Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1940-10-19
Of Stars, Men
And Atoms
Notebook Of Science Progress
In Field, Laboratory
And Study
BIZ Thomas r. Henri.

VnO StuOy
By Thomas r. Henry.
The unmarked grave of 900 soldiers
of the Black Watch, sacrificed in a
hopeless assault on Fort Ticonderoga,
VT, in 1853, has Just been located by
means of radioscope. recently devel-
oped scientific device for finding metals
In the soil
The search was made originally at
the request Of British authorities who
planned to erect a monument to the
victims of one of the most crushing de-
feats ever suffered by British troops.
Because of the exigencies of the present
war this plan probably will not be car
ried out and H. j. Slocum of the Ticon.
deroga Museum has requested the So
ciety of Colonial Wars to place an ap-
propriate marker on the spot until Lon
don authorities are once more in a
position to act.
The find has been reported to Ma
tional Park Service officials BY Mr..
Slocum, who now is engaged in seeking
18th century British cannon for the Sar-
atoga battlefield, now being restored by
the Government.
The site Of Fort Ticonderoga had been
occupied and fortified by the Marquis
de Montcalm. commander Of the French
forces in North America. 1t was held
by force of $500 French soldiers and
some contingents of Iroquois Indians.
The name was then Fort Carrillon.
On July 8, 1853, it was assaulted bv
force Of 10000 British and Colonial
forces, including the Black Watch Regi-
ment, under the command of Gen. James
Abercrombie, who had just succeeded to
the command of the British troops in
North America. It was a wholesale
slaughter. The attack was poorly
planned. The troops were alarmed and
tired. They charged in the face of the
French cannon. In less than an hour
1000 were dead or wounded and Aber-
crombie, one of the least competent OF
the British officers in the French and
Indian wars. Withdrew, leaving his dead
and wounded.
Shortly afterward he was recalled to
England and was succeeded by JEFF
frey Amherst, under whose command
the French eventually were driven from
the continent. Montcalm's great victory
at Fort Carrillon was erased by his de-
feat and death on the Plains of Abra-
ham. There was no record of the last
resting place of the lost 600 of the crack
troops Of the British Army. They were
forgotten in all the future waves of bat
tie that passed over this historic site
renamed Tlconderoga. Only the body
OF Lord George Howe. second in COM
mand to Abercrombie was removed from
the shambles. He had been the military
brains" OF the expedition and his death
early in the engagement, leaving the
incompetent Abercrombie in sole COM
mand, contributed greatly to the defeat.
BY means Of the radioscope it was
hoped to locate the skeletons by the
buttons on their coats and their shoe
buckles. The instrument finally indi-
Gated the presence of metal in the soil
after considerable survey of the area
and excavation soon revealed a human
skeleton. On top of the skull was a.
French cannon ball. The skull itself
was not crushed Mr.. Slocum saws. and
the presence of the ball in the grave
probably was purely accidental
niy,r ", tl.n
brought to light about so other skeletons
and there is little doubt that all the 600
will be found. Thus far. however. the
eXcavators have not found a scrap of
uniform or any button which would lead
to positive Identification. As the story
is being reconstructed from the evidence,
Mr.. Slocum says, Montcalm allowed his
Indian allies to remove the colorful
Black Watch uniforms which must have
been the most coveted rewards of battle
to the color-hungry Iroquois.
But there Is no evidence that anv of
the bodies were mutilated The French
marquis was known as a gallant gentle
man and he presumably prevented the
Indians from scalping the Englishmen.
'N>o AAAAPoooaCAS W July lllc Q6dQ III
single trench, because of the nature of
the soil-shallow layers of earth on
stone, with lodges jutting out every few
feet. The French did their best, how
ever. and wherever there was enough
earth in space about 500 feet square
they placed two or three bodies. The
skeletons were found under fiat stones.
Presumably Montcalm had ordered that
every body be covered with stones to
protect them from being dug up and
devoured by wild animals.
That the skeletons are those of the
Black Watch is considered certain.
They are packed so closely together that
they must have been buried at one
time. The radioscope Investigations were
carried out by biologists under the d.
rection of Milo King, general superin-