On January 21, 1757, Captain Robert Rogers and a band of his rangers were on a scouting expedition near Fort Carillon on Lake Champlain when they were ambushed by a mixed troop of French regulars, Canadien militiamen, and Indians.

They spotted a sled moving on the lake toward Fort St. Frédéric, so Rogers sent Lieutenant John Stark and some men to intercept it.

[2] Rogers learned from questioning the prisoners that a French and Indian war party had just arrived at Carillon, and that the two forts were garrisoned by a thousand regulars.

His council disapproved of the return by the same route (a violation of Rogers' own ranging guidelines), but he overruled them, citing the need for speed and the deep snow.

According to Lusignan's report, he immediately sent out a party of about 90 regulars from the Languedoc regiment under the command of Capitaine de Basserode, accompanied by about 90 Canadian militia and Indians.

Lieutenant Stark, who was bringing up the rear of the ranger column, established a defensive line on a rise with some of his men, from which they gave covering fire as those in the front retreated to that position.

[13] Once darkness set in, Rogers and his survivors retreated 6 miles (9.7 km) to Lake George, where he sent Stark with two men to Fort William Henry for assistance.

Thomas Brown, who published a pamphlet that vividly described his captivity, spent almost two years in slavery, traveling as far as the Mississippi River before reaching Albany in November 1758.