Hello and welcome to a history of the United States.

Episode 115, Anus Mirabilis Part 2. In our last episode,

we started talking about 1759, the Year of Miracles. The first of these decisive victories

happened in late July with the capture of Fort Niagara.

Following on from the Iroquois abandoning a position of overall neutrality, with some tribes

siding with the French, the British were able to sneak up on Fort Niagara, which was

a devastating loss to the French. At their peak,

the French had an uninterrupted chain of settlements, starting in New France, then going,

through the Great Lakes to Illinois and Louisiana. Losing Fort De Cain had been a blow,

forcing the French off the Ohio. but it was a salvageable position. Then, all the sudden, they lost their place on the Ontario. Their advanced trading posts, such as Illinois, were cut off. The British were suddenly safe in the Ohio, and New France was on its own. The commander-in-chief, Geoffrey Amherst, was making his way up the Lake Champlain corridor when he heard the news in early August, not far from the site of the defeat of the previous year at Fort Carillon. He was moving slowly, always inclined to security rather than speed.

He set about the construction of Fort George to replace Fort William Henry,

and it wasn't until July the 21st that he set across Lake George with 10,000 men,

a smaller number than Abercrombie had taken the previous year. This time, things went better.

After four days at Fort Carillon, the defenders destroyed it and fell

back to Fort St. Frederick to join a force of 3,000 under the command of Brigadier General

Francois Charles de Beaulamac, whom Montcalm had entrusted the southern approach to Montreal. Amherst carefully looked around Fort

Corrillan before sending a party to look at Fort St. Frederick. When they returned on

August 1st, they announced that the French had abandoned it too. Information soon came in that the French had

retreated to the Ile-Augn-No on the north side of the lake. This may not sound like much, but Lake

Champlain is about a hundred miles north to south. Amherst was doubly cautious. He knew the French still had

ships on the lake while he did not, and he hadn't heard from Wolfe, who was leading the

expedition up the St. Lawrence towards Quebec. If Wolf had been defeated, Montcalm might be

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