Transcript
Speaker: Welcome back to Tales from the French and Indian War. I am your host, Jackson. am your host, Matt. And we are back with another episode diving deeper into 1758, which has given us so much content.
Speaker: A lot of really fun and interesting stuff. We've got another good story for you today. It's something probably most people would have heard about, but maybe not more than just a few sentences. Well, it depends what what your main source is, but...
Speaker: Well, know us, we're happy to kick out about any major or minor event equally the same. And on that note, I wanted to thank all of our listeners for leaving us many comments on our various episodes. We read them all. We're probably slow to respond to them, but a lot of them that you guys have left us with episode ideas are episodes that Jackson and I are planning on doing in the future. um just so you know your comments are not going unheard we are taking every single one of them um and i even so i saw some comments uh talking about like some games for us to try and stuff which we also appreciate because we we love this stuff so um but please if there's any area of the war even in the past even if like you know we've already covered like 1757 or 756 if there's something you want to talk about or us to
Speaker: you know touch on then, we're more than happy to, you know, go back and highlight something we might have passed up. So, but yeah, I just wanted to say thanks for everyone leaving us comments. We appreciate it And it's been pretty cool that we've grown this whole community in this, this little niche area.
Speaker: Yeah. I love to see it and I'm excited to see our little community continue to grow. Hopefully. ah But Matt, you you mentioned games there. And i have one more note before we get into the the meat of the episode. In our games in the French and Indian War episode, we mentioned the video game Master of Command, which at that time had just come out.
Speaker: I've been getting back into that recently. Again, it's mostly focused on the European side of the war. But... Matt, just today I learned about the existence of a French and Indian War mod. oh i am going to check that out, if not right after this, tomorrow for sure. And I really hope it's good because, oh man, am ah am I excited to play yet another game taking place in this period? If it's good, we will not have a podcast episode for a couple of months less than or so. i guess you'll know from the silence that it was it was a good game for Jackson.
Speaker: Yes, I'll give my full report briefly at the beginning of the next episode. but Hopefully it's good. All right. So today, as you will have known by the title of this episode, we are discussing Fort Frontenac, not just the fort, not just its schematics or its location.
Speaker: We are discussing, of course, the Battle of Fort Frontenac or perhaps the raid of Fort Frontenac. uh really interesting characters and uh and kind of drama mixed up in this story maybe not the the biggest battle we've talked about but very crucial very impactful for the course of the war and i'm excited to get into it matt anything else before we begin um not really uh listeners if uh jackson and i joked about this before the episode but we're going to be talking a lot about lake ontario in this episode um if you look on google maps right now that lake is now lake america so uh don't get those confused we're talking about um what was known then as lake ontario and I don't know if anyone in real life actually calls it Lake America. So I think everyone will understand what we're what we're referring to. But yes yeah, i was just I was telling Matt right before this, I was very surprised to see that on Google Maps. Kind of surreal.
Speaker: Anyway. So the Battle of Fort Frontenac. To begin, we're going to back up a little bit and talk first about the main man. You know, when we think about Fort Frontenac, when any historian is going to describe the battle that we're talking about, you cannot avoid the figure of... Oh, Matt, I did again. just have Bradstreet. No, okay. I have his first name here. John Bradstreet. going to say John Bradstreet. Yep. I just talked about last episode. Do you know what his born name was? I do, yes. Jean-Baptiste.
Speaker: Yes, he was born in Nova Scotia under British control to a British father and an Akkadian mother. So he has a very unique mixed heritage for someone in the British military.
Speaker: I would also like to point out that I thought this name was very familiar when I was researching. And the reason for that is if you've ever heard of the Salem Witch Trials or ever watched any, I think there's a movie about the Salem Witch Trials or maybe like TV show. show or something john bradstreet is like the male in the town who was accused of being like a witch or a warlock oh just someone with the same name yeah the same name i was like i've heard this name a lot before and yeah he was also there was also john bradstreet that was an accused warlock in salem so don't get those different guy unless maybe this john bradstreet was a warlock and he you know he's lived he's lived that long yeah yeah yeah No, there's no evidence this John Bradstreet was a witch, wizard, or warlock. I bet you didn't think you were to say that in this episode. Hey, when this episode releases, we'll be in October, so that would be fitting for the season.
Speaker: But yeah, so he's born to a British father and an Acadian mother in Nova Scotia. He quickly chooses the British military as kind of his career, his path to advancement.
Speaker: His mother has some is in a family, the De La Tour family, I think it was, who has a it's pretty influential Akkadian family at the time. So she is able to use some of her connections to help him get to become an ensign in the British military.
Speaker: He's going to, that'll be around seventeen thirty s or so. He's born in
Speaker: So he is kind of living in both worlds, the Acadian French and the British, although most of his life is taking place in the British sphere. But he's got this intimate knowledge of how the French colonies work because of his family connections and some of his business connections, especially with the fortress of Louisbourg.
Speaker: which we talked about that siege just a couple episodes ago. And in the previous war, King George's war, he was instrumental in the successful operation against Louisbourg in that war.
Speaker: i think there's some possibility that he was the source of the plan to attack Louisbourg. I don't think it's confirmed or anything, but back then he was kind of pressing the British military commanders, the colonial commanders, to attack. mountain expedition and then he did take part in it in a i think a minor officer role but where his experience really stands out is as he's called one of the the bateau men so a reminder uh because i know it's probably been a few episodes since we talked about bateaus
Speaker: It's just the French word for boat, but for this period, it's specifically referring to a kind of boat, flat-bottomed, somewhat large, could be rowed by oars or have some kind of sail rigged up on it.
Speaker: Could transport, I think, about 20 men or a lot of supplies. So these were instrumental in moving troops, supplies, all sorts of things, trade goods, all throughout North America at this time.
Speaker: So John or Jean-Baptiste Bradstreet, He was a very experienced bateau man. He organized you know logistics and supply chains for expeditions.
Speaker: He appeared very briefly earlier in the podcast, I believe, when we talked about the Battle of Fort Oswego leading up to the battle when that fort was... Very isolated, he led a resupplying operation through the Mohawk River, the great carrying place up the Oswego River.
Speaker: And on his way back, he was attacked by a French and Indian raiding party. He was able to beat them off and and survive. But so he's this he's got a critical knowledge of both the French and the British worlds. He's got a lot of experience moving troops and goods in North America. And since the beginning of this war, since even as early as 1756,
Speaker: He was pressing William Shirley, who was in command of the British war effort at that time, to attack Fort Frontenac. And due a large variety of circumstances, it just doesn't it doesn't work out that time. The garrison at Fort Oswego is really in a poor state.
Speaker: Of course, it succumbs to Montcorme's attack shortly after. The attack to Fort Frontenac is called off. Then Loudon comes Loudon is receptive to a plan against Fort Frontenac.
Speaker: But then Loudon falls from grace and Abercrombie replaces him. And so there's a lot of shuffling happening, a lot of politics happening. And Bradstreet, who's itching to carry out this plan, he just never gets his chance to it.
Speaker: Yeah, that's ah I was thinking Bradstreet is kind of that nagging child asking the British command to let him attack Fronternac and he keeps getting told no.
Speaker: As we talked about in our last episode at the Battle of ah Fort Ticonderoga or Fort Carreon, the British suffered such a huge defeat that the British high command were a little bit eager for a victory and seeing that Fronternac was kind of ah a softer target as we'll get into, they finally allowed him to have his spoils of war but he uh yeah it's kind of funny he he asked several times for this and was begging basically on all fours to to you know go raid this this small fortress
Speaker: Yeah. One note before we catch up back to the quote unquote present of this podcast, I found this really interesting quote about Brad Street from the Dictionary of Canadian Biography, which is a great source if you want to learn about any of the British or French Canadian figures. And they have some Americans in there because of, you know, wars like this where Canada was directly affected.
Speaker: Great source in English and French. But uh it was mentioning let me let me pull it up here oh yeah so bradstreet was encouraged to learn that william pitt had become the british prime minister because he had some connections to pitt it says and he wrote to littleton seeking a favorable mention he was quite willing to specify appointments to which he considered himself entitled such as the governorship of new jersey the colonel c of a regiment of rangers or the post of quartermaster general
Speaker: which like Those are three very different things, ah all high up there and in in rank. But I think that goes to show the ambition of Bradstreet.
Speaker: And unlike other figures, he actually does have a lot of skills backing him up, a lot of experience backing him up. But he's definitely a very ambitious guy, very bold, and he definitely believes in his capabilities, which will really come into play in today's episode.
Speaker: So in our last episode, we talked about the Battle of Fort Carrion, the disastrous, unlikely defeat of a massive British force in between Lakes George and Champlain.
Speaker: And the British have retreated all the way back down the the Lake George. Bradstreet was instrumental in making sure the retreat turned into an orderly retreat as how are the troops going to get back to the other end of Lake George in the bateau and who's managing and organizing and all of the the crews and the men kind of navigating these bateaux. Well, that's Bradstreet.
Speaker: So ah he helped turn a chaotic retreat into something a little bit more organized. But Now that the massive British force in the middle of July it's just kind of hunkering down at the old ruined Fort William Henry, some people are itching for action, especially after they just can't understand the defeat that they just witnessed. More so, they can't understand the retreat.
Speaker: Perhaps they can understand the tactics didn't work. Of course, that would would result in retreat. But they still have thousands and thousands of soldiers ready and ne willing to attack the French. They have all the artillery, all the supplies, the money.
Speaker: So why aren't they trying again? Why did they retreat? Well, Bradstreet, Council of War ah with Abercrombie and other officers, he is going to yet again propose an offensive action, this time against Fort Frontenac, of course, his his dream target for the last several years.
Speaker: And finally, after some hesitation, Abercrombie is eventually going to give him the green light. And he's going to have a few thousand men under his command to make a quick daring raid deep, deep into French territory to attack Fort Frontenac and, if all goes well, to destroy it and then make the return journey all the way back.
Speaker: Matt, is he going to get his white whale a Fort Frontenac or is is this burning ambition going to lead him and his men to disaster?
Speaker: ah Well, it will pay off for him, mostly because... So we mentioned you mentioned Jackson. Bradstreet's of an interesting guy. and I was going to talk about this later, but I think this is a good time to mention it, that after this battle, he writes a a book or a narrative of this encounter.
Speaker: called i think it's i believe the title of it is an impartial account of lieutenant colonel john bradstreet and it's basically his own memoirs about his journey to uh fronternac and like the planning behind it which of course he gives himself all the credit for and the book kind of acts as like kind of a job application as you mentioned bradstreet's a very ambitious guy but no it's definitely impartial right yeah yeah very impartial um it does it conflates the most of the most of the story here into something that it wasn't um it obviously i think you know we've hinted at it this would be a success for for bradstreet the british and we'll get into that more but uh he the way you read this book it sounds like he's taking like fort duquesne when fort duquesne was at its height or something of that nature or if he was know going on montreal or or quebec uh Where in reality, you know, Fronternac is kind of a weakly defended outpost of the French, even though as Jackson, as you mentioned, it is deep in French territory. And like for our listeners to think about it, when we talked about Louisburg, which was kind of out in the Atlantic a bit. kind of guarding the mouth of the St. Lawrence as it would come in from the Atlantic into Quebec. This is, if you think of it, the back door to Montreal, Quebec. So coming off of Lake Ontario, or sorry, Lake America, like that way into...
Speaker: So it's like attacking the French from the other way down the same boards. So it is very, very deep and into French territory. And I think on paper, it sounds like a daring grade, but we'll, we'll get into that. But yeah, it does, it does pay off for him. I'll say that.
Speaker: Yeah. So um I've got my notes kind of jump back and forth between the French perspective in the lead up and then the actual expedition launch. I think let's start with Bradstreet leaving with his men and the the route they're taking. And as they approach, then I'll jump in with the French perspective. So...
Speaker: July 13th, this is just just less than a week, I believe, from the Battle of Fort Carrion. So July 13th is when Bradstreet gets the the green light, and he's got about 3,500 men that he'll be taking with him from Abercrombie and the British Army's camp.
Speaker: And they'll be heading up that kind of well-worn highway of the Mohawk River, the Great Carrying Place, and then up the Oswego River to the ruins of Fort Oswego. and that Oh, Jackson, did want to mention, sorry to cut you off one thing. ah Bradstreet's orders here that he got from Abercrombie were not actually to directly take Fronternac. His orders were generally to scout around the area and then take the fort if practicable. Okay. yeah If any of our listeners are Civil War buffs, they'll know that order from the famous Robert E. Lee at Gettysburg, where he ordered one of his generals to take a little round top um if if practicable. And it caused a lot of confusion and then they ended up not doing it well. Bradstreet will not be confused by this. He will see that as a clear order to take Frotrenac. So it was funny. It was he even when he got his order to take the fort, he dearly wanted to. it wasn't like it it wasn't a direct order to take it. It was to mostly scout around the area. But as we can see, he took a few thousand soldiers with him. So he he wasn't playing around.
Speaker: Yeah, that's an interesting little nuance. And yeah, from what we've established of Bradstreet's personality and his his way of doing things, I can absolutely see him taking this order and being like, oh, i I'm gonna attack for Frontenac. I know I can do it. It's definitely practicable. yeah um So we'll see how that goes.
Speaker: So yeah, he is making his way up to the old ruins, Fort Oswego, with 3,500 men, and they're getting in the bateau, they're portaging them, they're bringing some heavy guns as well.
Speaker: Along the way, just to where Fort Oswego was, 500 men are going to desert, so he's down to 3,000. fairly sizable portion but he's still got a very healthy force uh 3 000 men in enemy territory especially and this is the key that the french aren't expecting this uh 3 000 men can do a lot of damage Now, ah for a comparison, the one of the other notable British excursions deep into enemy territory that was successful was the raid on Catanning, as you had Pennsylvania militiamen from Carlisle moving across the Appalachian Mountains, following Indian trails all the way to Catanning, which was kind of like the the main operating base sending out all of these native raiding parties.
Speaker: But that that group only had about 300 men, and it's a lot easier to move 300 men through the forest and on trails than 3,000 men with heavy guns and equipment and food that will last at least a month or two and get them all the way to an enemy fortification. So...
Speaker: As far as raids into enemy territory go, this is a much larger scale than what we have seen on the British side before. But as the British reach Lake Ontario on August 21st, so this is already like a month after Bradstreet gets the green light.
Speaker: So they've been slowly making their way up there. But as of as of then, things are still looking good. They haven't been attacked by any French or Indian raiding parties, at least not any sizable ones. There's been no forceful resistance.
Speaker: So this... This very logistically intensive expedition is not too far from their goal. They just have to cross over Lake Ontario, kind of the reverse route that Montcalm took when he attacked Fort Oswego. Because if you remember, they left from Montreal, they kind of gathered their forces at Fort Frontenac, and then they got into boats.
Speaker: and sailed down and landed near Oswego. So now the British attack is leaving from the ruins of Oswego, getting into boats and then going up to Fort Frontenac. So we got the Uno reverse card being played by the by the British here.
Speaker: Yeah, and not to not to downplay that journey either. i mean, even if you just look at it on a map, it's equivalent to crossing a Great Lake. um You know, like, Fronternac is kind of in the top, if you think of it, like the northeast corner of Lake Ontario, and he would be leaving from Oswego, which is the southeast corner. So he's crossing mostly the entire lake, which is a pretty substantial journey.
Speaker: And for our very few European listeners, remember that when we say the Great Lakes, they're they're really big, I swear. Large bodies of water. um But yeah, so let's pause with the British progression here and I'll jump back up to the French commanding officer at Frontenac and what they are and are not expecting to happen on that front.
Speaker: So the officer in charge of Fort Frontenac is, oh and let me, I'm going to copy his name and put it in the chat here and have you try to read it first. I practiced a bit. Well, I see you put his full name.
Speaker: Of course. yeah I kept calling him Noyon when I was reading this, but I guess Pierre-Jacques Payan de Noyon. That's actually, that's very good. That was, I thought you would do a lot worse with that. Excellent. you What do you think I was going to say? Pierre-Jacques Payan de Noyon. Maybe. I don't know. yeah yeah Very good. Very good. Very good. So he is ah one of the typical experienced veterans of multiple wars in that new France, the Canadian military officer class. So like a lot of other officers, think he's a his journey and experience reminded me of Jacques Lagardeur de Saint-Pierre, the
Speaker: One of the generals pushing into the, not generals, one of the officers pushing into the Ohio country building forts and that Washington met and who died at the Battle of Lake George in 1755. But he was a veteran of King George's War, the previous one. He had extensive experience all over North America, especially in the Pays d'Anneau, the upper Great Lakes.
Speaker: he had was He's well-respected, which was a ah valuable trait of many Canadian officers at his level. He, I believe, spoke several native languages.
Speaker: think. Or I might be mixing up with Lagarde on that moment. But regardless, a lot of experience. He had, like a lot of people, he had enrolled in the military from his early teens and worked his way up. And at this point, he's like 60, 70 years old.
Speaker: so He has lived a long and fruitful career. People will look on him very well, especially the Iroquois Indians are rather partial to him as well.
Speaker: So he's commanding the fort, but it has seen better days. It's crumbling in some areas. The garrison at this time, there's only about, I think, 100 able-bodied men holding the fort and some of those might be like prisoners of war and laborers. So I think in one source, which um I think I have in here as well, there might only be like 40 real troops garrisoning this fort, which as Matt said, is pretty much the back door into the heart of New France. it's not terribly far by water from Montreal.
Speaker: So yeah, he is at the end of his career. He's rather old. The fort is not well maintained and there's not a large garrison. So a lot of, a lot of factors playing against any possible French defense from a surprise attack here.
Speaker: Jackson, I guess, and maybe you don't know this, but I'm just curious, like why, why would, why would the French leave their back door? So like,
Speaker: So vulnerable like that. Like, you know i you know, we talk about manpower issue on the French side, and maybe that's it. And then also maybe they weren't expecting an attack from that side. But it it seemed kind of wild to me that, you know, there's a whole other entrance to the St. Lawrence River that's, you know, guarding both Montreal and Quebec that the French are not really paying attention to. And I found some sources too that i think Vajray, I never said that right. He had he had like written down that Fort Fronternac was kind of a weak outpost and they knew that it it couldn't really withstand a full attack. I think it was mostly made out of limestone, which couldn't withstand cannonballs. It could you know stop musket fire and small arms fire, but it couldn't withstand like a 10 pounder or something coming at it. yeah.
Speaker: Did you find anything on that as to why? I'm assuming it was probably a mix of kind of what I mentioned. So I think, I mean, one ah probably factoring into it is indeed, yeah, that New France does not have a lot of manpower to spare, especially with multiple British attacks happening at this point. You know, Louisbourg is under siege at this moment or...
Speaker: Well, now that we're in August of 1758, it has fallen. But the Battle of Fort Carrion has just happened. And that was the the largest British attack there that was foiled. And then, of course, there's an attempt against Fort Duquesne ongoing at this time as well. So I think part of it certainly is...
Speaker: You know, they don't have an abundance of manpower. I think more critically, it was just a a lack of belief that the British would even, one, dare, and two, successfully reach such a a remote post and reach it with any kind of force.
Speaker: You know, especially after they had just won this large victory in eastern New York, I think they were expecting if there's going to be any other attacks, it would be again at Fort Carrion as they kind of try to muscle their way north to Montreal.
Speaker: So I think, yeah, they knew the main thrust was at Carrion, Duquesne, and Louisbourg. And I think they just had no expectations that these Lake Ontario forts like Frontenac and and or Niagara could be under serious threat, especially because they got to travel through a long way. They should get advance notice.
Speaker: the The Iroquois, of course, are in upstate New York and You know, there's sensitive. It's very difficult to pass through their territory with a large force without angering or upsetting them or getting their consent in some way. And up to this point, the Iroquois are still largely neutral, trying to so stay out of it. So I think, especially with all the recent success successes in upstate New York, that they just just could not fathom that the British could do this.
Speaker: Yeah, that that that does make sense. um Yeah, it just it it just seems wild, you know, that they that that would be so lightly defended. But... um I think you're right, too. in And as we talked about, you know, to your point that they didn't expect that the British could make such a crossing, they underestimated the bateau man. Yes. Which, yeah as we talked about with the bateaus, for our listeners, i I looked up a picture of one when I was researching this. They kind of looked like wide canoes.
Speaker: So maybe think of that if you're picturing a bateau. It's you know still kind of generally canoe shaped, but with a flat bottom. And as Jackson mentioned, sometimes a little sail. And it seems crazy to me thinking that you could cross a Great Lake on those. Would you do that today? Would you trust it? I would not, but it did, from what I was reading, Bradstreet did stick to the shoreline as much as he could. So they weren't like out in the middle of a great lake in deep water. I think most of it was along the shoreline they followed, but still it's it's kind of crazy. It's like kayaking across great lake.
Speaker: Yeah. No no small feat. So I've got a couple excerpts from Monkholm's journal and I was smart this time and I did the translation before.
Speaker: beforehand so I don't have to like read and halt and be like oh what does that word mean again hold on so ah this is from August 13th in Montcalm's journal so of course he's still in Fort Carillon so there's going to be a delay in news going up to Montreal and then getting down to him but A couple of these accounts give us an idea of what he's aware of, since he is the main military commander of French forces in North America.
Speaker: So this account from August 13th says, Monsieur de Longay returned from his diplomatic mission to the Five Nations, which, of course, is the Iroquois. He stopped at the mouth of the Oswego River. The savages warned him that he couldn't, without running great risk, advance beyond that.
Speaker: They came to confer with him and told him that they would send representatives to Montreal. The English, to the number of 5,000 or 6,000 men, have already reconstructed Fort Bull. They are portaging the necessary materials to rebuild that which was at the head of the Oswego River.
Speaker: It seems that the five nations had consented to this reestablishment. Only the Onondaga opposed it. All the savages will be delighted to see Oswego reestablished, and I think it will be done this year.
Speaker: We have in reality done nothing which could prevent these savages from regretting this post where trade is advantageous to them. So we see here, August 13th, Malcolm is aware of some British activity along that portage route, the Mohawk River, a great caring place. As you mentioned, Fort Boal was reestablished and there's plans to rebuild Fort Oswego. so He's aware that there's going to be British activity there, but there's nothing in that account that indicates he's like, oh, no, we need to reinforce front Fort Frontenac or Fort Niagara, because he's just thinking they're going to slowly and steadily rebuild the places we already destroyed.
Speaker: So there's no no notes, no indication that he's aware that Bradstreet is actively on the move and soon going to launch an attack on Fort Frontenac. By August 24th, his journal indicates that he's starting to get some kind of idea that an attack against Frontenac might be coming. And again, he's going to have a delay of a few days as you know reports from scouts go up to Montreal and then down to him.
Speaker: so ah We can assume that is when Bradstreet's force might have reached old Oswego, where we're very close to it and we're, you know, bringing all their bateau. And I think they even either had built or brought a ah boat with a several for several guns, like 18 cannon, I think, on a ah bark that was going to sail on the Great Lakes to assist them with their attack. So he's starting to get an idea then on September 1st. So this is after the Battle of Fort Frontenac, but you know he he doesn't know that yet.
Speaker: He writes that we are reasonably in the greatest worry. There are only 40 garrison troops in the fort, which is the storing place of artillery as well as war and food supplies for the upper countries.
Speaker: So that might have been written at the first sighting of enemy troops by Fort Frontenac when French messengers start relaying and asking for help and reinforcements. uh but you can see it goes from nowhere in his notes to hmm they the enemy might make ah an attempt towards front and act two oh no oh no the we only have 40 guys there uh oh yeah it's like you leave your uh your one flank so exposed and oh hopefully the enemy won't see it and then they do and you're you're caught the middle
Speaker: Yeah. And as a reminder, you know Matt talked about the location of Fort Frontenac, but on ah a more general note, it is one of the main connecting links between the heart of New France, Montreal, Quebec City, and all of its ah expansive yet tenuously held larger claims in North America. So the Great Lakes, the Mississippi country, the Illinois country, and then down into Louisiana.
Speaker: If the British can interrupt traffic and travel from Fort Frontenac onwards to Niagara, to Detroit, to Michelin-Mackinac, then all of the those Western French posts are going to be in jeopardy.
Speaker: So another reason why this being vulnerable at this stage when Bradstreet is about to be on its doorstep, very ah very bad for the French. Now, on August 25th, we're going to jump back to the British now.
Speaker: They have just crossed the Lake Ontario. They've landed right by Fort Frontenac, and they're setting up for their surveying the territory, and they're setting up for a siege.
Speaker: French, they are obviously surprised. they They get some messengers out to go upriver downriver, I guess, to Montreal and get reinforcements. However, the British force, they start to surround the fort, set up gun batteries, they open fire. The French, they just don't have the manpower, the equipment to give any kind of effective return fire. They have some guns, some muskets. But when we get to the end, I forgot to get the casualty figures, but it's it's very light. I'll just say that.
Speaker: this Yes, yes. by the 27th so just two three days after the british arrive and begin surrounding the fort the garrison surrenders uh they are in no condition to resist siege i mean i was i did want to mention that one of the one of the uh points and i brought up before so the fort was mostly made out of limestone and it kind of really was standing can shot and and one thing that bradstreet did was he found a uh a little rise about 100 yards away from the fort and and stuck a battery on top of it i actually found an old map from i think like the massachusetts historical society oh nice that shows like the british um battle position so to speak around the four and was really just you know if you're thinking
Speaker: trying to think of to depict it for our listeners. But if you think of, ah I guess, a a little peninsula, this fort would have been on like the very tip of the peninsula and then probably behind it by, I don't know, 500 yards or so, you had the the British trench line that they had dug and stuck a battery there. And then probably 200 yards away from that towards the top of the peninsula, there was like this rise where they stuck batteries and were were're firing cannon shot down on the fort. It was a pretty demoralizing ah attack plan because, I mean, it it would be terrible even being shot at by a cannon. But knowing that the walls that you're hiding behind are not going to protect you from this cannon is even more terrifying. So musket fire is one thing, but you know having any sort of cannonade coming at you is pretty terrifying.
Speaker: yeah yeah once again it's like every event every battle of this period we go over we're just like yeah it would be terrifying it be it would be horrible to uh to try to place yourself in this position and like obviously there's to like today there's uh this is near kingston um If you're familiar with that town, I'm not sure. Province, I guess that would be close to Toronto, kind of closer to Ottawa. You know, there's there's towns around there and it's a developed area now, but in this time it was much more desolate. So these soldiers that are stationed in these horts are. one kind of living in the sticks so to speak uh you know and and as we talked about france was kind of starving at this point um so you're probably low on supplies anyway lower low on morale and then this huge thousand person multiple thousand person force british force shows up and starts shooting at you a cannon um it's not it's no surprise as to why a truce i think uh actually the commander on the french side he raised a red flag instead of a white flag for a truce which i thought was interesting i didn't know that was a thing at this time but i read that when i was researching for this episode so it seemed like kind of an honor thing that you're not surrendering you're just calling for truce interesting yeah
Speaker: Well, yeah, so Garrison surrenders after a pretty light resistance. The fort is plundered. What cannot be taken is burned, destroyed. i think they set the guns of the fort against its own walls and no do as much damage as they can because, well, they know...
Speaker: If they stick around for too long, some sizable French forces could feasibly meet up with them and engage them. They could be stuck in, uh, in French country and Indian country.
Speaker: So, uh, they're just, you know, they came, they saw, they destroyed, they left essentially, uh, very soon after that, they are going to, uh, to make their way back across the lake with everything they can fit in their boats. Uh, an important casualty of the, uh,
Speaker: the affair is the French Lake Ontario fleet. So any, ah any real military vessels they had, i think were held uh, at Fort Frontenac or at least um a majority of them. So with the destruction or the stealing of any of, uh, France's vessels there, they now have like nothing to contest Lake Ontario, the waters of it. Uh, I don't, I don't think there's much at Fort Niagara at this point, maybe just a couple boats, but,
Speaker: um So that is a big blow as well. Plus, a lot of these supplies that were destroyed there were destined to all of those different Western French outposts like Niagara, Detroit, Michelin Mackinac, and even the ones way, way out there in like what is modern...
Speaker: Northwest in Ontario, Manitoba, into the Illinois country as well. So this disruption of goods and supplies, even though the British are, you know, dash in, blow stuff up, get out of there.
Speaker: They're not sticking around. the the effects of this destruction, this a battle, are going to be felt all across the the upper countries. since They're called the Piedonal. So big... ah Not the biggest or or or bloodiest battle by any means, but tactically very significant.
Speaker: And the British head back across the lake and a relief force for the French led by Duplessis coming from Montreal of about 1,500 most. And they arrive and the British have left the area. There's there's no no enemy yet on the field. They just see the smoking ruins of Fort Frontenac.
Speaker: Yes, for a a battle where, from my research, only two people were killed in the affair, which were on the French side, and then only 11 British were were wounded.
Speaker: Bradstreet does make this into a pretty grandiose event in his journal, and it does it does you know pay off for him. He does get a promotion, I believe, after this, and he goes on to play a bigger role. I wouldn't say bigger role. He...
Speaker: he is in a higher position, when we get to Pontiac's war, which follows the French and Indian war. Um, so he will survive through the rest of this war. Um, and unfortunately, and apologies that this is a spoiler and Jackson, I decided to do a, uh, Pontiac's after this one. Um, if we do, then this is probably a spoiler, but poor, uh, poor Brad street leads a pretty disastrous campaign, um, in the Pontiac's war. And he, uh,
Speaker: leaves military service with a very tarnished reputation from that so all is all does not end well for brad street but this uh this venture does gain him some some credit within the british command Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, I definitely like to get into Pontiac's War after this because it's such a natural, it's like, how can you get to the end of the French Union War? Just not, just do a little bit more and cover the Pontiac's War. But ah yeah, some other aftermath of this battle, Denoyant.
Speaker: I'm actually, you know, it's funny. I'm actually not certain if it's Denoyant or Denoyant. I think might be Noyant, actually. We'll go with that. Yeah, I'm i'm actually not 100% sure. Names can be tricky sometimes. But Noyant, he retires right after this battle. Vaudrey puts the the blame on him first. And he's kind of he's kind of shocked a little bit. But he ends up being like, well, I guess guess sir I'll be retiring now then since my...
Speaker: My service is no longer wanted. I think Valdra said he was like, he blamed the entire loss on the fact that ah Noyon was too old. and he basically was like, oh, we had this feeble old man controlling this. despite The fact that he was outnumbered like 28. Who put him in that position? And who sent the, who Garrus properly sent the troops and Garrus in Fort West? was completely a scapegoat. It was like the definition of that. Yeah, for sure. He takes the fall for I think Vaudreuil eventually ah says like, yeah, that's on me. But in the immediate aftermath, yeah, it's the Denoyant who is ah in the in the sites, the targeting sites.
Speaker: Big boost to British morale. You know, they had taken Louisbourg. That was great. But almost immediately after that, the disaster at Fort Carillon. So their mood is kind of dampened.
Speaker: And Forbes campaign is still playing out. And it's uncertain how that's going to go. So Another news of another victory to kind of wipe the stain of Carrion is well received by the British public.
Speaker: And it also reveals the vulnerability of these French Western outposts. And that is definitely going to play in. Well, we'll see Fort Duquesne fall as we covered in the Forbes expedition. And then we'll see further British action against Fort Niagara in the year to come.
Speaker: So yeah. Small battle in terms of death or blood, but not small in terms of impact. And you know, maybe that's the best kind of battle a war can have where you get the win and not only, well, not many people have to die. I guess that's the ideal result.
Speaker: Now, Montcalm, after he hears about this news, I found one more journal entry from him. So he's kind of running through at this point some like what ifs, you know, the 2020 hindsight.
Speaker: And he's saying, if we had at least set in place during the whole campaign, well-armed ships cruising in the vicinity of the Oswego River, if at least Frontenac and Niagara had been in a condition to not be taken by a surprise attack, given the weakness of the post lacking in defenders,
Speaker: If at least this campaign after the Battle for Carillon and the enemy enemy's retreat, instead of sending us useless and transitory troops, whose only use was eating up a great quantity of food, we had sent a core of 15 to 1800 men supported by well-armed ships having arrived before the enemy who had set out only on the 12th of July from Lake George had filled in the port, this is Oswego, blocked up the river and ended the campaign in this position.
Speaker: Thus, in the case of an enemy attack, their superiority would be due to them alone and not by our negligence to which there is no remedy. But all these reflections on the past are only useful for readers to come.
Speaker: One needs resources, not elegies or ti tirades. So, uh, yeah, he is, he is, hypothe if he could go back and do it again, he would have French set up at the ruins of Oswego, just completely fill in the river to prevent, ah you know, bateau traffic, and then set up a defensive position there so that the British do not regain this foothold on Lake Ontario, which they, of course, use to attack Fort Frontenac.
Speaker: And if not that, then he would ah he would have ships kind of patrolling the entrance to the Oswego River so that when the British do show up, they will show up to cannon fire. So all these what-ifs he's running through his mind, if he could ah go back and and make the calls or have this kind of knowledge in advance. But alas, as he said, these reflections on the past are only useful for readers to come like you and me.
Speaker: So thank you, Mock Calm. I do find this reading and reflection useful. I'm using it for content for my podcast. Merci beaucoup. Yes. Perfect. I'm glad we can profit. Yes.
Speaker: I have one last note for this episode. I don't know if you have anything else. If not, I can mention it, but I'll give you. Yeah. Yeah. Go ahead. I think we yeah we covered all my notes. So Matt, you've probably been thinking this whole time, Jackson, it's been a while since you've talked about your family history and its connection but to the French and Indian war.
Speaker: Well, Matt, I'm glad you were wondering. So one of my direct ancestors, so this is not a cousin, spouse of 20 times removed. One of my direct ancestors, Louis Gagné, there are many people named Louis Gagné. If you go back, they were all named like Pierre or Louis Gagné, like every every every brother, every son and father. Anyway, ah he participated in the expedition to build what became Fort Frontenac. At that point, it was called Fort Cataracuy.
Speaker: But this is when Governor Frontenac was ordering the construction of this fort. This was in 1673. And they were recruiting Canadians who's living close to Quebec City at that point. But they were recruiting people to travel down St. Louisville.
Speaker: I guess up the St. Lawrence River and build a fort at the source of the St. Lawrence River to give access and further control and more influence on the area around Lake Ontario. So the fort that the British destroyed, they destroyed family work. My great, great, great, great grandfather built this fort.
Speaker: Why do you build it out of limestone, Jackson? Come on. I don't even think, actually, I'm not even sure the original what the original might have been in wood. It probably was. I think it was only redone in stone later. Or I might be mixing that up with Fort Niagara. but Yeah, so I found another family connection. I did not look at the background of Noyan to see if I related to him. But yeah, I figured I'd... Since we finally got to Fort Frontenac, I remembered that fact. And I was like, ooh! Well, guess what? John Bradstreet's my grandfather. Maybe is a warlock. Yeah, that's true.
Speaker: yeah Yeah, so that is ah that's the Battle of Fort Frontenac. a Interesting affair. Glad I got to dive a little bit deeper into it this time around in the podcast. I hope you guys all enjoyed. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to let us know.
Speaker: We'd be happy to read them, and we appreciate you guys following the podcast this far and getting some enjoyment and education out of it. A lot of fun for us, and we're we're glad you're here. Yes, I would like to also ask that if anyone is related to somebody cool in the French and Indian War, hello please drop that comment for us on Facebook or on Spotify or wherever so we can see that and give you give you a shout out. Yeah, that's good. Yeah, because I'm sure like, you know, with this war occurring in North America, I'm sure there's probably quite a few listeners that control some lineage to one side or the other. So that'd be cool to hear. I'd need to do some research from my end to see if there's anybody from my side. But from my understanding, most of my ancestors came over well after this this battle or this war. But I will have to look into that to see if I can find any links. hey You never know because you go back a few generations and you get...
Speaker: to like 64 great great whatever grandparents and then like 128 and then it just keeps you know there's tons and tons of uh trails you can go down so you you'll have to let me know if you find anything yeah that's all we got for today thank you all for listening and we'll be looking forward to getting back with you uh very soon see you next time
