French guns had begun firing on the…
August 1757 CE
The next day a second battery had opened fire from nine hundred feet (two hundred and seventy meters) further along the same trench, creating a crossfire.
The effect of the garrison's return fire had been limited to driving French guards from the trenches, and some of the fort's guns either were dismounted or burst owing to the stress of use.
Montcalm had sent Bougainville to the fort under a truce flag on August 7 to deliver the intercepted dispatch.
By this time the fort's walls had been breached, many of its guns were useless, and the garrison had taken many casualties.
After another day of bombardment by the French, during which their trenches approach another two hundred and fifty yards (two hundred and thirty meters), Monro raises the white flag to open negotiations.
The terms of surrender are that the British and their camp followers will be allowed to withdraw, under French escort, to Fort Edward, with the full honors of war, on condition that they refrain from fighting for eighteen months.
They will be allowed to keep their muskets and a single symbolic cannon, but no ammunition.
In addition, British authorities are to release French prisoners within three months.
Montcalm, before agreeing to these terms, tries to make sure that his native allies understand them, and that the chiefs will undertake to restrain their men.
This process is complicated by the diversity within the native camp, which includes some warriors who speak languages not understood by any European present.
Montcalm and the French leaders have repeatedly promised the natives opportunities for the glory and trophies of war, including plunder, scalping, and the taking of captives.
In the aftermath of the Battle of Sabbath Day Point, captives taken had been ransomed, meaning the natives had no visible trophies.
The terms of surrender at Fort William Henry effectively deny the natives appreciable opportunities for plunder: the war provisions are claimed by the French army, and personal effects of the British were to stay with them, leaving nothing for the natives.
This decision, in the view of historian Ian Steele, bred resentment, as it appeared that the French were conspiring with their enemies (the British) against their friends (the natives), leaving them without any promised war trophies.
The British garrison is now evacuated from the fort to the entrenched camp, and Monro is quartered in the French camp.
The natives now enter the fort and plunder it, butchering some of the wounded and sick that the British have left behind.
The French guards posted around the entrenched camp are only somewhat successful at keeping the natives out of this area, and it takes much effort to prevent plunder and scalping here.
Montcalm and Monro initially plan to march the prisoners south the following morning, but after seeing the native blood lust, decide to attempt the march this night.
When the natives become aware that the British are getting ready to move, a large number of them mass around the camp, causing the leaders to call off the march until morning.
People
Groups
Iroquois (Haudenosaunee, also known as the League of Peace and Power, Five Nations, or Six Nations)
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Abenaki people (Amerind tribe)
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Mohawk people (Amerind tribe)
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Wyandot, or Wendat, or Huron people (Amerind tribe)
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Lenape or Lenni-Lenape (later named Delaware Indians by Europeans)
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New France (French Colony)
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Shawnees, or Shawanos (Amerind tribe)
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France, (Bourbon) Kingdom of
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Ohio Country
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New York, Province of (English Colony)
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New Hampshire, English royal Province of
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Massachusetts, Province of (English Crown Colony)
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New Jersey (English Colony)
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Britain, Kingdom of Great
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