Fortification began here in June 1776, and the name Mount Independence was given after the Declaration of Independence. Lieutenant Colonel Jeduthan Baldwin served as chief construction engineer. After withdrawing from the disastrous Canadian Campaign, the exhausted American Army of the Northern Department was stationed here. Built on a rocky plateau and stoutly fortified, the post was a natural stronghold against any foe approaching from the north. Within its rugged confines, thousands of New Englanders were quartered, and many succumbed to illness and lack of supplies. Because of its commanding position and formidable battle works, making it at that moment more powerful than impaired Ticonderoga, it checked a British thrust southward for a year, until the fall of its companion fortress across the channel led to its evacuation in the early morning darkness of July 6, 1777. That critical year of reprieve gave American forces time to organize farther south, meet and destroy General Burgoyne at Saratoga, win French support, and eventually subdue General Cornwallis at Yorktown, fulfilling the prophecy of the mountain’s name.