Reenactors stage Vaudreuil’s Raid at Fort William Henry

Fort William Henry has been quiet since it closed for the season last fall, but it came alive today with war whoops and musket fire as reenactors staged Vaudreuil’s Raid, a March 1757 attack on the British fort by the French. The raid was an attempt by the French to seize the fort and strengthen their hold in North America.

Two hundred and sixty-one years ago this month, an army of French Regulars, Canadian Provincials and Native Americans traveled from Quebec and down frozen Lake George. The plan was to surprise the troops garrisoned at Fort William Henry, and take the fort by scaling the walls with ladders brought for that purpose. However, sentries at Fort William Henry were alerted to the enemy’s approach, and the French were driven back.

While the French greatly outnumbered the British, they did not have the artillery necessary to break through the solid walls of Fort William Henry. Over the course of the three-day battle, the French did manage to destroy the British fleet docked at the Southern end of Lake George and burn down the outbuildings holding the fort’s supplies.

Several reenactment groups participated in today’s reenactment, with the British firing from the fort and the French taking shots from behind trees to the west of the fort’s walls. Spectators watched and photographed the battle from both inside the fort and out on the lawn of nearby Fort William Henry Hotel.