Greatest Battles
LAKE GEORGE, NEW YORK, 8 SEPTEMBER 1755
The Battle of Lake George was actually three connected engagements, fought on 8 September 1755, which resulted in a victory for the British. A British expedition to capture the fort at Crown Point, in the north-east of New York province, became a cat-and-mouse game with French forces, with roughly equal numbers fighting a fierce, costly series of actions. Although the French had the better of the early fighting after ambushing a marching column, the British turned things around to claim a solid tactical triumph and solidify their position around Lake George.
BACKGROUND
As the French and Indian War (1754-63) got underway, the British had ambitious plans to turf the French out of North America once and for all. A major expedition, under General Edward Braddock, was organised in the summer of 1755, targeting the French forts in Arcadia, Crown Point on Lake Champlain and Fort Niagara. The aim was to eradicate the French presence in the Ohio Valley.
At the time, French colonial holdings in North America were far bigger than those of Britain, stretching from Canada down to New Orleans. Borders were often poorly defined, opening up the potential for flare-ups with neighbouring colonies and Native American tribes. From the early 18th century, therefore, the British had encouraged mass immigration into its North American colonies. Large numbers of Germans and Scots-Irish poured into America, increasing the population of the colonies by 500 per cent and turning them into a major economic powerhouse for the mother country.
Although pleased at the emergence of this new and lucrative empire, Britain started to worry that the colonies might one day make a bid for independence, especially now their ‘Englishness’ had been diluted by the influx of other Europeans. Of more immediate concern was the possibility of the French or Spanish swooping in to take over the colonies, making it imperative to rid the continent of rival foreign influences.
When hostilities broke out once more between Britain and France in 1754, it was seen as the perfect time to expel the French from North America and tighten control over the colonies. As the Seven Years’ War (1756-63) raged in Europe, the French and Indian War would settle the question of which European power was to be dominant in North America.
General Braddock’s expedition was intended to answer that question in Britain’s favour. With a force of 2,400 men, he marched on Fort Duquesne, but was decisively defeated at the Battle of the Monongahela on 9 July 1755.
The defeat sent shock waves through the colonies. Braddock had 1,000 British regulars under his command, from t
