The Battle of Lake George
On April 14, 1775, governors of the British Provinces sent out a campaign under the command of Sir William Johnsom to move against the French in the Lake George area. Johnson arrived with 1,500 troops and Indians on the southern shore of the lake on August 28, 1755. The French under the command of Baron de Dieskau learned of Johnson's plan and assembled a force of 3,500 men to march South to fort St. Frédéric. After leaving a third of his forces behind in the St. Frédéric area, Dieskau tried to cut off supplies from the British force stationed at Fort Edward. Finding the garrisoned force to large he then continued farther south. Johnson learned of the French's presence in the area, and sent Colonel Ephraim Williams and the Indian leader Henrick with about 1,000 troops to Fort Edward. A French scout informed Dieskau of this and he set a trap in a ravine which William's force walked straight into. The French poured volleys into the British troops and the British fought back while retreating to Johnson's camp . Dieskau ordered his force to attack Johnson's camp but the Indians refused to. Hoping to shame the Indians into attacking he led around 200 to 300 Frenchmen into the camp. Johnson's cannons quickly cut through the French and the attack was abandoned. During the battle Johnson was wounded and afterwards Dieskau was found by the British hurt on the field. There were around 600 French casualities and 200 British casualities from this battle. If Dieskau had succeeded in stopping Johnson he would have ended the threat to Fort St. Frédéric and rolled back the British defenses all the way to Albany. Johnson went on to construct Fort William Henry and was considered one of the first British heros of the war.