A Prospective Plan of the Battle fought near LAKE GEORGE on the 8.th of September 1755, between 2000 English with 250/ Mohawks under the Command of General Johnson and 2500 French and Indians under the Command of General DIESKAU...
Date1755
Cartographer
Samuel Blodgett
(1724 - 1806)
Engraver
Thomas Johnston
MediumBlack and white line engraving on laid paper
DimensionsOH: 14 1/4" x OW: 18 1/4"
Credit LineGift of an Anonymous Donor
Object number1984-44
DescriptionThe lower margin reads: "A Prospective Plan of the Battle fought near LAKE GEORGE on the 8.th of September 1755, between 2000 English with 250/ Mohawks under the Command of General Johnson and 2500 French and Indians under the Command of General DIESKAU/ in which the English were Victorious, captivating the French General with a number of his Men, killing 700 and putting the rest to flight."The lower left cartouche reads: "S. Blodget del./ Tho.s Johnston Sculp./ To His/ Excellency William Shirley Esq:r Cap:t/ General & Governour in Chief in & over his Majesty's Province/ of y.e Massachusetts Bay in new England Major General & Commander in Chief/ of all his Majesty's Land Forces in North America. This Plan of y.e Battle/ fought near Lake George is with all humility dedicated by your Excellency's most/ devoted Hum.ble Serv.t Sam.l Blodget"
Label TextTo gain control of the Lake Champlain corridor, British colonial troops developed a strategy to capture Fort St. Frédéric (Crown Point), a French fortress on Lake Champlain. Sir William Johnson, an Indian trader promoted to major general was assigned the task. French commander in chief Marshal Ludwig August Dieskau was aware of Johnson’s movements and advanced eastward along Lake Champlain toward the English position. Learning of the French approach, Johnson dispatched one thousand troops and about one hundred and fifty Indians to abort their attack. As the English troops marched down the road, the French, who had hidden in ambush, fired on them.
Later that day, the French began to attack Fort Edward. British military strategists were aware that their regular formations were ineffective on the American frontier, so they “went into the Indian Way of Fighting, squatting below the Shrubs, or placing themselves behind the Trees.” The French approached the camp and fired from three straight lines as the bird’s-eye view in the right depicts. As each line fired, the soldiers moved to the rear, then the second and third rows followed suit. More than 260 French soldiers were killed. Clearly, the British regarded this as a great victory.
1730 to 1732
ca. 1765
August 1, 1778