nd directed against Ticonderoga and Crown Point, and the third
against Fort du Quesne.

General Abercromby took command, in person, of the expedition against
Ticonderoga, with a force of fifteen thousand three hundred and ninety
men, of whom over six thousand were regulars, the rest being
provincials, besides a train of artillery. Among the regulars must be
reckoned the 42 Highlanders. Ticonderoga, situated on a point of land
between Lake George and Lake Champlain is surrounded on three sides by
water, and on one-half of the fourth by a morass. The remaining part of
the fort was protected by high entrenchments, supported and flanked by
three batteries, and the whole front of that which was accessible
intersected by deep traverses, and blocked up with felled trees, with
their branches turned outwards, and their points sharpened.

On July 5th the army struck their tents at daybreak, and in nine hundred
small boats and one hundred and thirty-five whale-boats, with artillery
mounted on rafts, embarked on Lake George. The fleet in stately
procession, bright with banners and cheered by martial music, moved down
the beautiful lake, beaming with hope and pride. The solemn forests were
broken by the echoes of the happy soldiery. There was no one to molest
them, and victory was their one desire. Over the broader expanse they
passed to the first narrows, witnessing the mountains rising from the
water's edge, the dark forest, and the picturesque loveliness of the
scene. Long afterwards General John Stark recounted that when they had
halted at Sabbathday Point at twilight, lord Howe, reclining in his tent
on a bearskin, and bent on winning a hero's name, questioned him closely
as to the position of Ticonderoga and the fittest modes of attack.

After remaining five hours at their resting place, the army, an hour
before midnight, moved once more down the lake, and by nine the next
morning, disembarked on the west side, in a cove sheltered by a point
which still keeps the name of Lord Howe. The troops were formed into two
parallel columns and marched on the enemy's advanced posts, which were
abandoned without a shot. The march was continued in the same order, but
the guides proving ignorant, the columns came in contact, and were
thrown into confusion. A detachment of the enemy which had also become
bewildered in the woods, fell in with the right column, at the head of
which was lord Howe, and during the skirmish which ensued, Howe was