This past weekend at Fort Ticonderoga, I captured living history that brought the Northern Continental Army’s 1776 struggles—and echoes of the 1775 Quebec campaign—vividly to life. As part of the REAL TIME REVOLUTION® Signature Reenactment Event “Return of an Army” (July 3–5, 2026), reenactors portrayed the arrival of exhausted troops by bateaux, care for the sick amid smallpox, and the delivery of cannon to fortify defenses.

During the recent Gloucester reenactment, the sight of longboats pulling hard toward shore brought the tactics of 1775 vividly to life. Oars cutting through the water, spray flying, and the determined faces of the crews—it was a powerful reminder of how these small craft shaped coastal operations throughout the American Revolution.