On this day 250 years ago at Fort Western, Massachusetts (now Augusta, Maine), the main body of soldiers of Col. Benedict Arnold’s expedition under the command of Lt. Col. Christopher Greene began paddling up the Kennebec River in bateaux. In total the expedition set out with 220 of these flat-bottomed boats loaded with food, ammunition, tents, blankets and other supplies and manned with four soldiers in each boat paddling or more often polling the boats upstream. The main body had been preceded the day before by the vanguard led by Capt. Daniel Morgan, and would be followed the next day by the rear division, and by Arnold himself on September 28 in the final boat. A small contingent was left behind at Fort Western to guard supplies. The Continental Army soldiers included many men who would be renowned for their service later in the Revolution including Morgan, Greene, Aaron Burr, Henry Dearborn, Charles Porterfield, Christian Febiger, Return Jonathan Meigs, Timothy Bigelow, Simeon Thayer, Matthew Smith, Eleazer Oswald, Matthias Ogden, and Samuel Ward, Jr. The Continental soldiers were accompanied by Reuben Colburn and 20 of his craftsmen who had built the bateaux and who repaired the boats along the trek, other workers, Native American guides and at least three women including Suzannah Grier, Jemima Warner and Jacataqua, who was of mixed French and Abenaki parentage. Many of the Continental soldiers on this march, and two women — Grier and Warner — would give their lives during this campaign. And one soldier named Reuben Bishop was killed after an argument with a fellow soldier before the troops left Fort Western.

Sources: https://wheninyourstate.com/maine/in-1775-a-fort-in-maine-held-the-key-to-quebec-benedict-arnold-fumbled-it-in-just-six-days/;

This weekend in 2025 Old Fort Western in Augusta is commemorating the 250th anniversary of this expedition. https://www.facebook.com/woolwichhs/posts/old-fort-western-augusta-maine-hosts-benedict-arnold-250th-anniversary-weekendfr/1415137103669778/

Also on this day 250 years ago in Williamsburg, the Virginia Committee of Safety appointed Thomas Jefferson as Commander of the Albemarle County Militia.

Source: oc.gov/item/mtjbib000119/