The latest episode of the Lake George Battlefield Moments podcast features the first of a two-part interview with French & Indian War historian George A. Bray III as he discusses Lord George Augustus Viscount Howe’s service in the Lake George-Lake Champlain region before his untimely death in the Battle of Carillon (1758).
Lord Howe was the eldest of the three brothers who played important leadership roles for the British during the transformative 18th Century conflicts in North America.
Listen to Part 1 of the discussion about Lord Howe at the Alliance’s YouTube channel.
The Lake George Battlefield Moments podcast is produced by the Lake George Battlefield Park Alliance, a friends group supporting the Lake George Battlefield Park Historic District in Lake George, Warren County, NY.
Upcoming Event
The Lake George Battlefield Park Alliance will host a presentation by George A. Bray entitled “Lord Howe: ‘The Soul of General Abercromby’s Army’” at the Holiday Inn Resort in Lake George Village, beginning at 11 am this Saturday, April 12th. The presentation is free and open to the public.
Bray will focus on Lord Howe’s coming to North America and service during the two years he spent in the New York colony and about the adjustments he made among British troops to adapt to wilderness warfare and his association with Rogers’ Rangers.
Like Col. George Munro, the subject of George Bray’s presentation at Lake George last summer, Lord Howe’s final resting place is at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Albany. Or is it? Accounts of Lord Howe’s death in battle will be included, along with a new finding uncovered related to the details of his burial.
Those planning to attend are requested to reserve their seats in advance by registering at the following email address: info@lakegeorgebattlefield.org. The Lake George Battlefield Park Alliance will record the presentation for later viewing on their YouTube channel.
Lord Howe’s Death
As a brigadier general, and a peer, Lord Howe was a military leader who was well regarded by both regular British and provincial forces. He was one of the highest-ranking officers to be killed in the French & Indian War.
Russell P. Bellico, author of Empires in the Mountains and other books on the history of the French & Indian War in the Lake Champlain-Lake George Region, notes the effect of Lord Howe’s death on the British-French struggle for primacy during the pivotal year of 1758:
“Howe was killed on July 6,1758, leading four columns of troops on the west side of the present-day La Chute River in Ticonderoga. When his body was carried back to the Lake George landing site ‘scare an eye was free from tears.’ British General Abercromby later commented that Howe was ‘universally beloved and respected throughout the Army.’
“Although Howe was held in high esteem, poor decisions on his part, including his judgment in leading columns through an uncharted wilderness along the west side of the La Chute River and the failure to use rangers as scouts ahead of the columns of soldiers, were disastrous.
“The engagement on July 6 had caused a collapse of British momentum and allowed the French valuable time to construct a large defensive breastwork. Considered by some officers as ‘the brains of the English army,’ Howe left a vacuum upon his death and placed field strategy in the hands of Abercromby. Two days later, Abercromby’s army suffered a tragic defeat, leaving 1,944 British killed or wounded.”
George A. Bray III is a French and Indian War Historian, lecturer, collector and reenactor. He is a Fellow in the Company of Military Historians, served on the New York State French and Indian War 250th Anniversary Commemoration Commission and is a US Army veteran.
Illustrations, from above: detail of a 1950s Adirondack Museum diorama of Abercromby’s flotilla launching from Fort William Henry on Lake George in 1758, now located at the Lake George Battlefield Park Visitors Center; Lord Howe, Jeffery Amherst and John Burgoyne inscriptions on the Ticonderoga Memorial Stone in Artillery Park, 2008 (photo by Bill Coughlin); and historical marker along the La Chute River in Ticonderoga marking the death of Lord Howe.
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