Open skirmishing begins on the outer defense works of Ticonderoga on July 2.

By July 4, most of the American garrison is either at Fort Ticonderoga or nearby Mount Independence, the extensive fortifications on the Vermont side of the lake.

Unknown to the Americans, their withdrawal from an outer defensive position clears a way for the British to place artillery on the hilltop known then as Sugar Loaf (now Mount Defiance), whose heights command the fort.

St. Clair withdraws the night after spotting British cannon on Sugar Loaf on July 5, and Burgoyne's men occupy the main fortification and the positions on Mount Independence on July 6.

The uncontested surrender of the supposedly impregnable fort causes a public and political uproar.

Although a later investigation will clear both Schuyler and St. Clair of any wrongdoing in the withdrawal, it will cause the Continental Congress to replace Schuyler with General Horatio Gates as commander of the Northern Department of the Continental Army in August.