The 4th Pennsylvania Battalion, Together Again at Ticonderoga

Posted on July 11, 2026

The 4th Pennsylvania Battalion, Together Again at Ticonderoga

250 years ago this week, thousands of American troops were encamping at Fort Ticonderoga. Most of the soldiers arriving here had served in Canada and were sent to Ticonderoga after retreating from Crown Point, but not all of them. This spring we’ve followed the movements of Colonel Anthony Wayne’s 4th Pennsylvania Battalion. Three companies of the battalion, led by Wayne, were sent north to Canada; the other five companies, which were not ready in time to join Wayne’s detachment, were sent to Long Island with Lieutenant Colonel Francis Johnston. 

On June 29, orders were issued for Johnston’s detachment to march north to Ticonderoga. On July 11, 1776—250 years ago today— the detachment reached the landing at the northern end of Lake George, an extension of Fort Ticonderoga’s military footprint. Johnston’s orders for the day, captured in the orderly book of Captain Persifor Frazer’s company, were dated “Camp Neare Ticonderago July 11 1776”.  

Reunion may have been on Johnston’s mind when he issued these orders. Each day the commander of a party would name a new parole and countersign. These two words were used by officers and men as passwords to enter and exit camp, to pass sentries and guards, and to prove that they were authorized to give orders to the guard. For July 11, the parole Johnston chose was “Wayne”, in honor of the regiment’s colonel. The countersign is written as “Houssaere” but was probably “Haussegger” for the regiment’s major, Nicholas Haussegger.  

Haussegger had served with the companies under Johnston in Long Island, while Wayne had commanded the detachment in Canada. The next morning, the two officers and the rest of the regiment would reunite at Ticonderoga. Their campaigns so far had been quite different, but now they came together with a common goal: reinforcing Ticonderoga until it was strong enough to stand against the British. 

See this orderly book for yourself in The Archaeology of Independence exhibit in the Mars Education Center! Or learn more about it (object ID MS.7200) on the Ticonderoga Online Collections database: https://fortticonderoga.catalogaccess.com/archives/30799