Fort William Henry Analysis

The Mohicans were a Native American tribe that settled along the Hudson River valley near Albany, New York. Having just fought in the Beaver War they didn’t want to participate in the French and Indian War. However it is true that they participated in some of the raids and ambushes in the movie. Fort William Henry, the centerpiece of the film, was built on the south end of the lake as a stepping-stone from which to attack Fort St. Frederic and end the Indian threat. Two previous attempts to attack Fort Carillon had failed and since the main British army was busy laying siege to the French fortress Louisbourg in Nova Scotia, the initiative had slipped to the French. The fort was eventually overwhelmed when the French dig siege lines close enough to use mortars unless the garrison is reinforced by the main army under Major General Daniel Webb at Fort Edward, a few miles to the south, but he is unaware of the siege. In reality, Webb knew about the siege but he was not the boldest general and he was afraid of being …show more content…
In early August, Major General Louis-Joseph de Montcalm and 7,000 troops besieged the fort. On 2 August General Webb, who commanded the area from his base at Fort Edward, sent 200 regulars and 800 Massachusetts militia to reinforce the garrison at William Henry. In the novel, this is the relief column with which Monro's daughters travel. Monro sent messengers south to Fort Edward on 3 August requesting reinforcements, but Webb refused to send any of his estimated 1,600 men north because they were all that stood between the French and Albany. He wrote to Munro on 4 August that he should negotiate the best terms possible; this communication was intercepted and delivered to Montcalm. In Cooper's version, the missive was being carried by Bumppo when he, and it, fell into French