Rogers' Rock, Lake George, March 13, 1758: A Battle Fought on Snow Shoes

In Short

This work is a historical compilation centered on the "Battle on Snow Shoes," a desperate engagement between Major Robert Rogers’ Rangers and French-allied forces near Lake George in 1758. Written by Rogers' great-great-granddaughter in 1917, the book preserves the original, visceral journals of the Major himself. It serves as both a tactical record of a brutal colonial conflict and a window into the survivalist ingenuity required to navigate the frozen, unforgiving American interior during the French and Indian War.

The Story

In the deep winter of 1758, with snow lying four feet thick in the Adirondack wilderness, Colonel Haviland orders Major Robert Rogers to lead 180 men to reconnoiter the French stronghold at Carillon, or Ticonderoga. The expedition is a test of endurance from the outset. The Rangers travel on snowshoes, navigating silent, dark forests and the frozen expanses of Lake George. Rogers, a seasoned scout, relies on his "perspective glass" and the stealth of his men to mask their movements, yet the frozen landscape offers no secrets. A stray dog running across the ice alerts them that the enemy is near, leading to a game of cat-and-mouse in the woods.

The arc of the story shifts from a strategic mission to a desperate struggle for survival. After discovering—and then losing track of—enemy fires, the Rangers are ambushed by a force of approximately 700, mostly indigenous warriors. The ensuing battle is confined, brutal, and fought at point-blank range, often with only twenty yards separating the combatants. Rogers describes the carnage with chilling, matter-of-fact precision: the Rangers are overwhelmed, their officers are picked off, and the retreat becomes a chaotic scramble up steep, treacherous slopes.

Rogers himself barely escapes, performing a perilous descent down a cliffside to the ice below—a feat so improbable that his pursuers, believing he was under the protection of the "Great Spirit," abandon the chase. The battle concludes with staggering losses: over 100 Rangers killed, and nearly 150 of the enemy slain. The narrative does not shy away from the aftermath, detailing the execution of prisoners and the harrowing journey of survivors who, starving and frost-bitten, find their way back to safety. The account culminates in a bitter reflection on the command decisions that led the Rangers into an "impossible situation." Rogers, ever the professional, questions whether he was sent to his doom due to the petty jealousy of British officers who resented the successes of his American irregulars. The story ends not with a grand victory, but with the cold, hard survival of a commander who, despite the loss of his men and the failure of the mission, remains ready to fight again, grounded in the harsh reality that he and his comrades were "not led abroad... for amusement."

How It Unfolds

The winter advance Rogers leads his 180 men out of Fort Edward, moving through deep snow and encamping under the cover of darkness. The party utilizes skates on the ice to maintain a silent, rapid pace toward the enemy lines.

The shadow of discovery The detachment identifies suspicious signs of enemy presence, but initial skirmishes at proposed campfires yield no contact. Rogers realizes his movements have been tracked and his position compromised by a vigilant enemy.

The ambush at the mountain The Rangers are suddenly caught in a fierce, sustained firefight against a vastly superior force. The compact terrain forces the combatants into a deadly, intermixed struggle that decimates the Ranger ranks.

The desperate descent Rogers narrowly evades capture by sliding down a precipitous cliffside, leaving the enemy in superstitious awe. The surviving Rangers retreat to the ice, where they must endure further exposure and starvation before reaching the safety of the fort.

The People

Major Robert Rogers stands as the book’s central figure, a man defined by his pragmatism, his intimate knowledge of wilderness survival, and his stoic approach to leadership. He is neither romanticized nor excused; he views his own survival as a mix of daring and providence, while his writing reveals a man deeply sensitive to the professional slights he endures from the British military establishment. He wants to execute his duty, but he is constantly hampered by the indifference of commanders like Colonel Haviland.

Colonel Haviland represents the cold, structural obstruction facing the Rangers. Whether through incompetence or a deliberate, "meanly jealous" desire to see the Rangers fail, Haviland sends Rogers into a trap with insufficient numbers. To the men on the ground, he is the embodiment of the disconnect between distant command and the lethal reality of the front line.

General John Stark, a friend and comrade, provides the moral commentary of the text. He is the voice of the American provincial spirit, identifying the Rangers as the true backbone of the war effort. His assessment of Haviland—that the man should have been "cashiered for his conduct"—serves to highlight the deep divide between the colonial volunteers and the British regulars, a tension that pulses beneath the entire narrative.

In Its Own Voice

"Our snow-shoes breaking, and sinking to our middle every fifty paces, the scrambling up mountains, and across fallen timber, our nights without sleep or covering, and but little fire, gathered with great fatigue, our sustenance mostly water, and the bark and berries of trees; for all our provisions from the beginning was only a small Bologna sausage, and a little ginger."

This passage from the journal entry describes the sheer physical exhaustion and privation the Rangers faced during their retreat.

"I will not pretend to determine what we should have done had we been 400 or more strong; but this I am obliged to say of those brave men who attended me (most of whom are now no more) both officers and soldiers in their respective stations behaved with uncommon resolution and courage."

In this passage, Rogers reflects on the tactical impossibility of the engagement while honoring the men lost under his command.

What It's Really About

At its core, this book explores the clash between professional military hierarchy and the rugged, unconventional warfare required on the colonial frontier. It asks uncomfortable questions about the cost of command and the ethics of leadership. The text serves as an argument for the indispensability of local knowledge and irregular tactics in a landscape that conventional European military logic could not comprehend. It also touches upon the themes of endurance and "quackery"—the idea that modern society and its institutions have become detached from the basic, brutal truths of nature and necessity that the Ranger learned on the trail. It is a testament to the idea that true authority is forged in the dirt, not in the parlor.

Why Read It Today

Readers interested in the granular history of the French and Indian War will find this indispensable. The book is not a smooth, modern narrative; it is a raw, documentary-style collection of journals, casualty lists, and indignant historical commentary. This makes the experience of reading it feel like an archaeological dig; you are sifting through the primary evidence of a man who survived by his wits while his companions were "hewn to pieces."

The prose—often 18th-century in its syntax—demands patience, but it rewards the reader with a terrifyingly clear sense of place. You feel the bite of the wind, the treacherous uncertainty of the ice, and the cold, professional distance of a soldier writing in the midst of war. The period attitudes toward indigenous peoples and the British military, included without modern filtration, serve as an honest, if occasionally jarring, reflection of the era's mindset. If you want to understand the origins of American irregular warfare or simply enjoy a true story of survival that feels as harrowing today as it did in 1758, this book is an essential, if rugged, companion. It remains a stark reminder of the individual lives often buried beneath the broad headings of history.