The Battle of Fort Niagara was a siege late in the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War, 1754 to 1763, was a colonial conflict in North America between Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of France, France, along with their respective Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...

, the North American theatre of the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...

. The British siege of

Fort Niagara Fort Niagara, also known as Old Fort Niagara, is a fortification originally built by New France to protect its interests in North America, specifically control of access between the Niagara River and Lake Ontario, the easternmost of the Great L ...

in July 1759 was part of a campaign to remove French control of the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes spanning the Canada–United States border. The five lakes are Lake Superior, Superior, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Lake Huron, H ...

and

Ohio Valley The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its mouth on the Mississippi River in Cairo, ...

regions, making possible a western invasion of the French province of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

in conjunction with General James Wolfe's invasion to the east.

Background

British General

Jeffery Amherst Field Marshal Jeffery Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst, (29 January 1717 – 3 August 1797) was a British Army officer and Commander-in-Chief of the Forces in the British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the ...

made plans for the 1759 military campaigns of the

that included an expedition to capture

, a major French military and supply point between the French

province of Canada The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in British North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report ...

and their forts in the

. Amherst chose Brigadier General

John Prideaux John Prideaux (7 September 1578 – 29 July 1650) was an English academic and Bishop of Worcester. Early life The fourth son of John and Agnes Prideaux, he was born at Stowford House in the parish of Harford, near Ivybridge, Devon, England, ...

to lead the expedition, which also included

Sir William Johnson Major-General Sir William Johnson, 1st Baronet ( – 11 July 1774), was a British Army officer and colonial administrator from Ireland known for his military and governance work in British colonial America. As a young man, Johnson moved to t ...

, the British Indian agent who led the expedition's Iroquois forces. Fort Niagara had been largely constructed under the direction of Captain

Pierre Pouchot Captain Pierre Pouchot (April 8, 1712 – 1769) was a French military engineer and officer in the French regular army. He was born at Grenoble Grenoble ( ; ; or ; or ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France w ...

of the French Army. In early 1759, General

Louis-Joseph de Montcalm Lieutenant-General Louis-Joseph de Montcalm-Gozon, Marquis de Montcalm de Saint-Veran (; 28 February 1712 – 14 September 1759) was a French Royal Army officer best known for his unsuccessful defence of New France during the French and Indian ...

and New France's governor, the

Marquis de Vaudreuil The Marquis de Vaudreuil may refer to: * Philippe de Rigaud de Vaudreuil (1643–1702), governor of Montréal then of New France * Pierre de Rigaud de Vaudreuil (1698–1778), last governor-general of New France * Louis-Philippe de Rigaud, Marquis o ...

, sent him with about 2,500 men to fortify Niagara beyond the 500 men that had wintered there. Pouchot, under orders from Vaudreuil, sent many of those men south to

Fort Machault Fort Machault (, ) was a fort built by the French in 1754 near the confluence of French Creek with the Allegheny River, in northwest Pennsylvania. (Present-day Franklin developed here later.) The fort helped the French control these waterways, ...

in mid-June as part of a plan to reinforce the French forts of the

Ohio Country The Ohio Country (Ohio Territory, Ohio Valley) was a name used for a loosely defined region of colonial North America west of the Appalachian Mountains and south of Lake Erie. Control of the territory and the region's fur trade was disputed i ...

and attack the British at Fort Pitt. The forces left to defend Niagara consisted of about 200 men from the regiments of Royal Roussillon, Languedoc, La Sarre, and Béarn, 20 artillerymen, and about 300 provincial troops and militia.Severance, p. 266 Prideaux's

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

troops consisted of the 44th and 46th Regiments, and two companies from the 60th, numbering about 2,200 men. He also commanded 2500 provincial militia from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

and 700 from Rhode Island. Delayed by high water on the

Mohawk River The Mohawk River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed October 3, 2011 river in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is the largest tributary of the Hudson R ...

and the late arrival of some of the provincial companies, the expedition did not begin leaving

Schenectady Schenectady ( ) is a City (New York), city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the United States Census 2020, 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-most populo ...

until mid-May. On 27 June the army arrived at

Fort Oswego Fort Oswego was an 18th-century trading post in the Great Lakes region in North America, which became the site of a battle between French and British Army forces in 1756 during the North American phase of the Seven Years' War, known in the United ...

, where they were joined by Johnson and about 600 Iroquois. Leaving men behind to garrison Oswego Prideaux departed on 1 July for Niagara with about 3,200 men. While the French had ships patrolling

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The Canada–United Sta ...

for British movements, inattention on the part of one of the crews allowed the British flotilla to avoid discovery. They arrived at Fort Niagara on 6 July, landed near a marsh out of sight of the fort, and immediately began siege operations.

Siege

The French had about one hundred Iroquois allies at the fort who withdrew to meet with the fellow Iroquois who had accompanied the British. Captain Pouchot directed a vigorous defense. Prideaux was killed when a shell fragment from one of his own guns hit him, and command of the British forces fell to

. Johnson was a provincial officer and not in the regular army, and thus there was some question of his right to take command. But Sir William held a royal colonel's commission in his role as commander of the Iroquois auxiliaries, and so he insisted on remaining in command after a lower-ranking regular army officer, Lieutenant Colonel

Frederick Haldimand Sir Frederick Haldimand, KB (born François Louis Frédéric Haldimand; 11 August 1718 – 5 June 1791) was a Swiss military officer best known for his service in the British Army in North America during the Seven Years' War and the America ...

, arrived on the scene. On 24 July, a French relief force led by

François-Marie Le Marchand de Lignery François-Marie Le Marchand de Lignery (24 August 1703 – 29 July 1759) was a colonial military leader in the French province of Canada. Active in the defense of New France during the Seven Years' War (also known as the French and Indian War), h ...

Charles Philippe Aubry Charles-Philippe Aubry or Aubri (died February 17, 1770) was a French soldier and colonial administrator, who served as governor of Louisiana twice. Career Aubry began his military career in 1742, when he was commissioned as a second lieutenan ...

, and

Michel Maray de La Chauvignerie Michel Maray de La Chauvignerie (January 24, 1704August 10, 1778), also known as Michel Maray, sieur de la La Chauvignerie, was a French military officer in the Troupes de la Marine and interpreter of Iroquoian languages. Biography Michel Maray ...

were ambushed and defeated at the

Battle of La Belle-Famille The Battle of La Belle-Famille occurred on July 24, 1759, during the French and Indian War along the Niagara River portage trail. François-Marie Le Marchand de Lignery's French relief force for the besieged French garrison at Fort Niagara fell ...

two miles south of the fort. The French force at Fort Niagara capitulated on 26 July.

Aftermath

The capitulation of Fort Niagara occurred on the same day that French troops abandoned Fort Carillon to an overwhelming British army under General Amherst. Following the surrender of Fort Niagara, the French abandoned other forts in the frontier, recalling garrisons to defend the populated areas of Canada. Forts abandoned by the French includes

Fort St. Frédéric A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from La ...

(in present-day Crown Point) and

Fort Rouillé Fort Rouillé was a French trading post located in what is now Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Fort Rouillé was constructed by the French in 1751, building upon the success of a trading post they established in the area a year earlier, known as For ...

(in present-day

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

). Fort St. Frédéric was destroyed as French troops abandoned

Lake Champlain Lake Champlain ( ; , ) is a natural freshwater lake in North America. It mostly lies between the U.S. states of New York (state), New York and Vermont, but also extends north into the Canadian province of Quebec. The cities of Burlington, Ve ...

to protect the Canadian heartland. The garrison at Fort Rouillé was instructed to evacuate the area, and burn the fort should Fort Niagara fall. After the British captured Fort Niagara, the French garrison burned Fort Rouillé, and withdrew to

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

. The remaining French forts in the Ohio and Illinois Country were eventually turned over to British forces. In the same month, Montcalm led the defences against British General

James Wolfe Major-general James Wolfe (2 January 1727 – 13 September 1759) was a British Army officer known for his training reforms and, as a major general, remembered chiefly for his victory in 1759 over the French at the Battle of the Plains of ...

in the three-month siege of

Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...

. The colonial capital was taken in September 1759 at the

Battle of the Plains of Abraham The Battle of the Plains of Abraham, also known as the Battle of Quebec (), was a pivotal battle in the Seven Years' War (referred to as the French and Indian War to describe the North American theatre). The battle, which took place on 13 Sept ...

. During the next year, attempts were made by the French to recapture Quebec City, although their attempts were rebuffed with the arrival of British reinforcements. A year later after a two month campaign, Montreal was conquered by the British in September 1760, the administration of New France signed the

Articles of Capitulation Capitulation (, a little head or division; ''capitulare'', to treat upon terms) is an agreement in time of war for the surrender to a hostile armed force of a particular body of troops, a town or a territory. It is an ordinary incident of w ...

surrendering the colony of Canada to the British. The signing of the Articles of Capitulation saw the end of major combat operations in the North American theatre of the

References

Bibliography

* * {{Authority control

Fort Niagara 1759

Fort Niagara 1759 Fort Niagara 1759 Fort Niagara 1759 History of Niagara County, New York 1759 in New France 1759 in the Province of New York