Fort William Henry Fort William Henry was a British fort at the southern end of Lake George in the province of New York . It is best known as the site of notorious atrocities committed by Indians against the surrendered British and provincial troops following a successful French siege in 1757 , an event which is the focus of James Fenimore Cooper ' s novel " The Last of the Mohicans " , first published in January 1826 . The fort ' s construction was ordered by Sir William Johnson in September 1755 , during the French and Indian War , as a staging ground for attacks against the French fort at Crown Point called Fort St . Frédéric . It was part of a chain of British and French forts along the important inland waterway from New York City to Montreal , and occupied a key forward location on the frontier between New York and New France . It was named both for Prince William , the Duke of Cumberland , the younger son of King George II , and Prince William Henry , Duke of Gloucester , a grandson of King George II and a younger brother of the future King George III . Following the 1757 siege , the French destroyed the fort and withdrew . While other forts were built nearby in later years , the site of Fort William Henry lay abandoned , and formed part of the landscape for tourism in the 19th century . In the 1950s interest in the history of the site revived , and a replica of the fort was constructed , which now serves as a living museum and a popular tourist attraction in the village of Lake George . Construction . In 1755 , Sir William Johnson established a military camp at the southern end of Lake George , with the objective of launching an attack on Fort St . Frédéric , a French fort at Crown Point on Lake Champlain . The French commander there , Baron Dieskau , decided to launch a preemptive attack on Johnson ' s support base at Fort Edward on the Hudson River . Their movements precipitated the somewhat inconclusive Battle of Lake George on September 8 , 1755 , part of which was fought on the ground of Johnson ' s Lake George camp . Following the battle , Johnson decided to construct a fortification near the site , while the French began construction of Fort Carillon near the northern end of the lake . Design and construction of the new fortification was overseen by British military engineer William Eyre of the 44th Foot . Fort William Henry was an irregular square fortification with bastion s on the corners , in a design that was intended to repel Indian attacks , but not necessarily withstand attack from an enemy armed with artillery . Its walls were thick , with log facings around an earthen filling . Inside the fort were wooden barracks two stories high , built around the parade ground . Its magazine was in the northeast bastion , and its hospital was located in the southeast bastion . The fort was surrounded on three sides by a dry moat , with the fourth side sloping down to the lake . The only access to the fort was by a bridge across the moat . The fort was only capable of housing four to five hundred men ; additional troops were quartered in an entrenched camp southeast of the fort , near the site of the 1755 Battle of Lake George . Occupation . The fort was ready for occupancy , if not fully complete , on November 13 , 1755 . Eyre served as its first commander , with a garrison consisting of companies from his 44th , as well as several companies of Rogers ' Rangers . In the spring of 1757 command of the fort was turned over to George Monro , with a garrison principally drawn from the 35th Foot and the 60th ( Royal American ) Foot . By June the garrison had swollen to about 1 , 600 men with the arrival of provincial militia companies from Connecticut and New Jersey . Because the fort was too small to quarter this many troops , many of them were stationed in Johnson ' s old camp to the southwest of the fort . When word arrived in late July that the French had mobilized to attack the fort , another 1 , 000 regulars and militia arrived , swelling Monro ' s force to about 2 , 300 effective troops . Johnson ' s camp , where many were quartered , was quickly protected by the digging of trenches . Conditions in both the fort and the camp were not good , and many men were ill , including some with smallpox . Siege . The French force of General Louis - Joseph de Montcalm arrived on August 3 , and established camps to the south and west of the fort . Following heavy bombardment and siege operations that progressively neared the fort ' s walls , the garrison was forced to surrender when it became apparent that General Daniel Webb , the commander at Fort Edward , was not sending any relief . French forces totaled some 8 , 000 consisting of 3 , 000 regulars , 3 , 000 militia and nearly 2 , 000 Native Americans . Massacre . What happened next has been described in historical and popular treatments as a massacre . While horrific actions took place , the number of people killed and wounded appears to have been relatively modest ; historian Ian Steele claims that it is unlikely that more than 200 people ( about 7 . 5 % of the captured population ) were killed or wounded . The terms of surrender were that the British and their camp followers would be allowed to withdraw , under French escort , to Fort Edward , with the full honours of war , on condition that they refrain from participation in the war for 18 months . They were allowed to keep their musket s but no ammunition , and a single symbolic cannon . In addition , British authorities were to release French prisoners within three months . Montcalm , before agreeing to these terms , attempted to make sure that his Indian allies understood them , and that the chiefs would undertake to restrain their men . The British garrison was then evacuated from the fort to the entrenched camp , while Monro was quartered in the French camp . The Indians then entered the fort and plundered it , butchering some of the wounded and sick that the British had left behind . The French guards posted around the entrenched camp were somewhat unsuccessful at keeping the Indians out of that area , and it took significant effort to prevent plunder and scalping in that camp . Montcalm and Monro initially planned to march the prisoners south the following morning , but after seeing the Indian bloodlust , decided to attempt the march that night . When the Indians became aware that the camp was getting ready to move , a large number of them massed around the camp , causing the leaders to call off the idea . The next morning , even before the British column began to form up for the march to Fort Edward , the Indians renewed attacks on the largely defenceless British . At 5 am , Indians entered huts in the fort housing wounded British who were supposed to be under the care of French doctors , and killed and scalped them . Monro complained that the terms of capitulation had in essence been violated already , but his contingent was forced to surrender some of its baggage in order to even be able to begin the march . As they marched off , they were harassed by the swarming Indians , who snatched at them , grabbing for weapons and clothing , and pulling away with force those that resisted their actions , including many of the women , children , and black servants . As the last of the men left the encampment , a war whoop sounded , and warriors seized a number of men at the rear of the column . While Montcalm and other French officers attempted to stop further attacks , others did not , and explicitly refused further protection to the British . At this point , the column dissolved , as some tried to escape the Indian onslaught , while others actively tried to defend themselves . Massachusetts Colonel Joseph Frye reported that he was stripped of much of his clothing and repeatedly threatened . He fled into the woods , and did not reach Fort Edward until August 12 , three days later . Estimates of the numbers captured , wounded or killed varied widely . Ian Steele has compiled estimates ranging from 200 to 1 , 500 . His detailed reconstruction of the action and its aftermath indicates that the final tally of missing and dead ranges from 69 to 184 , at most 7 . 5 % of the 2 , 308 who surrendered . Atrocities described in accounts of the massacre include the killing and scalping of sick and wounded individuals , and the digging up of graves of those who died of wounds or disease during the siege for additional trophies . As a result , many Indians who participated in the action may have infected themselves with smallpox , which they then brought to their communities . After the battle , the French systematically destroyed the fort before returning to Fort Carillon . Reconstruction . After the French won the battle , the French destroyed the fort . It lay abandoned for 200 years . Reconstruction of the fort took place in the 1950s .