Fort William Henry 1757 (Campaign) Ian Castle (Author)
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Colonial Period
This book details the French and Indian War massacre by Iroquois of British and colonial troops in the Hudson River Valley that was fictionalized in The Last of the Mohicans.
After the British garrison of Fort William Henry in the colony of New York surrendered to the besieging army of the French commander the Marquis de Montcalm in August 1757, it appeared that this particular episode of the French and Indian War was over. The spirited defence by Lt. Col. Munro of the 35th Regiment secured the British and Colonial troops the full honours of war, allowing them to march away with colours flying.
What happened next became the most infamous incident of the war - the 'massacre' of Fort William Henry. As the garrison prepared to march for Fort Edward a flood of enraged Native Americans swept over the column, unleashing an unstoppable tide of slaughter. The incident forms an integral part of James Fenimore Cooper's classic novel The Last of the Mohicans. It is this version, later dramatically reconstructed in the film versions of the story, that has coloured our view of the incident to this day. But what really happened?
As part of a wide-ranging British strategy, Colonial troops were dispatched to the southern end of Lake George in 1755. At the subsequent battle of Lake George, these troops repulsed a French attack before commencing construction of a fort close by: Fort William Henry. Developments on other fronts in 1756 meant little occurred at the fort that year, but in 1757 it became a focal point for French ambition. Its garrison withstood an initial siege in March, but the French returned in August with a large army, and, following a siege conducted along formal European lines, the British garrison surrendered and marched away - only to be swept up in the most infamous incident of the French and Indian War.
Much new research on this campaign - including some fascinating archaeological work - has taken place over the last 20 years and yet, for many, it is still the image created by Cooper's novel that colours our understanding of what happened at Fort William Henry. This new study will update that view.
- Rank: #257270 in Books
- Published on: 2013-11-19
- Released on: 2013-11-19
- Original language:
English
- Binding: Paperback
- 96 pages
Description #1 by Zazzle:
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The 1st New Jersey Regiment was the first organized militia regiment in New Jersey, formed in 1673 in Piscataway. All of New Jersey's regular organized military forces can trace their lineage to this first provincial militia unit.
In 1755, the entire contingent of 500 men, known as the 'Jersey Blues', was stationed at the lightly fortified trading village of Oswego, where they constructed the first documented military hospital.
By 1757, the Jersey Blues were assigned to Fort William Henry. In July, about 150 were taken as POWs while another 50 died during the battle of Sabbath Day Point. The 100 men who escaped that day returned to William Henry to join the 200 others who remained in garrison. A short few weeks later those 300 were again attacked by Montcalm, an ordeal immortalized in the book and movie "The Last of the Mohicans". Most in the general public have no idea that the New Jersey troops were even present or what they experienced. Importantly, the unit included several Native Americans from the province who experienced harsh consequences following the fort's capitulation.
In 1758, the unit repelled a British force at the French Fort Carrilon, and later helped take Fort Frontenac. In 1760, the were part of the final campaign against the French in Canada.
On October 9, 1775, the Continental Congress raised the 1st New Jersey Regiment, which was known as part of the famed 'Jersey Blues'. One of the Regiment's first activities was subduing and capturing Tories on Long Island. The Regiment was reorganized in January, 1777, as the 1st New Jersey Regiment, Continental Line, commanded by Matthias Ogden, who became regimental commander with the rank of Colonel, a position he held virtually until the end of the war.
The Regiment saw action at the Battles of Valcour Island, Brandywine, Germantown, Monmouth, the Sullivan Expedition, and the Battles of Springfield and Yorktown.
The regiment was disbanded on November 3, 1783 at New Windsor, New York.
Description #2 by shopoin.info:
"Immortalized in The Last of the Mohicans, the True Story of a Pivotal Battle in the British and French War for the North American ContinentThe opening years of the French and Indian War were disastrous for the British. In 1755 General Braddock's troops were routed at the Battle of Monongahela and by the middle of 1756 Fort Oswego on Lake Ontario had fallen. Hindered by quarrelsome provincial councils, incompetent generals, and the redcoats' inability to adapt to wilderness warfare, Britain was losing the war. In 1757 the 35th Regiment of Foot stepped into the breach. A poorly trained assortment of conscripts, old soldiers, and convicted criminals led by Lieutenant Colonel George Monro, the regiment was destined to take center stage in the most controversial event of the war. Fort William Henry on the southern shore of New York's Lake George was a key fortification supporting British interests along the frontier with French America. Monro and his regiment occupied the fort in the spring of 1757 while Britain planned its attack on the key French fortress at Louisbourg, Nova Scotia. Learning that most of Britain's military resources were allocated to Louisbourg, the French launched a campaign along the weakened frontier. French Commander Louis-Joseph de Montcalm and his American Indian allies laid siege to Fort William Henry; Monro could not hold out and was forced to surrender. As part of the terms, the British regiment, colonial militia, and their camp followers would be allowed safe passage to nearby Fort Edward. The French watched in horror, however, as their Indian allies attacked the British column after it left the fort, an episode that sparked outrage and changed the tactics of the war. Seen through the eyes of participants such as Louis Antoine de Bougainville, a scholarly young aide-de-camp, Jabez Fitch, an amiable Connecticut sergeant, and Kisensik, a proud Nipissing chief whose father once met Louis XIV in the marbled halls of Versailles, The Siege of Fort William Henry: A Year on the Northeastern Frontier uses contemporary newspaper reports, official documents, private letters, and published memoirs to bring the narrative to life. From Indian councils on the banks of the Saint Lawrence River and bustling military camps in northern New York to the narrative's bloody denouement on the shores of Lake George, the reader is immersed in the colorful, yet brutal world of eighteenth-century northeastern America.File Size: 1703 KBPrint Length: 337 pages Publisher: Westholme Publishing; 1 edition (November 17, 2011) Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.Language: EnglishASIN: B00683YOZA"
Description #3 by Allmusicimport.com:
scott barnes cabot scott/barnes/cabot last of the mohicans (1936) 759731413626 bw this action-packed 1936 adaptation of james fenimore cooper's classic adventure novel is set in 1757 at the siege of fort william henry during the french and indian war. ra
