1792 Therbu Map of the Siege of William Henry (Lake George, NY) During the French and Indian War

This is a 1792 Laurids de Therbu map of the 1757 siege of Fort William Henry during the French and Indian War (1754 - 1763). It was built by the British in September 1755 on the southern shore of Lake George as a launching point for attacks against Fort St. Frédéric, a French fort. Both forts were part of a line of strongpoints along the strategic inland waterway from Montreal to New York City.

A Closer Look

French trenches and artillery batteries surround the fort. They are marked alphabetically and correspond with an index below the map. Fort William Henry is situated near the center, and lines illustrate the French bombardment of the fort and the British positions on the high ground to the right of the fort.

The Siege of Fort William Henry

On August 3, 1757, French commander Lieutenant General Louis-Joseph de Montcalm laid siege to the fort. The besieged British garrison suffered several days of bombardment and heavy casualties, and on August 8, the British commander, Lieutenant Colonel George Monro, entered negotiations to surrender the fort. The withdrawal of the garrison was included as part of the terms of surrender. However, Montcalm's Indian allies (which numbered as many as 2,000) did not abide by the terms of surrender and massacred many captured soldiers and civilians and took as prisoners women, children, and servants. It is unclear how many were killed in the massacre; contemporary accounts of the event claimed that as many as 1,500 had been killed, but modern historians believe it was likely not much more than 200. Montcalm secured the release of 500 of the individuals captured by the Indians, but the Indians still left with over 200. The French army razed the fort. Today, a replica is a popular tourist attraction in Lake George and operates as a living museum.

Publication History and Census

This map was drawn by Laurids de Therbu, engraved by Georg Cöntgen, and published by Therbu in 1792 in his atlas of the Seven Years' War titled Les Plans de la Guerre de Septs Ans contenans les Batailles, Combats, Prises de Villes, Camps, etc. dessiné par L. Therbu Lieut. Ingen. gravés et mis au jour aux dépens de l'auteur même à Maïence. We note 7 examples cataloged in OCLC which are part of the collections at the University of Michigan, the University of Virginia, the Universitätsbibliothek Bern, the Landesbibliothek Coburg, the Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Darmstadt, the Württembergische Landesbibliothek, and the Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Sachsen-Anhalt. We note only a handful of instances when this map has appeared on the private market. Les Plans de la Guerre de Septs Ans… is cataloged as part of approximately a dozen collections in the United States and Europe.