1755 As the British pushed north into traditionally French territory, Governor-General Vaudreuil in Québec anticipated attack on French settlements in the Champlain valley. He ordered Michel Chartier de Lotbinière to construct a fort south of Fort St. Frédéric (Crown Point) that would cover the portage between Lakes George and Champlain. Construction of Fort Carillon began in the fall, and continued for the next four years.
1756 On the sandy plain below the Heights, French and Canadian troops develop “le Jardin du Roi,” or un jardin potager, designed to feed the summer garrison charged with constructing the new fort, Carillon.
1757 French General Montcalm used the new Fort Carillon as the base from which he launched his attack on Fort William Henry.
1758 Robert Rogers fought the Battle on Snowshoes near Trout Brook south of Ticonderoga. In July, General Abercromby led an army of 17,000 British and Colonial troops against a small French force of 3,700 entrenched at Fort Carillon. Abercromby lost the battle and nearly 2000 men, a third of whom were members of the 42nd Regiment of Foot, the Highlanders, or the “Black Watch” Regiment.
1759 General Jeffrey Amherst laid siege to Fort Carillon. Losses elsewhere in New France had left the garrison ill-equipped, so the French abandoned the fort after blowing up the powder magazine. Amherst repaired the fort and renamed it Ticonderoga, and then began construction of a British war fleet and a major new