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New Commanders
The Battle of Fort Henry August 3-9, 1757
Plans for a Louisbourg Expedition
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New Commanders
John Campbell Marquis de Montcalm
After Braddock's death and Dieskau's capture, both empires sent new military commanders to North America. England sent John Campbell, earl of Loudoun and the French sent Marquis de Montcalm. Montcalm had many years of fighting experience in Europe and was a decisive and clever general .
Upon arriving in Canada, Montcalm first inspected the progress of the construction of Fort Carillon. Satisfied with the work, he mobilized forces to strike against the English at Fort Oswego on Lake Ontario.
John Campbell's second in command, Gen. James Abercromby arrived to relived William Shirely of command. Campbell did not arrive in time to save Fort Oswego from capture.Campbell alienated provincials by trying to incorporate them into the regular army. The provincials were afraid of regular army discipline and officers were afraid of being demoted.
Location of Fort Oswego
Montcalm wanted to take Fort Oswego ( now Oswego, New York ), it was the only English fort between a string of French forts on the Great Lakes. With the Iroquois following a policy of neutrality since the Braddock disaster, French raing parties could pass through their land. Vaudreuil sent out a raiding party of 360 Indians, Canadians and French regulars under the command of Liet. Lery, on snowshoes and attacked Fort Bull in March, 1756 ,destroyibg great quantities of ammunition and goods intended for Fort Oswego.All the 60 to 70 defenders of Fort Bull were put to the sword except for a handfull of soldiers.The English colonists realized the fort's weak position and reinforced it, but Montcalm took it with 3,000 and 120 cannons taken from Fort Ontario .The fort was bombarded, killing the British commander. The fort surrendered, giving the French 1,700 English prisoners on August 15, 1756, which were taken to Quebec . Thirty prisoners were killed after they had surrendered .
The Battle of Fort Henry August 3-9, 1757
Colonel Monro (seated) receiving surrender terms from Montcalm delivered by aide (blue and white) Montcalm in planning his campaign for the summer of 1757 determined, with the aid of his Indian allies, to drive the English back from Lake George, perhaps to capture Fort Edward, fourteen miles to the south, and even to make a demonstration against Albany. In taking Fort Henry, Montcalm wanted to control the 'Warpath of Nations', the link connecting the Hudson River,Lake George,Lake Champlain, the Richelieu River and the ocean. Montcalm then drove into the Champlain Valley to attack Fort William Henry in August, 1757 with 8,000 - 3,000 regulars, 3,000 militia and nearly 2,000 Indians, 36 Cannon and Five mortars. The fort was commanded by Colonel Monro and garrisoned by a force of little more than 2000 men and only half of these were fit for duty. Soon, the log fort was under siege and smallpox was ravaging the troops inside . The fort held out for a week and surrendered after their artillery was smashed. William Johnson made a dramatic attempt to come to the aid of the fort, but could not break through . After the surrender to the French on very generous terms, Montcalm was unable to prevent the Indian allies of the French began to attack the British and colonial column leaving the fort. They had been expecting payment for their assistance in the form of loot, captives, and scalps and were severely disappointed at the lenient surrender terms. In the following Fort Henry massacre, an estimated 100 - 200 were killed . After the attack, French soldiers escorted the survivors. This incident is in the novel and movie The Last of the Mohicans . This act, along with the killings of soldiers after the fall of Fort Oswego, enraged the English colonists and convinced many never to surrender to the French . With the fall of the fort, the British frontier was forced back to Albany .
Montcalm trying to stop the masscre, by Alfred Bobbett
Plans for a Louisbourg Expedition
While Montcalm was taking Fort Oswego and Henry, Campbell was planning to attack Louisbourg. The British leaders thought it would be easy, since the colonial militia was able to take it in 1745 . Louisbourg was returned to France in the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, signed on October 18, 1748 ended the War of the Austrian Succession . The colonies refused to unite under Campbell, and he wasted time with delay after delay , even though his force was located in Halifax, not far away . A French fleet arrived and reinforced Louisbourg, and a fierce storm destroyed much of the British fleet that that was to be used to blockade Louisbourg and Campbell called off the expedition .
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Classic by Francis Parkman(1893) read online for free |
