Historical Marker: Knox Trail - Otis, MA

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Knox Trail Marker

Otis, MA

Topic: Historical Marker

GPS: N42° 10.695; W073° 02.664

Quick Description: 

Number 5 of 26 markers in Massachusetts to commemorate General Henry Knox's transport of artillery from Fort Ticonderoga to Cambridge.

Long Description:

During he winter of 1775-1776 General George Washington held the high ground around Boston while the British were firmly in control of the city. If Washington had artillery he could dislodge the British and retake Boston. The nearest available artillery was at Fort Ticonderoga, which was under Continental Army control, in up-state New York.

General Henry Knox then was commissioned, in December 1775, by General Washington to secure these artillery pieces and transport them from New York, through Massachusetts, to Dorchester Heights outside Boston. To do this General Knox successfully crossed the Berkshire Mountains and several large rivers, in winter, with fifty-nine pieces of artillery. When the artillery arrived in Boston, in early March 1776, General Howe realized the hopelessness of his position and evacuated the city.

To commemorate this heroic trek a series of 56 historical markers denote the route that General Knox and his men traveled that winter. Twenty-six markers were erected in Massachusetts and thirty in New York for a total of fifty-six. The marker in Blandford is number six in Massachusetts. The marker has a bas relief sculpture of General Knox and his men using oxen to transport artillery and the inscription. 


THROUGH THIS PLACE PASSED
GENERAL HENRY KNOX
IN THE WINTER OF
1775 - 1776
TO DELIVER TO
GENERAL GEORGE WASHINGTON
AT CAMBRIDGE
THE TRAIN OF ARTILLERY
FROM FORT TICONDEROGA USED
TO FORCE THE BRITISH ARMY
TO EVACUATE BOSTON
ERECTED BY THE COMMONWEALTH
OF MASSACHUSETTS 1927