Chap. 1. 



INDIAN AND COLONIAL WARS. 



H 



J-ORT WILLIAM HENRY TAKEN BY THE FRENCH. 



MASSACRE OF T}IE GARRISON. 



plied, " what do you think we should do 

 here." 



The next day Webb returned to fort 

 Edward, and the day following, Col. ]\lon- 

 roe was sent with his regiment to reinforce 

 the g-arrison at lake George. The day 

 after his arrival tiie French and Indians 

 under Montcalm appeared upon the lake, 

 effected a landing with but little opposi- 

 tion, and immediately laid siege to the 

 fort. Montcalm, at the same time, sent a 

 letter to Monroe, stating that he felt him- 

 self bound in humanity to urge the Eng- 

 lish commander to surrender before any 

 of the Indians were slain and their savage 

 temper farther inflamed by a resistance, 

 which would be unavailing. Monroe rc- 

 jjlied that as the fortress had been entrust- 

 od to him, both his honor and his duty 

 required him to defend it to the last ex- 

 tremity. 



The garrison, amounting to about 2.500 

 men, made a gallant defence ; while Mon- 

 roe, aware of his danger, sent frequent ex- 

 presses to fort Edward for succor. But 

 Webb remained inactive and apparently 

 indifferent during these alarming trans- 

 actions. On the 8th or Oth day of the 

 siege. Gen. Johnson was permitted to set 

 out for the relief of fort William Henry 

 M'ith the provincial regiments and Put- 

 nam's rangers ; but he had proceeded on- 

 ly three miles, when he received orders 

 from Webb for his immediate return. 

 Webb then wrote to Monroe that he could 

 afford him no assistance, and advised him 

 to surrender on the best terms he could 

 obtain. 



Monroe and his garrison, in hourly ex- 

 pectation of relief from fort Edward, de- 

 fended themselves with much spirit and 

 resolution, till the 9th of August, when, 

 their works having become much injured 

 and their ammunition nearly expended, 

 all their hopes of holding out were at once 

 l)lasted by the reception of Webb's letter, 

 which Montcalm had intercepted, and 

 now sent in with further pro])osals for a 

 surrender of the fort. Articles of ca])itula- 

 tlon were therefore agreed upon and sign- 

 ed by Montcalm and Monroe, by which 

 it was stipulated, that the garrison should 

 march out with their arms and baggage — 

 should be escorted to fort Edward by a 

 detachment of French troops, and should 

 not serve against the French for the term 

 of 18 months — that the works and all the 

 warlike stores should be delivered to the 

 French — and tiiat the sick and wounded 

 of the garrison should remain under the 

 protection of Montcalm and should be 

 permitted to return as soon as they were 

 recovered. 

 ^ After the capitulation no further troubles 



were apprehended. But the garrison had 

 no sooner inarched out of the fort, than a 

 scene of perfidy and barbarity began to be 

 witnessed, which it is impossible for lan- 

 guage to describe. Wholly regardless of 

 the articles of capitulation, the Indians 

 attached to the French army, fell upon 

 the defenceless soldiers, plundering and 

 murdering all who came in their way. 

 The French were idle spectators of this 

 bloody scene ; nor could all the entreaties 

 of Col. Monroe persuade them to furnish 

 the escort, as stipulated in the articles of 

 capitulation. On this fatal day about 1500 

 of the English were cither murdered by 

 the savages or carried by them into cap- 

 tivity, never to return. 



The day following these horrid trans- 

 actions, Major Putnam was despatched 

 from fort Edward with his rangers, to 

 watch the motions of the enemy. He 

 reached lake George just after the rear of 

 the enemy had left the shore, and awful 

 indeed was the scene which presented it- 

 self. " The fort was entirely demolished, 

 the barracks, out houses and buildings 

 were a heap of ruins — the cannon, stores, 

 boats and vessels were all carried away. 

 The fires were still burning — the smoke 

 and stench ofl'ensive and suffocating. In- 

 numerable fragments of human skulls and 

 bones, and carcasses half consumed, were 

 still frying and broiling in the decaying 

 fires. Dead bodies, mangled with scalp- 

 ing knives and tomahawks, in all the 

 wantonness of Indian fierceness and bar- 

 barity, were every where to be seen. More 

 than 100 women, butcliered and shock- 

 ingl}!- mangled, lay upon the ground, still 

 weltering in their gore. Devastation, 

 barbarity and horror, every where ap- 

 peared ; and the spectacle presented was 

 too diabolical and awful either to be en- 

 dured or described."* 



The French satisfied with their suc- 

 cess, retired to their works at Ticonde- 

 roga and Crown Point, and nothing fur- 

 ther was effected in this quarter worthy 

 of notice, either by the French or English, 

 during the remainder of the year ; and 

 thus terminated the campaign of 1757, in 

 which the English suffered exceedingly 

 in lives and property and gained nothing. 

 This want of success was doubtless ow- 

 ing, in some measure, to the inefficiency 

 and ignorance of the British ministry in 

 relation to American afiairs,but it is prin- 

 cipally to be attributed to the want of 

 ability and energy in the generals, to 

 whom the prosecution of the war was en- 

 trusted. 



* It is stated by Dr. Belknap that the Indians 

 served in tliis expedition, on the pronfiisu of plnn. 

 der.and were enraged at tlie terms of capitulation. 



