The summer campaign season is over and if we were to imagine ourselves back in October of 1756, say in the various frontier posts of Canada and New York, we would have duties and responsibilities very much different from those we now have. Undoubtedly, the Marquis de Montcalm, senior military officer in New France, would be counting his blessings that his domain was still intact; Louisberg had held out on far off Cape Breton Island and the English had lost their fortifications at Oswego and thereafter in panic had destroyed other posts in anticipation of a continued French offensive to Albany; wonderful!

However, with increasing problems of supply plus the rising intensity of winter winds, snow and ice closing the St. Lawrence River, the only link to the Atlantic and France, the various regular battalions would find themselves standing down preparing for the harsh winter to come; gathering stores, chopping mountains of firewood and improving shelter because mere survival was the most significant problem now. Yet, patrols and scouting parties would still have to be sent out to warn of the approach of perhaps Captain Robert Rogers and his Rangers eminating from Fort William Henry at the south end of Lac St. Sacrement (now Lake George).

Meanwhile, for the English Commander in Chief, the Earl of Loudon, the need was not only a question of preparing for the winter and the resumption of campaigning in 1757, but to reverse the mass hysteria caused by the loss of Oswego. Garrisons would have to be strengthened and consolidated while the militia and regulars would need to prepare for the future to carry the war, this time to the French, while all the time being ever prudent to keep a watchful eye on Fort Carillon at the place known as Ticonderoga, the closest and most southerly French post some 35 miles to the north of Fort William Henry.

Additionally, there was the ever present Indian threat to guard against; could Sir William Johnson keep at least the Iroquois under control?

As Twentieth Century individuals, we have none of the concerns of our forebearers. How fortunate we are to have the advantages of adequate shelter, rapid communication, swift travel, plentiful food and the absence of Indian warfare presenting itself at any moment. As wargamers and as amateur and professional historians we will spend the coming winter months imagining and perhaps recreating some of the events of the historic past, not because we relish the brutality of warfare, but because it is a pleasurable pastime to do so, because it is important to remember the lessons learned from those times and, finally, because it can be intellectually stimulating.

NEXT ISSUE

The next issue will appear in the spring of 1985, along with the Association's Membership Directory. Look for another installment of Seven Years War Organization, a series to begin wargaming the French & Indian War, cavalry tactics, more news, wargame/historical articles, the Charge Project and much more.

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