It’s July 8, 1758. The heat in the Adirondacks is thick, heavy, and smells like pine and impending death. You’ve probably heard of the French and Indian War, but the Battle of Fort Carillon is the one that really flips the script on how we think about "superior" military forces.
The British were coming. Not just a few of them, but 16,000 men. It was the largest army ever assembled in North America at that point. Opposite them stood the Marquis de Montcalm with roughly 3,600 French and Canadian defenders. On paper, it’s a joke. A total mismatch. If you were betting on this in a tavern in Albany, you’d put everything on the Redcoats. But by sunset, the landscape around the fort—later known as Ticonderoga—was a literal slaughterhouse.
The Arrogance of James Abercrombie
General James Abercrombie was the man in charge of the British forces, and honestly, he was the wrong guy for the job. History hasn't been kind to him. People called him "Granny" behind his back. He was cautious where he should’ve been bold and reckless where he should’ve been smart.
When the British army arrived at the northern end of Lake George, they had a massive advantage in artillery. They had the guns to blow the wooden walls of Fort Carillon to splinters. But Abercrombie received a bit of bad intel suggesting French reinforcements were just around the corner. Instead of waiting for his heavy cannons to catch up through the muddy portage paths, he decided to rush.
He ordered a direct, frontal infantry assault.
The French "Abatis"
Montcalm wasn't sitting around waiting to die. He knew his fort couldn't withstand a siege. So, he moved his men outside the stone walls to a nearby ridge. They spent days frantically cutting down thousands of trees. They sharpened the branches into spikes, pointing them toward the British lines.
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This is what’s known as an abatis.
Imagine trying to run through a tangled mess of sharpened, jagged Christmas trees while people are shooting at you from behind a log wall. That’s what the British faced. It wasn't a battle; it was an entanglement.
Blood in the Adirondacks
The assault began around noon. It was a disaster from the first minute. The British regulars, including the famous 42nd Royal Highland Regiment (the Black Watch), marched forward in neat rows. They hit the abatis and stopped. They had to. You can't just climb over a wall of sharpened oaks while carrying a ten-pound Musket and sixty rounds of ammunition.
They were stuck.
The French just leaned over their breastworks and fired. It was point-blank range. British soldiers were being shredded by musket balls and grapeshot, unable to even see the men killing them. Abercrombie, who stayed miles back at a sawmill during the actual fighting, just kept sending more waves. He sent six separate attacks into that meat grinder.
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The Black Watch actually managed to hack their way through the branches and reach the French breastworks. Some even jumped over. They were promptly bayoneted. By the time Abercrombie finally called for a retreat, he had lost nearly 2,000 men. Montcalm lost about 400.
What Most People Get Wrong About the Battle of Fort Carillon
People usually think of 18th-century warfare as guys standing in fields and shooting at each other until someone falls down. The Battle of Fort Carillon proves it was way more complex. This was an early lesson in the power of "field fortifications." It showed that a smaller, entrenched force using the terrain could absolutely dismantle a superpower.
There’s also this myth that the British were just incompetent. They weren't. The soldiers were incredibly brave. The Black Watch’s performance that day is legendary for a reason—they fought with a ferocity that terrified the French. The failure was purely at the top. It was a failure of leadership, reconnaissance, and ego.
The Aftermath and the Name Change
The French won the day, but they couldn't win the war. A year later, they abandoned the fort as the British returned with better leadership and, more importantly, the patience to use their cannons. The British renamed it Fort Ticonderoga.
If you visit the site today in New York, you can still see the rise of the "French Lines." Standing there, it’s hard not to feel a bit of a chill. The ground where those Highlanders fell is still there, largely unchanged in its topography.
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Why This Forgotten Fight Matters in 2026
Why should you care about a bunch of guys in wool coats shooting at each other 270 years ago? Because Carillon changed the trajectory of the American Revolution.
Young American provincials were part of this British army. Men like Israel Putnam—who later became a general in the Continental Army—saw firsthand that the British "invincibles" could be beaten. They saw that British generals made mistakes. They learned that the woods of North America didn't play by European rules.
Without the carnage at Fort Carillon, the American psyche might have remained too intimidated to challenge the British Crown two decades later.
How to Experience Fort Carillon Today
If you’re a history nerd or just like a good view, Fort Ticonderoga is a top-tier destination. But don't just walk through the stone fort. The fort is the museum, but the battlefield is where the story happened.
- Walk the French Lines: Follow the trail out to the ridge where Montcalm built the abatis. It’s a quiet, wooded area now, but the earthworks are still visible.
- Check the Carillon Battlefield Monument: It’s a somber tribute to the Highlanders who were decimated in the assault.
- Mount Defiance: Drive up here. It’s a nearby hill that overlooks the fort. You’ll immediately see why the fort was a "sitting duck" for whoever held the high ground with cannons.
- The King’s Garden: A bit of a pivot, but the gardens on the grounds are stunning and offer a peaceful break from the heavy military history.
You should definitely try to catch a reenactment if you can. Seeing the smoke from a volley of musketry fills the air in a way that photos just can't capture. It’s loud. It’s smelly. It’s confusing. It gives you a tiny fraction of the sensory overload those soldiers felt.
The Battle of Fort Carillon wasn't just a French victory; it was a warning. It’s a reminder that numbers don't always win, and that the person with the better plan usually walks away, regardless of how many flags the other side is carrying.
To get the most out of a visit, start by reading The French and Indian War by Walter R. Borneman. It gives you the high-level context you need before you step onto the grass at Ticonderoga. Then, grab a map of the 1758 lines from the visitor center—don't just wing it. If you look closely at the tree line near the monument, you can still imagine the chaos of the abatis. Pack some sturdy boots because the ground is uneven, exactly as it was when the Redcoats tried to storm the heights.