Knox Trail Marker - Russell, MA
Posted by: neoc1
N 42° 09.038 W 072° 51.151
18T E 677433 N 4668732
Knox Trail Monument, number 7 in Massachusetts, is located at the junction of General Knox Road and South Quarter Road in Russell.
Waymark Code: WMCMZM
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Date Posted: 09/23/2011
Views: 3
This Knox Trail Monument, number 6 of 26 markers in Massachusetts, commemorates General Henry Knox's transport of artillery from Fort Ticonderoga, NY to Cambridge, MA during the Revolutionary War.
In an amazing feat of logistics, General Henry Knox was able to transport cannons captured at Fort Ticonderoga and at Fort Crown Point in New York to General Washington in Cambridge, MA during winter, a distance of 300 miles. The cannons were positioned at Dorchester Heights overlooking Boston and threatened the British fleet. As a result, the British evacuated the city and withdrew to Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Markers are placed along the route that General Knox travelled. There are an addition 30 Knox Trail markers in New York State for a
grand total of 56.
The 4' by 2' marker was erected in 1927. A bronze relief sculpture depicts the soldiers of General Henry Knox guiding a supply wagon pulled by oxen. It is inscribed:
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