The Battle of Lake George was fought on 8th of September 1755, in the north of the Province of New York. It was part of a campaign by the British to expel the French from North America, during the French and Indian War.
General Jean Erdman, Baron Dieskau led a force of French regulars and Canadian and Caughnawaga irregulars against Sir William Johnson and his army consisting solely of colonial irregulars and Haudenosaunee (Six Nations Iroquois) warriors under Hendrick Theyanoguin. The battle ended in victory for the British and their allies.
The battle is perhaps best known for the death of Hendrick Theyanoguin, and its success led to the creation of a baronetcy for Sir William Johnson. Afterward, Johnson built Fort William Henry in order to consolidate his gains.
Background Throughout the 1750s, French and British interests in the New World clashed, with the French establishing Forts along the Ohio River to the St. Lawrence. Under the Governance of the Marquis de Vardreuil, interests in New France sought to expand. General Edward Braddock arrived at Virginia in February 1755, and called a meeting of Provincial Governors in Alexandria, where four campaigns were established: Charles Lawrence would reduce Nova Scotia; Braddock would secure the Ohio Valley; Governor William Shirley would capture Fort Niagara; and Sir William Johnson – who had no experience in war –would secure Fort St. Frederic at Crown Point, a keystone in the defense of Canada.Anderson, Fred, Crucible of War: The Seven Years War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754–1766, Faber and Faber Limited, London, 2000, , p. 118
Johnson and his second in command Colonel Phineas Lyman assembled their regiments in Albany, only one of which was uniformed. The overall force consisted of 4,500 volunteers from Massachusetts; 500 from New Hampshire; 400 from Rhode Island; and 800 from New York. The men had no bayonets, but carried an Indian axe or tomahawk in their waistbelts. Johnson's force arrived via waggon at the southern end of Lac du Saint Sacrement on 28th of August 1755, and renamed it "Lake George" in honor of his sovereign, George II, and established a 14 mile long road to it from Lake Champlain. Johnson later wrote that "no house was ever built, nor a rod of land cleared; and the lake which the French call St. Sacrament, I have given the name of Lake George, not only in honour of his majesty, but to assert his undoubted dominion here." Meanwhile, elements of his militia were establishing Fort William Henry and Fort Lyman, later known as Fort Edwards.
French forces under the command of Jean Erdman, Baron Dieskau, planned an attack on Oswego, moving up the St. Lawrence River with 3,573 men: 700 regular French soldiers; 1,600 Canadian militia men, who had been called away from their farms, and around 600 Christian Iroquois and Abenakis from Sault and Two Mountains. However, intelligence delivered by a commissaire suggested that Johnson was two days march from Crown Point, and so Dieskau postponed his attack on Oswego. However, upon arrival at Crown Point, Dieskau found no British soldiers.
Planned Assault on Fort Edwards On the 27 August, a Canadian named Boileau informed Dieskau that 3,000 English were at Fort Lyman, later known as Fort Edwards. Dieskau sought to establish a position from which he could intercept Johnson's advance, or attack them, and so moved his encampment 9 miles south between to Fort Carillon, the precursor of Fort Ticonderoga. While there, Abenaki scouts captured a prisoner, who insisted only 500 soldiers were present at Fort Lyman. Dieskau realised that if he successfully attacked the base, he could cut off English supplies and assault their rear.Anderson, Crucible of War, Page 117
On the 2 September, Dieskau split his force into a column of 1,500 men, leaving half his force at Fort Ticonderoga, later known as Carillon, and embarked on an alternate route to the Hudson by landing his men at South Bay and then marching them east of Lake George along Wood Creek.Bancroft, George, History of the United States, from the Discovery of the American Continent, Vol. IV, Little, Brown and Company, Boston, 1856, p. 209 Dieskau arrived at the road cut by Johnson to Lake George on the evening of the 7th of September, with around 200 French.Parkman, Francis, Montcalm and Wolfe (The French and English in North America, Part Seventh), Vol. I, Little, Brown and Company, Boston, 1942, p. 309 Johnson, camped north of Fort Edward at the southern end of Lake George, was alerted by scouts to the presence of enemy forces to the south, and he dispatched a messenger to warn the 500-man garrison at Fort Edward. The messenger was intercepted, and shot, and later a group of waggoners were captured. As a result, the disposition of all of Johnson's forces, some 3,000 men, became known to Dieskau.
Move to Lake George Dieskau wished to take the fort by surprise at sundown, but the Abenaki Indians in the French party, after holding council, initially declined to assault Fort Edward because they expected it to be defended with cannons; but later consented, and whether purposefully or not, overshot the fort by three miles, thwarting the assault.Parkman, Montcalm and Wolfe, p. 310 On the morning of the 8th of September, Dieskau changed tack and began an advance of 11 miles towards Lake George. This was fortunate, for if they had attacked Fort Edward, they would have caught Johnson's force unprepared. Johnson later wrote: "Happily for us he complied (with the proposition of the Indians), for he would have found our troops separately encamped out of the works and no cannon there, and his victory would have probably been a very cheap one, and made way for another here."
Concurrently, Johnson was aware of the French presence at the Fort, and hold an emergency council. At the council, an unidentified Mohawk said of the French "If they are to fight they are too few; if they are to be killed they are too many." In response, he suggested the British divide into three columns, picking up three sticks: "Put these together and you can't break them; take them up one by one and you may easily break them." At 9:00 a.m. on 8 September, Johnson sent Colonel Ephraim Williams south to reinforce Fort Edward with 200 Mohawks under Hendrick Theyanoguin and 1,000 troops from Williams' Massachusetts Regiment and Colonel Nathan Whiting's Connecticut Regiment. At 10 am, his scouts informed him that about 1,000 men were advancing towards them. Dieskau, warned by a deserter of Williams' approach, blocked the portage road with his French grenadiers and sent his Canadians and Indians to ambush the British from both sides of the road.Anderson, Crucible of War, pp. 118–119 Dieskau positioned his ambush south of the road, his native soldiers on the left flank, with the Canadians behind them. The French waited in front. They lay in wait in a ravine three miles south of the present-day village of Lake George.Bancroft, History of the United States, Vol. IV, p. 210
Order of Battle Both the British and French forces were initially large, but contingents had broken off for the engagement at Lake George as mentioned previously. They are as follows: British Sir William Johnson commanded 1,500 colonial militiamen; 300 Six Nations Haudenosaunee and Mohawks under the command of Hendrick Theyanoguin. Later, 220 militiamen were sent to reinforce Johnson. Johnson had no regulars. French After leaving half his force at Lake Champlain, the French column consisted of 1,500 men, consisting of 220 regular grenadiers of the Régiment de la Reine(Queen's), and the Régiment de Languedoc; 680 Canadian militiamen; and 600 Kahnawake Iroquois, Abenaki and Nipissing warriors, many of whom were Christians.Anderson, Crucible of War, p. 115
The column was under the command of Dieskau, his second in command Pierre-Andre Gohin de Montreuil, Jacques Legardeur de Saint-Pierre, both highly respected French officers. The troops carried ten days' provisions and were in light marching order.
Battle "Bloody Morning Scout"
The approaching British column was under the command of Colonel Ephraim Williams, was accompanied by 300 Six Nation Haudenosaunee and Mohawks under the command of Hendrick Theyanoguin. The force was inexperienced, and had placed no scouts ahead of them, assuming no immediate danger.
Shortly before the ambush was triggered, some Christian Iroquois rose from the ground to observe the approaching column, and seeing relatives, fired warning shots into the air. This effectively triggered the ambush, and the unprepared column collapsed, engulfed in a blaze of enemy musketry, and in the words of Dieskau: "folded like a pack of cards."Gallay, Alan (ed), Colonial Wars of North America, 1512–1763: An Encyclopedia, Garland Publishing, Inc., New York and London, 1996, , p. 363 During the ambush, Jacques Legardeur de Saint-Pierre, a highly respected officer commanding Dieskau's Canadian and Indian forces, was killed. His fall caused great dismay, particularly to the French Indians.
The ambush became known as the "Bloody Morning Scout." Colonel Ephraim Williams mounted a rock to better observe the ambush, and was killed early in the action; Hendrick Theyanoguin, too corpulent to travel on foot, had his horse shot from under him and was bayonetted. Most of the New Englanders fled toward Johnson's camp while about 100 of their comrades under Whiting and Lt. Col. Seth Pomeroy and most of the surviving Mohawks covered their withdrawal with an attempted stand, before retreating.Anderson, Crucible of War, p. 119 The British rearguard was able to inflict substantial casualties on their overconfident pursuers. Pomeroy noted that his men "killed great numbers of them; they were seen to drop like pigeons".Gallay, Colonial Wars of North America, 1512–1763: An Encyclopedia, p. 363
Retreat to Johnson's Camp
After the collapse of the British column under the weight of Dieskau's ambush, panic ensued, and the British retreated to three miles back camp without order, the French following them. However, the French Iroquois and Abenakis did not accompany the pursuit; the Abenakis had seized Mohawk prisoners and the Christian Iroquois insisted upon their release, many staying to loot and scalp the dead British.
At Johnson's camp, musket fire had been heard for an hour and a half, and wounded and fleeing soldiers had begun to arrive. Expecting an impending French attack, Johnson constructed hasty defensive barricades of "wagons, overturned boats and hewn-down trees". He also scattered men among the trees on his flanks.
Dieskau formed his French grenadiers into a column, six abreast, and led them in person along the lake road, looking for an attack. However, with their morale already shaken by the loss of Legardeur de Saint Pierre, the Caughnawagas "did not wish to attack an entrenched camp, the defenders of which included hundreds of their Mohawk kinsmen. The Abenakis would not go forward without the Caughnawagas, and neither would the Canadians," leaving a diminished and unsupported French force advancing on Johnson's camp. Rather, the Canadians and Indigenous soldiers scattered among the trees, providing limited fire.
Once the French grenadiers were out in the open ground, British gunners crewing Johnson's three cannons under the Command of Captain William Eyre, loaded them with grapeshot and cut "lanes, streets and alleys" through the advancing French ranks, scattering the French amid the rough cover.Anderson, Crucible of War, p. 121 When Johnson was wounded and retired to his tent for treatment, Major-general Phineas Lyman took over command.