William Johnson led an army consisting solely of colonial irregulars and Iroquois warriors under Hendrick Theyanoguin.

[7] Leaving half his force at Carillon, Dieskau led the rest on an alternate route to the Hudson by landing his men at South Bay and then marching them east of Lake George along Wood Creek.

The Abenaki Indians in the French party, after holding council, declined to assault Fort Edward because they expected it to be defended with cannons; so in the morning, Dieskau gave the order to march north toward the lake.

[14] Most of the New Englanders fled toward Johnson's camp while about 100 of their comrades under Whiting and Lt. Col. Seth Pomeroy and most of the surviving Mohawks covered their withdrawal with a fighting retreat.

[16] One of those killed in this phase of the battle was Jacques Legardeur de Saint-Pierre, the highly respected commander of Dieskau's Canadian and Indian forces.

With their morale already shaken by the loss of their leader, the Caughnawagas "did not wish to attack an entrenched camp, the defenders of which included hundreds of their Mohawk kinsmen.

[15] Hoping to shame the Indians into attacking, Dieskau formed his French grenadiers into a column, six abreast, and led them in person along the lake road.

[16] Once the grenadiers were out in the open ground, the British gunners crewing Johnson's three cannons loaded them with grapeshot and cut "lanes, streets and alleys"[17] through the French ranks.

Hearing the report of guns in the direction of the Lake, they pressed forward, and when within about two miles of it, fell in with the baggage of the French army protected by a guard, which they immediately attacked and dispersed.

He continued the attack in this manner till prevented by darkness, killing many of the enemy, taking some of them prisoners, and finally driving them from the field.

Johnson was able to advance a considerable distance down the lake and consolidated his gains by building Fort William Henry at its southern end.

A letter of 20 October 1755, from Monsieur Doreil to the Comte d'Argenson, a senior French commander in North America,[24] confirms that the French grenadiers paid for their assault on Johnson's entrenchments with the loss of more than a third of their total strength: the Regiment de la Reine had 21 killed or missing and 30 wounded, while the Regiment de Languedoc had 5 killed and 21 wounded.

W. Max Reid[26] says, "The English loss in killed, wounded, and missing at the battle of Lake George was 262, and that of the French, by their own account, was 228".

The reported number of those killed, wounded, and captured was remarkably close on both sides, with those fighting for the English losing 331 and the French, 339."