One of the most disastrous of
defeats was encountered at Ticonderoga, against which General
Abercrombie led a force of fifteen thousand men, consisting of six
thousand regulars and nine thousand Provincials. Crown Point and
Ticonderoga were still the British objectives, along with other posts of
greater or less strength, such as Louisburg, Frontenac, and Fort
Duquesne. All these last were taken before Crown Point and Ticonderoga
yielded; but it was fated that Ticonderoga, which had been seized and
fortified by the French in 1755, and which, together with Crown Point,
commanded the direct route from the St. Lawrence to the Hudson, should
first cost the lives of many men.
On the morning of July 5, 1758, a magnificent flotilla set forth from
the southern end of Lake George, consisting of 135 whale-boats and 900
bateaux, laden with soldiers, cannon, and military stores of every
description. As it sailed through the Narrows it made a line six miles
in length, and was indeed a most imposing spectacle. Sabbath-Day Point
was reached about five in the afternoon, and here the soldiers debarked
for rest and refreshment, but sailed on again about midnight, reaching
the northern end of the lake next morning at dawn.
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