all send him to
one camp, and M. de Bourlamaque to another; for we have three of them:
one at Carillon, eighty leagues from here, towards the place where M. de
Dieskau had his affair last year; another at Frontenac, sixty leagues;
and the third at Niagara, a hundred and forty leagues. I don't know when
or whither I shall go myself; that depends on the movements of the
enemy. It seems to me that things move slowly in this new world; and I
shall have to moderate my activity accordingly. Nothing but the King's
service and the wish to make a career for my son could prevent me from
thinking too much of my expatriation, my distance from you, and the dull
existence here, which would be duller still if I did not manage to keep
some little of my natural gayety."

The military situation was somewhat perplexing. Iroquois spies had
brought reports of great preparations on the part of the English. As
neither party dared offend these wavering tribes, their warriors could
pass with impunity from one to the other, and were paid by each for
bringing information, not always trustworthy. They declared that the
English were gathering in force to renew the attempt made by Johnson the
year before against Crown Point and Ticonderoga, as well as that made by
Shirley against forts Frontenac and Niagara. Vaudreuil had spared no
effort to meet the double danger. Lotbiniere, a Canadian engineer, had
been busied during the winter in fortifying Ticonderoga, while Pouchot,
a captain in the battalion of Bearn, had rebuilt Niagara, and two French
engineers were at work in strengthening the defences of Frontenac. The
Governor even hoped to take the offensive, anticipate the movements of
the English, capture Oswego, and obtain the complete command of Lake
Ontario. Early in the spring a blow had been struck which materially
aided these schemes.

The English had built two small forts to guard the Great Carrying Place
on the route to Oswego. One of these, Fort Williams, was on the Mohawk;
the other, Fort Bull, a mere collection of storehouses surrounded by a
palisade, was four miles distant, on the bank of Wood Creek. Here a
great quantity of stores and ammunition had imprudently been collected
against the opening campaign. In February Vaudreuil sent Lery, a colony
officer, with three hundred and sixty-two picked men, soldiers,
Canadians, and Indians, to seize these two posts. Towards the end of
March, after extreme hardship, they reached the road that con