The Unbelievable Story of Henry Knox the Ox

This guy was amazingly unbelievable. He got pushed down so many times, but he always got back up. He was once a bookseller in Boston, and he was very successful. He read a lot about war and war styles, so he was very familiar with war before he ever even fought. When the Revolutionary War started, there was a lot of heat in Boston. Knox was married to Lucy Flucker, who was the daughter of a wealthy Tory. When the heat started building up in Boston, the Revolutionary War started. Henry Knox loved his country, so he left Boston with Lucy, leaving his book shop and all of his books behind to enlist in the siege.

How hard would it be to leave behind all of your wealth and fortune for a cause that looks bleak? Even though the American cause appeared to be hopeless, I’m sure that Henry Knox knew that the cause would succeed in the end. While talking about the Declaration of Independence, Knox once stated: “We want great men who, when fortune frowns, will not be discouraged.” Even though Knox had no part in writing the Declaration, he was certainly one of these “great men.” Henry Knox didn’t just leave Boston because he feared the British or because he loved his country. Knox also enlisted in the army out of duty. Knox once said, “The eyes of all America are upon us, as we play our part in posterity will bless or curse us.” Knox knew that his engaged cause was an important duty, and that is part of the reason why he left Boston.

Knox was very large in stature and build, and he also was very large in stature of perseverance and diligence. For these reasons, his profound nickname was “Henry Knox—the ox.” When he first enlisted in the Revolutionary War, he realized that the siege of Boston really needed some help, because it was going nowhere. The American side was short on powder and supplies, and this was stopping them from attacking the British. Because of how literate he was in war strategy, Henry Knox thought up and proposed a plan to George Washington. This plan would bring in supplies from an abandoned Fort Ticonderoga in upstate New York. Washington readily accepted the plan, and in 1775, he sent Knox on his mission. Knox left his wife, taking his brother and a band of men and departing for Ticonderoga.

Henry Knox--the ox

Henry Knox had the perfect chance now to prove his worth to General George Washington, and Knox accepted and took advantage of his opportunity. After traveling through bitter weather with his men, he finally arrived at Ticonderoga. After loading the supplies onto three ships, Knox then proceeded to sail down Lake Champlain back towards Boston. While sailing, one of the boats sank into the lake. However, the Ox wasn’t about to let that stop him. He got the boat and all the supplies back out from the bottom of the lake, fixed the leak, and kept going. How hard would that be? He pulled a boat full of supplies out of a lake. The quest was far from over, though.

After reaching the southern end of Lake Champlain, Knox had planned to take the supplies on sleds to Boston. However, it’s a bit hard to pull sleds without snow on the ground. This was a situation that Knox couldn’t really control. He couldn’t just make it snow.  At this point, he really only had three choices: First, quit and go home, second, do nothing, or third pray and be patient. Fortunately, the Ox took the third option, but he had to wait until Christmas for the snow to come. This is really unbelievably difficult; maybe even more difficult than pulling a boat out of a lake. Working hard is one thing, but not being able to work is another. Diligence doesn’t always just take hard work. Patience must often be present if the task is to be completed. And, believe it or not, even Henry Knox had that.

The Ox took some oxen (real oxen, not persevering men) and, with the help of men, the animals pulled the sleds toward Boston. Unfortunately, many rivers and streams blocked the way. The ice was too thin for the oxen and supplies to cross. Now what was Knox supposed to do? Well, he used his head. Get this: Knox poked holes in the ice. This allowed the water underneath to seep up through the holes and freeze over the ice, making it stronger. This is an extraordinarily genius idea! That, once again, is the importance of reading. Books don’t only teach facts; they teach minds how to think. In many of these river crossings, cannons and supplies fell into the water. On one of these occasions, it took Knox a whole day and a whole town of people to retrieve cannon, but Knox was able to get all of the supplies to Boston. He did this, even after the oxen pulled sleds up and down the steep Berkshire Mountains. After getting all of the cannons to Boston, Knox earned General Washington’s admiration, and that is no easy thing to earn.

The cannons and supplies that the Ox brought to Boston were critical in the siege and in the Revolutionary War itself. If Knox hadn’t brought that supply of cannon, the Americans never would have been able to claim Dorchester Heights, and without Dorchester Heights, the Americans never would have been able to force the British surrender. Knox’s deed was significant, and he was rewarded for it. He later served in the war as a Senior Officer of the United States Army. After that, Knox served under George Washington as the Continental States Secretary of War and the United States Secretary of War. America may have never existed had it not been for the persevering, diligent, visionary, wisdom-seeking Henry Knox—the ox.