The French and Indian War, pt. 1: The Battle of Lake George
- Timothy Dusablon
- Jul 18
- 20 min read
Updated: Aug 24
The French and Indian War, or the Seven Years War as it was known in Europe, was what many historians call the real first World War. It started between the age-old rivals, England and France, who had been fighting off and on for over a century. However this war, unlike the previous conflicts between the two enemies, did not start in Europe and spill into North America. Rather, this was the opposite. This conflict started in North America, and spread across the globe.
Many major theaters of the Seven Years War emerged in almost every corner of the world. These theaters included Gibraltar, the Mediterranean Sea, West Africa, The Philippines, India, Cuba, and Guadeloupe. In North America, these theaters of war included the Ohio Valley, the Canadian Maritimes, the St. Lawrence River, and the Great Lakes.
But one theater in this world war emerged with over a dozen battles, raids, skirmishes, and naval engagements from 1755 through to 1760. Amazingly, that theater was the Champlain Valley. The Lake George, Lake Champlain, and Richelieu River corridor was fiercely contested, with some of the most memorable and important engagements in this world war. It started with the topic of this episode, the Battle of Lake George in 1755. After that, the infamous siege and “massacre” of Fort William Henry in 1757, and the improbable events of the Battle of Carillon the following year.
We will spend 6 episodes discussing the French and Indian War in the Champlain Valley. The aforementioned battles will be explored in their proper context. As will smaller skirmishes like the 3 different Battles on Snowshoes, the Battles of Sabbath Day Point and Point au Fer, the infamous St. Francis Raid by Robert Rogers and his Rangers, and the last significant stand of New France at Ile aux Noix, just 12 miles north of the outlet of Lake Champlain.
Connections in the Ohio Country to the Champlain Valley
Now, in the last episode, we left off with George Washington making a mis-step in the backwoods of Pennsylvania and starting this World War. I’ll delve into the events in the Ohio River Valley because there are some fascinating connections to the Champlain Valley.
The British colonies were increasingly concerned about the French control of the Great Lakes, in addition to the Mississippi River valley, all the way down to Louisiana. This control essentially cut off the English colonies from expanding westward, as the need and thirst for land grew amongst settlers and land speculators. This would inevitably lead to conflict, with clashing claims over the Ohio River Valley.
To complicate things further, the relationship of the First Nations of the Ohio Valley amongst themselves was cause for friction. The Haudenosaunee, or Iroquois, Confederacy claimed control of the area and the First Nations, as negotiated with the British. But the Delaware and the Shawnee disputed the Haudenosaunee claims to the region, and preferred to trade with the French.
Concerned by new French forts in the area, Virginia Governor Robert Dinwiddie dispatched none other than a young, 21 year old George Washington to deliver a message to the French commander at Fort Le Boeuf in present northwest Pennsylvania. Washington was received at Fort Le Boeuf by Captain Jaques Legardeur de Saint-Pierre of the Troupes de la Marine. He was 55 years old, and Washington described him as a gentleman who had the aura of a professional soldier. He had served at forts ranging from Nova Scotia, to Lake Winnipeg, to Tennessee. He also spent time during King George’s War at Fort St. Frederic, the French fort at Crown Point on Lake Champlain. Legaudeur received Washington in a friendly but suspicious manner. Knowing much more about Native diplomacy than George Washington, Legardeur noticed the lack of First Nations diplomats with Washington, noting only a Mingo Chief and a few Warriors. The Mingo chief’s name was Tanaghrisson. More notably, there were no representatives from the Delaware or Shawnee. Their absence told Legardeur everything he needed to know - the French still had the upper hand with those First Nations.
Washington handed over what was essentially a cease and desist order, demanding the French leave what they believed to be British territory. Legaudeur invited Washington to dine in the fort, as a gentleman soldier would, while he conferred with his officers. After discussion, Legaudeur responded that it was not his call to leave, and that the territory was incontestably the domain of the French King. He gave Washington a response letter, which essentially told Dinwiddie to file his grievances with Governor General Duquesne. But Washington also saw about 200 canoes in the area, and knew that further incursions into the Ohio River Valley were imminent.
Governor Dinwiddie sent a force under William Trent to the forks of the Ohio river, present day Pittsburgh, to construct a fortification. This was an effort to counter the French string of Forts built in the Ohio Valley. But before that fort was completed, a much larger French contingent forced the surrender of the Virginians. The French force let the British go free, and even paid for the tools to work on their new fortification. Soon after construction began on Fort Duquesne.
The commander of the French force that drove out the Virginians was Claude-Pierre Pécaudy de Contrecoeur. Contrecoeur and his family had deep ties to the Champlain Valley. He had spent time at Fort St. Frederic, and received a seigneurial grant on Lake Champlain called La Picaudiere, which included the mouth of the Otter Creek. His father, Francois-Antoine Pecaudy de Contrecoeur, was the commandant at Fort St. Frederic. He was in charge as the surrounding community of Pointe a la Chevelure took root, and he died at the fort in 1743. He also received a seigneurial grant on Lake Champlain that included Grand Isle. Even more fascinating, his grandfather, Antoine Picaudy de Contrecoeur, was a member of the Carignan-Salieres Regiment and was stationed at Fort St. Anne on Isle la Motte in 1666.
Washington's Mis-step
Washington was once again sent by Governor Dinwiddie to the area of the forks to strengthen Trent’s force in constructing the fortification. Ironically and almost symbolically, the fort was to be named Fort Prince George, after the future King George III that Washington would counter in the Revolutionary War to follow.
Dinwiddie did not mince words, instructing Washington to use force, if necessary, in what was a major overreach of his power as governor. This was not authorized at all by London. Essentially, Dinwiddie invited Washington to start a war. While he was on the way, he learned of the French takeover of the partially constructed fort. Accompanying Washington was the aforementioned Tanaghrisson, who was a major player in the events that followed. He saw this French control of the Ohio Valley as a direct threat to his control of the area, as he was allied with the British. He also had a deep seeded hatred for the French dating back to a previous encounter he had had with them.
On the French side, the aforementioned Contrecoeur sent a detachment of 35 men to see if Washington had indeed entered French territory, as had been rumored. The force was under the command of Officer Joseph Coulon de Jumonville.
Washington, who had heard from a local that the French were in the area, sent Tanaghrisson and a large group to find the French. Tanaghrisson reported back to Washington that they had found the French contingent, and the two led a group to confront the French force.
Now, what happened next has been fiercely debated over the last 270 plus years, and will continue to be argued over by historians. It seems hard to separate fact from fiction, as both the French and English reports were likely fabricated to hide the mis-steps and the atrocities that followed.
The English and Mingo forces had surrounded the French in a glen and had the high ground. The French were preparing their breakfast when one of the French Canadians likely spotted the force and ordered the men to grab their muskets. Who fired the first shot is unknown, and will likely never be known. It may have been the French in a panic. The English fired two volleys on the French force, wounding Jumonville. Jumonville then called for a cease-fire, which was obeyed. At this point, the wounded Jumonville proceeded to tell Washington that he was merely in the territory under truce to inquire about Washington’s activities in the area. He was there to share a message. George Washington did not speak French, however, and his French interpreter was, well, lacking in his knowledge of French as well.
This is the point in which the spark that ignited the French and Indian War happened. Analysing several primary source accounts of the incident, historian and author Fred Anderson asserts the following events happened. While Jumonville was reading aloud his proclamation, Tanaghrisson went up to Jumonville, said the words “Tu n'es pas encore mort, mon père!” and plunged his tomahawk into the skull of Jumonville, killing him instantly. This phrase translates to “thou art not dead yet, my Father” and indicates his hatred towards the French. Father was the term amongst many First Nations for the French and their leaders.
The other Mingo warriors proceeded to massacre or take prisoner the remaining French soldiers in the group. It is unknown to what extent Washington tried to maintain order, as his version of events does not include any actions taken by Tanaghrisson, likely in an attempt to cover up his mishandling of the situation. However, we can imagine a 22 year old Washington looking on in terror, as the situation spiraled way out of his control.
Tanaghrisson knew that the massacre of the French in this manner would begin a war, which would benefit the leader in his aim to re-establish his power over the Delaware and Shawnee First Nations as had been specified in an agreement with the British. But the French, who the Delaware and Shawnee had reluctantly partnered with, would not allow that to happen. A war in the region between the British and the French was his only means of asserting the influence he desired.
Washington then set about building Fort Necessity, a hastily constructed fortification that fell to a French Force, under Jumonville’s brother. Among the French Force was the aforementioned Captain Jacques Legardeur de Saint-Pierre. In the surrender documents, which Washington did not understand, he admitted guilt for the massacre and the “assasination” of Jumonville.
When France and England learned of the hostilities in the Ohio Valley, preparations for further conflict began on both sides. The wheels of war were in motion.
War plans on the British side were drawn up largely by William Augustus, the Duke of Cumberland, who was the son of King George II and had a ruthless nature about him. During the Jacobite uprisings, he had gained the nickname of “Butcher Cumberland” for his heavy-handed tactics. The plan he drew up was to strike a very aggressive blow to the French with a four-pronged attack. For this, the command in North America would go to Major General Edward Braddock. Braddock himself would lead a large force to remove the French from the Ohio Valley. The second prong was to move against Fort Niagara on Lake Ontario. The third prong would move against the French forts in Nova Scotia. Lastly, the fourth prong of this attack would move north from Albany, to Lake Champlain, to dislodge the French from Fort St. Frederic.
British Attack Plans for the Champlain Valley
For the Lake Champlain mission, Braddock turned to Sir William Johnson, an Irish-born trader with strong personal and diplomatic ties to the Haudenosaunee First Nations, notably the Mohawk. Johnson would proceed on this mission with almost no British regulars. Rather, his force consisted of colonial regiments from New England and New York. To make up for his lack of British regulars, or soldiers from Great Britain, he would have to almost single-handedly repair the broken relationship between the English colonies and the Haudenosaunee.
Since the end of King William’s War, the Haudenosaunee were, with some exception, neutral. They brilliantly played peace agreements with both the French and the English to their benefit. But continual land grabs by the English colonies, in conjunction with the lackluster performance of the said colonies in King George’s War, had left the covenant chain broken. A grand conference amongst the various colonies met in Albany, NY, in 1754 in an attempt to gain good favor once again amongst the Haudenosaunee. At this conference was Benjamin Franklin, who, for the first time, proposed a governing body consisting of all 13 colonies to band together in the upcoming conflict with the French. The proposal was overwhelmingly voted down, owing to colonial and business self-interests, as well as in-fighting amongst the colonies.
William Johnson, who was selected to lead the Lake Champlain mission, was also given the role as Superintendent of Northern Indian Affairs - A role which this gifted diplomat would excel at. Johnson, respected amongst the Mohawk, had gained the nickname “Chief Big Business”.
With these two important commissions in mind, he gathered for another conference amongst the Haudenosaunee to try to encourage their participation in the planned attacks of 1755.
The answer amongst the Haudenosaunee was largely no, with the exception of 200 Mohawk warriors that would accompany Johnson to Lake Champlain and Fort St. Frederic.
The leader of the Mohawk warriors would be the elder-statesmen named Theyanoguin, a man for whom Johnson had conducted much business with prior to this point. Theyanoguin was often known by his anglicized name, Chief Hendrick. He had traveled to England and had even met King George II in 1740. He was a member of the Bear Clan and was a sachem, as well as a leading diplomat. During the Albany Conference, Theyanoguin had chastised the English colonies for fraudulent land deals and cowardice in the face of the French.
Now, back to the British four-pronged plan of attack. To say the four simultaneous attacks were overly ambitious… would be an understatement. The English colonies did not have the men, nor supplies, nor money, to properly stage this large of an offensive. The planning for the British offensive of 1755 had largely been drawn up from men who had never been to the new world. They had no clue of the harsh and unforgiving environment. They knew even less about the role of Native American diplomacy and the importance that it would play. Nor did they know about the style of woodland warfare, or “petit guerre” that defined warfare in North America in the last century. Instead, they would stick with traditional European fighting strategies largely meant for open fields, and not overgrown forests.
Braddock, the commander of British forces, made several mistakes on his journey to capture Fort Duquesne. He not only ignored, but insulted, the British native allies, to the point where many of the warriors decided to fight on behalf of the French. That concerned him little, for he felt that First Nations Warriors were no match for the King’s exceptionally trained troops. He was about to be proven fatefully wrong.
Following the crudely cut road through the wilderness along the Monongahela River, the red clad organized companies, marching through the wilderness, were easy targets for the French and their First Nations Allies. The force came under attack several miles from Fort Duquesne in present-day Pittsburgh. They were ambushed perfectly, with the French regulars preventing their escape down the road towards the fort. It was disastrous for the British. Braddock was fatally struck, and had multiple horses shot out from under him before the fateful shot. Washington was a part of this mission, and had miraculously escaped serious injury, despite four shots going through his clothing.
This was a disaster in every way for the British. Almost ⅔ of the force was either killed or wounded. In yet another connection to the Champlain Valley, the French commander of the force that defeated Braddock was Daniel Liénard de Beaujeu. Beaujeu was the recipient of the seigneurie of La Colle at the outlet of Lake Champlain into the Richelieu River. He married the daughter of Francois Foucault, the seigneurial grant holder of the French settlement at present-day Alburgh. Beaujeu suffered the same fate as Braddock during the battle and lost his life.
At this point, the news of Braddock’s defeat had reached the forces along the Hudson River, preparing the planned siege of Fort St. Frederic. Construction began at the Great Carrying Place, the northernmost navigable point of the Hudson River, where the overland journey of 16 miles began to reach the head of Lake George. Construction began on Fort Edward, the namesake of the current town in New York State.
A counsel of war was called to determine the best route forward to Lake Champlain. The traditional two paths were to either go to the head of Lac du Saint Sacrement and proceed north to the outlet, make a small portage around the La Chute River, and proceed north on Lake Champlain at Ticonderoga. The other route was to connect to Wood Creek to its outlet at the head of Lake Champlain at present day Whitehall. The latter route was more direct, but involved swamps and wetlands, in addition to felled trees placed there by the French during King George’s War. The decision was made to follow the first route, and to construct a road from Fort Edward to Lac du Saint Sacrement.
Dieskau, Commander of French Forces, in the Champlain Valley
On the French side, an influx of 78 French companies of regulars came to the new world. These regulars were under the command of Major General Jean-Armand, Baron de Dieskau, the commander of troops for France. They made their way to New France and proceeded down the St. Lawrence River as soon as the ice had disappeared and the river was navigable. Once in New France, Dieskau met with the Governor General of New France, Pierre de Rigaud de Vaudreuil de Cavagnial. Dieskau had in hand plans seized during Braddock’s defeat detailing the British movement for the four-pronged attack. Initial plans were for Major General Dieskau to defend Fort Niagara, but over-inflated reports of the size of William Johnson’s army convinced Vaudreuil to send Dieskau to defend Fort St. Frederic on Lake Champlain instead.
His second in command would be none other than Captain Jacques Legardeur de Saint-Pierre, who was moved from his post at Fort Le Boeuf shortly after his discussion with George Washington. The French force consisted of more than 3,000 regulars, Canadian Militia, Troupes de la Marine, and about 700 First Nations Warriors. They proceeded south to Fort St. Frederic to prepare for the English siege. At this point it was apparent to General Dieskau that Fort St. Frederic was in no shape to be defended. The walls were showing their age, and would not be able to withstand even a modest artillery offensive.
Meanwhile, Johnson and his force were very slow to proceed, to the point where it seemed unlikely they would reach their objective before winter. This despite the fact that the Fort St. Frederic campaign was the shortest of the four prongs of attack in 1755. His forces had been successful in cutting a road to Lac du Saint Sacrement. At this point, William Johnson asserted English domain over the body of water by renaming it Lake George. This was in honor of King George II.
Dieskau, knowing Fort St. Frederic was in bad shape, and hearing reports of the construction of what would be called Fort Edward, decided to move forward and attack the British. He moved south with all but 500 of his men to Carillon, the outlet of the La Chute River into Lake Champlain. At this point, he left a large force at Carillon to protect against any English attempt and to reinforce his supply line, and proceeded further south on Lake Champlain. He left another contingent of forces behind at present day Dresden, NY, at a place called “Two Rocks”, where two steep cliffs on either side of the lake dominate the terrain.
Baron de Dieskau and Captain Legardeur de Saint-Pierre, the aforementioned commander of Fort Le Boeuf, moved forward with 1500 French regulars, Canadian Militia, and Native Warriors from the Abenaki, Algonquin, Nippising, and Caughnawaga First Nations. In canoes and bateaux, they proceeded south to the edge of Lake Champlain, in a place now known as South Bay. Disembarking at South Bay, they marched through the mountains to the military road that now connected Fort Edward to the newly renamed Lake George.
Dieskau’s initial plan was to attack Fort Edward. However, the First Nations refused to attack a fortified position with heavy artillery. The French force had no heavy artillery of their own. Dieskau had to change plans on the fly. Intelligence gained by a colonial deserter from the British camp at Lake George gave Dieskau a great opportunity that he would capitalize on.
At the British camp on Lake George, Mohawk scouts informed Johnson of a party of French and Natives marching toward the Great Carrying Place, the site of Fort Edward. Johnson called for a counsel of war and decided to send 1,000 men under the command of Ephraim Williams, and the Mohawk leader Theyanoguin, to march south to reinforce Fort Edward. This force was on the way when Dieskau learned from the deserter of the plans. Dieskau and Legardeur planned an ambush along the military road. This was strikingly similar in plans to what happened with Braddock’s forces on his march in the Ohio Valley.
Bloody Morning Scout
The French force took their positions to lay the perfect trap. The 1,000 men detachment continued forward into the ambush. It was at this point that the Caughnawaga First Nations Warriors saw the Mohawk and Theyanoguin. The Caughnawaga were Mohawk who had converted to Catholicism and had relocated to a reserve just south of Montreal, in a place still known today as the Kahnawake Indian Reserve. The Caughnawaga had no desire to spill the blood of their Mohawk kin of the valley, especially in a white man’s war. According to one account, a Caughnawaga Warrior called out a warning to the Mohawk and Theyanoguin. Theyanoguin rode forward to see what the commotion was, but at that point shots rang out from both sides. It is unclear who fired the first shot.
Thus began the first engagement of three, collectively known as the Battle of Lake George. The front of the English column took heavy losses. Colonel Ephraim Williams lost his life. In his will, he specified funds to be used to build a school. That school today is known as Williams College in Massachusetts. Many of the colonials in the rear very ingloriously fled the battle, going back to Lake George. While lacking in valor, the move of sheer panic actually saved many and kept the force from having the same casualty numbers as Braddock’s force. The Mohawk led a fighting column in retreat holding the French at bay while many returned back to Lake George.
Both sides suffered casualties in the Bloody Morning Scout engagement. On the French side, one of the losses included Captain Jacques Legardeur de Saint-Pierre, the man for whom Washington met with at Fort le Boeuf, and whose dialogue with Washington led to a chain of events that started the war. The Canadians and the First Nations Warriors were devastated by the loss of Captain Legardeur. He was the liaison to the Warriors on this mission.
Theyanoguin, the 65 year old sachem of the Mohawk, also lost his life in the engagement. This was a devastating loss for the Mohawk Warriors.
During the Bloody Morning Scout, the gunfire and smoke could be seen at both the head of Lake George, where Johnson was located, and also at Fort Edward. At the head of Lake George, the colonials hastily constructed a defensive work that included cut down trees and carriages turned upside down. They also brought forward the heavy artillery and aimed it toward the military road.
At this point, Dieskau made the hasty decision to attack the British base at Lake George. The Caughnawaga refused to proceed, alarmed by the number of dead Mohawk kinsmen. The Abenaki Warriors refused to proceed without the Caughnawaga, and the Canadian militia refused to proceed without the First Nations Warriors. It seems as if Dieskau proceeded forward with his French regular troops almost in an attempt to guilt the others into joining the offensive.
Attack on the British Base Camp
At the Lake George camp, the colonial forces awaited the French. After a short wait, some of Europe’s finest military forces appeared in their blue uniforms and shining bayonets. Dieskau decided on a frontal assault. The French forces moved forward, while a few of the Native Warriors who decided to join the raid provided musket fire from the treeline. As the French forces came forward, about halfway between the clearing in the woods to the hastily constructed defensive works, the provincials opened fire. Thus began the second engagement of the Battle of Lake George.
The musket fire and the grape shot from the four cannon cut through the French lines. The colonials were more than holding their own against these well-trained professional soldiers. This was an impressive feat. The British force had only one British regular, Captain William Eyre, which left only colonials to go against France’s finest soldiers. Those French regulars maintained their order from 150 yards away from enemy fire, suffering losses of about a third of their force. The French Canadians and Native Warriors were unable to penetrate the lines of the colonials in the nearly four-hour heated battle. Both Johnson and Dieskau were wounded in this engagement. Dieskau more severely, as he led the French regulars from the front lines. Dieskau was taken prisoner by Johnson’s men, and reportedly had his life saved by Johnson himself who prevented a Mohawk Warrior from killing him who sought revenge for Theyanoguin’s death. Dieskau was transported back to England, where he was held as a prisoner of war until the early 1760’s. Johnson’s men valiantly held the encampment.
Bloody Pond
Meanwhile, forces down at Fort Edward had also heard the fighting happening to the north, and sent a force of 220 militia in a relief column under Captains William McGinnis, of the New York regiments, and Nathan Folsom of the New Hampshire regiments. The New Yorkers and New Englanders were constantly fighting at Fort Edward, and the animosity continued during this march. The New Hampshire regiment reportedly complained that the New Yorkers were too slow, but didn’t want to pass them, as they claimed they were more afraid of the New Yorkers than they were of the enemy.
As this column marched north, they encountered a large force of Canadians and First Nations Warriors who left the battle at the lake early, or who may have never joined. They were looting the victims of the first engagement, the Bloody Morning Scout, and resting, awaiting the next move. This began the third and final engagement of the Battle of Lake George, Bloody Pond.
The men of the New Hampshire and New York regiments surprised the group of Canadians and Warriors and inflicted heavy losses. The engagement lasted somewhere between an hour and three hours, and left the French force retreating back to South Bay on Lake Champlain. In the area was a pond or flow of water, perhaps a small creek. Apparently, there were so many dead from this engagement that the water turned red with blood. Hence the name “Bloody Pond”. Today’s Bloody Pond and the historic marker just off of Route 9N claim to be the spot of this encounter, but that claim is debatable. Archeologist David Starbuck maintains that the actual location was a modest stream nearby, and that the “pond” may have been a depression in that stream. Captain William McGinnis lost his life during this engagement.
After the engagement, the men of the New Hampshire and New York regiments helped themselves to French bread and Brandy, and at least for a short time, seemed to put their differences aside.
Historians largely consider the Battle of Lake George a British victory. They held the ground at the camp on Lake George, despite the entire army being colonial soldiers and having only one British regular. Had Johnson’s forces been defeated, the French would have likely continued onto Fort Edward and perhaps even Albany. Despite this unprecedented success, the morale of the colonials was not that typical of the victors of war. In fact, they were demoralized and disorganized. Hence why no attempt was made to follow the remaining French forces on their retreat. Johnson was left to dig in at the head of Lake George.
The French forces could also claim a small victory. They had prevented Johnson’s forces from their objective to capture Fort St. Frederic and held them to the southern end of Lake George.
The British began construction on a fortification at Johnson’s Camp. That fortification would be known as Fort William Henry. Similarly, the French dug at the northern end where the waters of Lake George empty into Lake Champlain, and began to build their own new fortification. This fortification would be known as Fort Carillon, later known to the English as Fort Ticonderoga. Lake George, the 30 miles of pristine water and beautiful mountain ranges, was now the front lines of two empires battling for control of North America.
This is part one of a six part series on the French and Indian War in the Champlain Valley. Click here for Part Two.
Sources:
Anderson, Fred. “Crucible of War: The Seven Years War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754-1766”
Anderson, Fred. “The War That Made America: A Short History of the French and Indian War”
Bellico, Russell P. “Empires in the Mountains: French and Indian War Campaigns and Forts in the Lake Champlain, Lake George, and Hudson River Corridor”
Coolidge, Guy Omeron. “The French Occupation of the Champlain Valley 1609-1759”
Millard, James P. “Lake Passages: A Journey Through the Centuries Volume I 1609-1909”
Starbuck, David R. “The Great Warpath: British Military Sites from Albany to Crown Point”
Steele, Ian K. “Betrayals: Fort William Henry & the ‘Massacre’”
