head of the lake, he attacked the fort; but the garrison made a vigorous
defence, and he was compelled to retire to Fort Ticonderoga, at the foot of
the lake! For several months afterwards his attention was distracted from
Fort William Henry by operations in different parts of the Province; but
early in the month of August he renewed the attempt with a force consisting
of 7,000 French and Canadian troops, 2,000 Indians, and a powerful train of
artillery. The garrison consisted of 2,300 men, besides women and children.
To tell the story of the second siege and final surrender of Fort William
Henry would require pages. Suffice it to say that the dire tragedy of
Oswego was re-enacted on a much more extended scale. For six days the
garrison was valiantly defended by Lieutenant-Colonel Munro, a veteran of
the 35th Regiment of the line. Day after day did the gallant old soldier
defend his trust, waiting in vain for succours that never arrived. Finally,
when he learned that no succours were to be expected, and that to prolong
the strife would simply be to throw away the lives of his men, he had
an interview with the French commander and agreed to an honourable
capitulation.

Again did Montcalm pledge his sacred word for the safety of the garrison,
which was to be escorted to Fort Edward by a detatchment of French troops.
The sick and wounded were to be taken under his own protection until their
recovery, when they were to be permitted to return to their own camp.

Such were the terms of capitulation; terms which were honourable, to the
victor, and which the vanquished could accept without ignominy. How were
these terms carried out? No sooner were the garrison well clear of the fort
than the shrill war-whoop of the Indians was heard, and there ensued a
slaughter so terrible, so indiscriminate, and so inconceivably hideous in
all its details that even the history of pioneer warfare hardly furnishes
any parallel to it. Nearly a thousand victims were slain on the spot, and