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A Retrospective on Archaeology at Fort William Henry, 1952-1993: Retelling the Tale of the Last of the Mohicans David R

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A Retrospective on Archaeology at Fort William Henry, 1952-1993: Retelling the Tale of the Last of the Mohicans David R Northeast Historical Archaeology Volume 20 Article 2 1991 A Retrospective on Archaeology at Fort William Henry, 1952-1993: Retelling the Tale of The Last of the Mohicans David R. Starbuck Follow this and additional works at: http://orb.binghamton.edu/neha Part of the Archaeological Anthropology Commons Recommended Citation Starbuck, David R. (1991) "A Retrospective on Archaeology at Fort William Henry, 1952-1993: Retelling the Tale of The Last of the Mohicans," Northeast Historical Archaeology: Vol. 20 20, Article 2. https://doi.org/10.22191/neha/vol20/iss1/2 Available at: http://orb.binghamton.edu/neha/vol20/iss1/2 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by The Open Repository @ Binghamton (The ORB). It has been accepted for inclusion in Northeast Historical Archaeology by an authorized editor of The Open Repository @ Binghamton (The ORB). For more information, please contact [email protected]. A Retrospective on Archaeology at Fort William Henry, 1952-1993: Retelling the Tale of The Last of the Mohicans Cover Page Footnote I want to thank Paul Huey for impressing upon me the importance of studying older, unpublished, artifact collections. While it may appear more exciting to tackle "new" sites, we have a strong ethical obligation to make sure that older excavations are published, even when the original research was directed by others. I also wish to thank Mike Palumbo, Curator at Fort William Henry, for many stimulating conversations and for giving me access to photographs and artifacts from the 1950s excavation; and thanks go to the Fort William Henry Corporation for allowing me to reproduce archival photographs. I am especially indebted to J. Robert Maguire for allowing me to reproduce the several historical views of Fort William Henry that appear in this article. This article is available in Northeast Historical Archaeology: http://orb.binghamton.edu/neha/vol20/iss1/2 8 Retrospective on Fort William Henry/Starbuck A RETROSPECTIVE ON ARCHAEOLOGY AT FORT WILLIAM HENRY, 1952-1993: RETELLING THE TALE OF THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS David R. Starbuck Fort William Henry was a British frontier fort constructed on the orders of Sir William johnson in September of 1755 at the southern end of Lake George in upstate New York. After its destruction by a French army under the leadership of the Marquis de Montcalm in August of 1757, at which time many of its defenders were "massacred," the outline of the fort lay exposed until 1952 when archaeological excavations began to expose the charred ruins of the fort. Regrettably, while this was one of the largest excavations ever conducted on a site of the French and Indian War, the project was published on only in the popular media. In 1992, however, a new movie version of The Last of the Mohicans was released by Twentieth Century Fox, describing some of the events that took place at this fort, and in 1993 there was a reanalysis and reburial of soldiers' skeletons that were first excavated at the fort in the 1950s. Given the fresh attention directed to this site and to the events that occurred there in the 1750s, it is now quite timely-forty years after the excavation-to present some of the results of a very old project. Le fort William-Henry est un ouvrage fortifie britannique construit sous les ordres de Sir William johnson en septembre 1755 a l'extremite sud du lac George dans le nord de l'etat de New York. Suite a sa destruction par l'armee fram;aise du Marquis de Montcalm en aout 1757, un affrontement au cours duquel plusieurs de ses defenseurs furent "massacres," seu/s les contours du fort sont demeures visibles, jusqu'a ce que les premieres fouilles, realisees en 1952, amorcent la mise au jour de ses vestiges calcines. Ma/heureusement, meme s'il s'agissait d'une des plus importantes fouilles menees sur un site de Ia guerre de Sept Ans, peu de ses resultats ant ete publics. En 1992, cependant, Ia nouvelle version du film "Le dernier des Mohicans" de Twentieth Century Fox, qui presente certains evenements qui ant eu lieu au fort, a occasionne un regain d'interet pour son histoire. C'est ainsi qu'on a procede en 1993 a une nouvelle analyse et a Ia reinhumation des squelettes des so/dats dont les restes avaient ete excaves dans les annees cinquante. Etant donne !'interet renouvele pour ce site et pour /es evenements des annees 1750, if convient-quarante ans apres Ia fouille--de presenter les resultats de ce tres ancien projet. Historical Background George, they were suddenly attacked, and many were scalped and killed by Indians who On August 10, 1757, a frontier fort at the literally tore the uniforms off the backs of the southern tip of Lake George was the scene of one terrified soldiers. Few dared to defend them­ of the most famous and brutal massacres in selves from the assault as Indians hacked them early American history (see FIG. 1). The with tomahawks, took scalps, and dragged British and Provincial garrison of Fort prisoners away. William Henry, under the leadership of Lt. These horrific events inspired one of the Colonel George Monro, had just surrendered to a first great American novels, James Fenimore force of at least 10,000 French Regulars, Cooper's The Last of the Mohicans, originally Canadians, and Indians under the Marquis de published in 1826. This epic has been acted out Montcalm. Escorted by no more than a few hun­ many times in films, and the story has had such dred French Regulars, the British and Provin­ a lasting impact because the slaughter at Fort cial prisoners started the 16-mile march to­ William Henry was unquestionably one of the ward safety, the nearby site of Fort Edward. most controversial events of the French and While on the military road, south of Lake Indian War and one of the most ruthless mas- Northeast Historical Arclzaeology/Vol. 20, 1991 9 Figure 1. "DELINEATION of the Siege & Attack, formed by the French on the Fort William Henry, from the 3the till the ft 9t August 1757. after a Vigorous Resistance of the Fort as Retrenched Camp thy was obliged to Yield to the Superior force of the Enemy. Laid down by Mr George Demelaer, and Copied by me GC Wetterstrom." The legend lists: "A. Fort William Henry. B. the Retrenched Camp. C. The Gardens for the Garrison and the Fort. D. Inondation or Swamp. E. The Road between Fort Edward & William Henry. F. The French In Campement. G. The Enemys Corps of Observation. H. The Enemys light Troups out of Canada Consisting of Indians & Canadians, ]ncamped on both Sides the Road, between Fort Edward & William Henry. I. The First Enemys Batterie of 9 Pieces of Canons & Two Mortars. K. The Second Batterie opened with 10. Pieces of Cannon & two Mortars. L. Batteries ready till the Embrasurs or Shot Holes. M. Head or Opening of the French Trenchee & Approaches. 0. Part of Lack. George. N. A Bridge. New Yorek. the 19th of Septembr. 1757." (Courtesy ofJ. Robert Maguire.) 10 Retrospeclil'e 011 Fort Will/Om Henry/Stnrh11ck ................ EXPLANATION F igure 2. "A Plan of Fort William Henry. A. New Barracks for Soldiers. B. New Magazine. CC. Ofd Barracks. D. Hospital. EE. Sheds for Officers. FF. Provincial Store Houses. GG. Huts built by the Soldiers." H. the ravehn. (Courtesy of J. Robert Maguire.) /� ,y /' f.' .. // .. I /. /( ' ./• # � , �. • • ao-y L � . __, 1:1 fJ D B I'J ' fl 0 :_i_J 1. J._ ]_ � Figure 3. "Elivation of the New Barrack� built at Fort William Henry. 1756." (Courtesy uf j. Robert Maguire.) Nort!Ienst Historical Archneology/Vol. 20, 1991 11 sacres in 18th-century America. tween 10,000 and 14,000 laid siege to the These events, and those that led up to this British fort and its garrison of about 2,300 men. slaughter, are superbly described in the book The end came swiftly, but the terms of capitu­ Betrayals by Ian Steele (1990), who has demon­ lation were generous: the British and the strated how the massacre was the unfortunate Americans were allowed to leave under French outcome of a series of betrayals: Colonel Monro escort, having promised not to fight against the felt betrayed by his commanding general, French for the next 18 months. Daniel Webb, who held 5,000 soldiers in re­ Their heroic defense of the fort had lasted serve in Fort Edward and did not send them to just six days, and constant bombardment by relieve Fort William Henry; the British felt French artillery had pounded the log fort into betrayed by Montcalm and the French because submission. But after the surrender, some of the their surrender and "safe conduct" to Fort 1,600 Indians attached to Montcalm's army­ Edward had been violated; the French felt be­ from 33 different tribes (see Steele 1990: 111 }­ trayed by the Indians who had slaughtered the entered the fort on August 9, and as they defenseless British and provincial prisoners; searched for booty they killed, scalped, and­ and the Indians felt betrayed by the French be­ in at least one case--beheaded some of the sick cause they did not receive their proper share of and wounded soldiers who had remained inside the booty after the surrender of the fort. (Many the casemate rooms. This was described in de­ of these events have also been described in tail by a young French Jesuit eyewitness, Pere Cuneo 1988, Todish 1988, Gifford 1955, and Pierre Roubaud (as cited in Gifford 1955: 48; see Kochan 1993.) also Thwaites 1896-1901, Vol. 70: 179): While "Hawkeye" and many of the other characters in Cooper's novel were entirely fic­ I saw one of these barbarians come forth out of the casements, which nothin� but the most insa­ tional, the setting of the action in The Last of tiate avidity for blood would mduce him to enter, the Mohicans was the northernmost British for the infected atmosphere which exhaled from it outpost in the interior of colonial America.
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