Fort Carillon

Fort Carillon
Fort Carillon (modern day Fort Ticonderoga)
Coordinates	43°50′29″N 73°23′17″W / 43.84139°N 73.38806°W / 43.84139; -73.38806Coordinates: 43°50′29″N 73°23′17″W / 43.84139°N 73.38806°W / 43.84139; -73.38806
Type	Fort
Site information
Controlled by	New France
Site history
Built	1755
In use	1755-1759
Battles/wars	Seven Years War
Garrison information
Past commanders	Louis-Joseph de Montcalm Chevalier de Lévis Louis Antoine de Bougainville François-Charles de Bourlamaque
Garrison	La Reine Guyenne Berry Béarn La Sarre Royal Roussillon Languedoc Troupes de la Marine

Fort Carillon, the precursor of Fort Ticonderoga, was constructed by Pierre de Rigaud de Vaudreuil, Governor of Canada, to protect Lake Champlain from a British invasion. Situated on the lake some fifteen miles south of Fort Saint Frédéric, it was built to prevent an attack on Canada and slow the advance of the enemy long enough for reinforcements to arrive.

Assigned to remedy Fort Saint Frédéric's inability to resist a constant British threat to the south, French King's Engineer Michel Chartier de Lotbinière began construction of Fort Carillon where Lake George, at that time called Lac Saint Sacrement, joins Lake Champlain by the La Chute river. Construction began in October 1755.

Fort Carillon was situated south of Lake Champlain and north of Lake George, a natural point of conflict between the French forces, who were advancing south from Quebec through the Richelieu River towards Lake Champlain and the Hudson Valley, and the British forces, who were hoping to move north. The area was chosen so as to control the southern point of Lake Champlain as well as access to the Hudson Valley. The fort is surrounded by water on three sides, and on half of the fourth side by a moat. The portion remaining was strongly fortified by deep trenches, sustained by three batteries of cannon and, in front of the fort, blocked by trees which had been cut down and the pointed ends strengthened by fire, creating a formidable defensive system.

Handicapped by corruption, the construction continued at a slow pace. By mid-July 1756, four bastions with cannon were placed at a height of 5.5m. Two of the bastions were directed to the northeast and northwest, away from the lake. They were the Reine and Germaine bastions, with two demilunes (an outwork in front of a fort, shaped like a crescent moon) further extending the works on the land side. The two other bastions provided cover for the landing area outside the fort. They were the Joannes and Languedoc bastions, which overlooked the lake to the south. The walls were seven feet (2.1 meters) high and fourteen feet (4.3 meters) thick, and the whole works was surrounded by a glacis and a dry moat five feet (1.5 meters) deep and 15 feet (4.6 m) wide. The fort was armed with cannon brought in from Fort St. Frédéric and Montréal.