01/29/2026
We shared the below information about the Knox trail back in December.
Two hundred years ago, the Noble Train of Artillery—a procession of approximately 50 cannons—passed through Worcester. What was the Noble Train? After Lexington and Concord, the militia companies of New England surrounded the British troops in Boston. The British couldn’t fight their way out, but the Americans under the command of George Washington couldn’t force them to evacuate the city. If Washington brought artillery to his lines, he could compel the British to leave. However, the closest working cannons were in New York at the southern part of Lake Champlain.
Washington sent the Boston bookseller-turned-soldier, Henry Knox, to New York to bring the much-needed cannons to Boston. Knox departed in December 1775 and began moving the guns eastward in January. The guns were disassembled and placed on sleds that were pulled by oxen. They passed through Worcester and other towns along the way. Only one cannon was lost, although it would be recovered in the 20th century. By March 1776, the artillery had arrived. The batteries were deployed at Dorchester Heights. Since the cannons could be regularly fired into Boston, the British retreated on March 17, 1776.
Today, the trail is well-marked with markers from Crown Point, New York (just north of Ticonderoga). A list of the 61 markers can be found at https://www.waylandmuseum.org/.../Knox-Trail-Marker.... A recent account of Knox’s mission to bring the cannons to Boston is Henry Knox's Noble Train: The Story of a Boston Bookseller's Heroic Expedition That Saved the American Revolution by William Hazelgrove.
https://www.americanantiquarian.org/programs-events/commemoration-henry-knoxs-journey-location-changed
