“Mr. Elijah Bennet, Post Rider To & From Ticonderoga”
Bennet Pay Orders
Posted on July 28, 2025
“Mr. Elijah Bennet, Post Rider To & From Ticonderoga”
Throughout the Revolutionary War, letters flew back and forth between Ticonderoga and other places throughout the colonies. Each of those letters, written by military leaders, government officials, soldiers, and their families and friends, had to be carried by a person on horseback or on foot. Some letters were given to visitors or to soldiers on their way home who were willing to carry neighbors’ missives with them. High-ranking officers like Philip Schuyler assigned subordinates to carry messages. Colonies also hired post riders to carry letters between Ticonderoga and other locations.
250 years ago today—July 28, 1775—one of those post riders received his pay. In this pay order, Connecticut’s Committee of the Pay Table directs the colony’s treasurer to “Pay Mr. Elijah Bennet, Post Rider to & from Ticonderoga in the Colony’s Service, Twelve pounds… towards defraying his Expence & for service”.
The trip for which Bennet was being paid was not his first or last trip to Ticonderoga. He was paid for his first trip on May 25, 1775, two weeks after the fort’s capture, and continued his service at least through May 30, 1776. Bennet delivered and received letters at Hartford, CT, where the General Assembly met; Lebanon, CT, home of governor Jonathan Trumbull and meeting place of the Council of Safety; and Cambridge, MA.
Bennet appears to have been a frequent rider—he was paid for his services 17 times between May 1775 and May 1776—and he didn’t let obstacles stop him. One December 5, 1775 receipt was signed with an X, with a note stating that Bennet could not sign his own name that day because he had broken his arm in a fall from his horse. Despite the injury, Bennet continued riding for at least six more months. Thanks to riders like Bennet, Fort Ticonderoga maintained vital channels of communication and stayed connected to the rest of America.
Learn more about the pay orders from July (object ID MS.7535, property of Robert Nittolo) and December (2014.0195.002, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Anthony D. Pell) on the Ticonderoga Online Collections database: https://fortticonderoga.catalogaccess.com/archives/31401 https://fortticonderoga.catalogaccess.com/archives/29517