Snatching Defeat from the Jaws of Victory: The 1758 Battle for Fort Carillon

About this event

French & Indian War historian John-Eric Nelson will share his in-depth research on  the notorious British defeat at the hands of vastly outnumbered French forces at Fort Carillon (later, Fort Ticonderoga) in a presentation entitled, “Snatching Defeat from the Jaws of Victory: The 1758 Battle for Fort Carillon."

This event is free, but please do RSVP by emailing info@lakegeorgebattlefield.org.

This event is sponsored by the Lake George Battlefield Park Alliance.

At dawn on July 5, 1758, the largest army ever seen in North America embarked from the head of Lake George in a fleet of over 1,000 vessels. This mass of 15,000 British troops was in high spirits with flags flying, drums beating, and bagpipes playing. This was a confident army that moved down Lake George in the early morning hours. And why not: they outnumbered their French adversaries at their destination of Fort Carillon at the lake’s north end by nearly 4 to 1. So how, in just four days, could this mighty army fail?

John-Eric Nelson’s presentation will explain what led to this great and unexpected French victory, exploring what the British did wrong and what the French did right. Who were the true heroes for the winners and the goats on the side of the humiliated Brits. This fight for Fort Carillon caused more single-day military deaths than any other event in North American history until the Civil War’s Battle of Antietam in 1862. Learn how the British manage to snatch defeat from a certain victory!