Fort William Henry

A Brief History: In 1755 Fort William Henry was constructed on the southern end of Lake George in upstate New York. The fort was constructed by the British and colonials to protect the area against French forces and their allies after war broke out between the two longtime rivals. Fort William Henry was constructed as part of a chain of forts along important waterways. The fort was constructed of timber in an irregular square shape. Located in the corners were bastions designed to help repel Native American attacks. The fort was constructed of timber in an irregular square shape. Located in the corners were bastions designed to help repel Native American attacks. Fort William Henry had walls thirty feet thick and a dry moat bed dug around three sides.

In 1757 Lieutenant Colonel George Monro took command of the fort and its 2,300 defenders. They would soon come under siege from French. The brave defenders held out as long as they could while under artillery barrage from the much larger force of 8,000 French soldiers and Indian allies. Eventually when it became clear that no reinforcements would be able to come to their assistance Monro surrendered to the French General, Louis-Joseph de Montcalm. Out of respect for their determined resistance, the defenders were allowed to retreat to Fort Edward. However, they were ambushed upon leaving the fortification by Native American warriors who didn’t wish to follow the terms of surrender and resulted in losses placed somewhere between 69 to 184 men, or 7.5% of the defenders. The French then burned down the fort. Later, in the 1950s it was reconstructed on the site following the architect’s blue prints.

Haunted History: With the events that occurred in the area it should not be surprising that Fort William Henry is host to tales of the paranormal. Many people claim to hear what sounds to be the footsteps of sentries patrolling the walls of the fort. Some people have claimed to hear what sounded like screams coming from the field hospital of the fort where wounded troops were massacred by invading Indian forces. Apparitions of soldiers have been said to be seen inside the barracks building. These events, and many others lead some people to speculate that when the British and colonial forces retreated from the fort in the fall of the 1757, perhaps some in the form of spirits stayed behind, still defending their fortification.