The Battle at Lake George

Of the three principal operations laid out for the year 1755, that against Fort Duquesne ended, as we have seen, in a disastrous defeat for the English. The news of this defeat put an end to the expedition against Fort Niagara, through the discouragement which it produced. The third expedition, that against Crown Point, was more successful, and led to an engagement of such importance as to merit a special description. The forces selected for this purpose were militia-men from New England and New York, under the command of a prominent New-Yorker named William Johnson, a man of great influence with the Five Nations. All his influence and endeavors, however, only induced about three hundred of them to enlist for the expected battle. From Parkman's spirited history, entitled "Montcalm and Wolfe," we select an account of the events of this campaign.

WHILE the British colonists were preparing to attack Crown Point, the French of Canada were preparing to defend it. Duquesne, recalled from his post, had resigned the government to the Marquis de Vaudreuil, who had at his disposal the battalions of regulars that had sailed in the spring from Brest under Baron Dieskau. His first thought was to use them for the capture of Oswego; but the letters of Braddock, found on the battle-field, warned him of the design against Crown Point, while a reconnoitring party which had gone as far as the Hudson brought back news that Johnson's forces were already in the field. Therefore the plan was changed, and Dieskau was ordered to lead the main body of his troops, not to Lake Ontario, but to Lake Champlain. He passed up the Richelieu, and embarked in boats and canoes for Crown Point. The veteran knew that the foes with whom he had to deal were but a mob of countrymen. He doubted not of putting them to rout, and meant never to hold his hand till he had chased them back to Albany. "Make all haste," Vaudreuil wrote to him; " for when you return we shall send you to Oswego to execute our first design."

Johnson, on his part, was preparing to advance. In July about three thousand provincials were encamped near Albany, some on the "Flats" above the town, and some on the meadows below. Hither, too, came a swarm of Johnson's Mohawks,-warriors, squaws, and children. They adorned the general's face with war-paint, and he danced the war-dance; then with his sword he cut the first slice from the ox that had been roasted whole for their entertainment. "I shall be glad," wrote the surgeon of a New England regiment, "if they fight as eagerly as they ate their ox and drank their wine."

Though promptness was of great importance, there was much delay in bringing the troops together. The army, though crude in its makeup, had in it much good material. Among the men were two who were destined to make their names well known in American history,-I srael Putnam, a private in a Connecticut regiment, and John Stark, a New Hampshire lieutenant, the future hero of Bennington.

The soldiers were no soldiers, but farmers and farmers' sons who had volunteered for the summer campaign. One of the corps had a blue uniform faced with red. The rest wore their daily clothing. Blankets had been served out to them by the several provinces, but the greater part brought their own guns; some under the penalty of a fine if they came without them, and some under the inducement of a reward. They had no bayonets, but carried hatchets in their belts as a sort of substitute. At their sides were slung powder-horns, on which, in the leisure of the camp, they carved quaint devices with the points of their jack-knives. They came chiefly from plain New England homesteads,-rustic abodes, unpainted and dingy, with long well-sweeps, capacious barns, rough fields of pumpkins and corn, and vast kitchen-chimneys, above which in winter hung squashes to keep them from frost, and guns to keep them from rust.

Mohawk scouts who had been sent to Canada returned with the report that eight thousand men were marching to defend Crown Point. Indecision followed, but it was finally resolved to march to Lake George.

The train of Dutch wagons, guarded by the homely soldiery, jolted slowly over the stumps and roots of the newly-made road, and the regiments followed at their leisure. The hardships of the way were not without their consolations. The jovial Irishman who held the chief command made himself very agreeable to the New England officers. "We went on about four or five miles," says Pomeroy in his Journal, "then stopped, ate pieces of broken bread and cheese, and drank some fresh lemon-punch and the best of wine with General Johnson and some of the field-officers." It was the same on the next day. "Stopped about noon and dined with General Johnson by a small broke under a tree; ate a good dinner of cold boiled and roast venison; drank good fresh lemon-punch and wine."