On March 17, 1776, the Siege of Boston ends as British forces evacuated the city following the arrival of Henry Knox’s cannons. The siege had begun in April of the previous year as American forces took control of the land surrounding Boston following the Battles of Lexington and Concord. Within a few months the situation had devolved into a stalemate with both sides facing shortages of critical supplies. In an effort to end the stalemate and drive the British troops from Boston, Washington sent Henry Knox to transport artillery captured by Benedict Arnold and Ethan Allen at Fort Ticonderoga. Setting out on his expedition in November, Knox and his men successfully delivered the cannons to Washington’s forces around Boston approximately three months later. The range of the new artillery allowed the Americans to engage the British troops in Boston from beyond the range of any possible return fire. Unable to engage the American guns with their own artillery or to launch an infantry assault of the American positions due to poor weather, the British were forced to surrender the city. On March 17, the British troops boarded ships in Boston harbor and sailed for Nova Scotia.

Henry Knox continued to command American artillery forces through the rest of the American Revolutionary War. After the war, he served as Washington’s Secretary of War. Fort Knox, Kentucky, current home of the US Bullion Depository and the Patton Museum and former home of the US Army Armor School, received its name in honor of Henry Knox.

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