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298 ESSEX COUNTY.
and thriving villages had sprung up, before they were finally broken up by invading armies. Still
more extended schemes of settlement were planned, and extensive grants of land were made upon
the same condition as the French grants in Canada.1 Soon after their first occupation, the French
caused a survey of the lake and its shores to be made by Sieur Anger, surveyor to the King; and
the work seems to have been carefully done. In 1755 the French advanced 12 mi. nearer to
the English settlements, and commenced the fortification of Ticonderoga upon a point that entirely
commanded the passage of the lake. The fort was named by them “ Carillon;”2 but it is now
generally known by the Indian name of Ticonderoga. Upon it vast sums of money were afterward
expended by both the French and English, and it became the most formidable fortress in America.
The French here made a stand against the advances of the English; and when at length it was
found to be no longer tenable, Crown Point and all the posts along the lake were at once
abandoned.
The repeated incursions of the French and Indians into the English settlements, and the con¬
tinual advancements of the French military posts, at length aroused the attention of the English
Government and led to the conviction that the very existence of the frontier settlements depended
upon the complete overthrow of the French power in America. One of the great expeditions
of 1755 was directed against Crown Point. The English troops, under the command of Gen.
Lyman, built Fort Lyman—afterward Fort Edward—on the Hudson, and, under Sir Wm. Johnson,
who assumed the command, advanced to the head of Lake George. Here, learning that the
French were fortifying Ticonderoga and that they had received large reinforcements, Sir William
chose a commanding position and fortified his camp. In the mean time, Baron Dieskau, the
French commander, at the head of a superior force, endeavored to cut off his communication with
Fort Lyman. A body of provincial troops, under Col. Williams,3 of Mass., and of Indians, under
the famous Mohawk chief Hendrick, thrown out as an advance guard by Sir Wm., fell into an
ambush, and the whole party were cut to pieces, and the two leaders killed. The French imme¬
diately attacked the English camp, but were repulsed with great loss, and the retreating fugitives
were mostly killed or taken prisoners by a party of fresh English troops from Fort Lyman. Sir
Wm. did not follow up his success, but spent the remainder of the season in constructing Fort Wm.
Henry on the site of his camp, leaving the French to strengthen their works at Crown Point and
Ticonderoga without molestation. No general expedition was projected during 1756, and the only
active warfare was carried on by adventurous parties of rangers.4
From this time to the close of the war, and, again during the Revolution, this co. was the
theater of important military events. We have space only for a brief chronological recapitulation
of the principal ones as they occurred. The partisan warfare, with varying success, continued
through the winter and spring of 1756-57. In July, Montcalm, Gov. of Canada, assembled 9,000
men at Ticonderoga, and marched to the head of Lake George, for the purpose of reducing Fort
Wm. Henry; which object he accomplished Aug. 3.5 In the summer of 1758 an expedition
was fitted out against Ticonderoga, and was intrusted to the command of Gen. Abercrombie. On
the 5th of July he crossed Lake George with 17,000 men; and on the 6th the advanced guard
of his army was surprised by the French, and many killed, among whom was Lord Howe,6 second
in cdmmand. On the 8th the English army endeavored to take the fort by storm, but were
repulsed with a loss of 2,000 men. In 1759, Gen. Amherst, at the head of 12,000 men, proceeded
to invest Ticonderoga. The French troops having been mostly withdrawn for the defense of
Quebec, the whole fortress was dismantled, and abandoned on the 30th of July. Crown Point
was soon after abandoned, and the whole region came into the undisputed possession of the
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and made his will, leaving a sum of money to found a free school
in Western Mass. This legacy founded and gave the name to
Williams College. In 1851 the alumni of the college erected a
monument to his memory on the spot where he was killed.
4 The most enterprising of these rangers were Majs. Israel
Putnam and Bobert Rogers. The party commanded by the
latter officer consisted of old hunters, accustomed to all kinds
of hardships and privations. Among his officers was John
Stark, afterward Gen. Stark of the Revolution. These parties
hung upon the outskirts of the French forts, took off their sen¬
tinels, burned their villages, killed their cattle, destroyed their
boats, and annoyed them in every possible manner.
5 See page 668; Lossing’s Field Book of the Mevolution ; Ban¬
croft’s Hist. TT. S.
6 Brother of Sir William Howe and Admiral Howe, English
commanders during the Revolution. Lord Howe was a brave
and enterprising officer, greatly beloved by the army, and his
loss was deeply deplored. |
1
A seigniory, extending 3 leagues along the lake shore and
2
leagues back, was granted, June 13,1737, to Sieur Louis Joseph
3
Robert, the king’s storekeeper at Montreal. Its northern
4
boundary was to be half a league below the “Bacquet” (Boquet)
Biver, and its southern 2| leagues above. This territory em¬
braced the present town of Essex and a large part of Willsborough.
Another seigniory, extending 6 leagues along the lake and 5 back,
was granted, Nov. 15,1758, to Michael Chartier de Lotbinifere.
It was called “B’AlainviUe,” and embraced the present towns of
Ticonderoga, Crown Point, and Schroon. Settlements which
commenced upon this grant were broken up by the English
armies. Most of the seigniory-was granted to officers and sol¬
diers of the English army, in accordance to his majesty’s pro¬
clamation of Oct. 7, 1763. After the cession of Canada, the
French proprietor presented his claims to the English Govern¬
ment, with no other effect than to create a considerable tem¬
porary alarm among the English settlers.
5
2 See page 304.
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