Lake George Colonial Wars Walking Tour Stop 6: Warship Row and the Mayor Robert M. Blais Walkway and Park
In March 1757, the French attacked Fort William Henry by crossing the ice-covered lake. Without artillery, the French had scaling ladders, hoping to take the fort, garrisoned with only 346 men and 128 invalid soldiers.
Though the fort was not captured, the French reported burning hundreds of bateaux pulled up on shore near the fort as well as two sloops, thus giving the area the name Warship Row. When the French retreated, all buildings around Fort William Henry were on fire; only the fort survived, though it too would ultimately meet the same fate. In August 1757, French General Montcalm's forces destroyed the fort before returning to Carillon (Fort Ticonderoga).
You are also near the area where Robert Rogers and his Rangers came in December 1757, when they examined the burnt ruins of the once proud Fort William Henry.
This area in front of the fort was also used by the British and provincials during their 1758 and 1759 campaigns. Remnants of sunken bateaux lying off this shore have been explored by divers and archaeologists.
That legacy of maritime history continues today. Lake George Waterfront Cruises, one of the lake's tour boat companies, is located not far from the southwest corner of the lake.
Several small signs mark the beginning of this popular walkway along the lake. As you proceed east along this walkway you'll tread over 18th century history. Near here from 1755 to 1759, were encampment grounds for mostly provincial troops.
Continue the Walking Tour to Stop 7: Lake George Steamboat Company and Steel Pier >>
This "Colonial Wars" guide that Mannix Marketing has adapted for lakegeorge.com, with the Alliance's OK, is attributed to Bateaux Below, Inc.
TOUR WRITTEN BY: Dr. Russell P. Bellico, Bob Benway, Tim Cordell, John Farrell, Scott Padeni and Joseph W. Zarzynski
ART BY: Tim Cordell
PHOTOGRAPHY BY: Bob Benway
©1996, 2022 Bateaux Below, Inc. Reprinted 2022 with the permission of Bateaux Below, Inc. Historical updates provided by Dr. Russell P. Bellico and Dr. Lyn Karig Hohmann The reproduction of this brochure has been made possible by an Occupancy Tax Grant award from the Town of Lake George.
Lake George Battlefield Park Alliance PO Box 26, Lake George, NY 12845 www.lakegeorgebattlefield.org
SUGGESTED READING LIST:
Bellico, Russell P. - Chronicles of Lake George - Journeys in War and Peace. Purple Mountain Press, Fleischmanns, NY, 1995.
Bellico, Russell P. - Sails and Steam in the Mountains – A Maritime and Military History of Lake George and Lake Champlain. Purple Mountain Press, Fleischmanns, NY, 2001.
Bellico, Russell P. - Empires in the Mountains - French and Indian War Campaigns and Forts in the Lake Champlain, Lake George, and Hudson River Corridor. Purple Mountain Press, Fleischmanns, NY 2010.
Griffith IV, William R. - The Battle of Lake George - England’s First Triumph in the French and Indian War. History Press, Charleston, South Carolina, 2016
Steele, Ian K. - Betrayals – Fort William Henry & The “Massacre.” Oxford University Press, Oxford, United Kingdom, 1990.
Zarzynski, Joseph W. - Ghost Fleet Awakened - Lake George’s Sunken Bateaux of 1758. State University of New York, Albany, NY, 2019.
