Marilynne Roach, president of the Historical Society of Watertown, and State Rep. Steve Owens recently joined the reenactment and commemoration of an event that helped turn the tide of the American Revolution.
In February the anniversary of Henry Knox and his “Noble Train of Artillery,” when cannons were hauled from Lake Champlain in New York to Boston, was celebrated. While the commemoration took place in Cambridge, the actual train of horses dragging cannons went through Watertown. A marker has been established at 481 Mt. Auburn Street, next to the former East Branch Library (near St. James Armenian Church).
Roach attended the commemoration, and accepted a plaque on behalf of Watertown. She provided the following account of the event:
In the winter of 1775-1776 bookseller Henry Knox and his crew hauled 60 tons of artillery from Fort Ticonderoga on Lake Champlain to Dorchester Heights, 300 miles up and down hills, over frozen (and not frozen enough) rivers across New York and Massachusetts to end the Siege of Boston. Two-hundred-and-fifty years later, communities along the original route commemorated the feat with ceremonies and re-enactments.
On Saturday, Feb. 28, preceded by fifes and drums, Colonial militia, and other re-enactors, a team of Clydesdales hauled a replica canon lashed to a sled across Harvard Square to the main Cambridge Public Library. Representatives from Weston, Waltham, Watertown, and Cambridge celebrated the parts played by their respective towns and cities in the history of Knox’s trek.
Speaking for Watertown, State Representative Steve Owens delivered remarks as did Historical Society of Watertown President, Marilynne Roach.
“A half-century ago I saw a reenactment with horses and oxen pass along Mt. Auburn Street, past the Knox Trail marker in front of the East Branch Library, to O’Connell Park where they camped overnight,” said Roach who accepted a plaque and citation on behalf of Watertown. Both items are now in City Hall.
The months-long commemoration culminated on March 17th — the actual date of the first Evacuation Day — in a ceremony preceded by a larger parade in South Boston up to the summit of Dorchester Heights.
The replica sled (provided with wheels for 21st century paved travel) was hand hewn by students in the Washington-Saratoga-Warren-Hamilton-Essex Board of Cooperative Educational Services school in Saratoga Springs, New York.
Find out more about the Knox Trail and the Mass 250 events at:
Trail map: https://www.battlefields.org/learn/maps/knoxs-expedition-boston-dec-6-1775-jan-25-1776
Markers: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Knox_Trail
Revolution 250: https://www.revolution250.org/250th-commemorations/knox/