[7] Abercrombie, confident of a quick victory, ignored several viable military options, such as flanking the French breastworks, waiting for his artillery, or laying siege to the fort.

The river was largely non-navigable, and there was a portage trail from the northern end of Lake George to the location of a sawmill the French had built to assist in the fort's construction.

[9] Nicolas Sarrebource de Pontleroy, Montcalm's chief engineer, said of the fort's site, "Were I to be entrusted with the siege of it, I should require only six mortars and two cannon.

[11] Large-scale campaigns were planned to capture Fort Duquesne on the Pennsylvania frontier and the fortress at Louisbourg (on Île-Royale, now known as Cape Breton Island).

[12] Pitt probably would have preferred to have George Howe, a skilled tactician and a dynamic leader, lead this expedition, but seniority and political considerations led him to appoint the relatively undistinguished Abercrombie instead.

[20] The British amassed their army, under the command of General James Abercrombie, near the remains of Fort William Henry, which lay at the southern end of Lake George but had been destroyed following its capture by the French the previous year.

[23] Colonel François-Charles de Bourlamaque, in command of Fort Carillon prior to Montcalm's arrival, knew by June 23 that a major British offensive was about to begin.

[24] Montcalm arrived at Fort Carillon on June 30, and found there a significantly under-staffed garrison, with only 3,500 men, and food sufficient for only nine days.

Montcalm himself took two battalions and occupied and fortified an advance camp at the sawmill, while remaining troops were put to work preparing additional defenses outside the fort.

[27] He also sent word back to Montreal of the situation, requesting that, if possible, the Chevalier de Lévis and his men, be sent as reinforcement; these were troops that Vaudreuil intended for duty at the western frontier forts.

On learning the size of the British fleet, which was reportedly "large enough to cover the face of [Lake George]",[23] Montcalm ordered Bourlamaque to retreat.

[10] France Great Britain The British army began an unopposed landing at the north end of Lake George on the morning of July 6.

[32] Near the area where Bernetz Brook enters the La Chute, Captain Trépezet and his troop, who were attempting to return to the French lines, encountered Phineas Lyman's Connecticut regiment, sparking a skirmish in the woods.

Scouts and prisoners reported to Abercrombie that Montcalm had 6,000 men and was expecting the Chevalier de Lévis to arrive at any moment with 3,000 reinforcements.

After ascending Rattlesnake Hill (as Mount Defiance was then known), they reported that the French position appeared to be incomplete, and could be "easily forced, even without cannon".

[41] The battle began on the morning of July 8 with Rogers' Rangers and light infantry from Colonel Thomas Gage's 80th Regiment of Light-Armed Foot pushing the few remaining French scouts behind the entrenchments.

The low ground between the left flank and the La Chute River was guarded by militia and marines, who had also constructed abatis to help protect their position.

[47] While Abercrombie had expected the battle to begin at 1 pm, by 12:30 elements of the New York regiments on the left began engaging the French defenders.

[50] The French position was such that they were able to lay down withering fire on the British forces as they advanced, and the abatis (a word that shares derivation with abattoir, or slaughterhouse) rapidly became a killing field.

[62] Montcalm, wary of a second British attack, and concerned about the fatigue of his troops after a long day of battle, had barrels of beer and wine brought forward to the lines.

The full scope of British victories in 1758 did not reach English shores until later in the year, when Pitt learned of the successes at Forts Duquesne and Frontenac, key steps in completing the conquest of New France.

[65] Although he was active at Lake George, he did little more than provide support for John Bradstreet's successful attack on Fort Frontenac, which was authorized in a war council on July 13.

News of the defeat circulated widely in their communities, which had a significant effect on the ability of British agents to recruit Indians to their side for future operations.

Lévis in one report claimed that the French recovered 800 British bodies, implying that Abercrombie may have underreported the actual death toll.

More than 300 men (including 8 officers) were killed, and a similar number were wounded, representing a significant fraction of the total casualties suffered by the British.

While Montcalm performed well during the battle, some tactical options escaped his notice, and some of his actions in preparing the defenses at Carillon are open to question.

[78] James Holden, writing in 1911, noted that American and British writers, both contemporary and historical, used words like "imbecile", "coward", "unready", and "old woman" to describe Abercrombie.

[82] Captain Charles Lee of the 44th Foot wrote, on the prospect of using cannon on Rattlesnake Hill, "There was one hill in particular, which seem'd to offer itself as an ally to us, it immediately commanded the lines from hence two small cannon well planted must have drove the French in a very short time from their breast work [...] this was never thought of, which (one wou'd imagine) must have occur'd to any blockhead who was not absolutely so far sunk into Idiotism as to be oblig'd to wear a bib and bells.

An experienced commander could easily have encamped at the Lake George landing, taken stock of the situation, and begun siege operations against the French.

[90] As for the coat of arm under the madonna now erased, they were most probably that of Charles, Marquis of Beauharnois (1671–1749), Governor of New France from 1726 to 1747: Silver on one side with a saber, mounted on three merlettes.