“Scheems and Plans”: Skenesborough After the Capture of Fort Ticonderoga

Posted on May 16, 2025

“Scheems and Plans”: Skenesborough After the Capture of Fort Ticonderoga

250 years ago today—May 16, 1775—Ticonderoga and Crown Point had been in American hands for nearly a week. Farther south, so was Skenesborough, a prosperous settlement founded by career British Army officer Philip Skene. Skene was at sea returning from a visit to England when the Americans captured Skenesborough, but his son, Major Andrew Skene, and his daughters, Katherine and Mary Ann Margaret, were captured. So were the town’s industrial fixtures, including grist mills, saw mills, an iron foundry, and a shipyard that would become vital for the American navy on Lake Champlain. In a letter written on May 16 to the Connecticut General Assembly, Captain Elisha Phelps discusses the management of the newly-captured town.

“Major Skeen Estate we have put into the Care of Capt. Noah Lee, a man of Good [Character] and Capable of taking Care of the Business well”, Phelps writes. He considers the welfare of the town’s residents, stating that “the Iron work must be Carried on for the Benifet of the people here”. Not all the residents of Skenesborough were trustworthy, though, particularly Skene’s business agent, John Brooks. “It would Not Do by No means to have mr Brook Stay heare as he was Looked upon to be a [bigger] Innemy to his Contry than Major Skeen, and tis an Easy mattor to Send an [Indian] to Cannada and Inform them all our Scheems and plans”.

Phelps also worried about Philip Skene’s schemes and plans. He writes that he has heard that Skene has married a rich woman in England, that he has a commission to govern Fort Ticonderoga and Crown Point, and that he is bringing 1,000 men with him to Skenesborough. Only one of these rumors was true—Skene had been commissioned as lieutenant governor of Ticonderoga and Crown Point—but Phelps, who had no way of assessing the truth of the news, was concerned. He recommended that “Not Less than three

thousand men be here [immediately] and to push on to Saint Johns & Kannada”. Phelps’ request would be indirectly answered that fall by the American invasion of Canada.

Learn more about Phelps’ letter (object ID MS.6007) on the Ticonderoga Online Collections database here.