America's First National Memorial and Knox Arrives in Boston

250th anniversaries on the same date. Let's dive in!

1. America’s First National Memorial Was Commissioned

The Continental Congress authorized what became the very first monument commissioned by the United States, in honor of Brigadier General Richard Montgomery, who had been killed leading the assault on Quebec in late 1775. Crafted by French sculptor Jean-Jacques Caffieri and later installed at St. Paul’s Chapel in New York, Montgomery’s memorial set a precedent for how this young nation would remember sacrifice and service.

2. Henry Knox’s “Noble Train of Artillery” Arrived Outside Boston

Meanwhile, after a grueling 300-mile winter trek hauling nearly 60 tons of captured artillery from Fort Ticonderoga through icy rivers and snow-covered mountains, Colonel Henry Knox’s expedition reached the Continental Army camp outside Boston.

This seemingly impossible feat, dragging heavy cannons on sleds through deep winter, gave General Washington the firepower his army desperately needed. Those guns would soon be placed on Dorchester Heights, forcing the British to evacuate Boston and delivering one of the first major American victories of the war.

Two very different kinds of milestones, both symbolic of independence.