Subj : ETHAN ALLEN DAY
To   : alt.bbs.ads
From : Bob Hoffman
Date : Mon Jan 10 2005 05:16 am

http://www.440.com/twtd/today.html

Monday, January 10, 2005
ETHAN ALLEN DAY

       Destined to become a fiery patriot and soldier, Ethan Allen was born
on this day in 1738 in Litchfield, Connecticut. At the young age of twenty,
he was fighting in the French and Indian War. When New Hampshire granted
land to settlers, Ethan Allen made his home there (now Vermont).
      Unfortunately for many, the British decided that this land belonged to
New York. In 1770, the New York courts ruled that the settlers would have to
pay for their land again. Ethan Allen and his compatriot, Seth Warner
organized the Green Mountain Boys as an active, forceful resistance against
the ruling and the rulers. They caused so much trouble that a reward,
equivalent to $750, was offered by the Governor of New York for the arrest
of Allen.

      When the Revolutionary War broke out, Allen and the Green Mountain
Boys joined the patriot cause. Ethan Allen, along with Colonel Benedict
Arnold, led 83 Americans in an attack on Fort Ticonderoga. It was early in
the morning on May 10, 1775. They literally caught the British sleeping and
easily captured the Fort. Allen's next battle was not as successful. He
attempted to lead a surprise attack on Montreal. He was captured and jailed.
While captive, he wrote, A Narrative of Col. Ethan Allen's Captivity. Once
released, Allen petitioned the Continental Congress for Vermont's statehood.
When he was refused, he talked to the British about making Vermont a British
province. Congress accused him of treason, though he was never found guilty.
And the Green Mountain State became an independent republic until 1791.

      Larger than life statues have been erected in Vermont and in
Washington, D.C. to honor this patriot. In the eyes of the settlers he was
always larger than life. Many legends circulated about Ethan Allen, for
example -- it is said that he severed nails with his teeth; that when
surprised by white-sheeted pranksters on a desolate stretch of road, he
invited the "devils" home because he "married their sister."

      Besides being recognized for his heroic wartime acts, Ethan Allen was
known for his physical prowess, his drinking and his blatant impiety (as he
proved in his writing of Reason: The Only Oracle Of Man - A Compendious
System Of Natural Religion).

      All in all, he was a typical American hero!

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