Ticonderoga, New York
Ticonderoga, New York
TICONDEROGA, NEW YORK. 1755–1759. In October 1755 the Marquis de Lotbinière started construction of a fort the French called Carillon at the place later known as Ticonderoga. The fort was an outpost for Fort St. Frederick (Crown Point). Montcalm was defending Fort Carillon with 3,526 men on 8 July 1758 when Abercromby attacked with a force of 16,000. Instead of taking his time and bringing up heavy artillery, Abercromby launched a direct assault. In one of their costliest failures of the century, the British lost almost 2,000 killed and wounded while inflicting under 400 casualties on the French. Lord George Howe, Abercromby's popular second in command and the elder brother of Richard and William, died on 6 July in a preliminary skirmish. On 26 July 1759 the French blew up the fort when its capture by General Jeffrey Amherst was inevitable.
SEE ALSO Colonial Wars.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Anderson, Fred. Crucible of War: The Seven Years' War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754–1766. New York: Knopf, 2000.
revised by Robert K. Wright Jr.