Ethan Allen crossed Lake Champlain to capture Fort Ticonderoga on May 10, 1775, in what was called America's First Victory, and his expedition passed through here on May 5, 1775. Nathan Beman from Manchester guided the expedition into the fort, and John Roberts of Manchester was the head of the expedition's largest immediate family. In 1777, after evacuating Fort Ticonderoga and Mount Independence, Gen. Arthur St. Clair traveled to the Saratoga area by way of Manchester. The first meetings of the Council of Safety, Vermont's initial government, were held at the original Marsh Tavern, on the site of the south wing of The Equinox. In Manchester, Gen. John Stark declined orders from Gen. Benjamin Lincoln and chose to go to Bennington. Stark's New Hampshire troops and Seth Warner's Green Mountain Boys camped in Manchester before the Battle of Bennington victory on August 16, 1777.