One of the Most Stupendous Feats of Logistics

Even worse cameras weren’t invented until 2,500+ years after it was written. Was absolutely shocked that they put this on film instead of having an old guy on a stage recite it to me. https://t.co/16hfHaRkj6

— Andrew Nadeau (@TheAndrewNadeau) January 27, 2026

I have often scoffed at people who get so cranky about ahistorical media and entertainment, and I also like doing deep dives into historical accounts for fun and learning.  Which brings me to a scene in the John Adams mini that's relevant to today's date (or thereabouts):

The beginning is actually well-supported historically (see the deep dive above), but then gets mired, as it were, in the show's need to center Abigail and John in every major event (consistently its biggest weakness across all episodes, but that's fine).  Firstly, it was John who observed Knox's "Noble Train" on January 25, 1776:

About 10 Mr. Gerry called me, and we rode to Framingham, where We dined.Coll. Buckminster after Dinner shewed us, the Train of Artillery brought down from Ticonderoga, by Coll. Knox. It consists of Iron -- 9 Eighteen Pounders, 10 Twelves, 6. six, four nine Pounders, Three 13. Inch Mortars, Two Ten Inch Mortars, one Eight Inch, and one six and an half. Howitz, one Eight Inch and an half and one Eight. 

Brass Cannon. Eight Three Pounders, one four Pounder, 2 six Pounders, one Eighteen Pounder, and one 24 Pounder. One eight Inch and an half Mortar, one Seven Inch and an half Dto. and five Cohorns. 

After Dinner, rode to Maynards¹, and supped there very agreably.

The scene also depicts the weather as rainy and springlike, which seems improbable, but I guess they needed to do that so they could quickly move to the fortification of Dorchester Heights, rather than dawdling narratively for 2 more months.  They also actually steal from Abigail, having Robert Treat Paine declaim (immediately afterward, not shown in the embedded clip):

When Howe saw the guns from Ticonderoga ringing the city he shouted, "Good God, these fellows have done more work in one day than I made my army do in three months."

Mrs Adams actually wrote to her husband on Evacuation Day:

I hear that General How said upon going upon some Eminence in Town to view our Troops who had taken Dorchester Hill unperceived by them till sun rise, “My God these fellows have done more work in one night than I could make my Army do in three months” and he might well say so for in one night two forts and long Breast Works were sprung up besides several Barracks. 300 & 70 teems were imployed most of which went 3 load in the night, beside 4000 men who worked with good Hearts.

Interesting choices by the writers, but again, not bothersome from where I sit, merely an opportunity to learn more about the real events.  And here's the whole deal behind Knox's labors:

The want of heavy ordnance, with which to drive the enemy from Boston, was felt to be one of serious concern ; and to the enterprising and fertile mind of Knox belongs the credit of having conceived and successfully executed a project by which the besieging army was supplied with the means for effecting that important object. This plan, which was approved by Washington, was to procure from Fort Ticonderoga the needed cannon and stores, and to transport them on boats and sleds to the camp at Cambridge.

Armed with the necessary instructions from the commander-in-chief, and accompanied by his younger brother, William, then nineteen years of age, and who was of great service to him in this enterprise, Knox left the camp at Cambridge on Nov. 15, and, after a brief visit to his wife at Worcester, reached New York on the 25th. After transacting his business there, he started northward on the 28th, "glad," as he writes in his diary, "to leave New York, it being very expensive." He reached Albany Dec. 1, and Ticonderoga on the 5th. From this place he began his laborious and difficult journey homeward on the 9th, having put on board some small craft, such ordnance and stores as were essential and could be safely transported. 

He was assisted in his arduous labors by General Schuyler, and after undergoing much hardship and suffering, and encountering numerous obstacles as well as the annoyances and vexations incident to so hazardous an enterprise in the midst of a severe winter, he finally had the satisfaction of reaching camp on Jan. 24, 1776, and of receiving the congratulations of the commander-in-chief upon the important service he had thus rendered the army and the country. While crossing the Hudson on the ice, one of the cannon fell into the river near the landing. It was recovered on the following day, with the assistance of the people of Albany, in return for which service Knox christened her "The Albany."

This achievement stamped the character of Knox for boldness, enterprise, fertility of resource and genius, supplied the means for fortifying Dorchester Heights, and vindicated the judgment of Washington in selecting him for the important and responsible duties of the artillery and ordnance departments.

Now lest anybody think modern media has a monopoly on inaccurate history, that accompanying picture is Tom Lovell's The Noble Train of Artillery, painted in 1946, which...

[T]he Noble Train of Artillery was primarily dragged by horses. The many history books that report oxen likely only researched the subject in the papers of George Washington, citing the letter there from Knox that gives his intentions to use oxen to drag the train. 

But in truth, after local teamsters tried to price-gouge Knox for use of their oxen, Knox decided to use horses instead, yet apparently never wrote of this change to Washington. And since the correction does not appear in the papers of George Washington (and historians did not utilize Knox’s incomplete diary), historians therefore never identified the change of Knox’s plan. 

Thus, the wrong story of Knox’s oxen spread. In truth, Knox’s expedition was pulled by horses.

Anyway, supposedly Knox reported his arrival with the guns to General Washington on January 27, which many sites claim, although I haven't found any documentation of said fact.  Yet it certainly seems reasonable, since that's roughly how long it takes to get from Framingham to Cambridge via I-90 today.

In conclusion²: amateurs talk about tactics, but professionals study logistics.

1 - Not to be confused with Menards, which I used to shop at on occasion when I had ties to the Twin Cities long ago.

2 - Oddly enough, this quotation is attributed to a number of different people, and even the post's title I cannot actually find outside references to historian Victor Brooks that cite no specific written or other works.