Battle on Snowshoes The 1758 Battle on Snowshoes occurred on March 13 , 1758 , during the French and Indian War . It was fought by members of British Ranger companies led by Robert Rogers against French troops and Indians allied to France . The battle took place near Lake George , now in northern New York , but then in the frontier area between the British province of New York and the French province of Canada . The battle was given its name because the British combatants were wearing snowshoes . Rogers led a band of about 180 rangers and regulars out to scout French positions . The French commander at Fort Carillon ( called Ticonderoga by the British ) had been alerted to their movement , and sent a force consisting mostly of Indians to meet them . In fierce fighting , the British troop was decimated , with more than 120 casualties . The French believed that Rogers was killed in this action , as he was forced to abandon his regimental jacket , which contained his commission papers , during his escape from the scene . This battle gave rise to the tale that Rogers escaped capture by sliding down a rockface to the frozen surface of Lake George . That rock is now known as " Rogers Rock " or " Rogers Slide " . Background . The French and Indian War broke out in 1754 between British and French colonists over territorial disputes along their colonial frontiers , and escalated the following year to include regular troops . By 1756 , the French had enjoyed successes in most of their frontier battles against the British . Their only notable failure occurred when the British stopped their southward advance from Lake Champlain in the 1755 Battle of Lake George . From bases at Fort St . Frédéric ( located at what is now Crown Point , New York ) and Fort Carillon ( known to the British as Fort Ticonderoga ) , the French and their Indian allies continued to scout and probe the British defenses on Lake George and the upper Hudson River . The British , who had fewer Indian allies , resorted to companies of ranger s for their scouting and reconnaissance activities . The ranger companies were organized and directed by Robert Rogers , and eventually became known as Rogers ' Rangers . Prelude . Captain Rogers was sent on a reconnaissance mission from Fort Edward northwards toward Fort Carillon on March 10 , 1758 . Lieutenant Colonel William Haviland , the fort ' s commander , had originally planned on 400 men taking part but reduced the number to 180 , even though he had reason to believe the French knew of the expedition . The French had captured a man from an earlier expedition by Israel Putnam ' s Connecticut rangers and it was suspected that he had informed his captors of the British plans . Putnam ' s reconnaissance revealed that there were an estimated 600 Indians encamped near Fort Carillon . The expedition was composed mostly of men from Rogers ' ranger companies , but it also included a few volunteer soldiers from the 27th ( Inniskilling ) Regiment . On March 13 , they wore snowshoes as they marched through snow four feet deep , with a rivulet to their left and a steep mountain separating them from Lake George to their right . They had stopped for a three - hour break when their advance guard spotted what Rogers reported as " ninety - six , chiefly Indians " . On March 12 , Captain Louis - Philippe Le Dossu d ’ Hébécourt , the French commander at Fort Carillon , heard rumors from the encamped Indians that the British were nearing . He sent Ensign Durantaye with a company of 200 Nipissing Indians and about 20 Canadians in response to these reports , but they found nothing . The next day two Indian scouts reported that they had found tracks of an enemy party . Around noon on March 13 , Durantaye led 100 men ( again a mixed company of Indians and Canadians ) out of the fort . These were followed shortly after by 200 Indians under Ensign de Langy . Although the two French groups joined forces , Durantaye ' s company was about ahead of Langy ' s when they were spotted by Rogers ' men . Battle . Rogers ’ men immediately set up an ambush . When Durantaye ' s men came within range at 14 : 00 , the British opened fire , killing " above forty Indians " , according to Rogers . Durantaye ' s force broke and retreated in disarray . Rogers and about half his men gave chase , critically forgetting to reload their muskets , while the others stopped to collect scalps . Langy ' s men , alerted by the gunfire , set up their own ambush . When Rogers ' men arrived , the attack by Langy ' s force killed or wounded an estimated 50 men . The Rangers fought bravely , considering they were outnumbered and their numbers were falling quickly . They made several successful attempts to prevent themselves from being flanked , but after an hour and a half of heavy fighting , their numbers were significantly reduced . The remnants of the British force then tried to escape the battle . Rogers and some of his men did get away , but one group of men surrendered , only to be killed and scalped when a scalp was discovered in a pocket of one of the men . Aftermath . Rogers and his decimated company returned to Fort Edward on March 15 . Rogers himself was originally reported by the French to have been killed , but had actually survived . The report stemmed from the manner of Rogers ’ escape during which he discarded some of his belongings , including his regimental coat , which contained his military commission . This episode also gave rise to a local legend that Rogers escaped the battle by sliding 400 feet down the side of a hill to the frozen surface of Lake George . While there is no proof of this event , the rockface he supposedly went down very quickly became known as " Rogers ' Slide " . Reports of casualties , and of the numbers of forces involved , starkly differed in this battle . Rogers ' report of the event estimated the French - Indian force at 700 , with one to two hundred casualties , and his accounts of the battle were doubted by a variety of commentators , as they were inconsistent with other accounts . A letter by Henry Pringle , written while held in captivity at Carillon , restored his reputation by clarifying the French advantage following the second ambush ; Rogers went on to rebuild his companies and serve in the Battle of Carillon in July 1758 .