used elsewhere". More narrowly, it can refer spec ...

to haul these cannons, many weighing over a

ton Ton is the name of any one of several units of measure. It has a long history and has acquired several meanings and uses. Mainly it describes units of weight. Confusion can arise because ''ton'' can mean * the long ton, which is 2,240 pounds ...

, crossed an icy Lake George in mid-winter. He proceeded to travel through rural

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

and the snow-covered

Berkshire Mountains The Berkshires () are a highland geologic region located in the western parts of Massachusetts and northwest Connecticut. The term "Berkshires" is normally used by locals in reference to the portion of the Vermont-based Green Mountains that ex ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

, finally arriving to the aid of the beleaguered

in January 1776.

Marker placement

In 1926, the 150th anniversary of Knox's march, the states of New York and Massachusetts both began installing

commemorative plaque A commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, or in other places referred to as a historical marker, historic marker, or historic plaque, is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood, or other material, typically attached to a wall, stone, or other ...

s at 56 locations in the two states that trace the route the expedition passed through. The exact nature of the collaboration between the two states is unclear, however the work was completed in 1927. The New York markers' bronze reliefs were designed by

Henry James Albright Henry James Albright (1887–1951) was an American painter, sculptor, and potter active in Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west b ...

, and the Massachusetts reliefs by Henry L. Norton. In 1975, the marker locations between

Kinderhook, New York Kinderhook is a town in the northern part of Columbia County, New York, United States. The population was 8,330 at the 2020 census, making it the most populous municipality in Columbia County. The name of the town means "Children's Corner" in th ...

, and

Alford, Massachusetts Alford is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 486 at the 2020 census. History Alford was first settled in 1756 as part of a land ...

, were updated after new research, confirming theories originally advanced by North Egremont, Massachusetts, postmaster Joseph Elliott, found Knox did not pass through

Claverack, New York Claverack is a town in Columbia County, New York, United States. The population was 6,021 at the 2010 census. The town name is a corruption for the Dutch word “Klaverakker” for "Clover Fields" or "Clover Reach". In 1705, the first discovery ...

. A new marker was added to the trail at

Roxbury Heritage State Park Roxbury Heritage State Park is a history-themed heritage park in the oldest part of Roxbury, a former town annexed in 1868 by Boston, Massachusetts. It is anchored by the Dillaway–Thomas House, a large colonial structure built in 1750 and thoug ...

in Boston in 2009, adjacent to a house owned by General John Thomas, who guided the weapons received from Knox to their final placement on

Dorchester Heights Dorchester Heights is the central area of South Boston. It is the highest area in the neighborhood and commands a view of both Boston Harbor and downtown. History Dorchester is remembered in American history for an action in the American Rev ...

overlooking Boston.

Table of Knox Trail Markers

Photo gallery

File:Otis-Knox Trail Stone.JPG, Otis-Knox Trail Stone File:General Henry Knox Trail (Palmer, Massachusetts) - DSC04689.JPG, General Henry Knox Trail (Palmer, Massachusetts) File:General Henry Knox Trail (Warren, Massachusetts) - DSC04718.JPG, General Henry Knox Trail (Warren, Massachusetts) File:General Henry Knox Trail (Northborough, Massachusetts) - DSC04428.JPG, General Henry Knox Trail (Northborough, Massachusetts) File:General Henry Knox Trail (Marlborough, Massachusetts) - DSC04368.JPG, General Henry Knox Trail (Marlborough, Massachusetts) File:Henry-Knox-trail-marker-Framingham-MA.jpg, General Henry Knox Trail (Framingham, Massachusetts)Knox Trail Monument No. 21 (Massachusetts)
File:Knox-framingham-potter-road.jpg, General Henry Knox Trail (Framingham/Wayland border, Massachusetts) File:Knox-ma23-wayland.jpg, General Henry Knox Trail (Wayland, Massachusetts) File:Knox-ma24-weston.jpg, General Henry Knox Trail (Weston, Massachusetts) File:General Henry Knox Trail and George Washington Memorial Highway (Waltham, Massachusetts) - DSC04337.JPG, General Henry Knox Trail and George Washington Memorial Highway (Waltham, Massachusetts)
File:Henry Knox artillery handover to George Washington marker.jpg, General Henry Knox Trail (Cambridge, Massachusetts)

References

{{reflist

External links

Knox Trail monuments (Flickr set)
– As of 13 May 2010 includes photos of the fifteen markers from Rensselaer to Westfield. American Revolutionary War sites Historic trails and roads in the United States Massachusetts in the American Revolution New York (state) in the American Revolution