Sitting atop a small rise, Fort William Henry commanded the southern end of Lake George November 1755 to August 1757. The Fort’s history is short but its final tumultuous days have been retold, although inaccurately, in the “Last of the Mohicans” by James Fenimore Cooper.

By 1689, the British and French were the predominate nations in the New World. Wars for land, water passages and trade had been fought between these nations for years on the European continent, spilling over into North America. The final conflict, 1754-1763, is known as the French & Indian War and the Seven Years War.

In 1755, Gen. William Johnson arrived at the “Great Carrying Place” at the upper end of the Hudson River at the site of a Fort originally constructed by Col. Francis Nicholson in 1709. In early 1755, Gen Phineas Lyman constructed a new fort here. That fort was named after him. Fort Lyman’s name was later changed to Fort Edward in honor of King George II’s grandson the Duke of York.

There were two routes that lay between Fort Carillon (Ticonderoga) and Fort Lyman/Edward which would be used by the French or British for an attack upon each other. One, an uncompleted military road leading to the south end of Lac du Saint Sacrament (Lake George) and the other along Wood Creek empting into Lake Champlain, close to present day Route 4. Gen. Johnson chose to take 2,800 providential soldiers up the military road to the south end of Lac Du Saint Sacrament to assist Gen. Lyman who had earlier arrived there to build a 4 bastioned fort to counter the French presence at Fort Carillon at the northern end of the lake. Upon arrival at the lake, Johnson renamed it Lake George in honor of the King of England. Gen. Johnson set up camp on the site that is now the Lake George Battlefield Park. The fort under construction became Fort William Henry.

Construction of the Fort began on a rise west of Johnson’s camp but was delayed when word came that a French force of 1,250 men under Baron Dieskau was moving south along Wood Creek towards Fort Edward. One thousand soldiers led by Col. Ephraim Williams, the founder of Williams College in Massachusetts, and 200 Mohawk under King Hendrick set out on the road to Fort Edward. Dieskau, seeing Fort Edward was more heavily defended than he was led to believe, decided to attack the unfortified force at Lake George.

As they started north, the French learned that a force was moving towards them on the military road and set up an ambush in a ravine. King Hendrick and Col. Williams were killed during the fight. This engagement became known as the Bloody Morning Scout. The sound of musket fire alerted the camp at Lake George and the soldiers hastily erected walls using overturned wagons, boats and trees. As the troops retreated towards the encampment, the pursuing French came under musket and cannon fire. Finally Johnson’s forces charged Dieskau’s forces which retreated. This battle became known as The Battle of Lake George. As the fleeing Indians and French retreated south of the site of the morning’s ambush, they were surprised by a 250 man detachment sent from Fort Edward. This third engagement of the day (Sept. 8, 1755) became known as the Battle of Bloody Pond.

Construction continued on the Fort which was completed in the fall of 1755 under the supervision of Maj. William Eyre. The Fort was built to house 300-400 British regulars. Approximately 1,500 provincial soldiers and camp followers lived in Johnson’s former camp to the southeast (now the Lake George Battlefield Park area). On March 18, 1757, the Fort came under attack from French forces moving down Lake George. The French were detected moving across the ice and were fired upon with cannon. Although the French managed to burn a number of objects they were unable to take the Fort. On March 21, a snowstorm dropped three feet of heavy wet snow forcing the French to retreat.

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