Benedict Arnold and Carry Ponds

[rickb]

I forget if there is an "Arnold" trail which crosses the AT around the Bigalows (Maine) or if there is a plaque or just a mention in a guide book, but I think most thru hikers are aware somehow that Benedic Arnold and his men passed through those mountain before them.

Here is link talking about Arnold's Expedition written by a past president of the MATC. The link has some intersting pictures if you give them time to load, and comments on how Carry Ponds and the Great Carrying Place got their names.

http://www.pressherald.com/news/stat...27arnold.shtml

[Blue Jay]

It's damn hard to pack light when you're pushing cannons through swamps.

[Kerosene]

And they had to use cast iron instead of titanium for those cannon!

[icemanat95]

Maybe bronze...I'm not certain what the British were using at the time. Bewcause of the nature of cast iron, cannons made from cast iron either needed to be heavier than a bronze cannon of the same caliber or had to be of a smaller caliber and shorter range for the same weight. The French made very good cannon at the time, and used bronze most of the time.

[Blue Jay]

Maybe bronze...I'm not certain what the British were using at the time. Bewcause of the nature of cast iron, cannons made from cast iron either needed to be heavier than a bronze cannon of the same caliber or had to be of a smaller caliber and shorter range for the same weight. The French made very good cannon at the time, and used bronze most of the time.

Wow, that means they had Golite Cannons. I'm sure they were much easier to drag through the woods and swamps. I wonder if they used trekking poles and Aquamira.

[Rain Man]

Wow, that means they had Golite Cannons. I'm sure they were much easier to drag through the woods and swamps. I wonder if they used trekking poles and Aquamira.

Well, they did use preserved, processed foods in lightweight (LOL) cans. Napolean had sealed, Pasteurized canned food invented for his army, as I recall.

Sadly, I think they sealed the cans with lead solder, which leached lead into their food.

Rain Man

[Dances with Mice]

Well, they did use preserved, processed foods in lightweight (LOL) cans. Napolean had sealed, Pasteurized canned food invented for his army, as I recall.

Sadly, I think they sealed the cans with lead solder, which leached lead into their food.

Rain Man

Arnold achieved significant military advantage by moving through an area that the enemy assumed was impenetrable. Today Army Rangers strive to achieve the same level of surprise by exactly the same technique, and their mountain maneuvre training ground is still on the AT but much further south, roughly between 3 Forks and Hightower Gap. It's not uncommon for Hawk Mtn. shelter campers to be rushed by a patrol of Ranger trainees, I've been there when that happened. The battles in Afghanistan (remember Afghanistan?) were won on the training fields of Georgia.

The average life expectancy of Napoleanic soldiers was significantly reduced by lead, that's true. But not the lead in their food. If given the choice, they would have preferred to live long enough to die by lead poisoning rather than by airborne lead induced trauma. Prior to Pasteur's work more soldiers were probably killed by their own cooks than by enemy artillery. And, in a desperate attempt to segue back to AT relevancy, more hikes have probably been delayed or eneded by improper hand washing than by improper water treatment.