men left Mount Independence just before dawn July 6 on the Mount Independence-Hubbardton Military Road, a path that had been cut through the forest the preceding fall. The sick and wounded made their way to the landing at the southern end of Mount Independence and were taken by boat to Skenesborough along with supplies and cannon. The American flotilla on the narrow lake consisted of six war vessels and about 200 bateaux. Quickly the British were in pursuit, crossing the floating bridge and seizing the fortifications on Mount Independence. In an old tale that may be apocryphal, four Americans left to guard the bridge were found by a charged cannon, passed out after drinking Madeira. British vessels broke through the boom and bridge, and followed the American boats to Skenesborough where that afternoon they destroyed the remainder of the fleet and captured the cannon and supplies. Brigadier General Simon Fraser and about 1200 men pursued the Americans on foot. The next morning, July 7, they met at the Battle of Hubbardton. By 18th-century standards it was a British victory, but more recently the battle has been called a "classic example of a rear guard action." As a result of Hubbardton, Fraser stopped his pursuit of the main American army. British and German occupation Following the American withdrawal, Mount Independence was occupied by both British and German troops. For time, wounded American prisoners from the Battle of Hubbardton were treated in the new hospital on the Mount. More than six hundred German troops of the Prince Frederick Regiment defended the fortifications on the southeast side of the Mount where the fort might be attacked from land. Brigadier General Henry Watson Powell had overall command of the forts. On September 18, Americans surprised Ticonderoga in attack that is known as Brown's Raid after Colonel John Brown of Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Mount Defiance was taken by Vermont Ranger Captain Ebenezer Allen. Two hundred ninety-three British soldiers were captured, and 118 American prisoners were set free. Old Fort Ticonderoga was threatened. The attack on Mount Independence was commanded by Colonel Samuel Johnson and then by militia brigadier general Jonathan Warner, both of Massachusetts. Shots were exchanged and a surrender note was sent and ignored. One British officer laughed at the American effort. "It is an undenyable [sic] truth that the Mount was never attacked by the Rebels otherwise than by paper," wrote Lieutenant John Starke,