The picturesque StLawrence . as Lord Howe. This littleskirmish wrecked the fortunes of the army,which blundered in nearly every move it was sent forward to drive the Frenchfrom their works by a direct assault it wasattempting the impossible. A ridge extendedacross the plateau northwest of the fortress,and Montcalm, the French commander, hadfortified it by felling trees and making a zigzagparapet. In front of the parapet the groundwas covered with a tangle of boughs, many ofwhich had sharpened points projecting awayfrom the line of defence to embarrass an ap-proaching foe. On the
The picturesque StLawrence . as Lord Howe. This littleskirmish wrecked the fortunes of the army,which blundered in nearly every move it was sent forward to drive the Frenchfrom their works by a direct assault it wasattempting the impossible. A ridge extendedacross the plateau northwest of the fortress,and Montcalm, the French commander, hadfortified it by felling trees and making a zigzagparapet. In front of the parapet the groundwas covered with a tangle of boughs, many ofwhich had sharpened points projecting awayfrom the line of defence to embarrass an ap-proaching foe. On the morning of the eighththe English infantry pressed forward with ordersto carry the works by a bayonet charge. Butas soon as they got among the bristling boughsthe charge was broken and from the zigzagbastions ahead of them came a storm of grapeand musket shot to which they could make noeffectual reply. They struggled in vain to forcetheir way through the obstructions, and at lengthretreated. During the afternoon they made no. The Richelieu and Lake Champlain 137 less than six successive assaults and lost twothousand in killed and wounded. Montcalm,with his coat off, for the day was hot, directedthe defence, moving to any part of the line wherethe danger for the moment seemed greatest. It might still have been possible for Aber-crombie to adopt some other plan of action thatwould have been successful, but his spirit andthat of his army was broken. The entire forcewithdrew in a panic, and when the Frenchreconnoitred as far as Lake George the nextmorning they found several hundred barrels ofprovisions and a large quantity of baggage thathad been left behind; and in a marshy placethat the defeated troops had crossed were numer-ous shoes, which had stuck in the mud, andwhich they had not stopped to recover. But while the French were victorious at Ticon-deroga they suffered reverses elsewhere, and thenext year they felt obliged to relinquish LakeChamplain. When, therefore, an English
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Keywords: ., bookauthorjohnsonc, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookyear1910
