(fire crackling) - [Soldier] Ten hut!

Ho!

- [Graham] Previously on "The War That Made America."

(whip cracks) (dramatic music) 20 years before he led a revolution, a young George Washington stumbled into a very different kind of war.

His orders were to get the French to leave the Pennsylvania woods.

(soldiers shouting in French) - Fire!

(guns banging) (soldier shouting in French) - [Soldier] Defend their lines.

- [Graham] But the Indians, the third force in this contest, had motivations of their own.

(dramatic music) (ax thuds) Young Washington had no idea what events he'd set in motion.

This incident in 1754 triggered a war that spread from these woods to the Caribbean, Africa, Europe, and India.

The war's outcome would decide which of two great European empires would dominate North America.

(solemn music) (water splashing) And caught in the middle were the Indians.

(guns banging) - The French claim all the land on one side of the river, and the English claim everything on the other.

Where does the Indian land lie?

(dramatic music) - [George] The troops I have the honor to command will take Fort DuQuesne, and thereby remove the French from the forks of the Ohio.

- [Graham] General Edward Braddock intended to evict the French once and for all.

(guns rattling) George Washington was proud to be his aide.

- Bayonet!

(Indians whooping) - [Graham] But it was the Indians who would decide the outcome of the battle.

(guns banging) - Ah!

- [Graham] Overwhelming British manpower was no match for the guerilla tactics of the French and the Indians.

(guns clicking) (guns banging) - Hold your line men, hold your line.

(gun bangs) (solemn music) - [Graham] What should have been a rout of the French turned into a surprise defeat of the British.

(solemn music continues) Britain's future in North America was now in peril.

(dramatic music) (gentle music) - [Announcer] This program is made possible by Richard King Mellon Foundation, the Heinz Endowments, Eden Hall Foundation, National Endowment for the Humanities, and the following.

(gentle music continues) (gentle music) - [Graham] Britain has a new general.

He's an influential Irish merchant with no military experience, but William Johnson has other qualifications.

A strong grasp of native culture and politics, and a close friendship with the Mohawk chief Theyanoguin.

(solemn music) At first, the two seem unlikely allies, but both are mavericks, unafraid to venture into the other's culture.

(solemn music continues) Theyanoguin has visited New York, Boston, and even London, and has acquired the Christian name Chief Hendrick.

(solemn music continues) Johnson hopes Hendrick will help with an ambitious expedition he is planning.

In recent years, the French have moved from Canada into territory the British consider their own.

In the summer of 1755, Britain has a three-pronged strategy to move them back.

While General Braddock marches on the Ohio country, other forces advance on Nova Scotia.

Johnson's job is to take control of Lake Champlain.

It's a bold strategy, requiring considerable manpower.

(tack jingling) Before he met with disaster, Braddock had 2,200 British troops under his command.

Johnson's army has none.

(gentle music) Instead, he'll need Indians.

So Johnson invites representatives of the Iroquois Six Nations to a council fire at his home.

(people chattering) (gentle music continues) As a trader, Johnson has acquired a deep appreciation for the Indian custom of gift giving.

Now he spends a small fortune on trade goods, and he is not disappointed.

1,100 Indians show up to hear what the British have to offer.

(Theyanoguin speaking Mohawk) - [Graham] Through interpreters, Johnson tries to convince the delegates that the British are there for the Indians' own good.

- Brethren, the King of England has sent to this continent with a large number of armed men, great guns, and implements of war.

To protect you and all his other subjects within these dominions from the insults and encroachments of the French.

- [Graham] Johnson reminds them of long ties between the Six Nations and the crown.

- These books testify that it is now 100 years since your forefathers and ours became known to each other.

This covenant chain of love and friendship is the dread and envy of all your enemies and ours.

- [Graham] The Iroquois have long made it their policy to remain neutral.

Johnson must persuade them to join his side.

- By keeping it bright and unbroken.

We have never spilt in anger, one drop of each other's blood.

- [Graham] Johnson has prepared wampum, woven belts and strings that convey messages of war and friendship.

- I give you this belt of wampum as a testament.

(solemn music) - [Graham] The speeches last for days according to carefully proscribed protocol.

- By this belt, we acknowledge the great king of England, our father, is the master, and we put our trust in him.

We acknowledge our attachment to the English, and we hope you will keep it on your side in trust, as we will do on ours.

(solemn music continues) - Go with me.

My war kettle is on the fire.

My canoe is ready to put in the water.

My gun is loaded, my sword by my side.

I desire and expect you will now take up the hatchet.

(dramatic music) (group chanting and singing) - [Graham] Johnson's more than just a diplomat.

He has chosen to make his home among the Indians.

Chief Big Business, as the Indians call him, would later marry an Indian woman and have several children of mixed race.

Now he tries to capitalize on his longstanding friendship with Hendrick.

(tribe chanting) For days he entertains the Six Nation delegates, Mohawk, Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora.

(tribe chanting) But what weighs on the minds of the delegates is the prospect of shedding Indian blood to fight for a white man's war.

(Indian singing in Mohawk) In the end, most refuse to break their neutrality.

- I found all the nations except the Mohawks, extremely averse to take in any part with us in the present act of measures against the French.

- [Graham] His council fire ends in disappointment.

Only Hendrick and 200 of his Mohawk warriors agree to fight with Johnson.

(dramatic music) Undermanned and behind schedule, Johnson leads his force to an encampment near the base of the lake the French call Saint Sacrement, which Johnson renames Lake George in honor of the English king.

From here, Johnson will cross over into Lake Champlain where he plans attack a strategic fort on the watery highway between New York and Canada.

(dramatic music continues) Johnson's force is made up of Hendrick's 200 Mohawk warriors and 3,000 men recruited from the colonies.

A few days after arriving, Johnson orders Hendrick to lead a detachment of warriors and colonials to reinforce his position against the French.

They're unaware they're walking into a trap.

(suspenseful music) Canadian Mohawk, allied with the French, don't want to shed the blood of their fellow Mohawk from New York.

One calls out to warn Hendrick of the impending peril.

- Hey.

- [Graham] For a moment, they appeal to each other as Mohawk not to fight a white man's war.

(speaking Mohawk) (fighter speaking Mohawk) But the warning comes too late.

(dramatic music) (gun bangs) (all shouting) (guns banging) Within minutes Hendrick, 30 of his warriors, and 150 colonials are dead.

(guns banging) The battle becomes known as the Bloody Morning Scout.

(all shouting) (gun clicking) (gun bangs) (dramatic music continues) (guns banging) (all shouting) - [Soldier] Come on, fight!

(gun bangs) (all exclaiming) - [Graham] Those who survive, run four miles back to the encampment.

Where Johnson, never tested in battle, is directing the building of a hasty defense.

- Come on lads.

Hold it in.

No, no.

Come on, move.

Come on now.

(soldiers grunting) Come on.

(soldier shouting in French) - [Graham] Two companies of French grenadiers form a column and charge the entrance to Johnson's camp.

(dramatic music) - Come on then.

That a lad.

That's good.

Come on.

Come on, then.

- [Graham] By the time the French get within 75 yards, Johnson's men are ready.

- Stand!

Now!

Fire!

(cannon booms) (explosion booms) - [Graham] The fighting continues throughout the day.

The battle of Lake George proves costly to both sides.

(guns banging) (solemn music) Johnson's men succeed in forcing the French to retreat, but their mood is hardly victorious.

(groaning) Johnson has taken a musket ball in the backside.

(grunting) (panting) The Mohawk return home to mourn their dead.

(solemn music continues) Johnson's men are too exhausted to go on.

Unable to reach Lake Champlain, the best Johnson can do is build a fort, securing his position at the base of Lake George.

For the next four years, Lake George remains the front line between two empires.

(solemn music continues) (fire crackling) (gentle music) The 1750s are a dangerous time to be in the Pennsylvania back country, for settlers and Indians.

- Just a few more pushes.

- [Graham] Mary Jemison's narrative survives as a vivid account of life on the frontier in those days.

(gentle music continues) - [Mary] Our family, as usual, was busily employed about their common business.

Father was shaving an ax held at the side of the house.

My two oldest brothers were at work near the barn.

A man that lived in our neighborhood.

- Morning.

- Hello.

- [Mary] Took our horse to go to his house after a bag of grain.

Mother was making preparations for breakfast with the little ones and myself.

(gun bangs) (gasps) (dramatic music) - Oh, dear God!

Get the children!

(dramatic music continues) - [Child] Oh no, oh no, what's gonna happen?

- [Child] Ah!

- [Child] Get the gun!

No, leave them!

(children screaming) - Get off me!

- Mama?

- Oh no, but leave the children, oh stop them, no!

(child screams) (dramatic music continues) - Until a few years before, Indians and white settlers in the back country lived as neighbors, sometimes as friends, sometimes not.

Now, they were enemies.

The war between the British and the French presented an opportunity for Indians to pursue their own agenda.

To drive white settlers from lands they considered their own.

So they attacked homesteads and took captives to frighten settlers into leaving.

(water splashing) (gentle music) And there's another reason.

Indians have long taken captives, both male and female, as a way to replace warriors killed in battle, and with the French and Indian war taking many more Indian lives, the need for captives is growing.

(gentle music continues) - [Mary] The party that took us consisted of six Indians and four Frenchmen.

We traveled till dark without a mouthful of food or a drop of water.

(gentle music continues) Towards the evening, we stopped to encamp for the night.

As soon as I had finished my supper, an Indian took off my shoes and stockings and put a pair of moccasins on my feet, which my mother observed.

(solemn music) I can remember her words.

"My dear little Mary.

I fear that the time is arrived when we must be parted forever.

Your life, my child, I think will be spared, but we shall be tomahawked in this loathsome place.

Be careful and do not forget your English tongue."

(solemn music continues) (frogs croaking) - [Graham] For Indians, scalps carry great significance.

In taking scalps, warriors appropriate the spiritual power of their victims.

Victims like Mary Jemison's family.

- [Mary] The Indians took from their baggage a number of scalps, and went about preparing them by the fire.

Those scalps I knew.

My mother's hair was red, and I could easily see the children's from each other.

That sight was most appalling, yet I was obliged to endure it without complaining.

(dramatic music) In the course of the night, they made me to understand that they should not have killed the family if the whites had not pursued them.

(solemn music) (guns banging) - [Johnson] Fire!

- [Soldier] Down, reload.

- [Graham] While the advance on Lake George ended in stalemate, Braddock's forces had met with disaster.

When they retreated, the British frontier was left undefended from North Carolina to New York.

(dramatic music) (soldier sighs) (soldiers chattering) Left in charge of this dangerous territory is a new Virginia regiment made up exclusively of colonials.

(soldiers chattering) In command is George Washington.

He's only 23, but he's learning to be a leader of men.

His regiment has an impossible task.

There are too few men to secure such a long frontier.

Washington complains to Virginia's governor that his men are not getting the support they deserve.

- [George] Your honor may see to what unhappy straits the distressed inhabitants and myself are reduced.

The melancholy situation of the people, the little prospect of assistance, the gross and scandalous abuse cast upon the officers in general, which is reflecting upon me in particular.

- [Graham] Washington intends to train his men until they perform as well as British regulars.

And he hopes one day to be rewarded with a royal commission.

Yet he worries that this may never happen.

- The distant prospect, if any, of gaining honor and reputation in the service causes me to lament the hour that gave me a commission and would induce me at any other time than this of imminent danger to resign.

Without one hesitating moment.

From this command, I can never expect to reap either honor or benefit.

(dramatic music) - [Graham] At the start of Braddock's campaign, Washington had volunteered as the general's aide.

- [Soldier] Attention company!

Shoulder arms!

Right, left.

- [Graham] At the side of a master, he had glimpsed the art of strict military discipline.

(whip snapping) - [George] Discipline is the soul of an army.

- Ah!

(whip snapping) - [George] It makes small numbers formidable, procures success to the weak, and esteem to all.

- [Soldier] Attention company!

Shoulder arms!

- [Graham] It's discipline, Washington believes, that will turn his Virginia regiment into an elite fighting force.

(ax thudding) His men are a mix of immigrants and vagrants.

Insubordination and desertion are rampant.

(mallet thudding) (dramatic music) - [Soldier] Present arms.

First fire, arm.

Draw your lance.

Fix your bayonets.

(bayonets clinking) - [Graham] Washington takes two deserters and decides to send a message to his troops by making their punishment a public spectacle.

(drum rattling) (dramatic music) (cart rattling) "Your Honor, will I hope, excuse my hanging instead of shooting them."

Washington later tells Virginia's governor.

"It conveys much more terror to the others.

It was for example's sake that we did it."

(solemn music) - [Soldier] Heavy.

- [Soldier] To the block.

Halt.

- Washington was taking the discipline of the British army as his model.

He wanted to make his colonial soldiers as professional as redcoats, the best soldiers of his day.

(solemn music continues) Not all colonials had the same ambition.

Unlike Washington, New England officers did not admire the British Army's practice of discipline.

They worried that if they were placed under direct British command, they could be flogged or hanged just like the redcoats were.

For this reason, they took their enlistment contracts very seriously, as a guarantee that they would not be required to serve under any officers but their own.

New Englanders argued that if the terms of their enlistments were violated, it would be grounds for them to dissolve the colonial army altogether.

(gentle music) In July, 1756, Lieutenant General John Campbell, the Earl of Loudoun, arrives to take Braddock's place as commander in chief of his majesty's forces.

Like Braddock, he expects colonial soldiers to serve under his command.

He's in for a rude awakening.

At his headquarters in Albany, Loudon is kept waiting, a new experience for his lordship.

- Where is he?

(knuckles rapping) - [Graham] Loudon has summoned the head of colonial forces, Major General John Winslow to explain the New Englanders' stubbornness.

- I desire to be informed by you whether the troops now raised by the several provinces and colonies of New England, and armed with his majesty's arms, will in obedience with his majesty's commands act in conjunction with his majesty's troops under the command of myself, his commander in chief?

- Your lordship may be assured that I shall ever be ready to obey your commands.

My fellow officers are ready and willing to act in conjunction with his majesty's troops and put themselves under your Lordship's command.

Provided the terms and condition of enlistment established and agreed upon be not altered.

- Hm!

- Your lordship must be informed that any alterations in the terms and conditions of the contract of enlistment will result in the dissolution of the army.

- The only thing that will result in the dissolution of the army will be the insubordination of your forces.

That will be all, sir.

Good day.

- My Lord.

(suspenseful music) - [Graham] Loudoun senses something larger is going on in America.

He says in disgust, "I believe they would be looked on at home as little less than fomenters of rebellion."

(birds chirping) (gentle music) The French also have a new general, Louis-Joseph, the Marquis de Montcalm.

He too is having problems with the forces who are supposed to be fighting with him.

Though he comes personally to court his allies, to Montcalm's European eye, the Indians look like barbarians.

- [Louis-Joseph] You would not believe it, but they carried to war along with their tomahawk and gun, a mirror to dob their faces with various colors and arrange feathers on their heads and rings in their ears and noses.

(tribe whooping and chanting) (singer singing in Mohawk) - [Graham] While the Iroquois in New York maintain their neutrality, the Indians in Canada have long been allies of the French, and are more than willing to go to war.

But the new French general doesn't seem to appreciate his allies.

(singer vocalizing) - One needs the patience of an angel to get on with them.

Ever since I have been here, I have had nothing but visits, harangues, and deputations of these gentlemen.

The Iroquois ladies did me the honor to bring me belts of wampum, which obliged me to go to their village and sing the war song.

(singer vocalizing) They make war with astounding cruelty, sparing neither women nor children.

(tribe shouting) - [Graham] Montcalm may not like them, but he intends to use them when he goes on the offensive.

(singer vocalizing) (dramatic music) (Indian shrieks) (wind whistling) (solemn music) Mary Jemison's journey reflects that of many captives.

Abducted on the Pennsylvania frontier by the Shawnee, she is taken 70 miles to live with the Seneca.

- [Mary] I was so much fatigued from running, and so far benumbed by the wet and cold that I expected I must fail and die.

The fire, however, soon restored my circulation.

My clothes were now torn in pieces so that I was almost naked.

They first undressed me.

Then they washed them clean and dressed me in complete Indian style.

(gentle music) All the women in the town came to see me, and they immediately set up a most dismal howling, crying bitterly and wringing their hands in all the agonies of grief for a deceased relative.

(singer vocalizing) - Our brother, he is dead.

He's gone.

He will never return.

- [Graham] Indians take captives for many reasons.

As a weapon against encroaching settlers, as ransom for guns or trade goods.

(gun bangs) But also for spiritual reasons, to replace warriors killed in battle.

(solemn music) - Dry up your tears.

His spirit has seen all the stress and sent us a helper, whom with pleasure we greet.

Dehgewanus has come, and gladly we welcome her.

In the place of our brother, she stands in our tribe.

- [Mary] I was made welcome amongst them as a sister.

They called me Dehgewanus, which means two voices falling.

(suspenseful music) - [Graham] While Braddock was suffering defeat, and Johnson's campaign was ending in stalemate, the British achieved military victory in Nova Scotia, formerly the French colony of Acadia.

(singer vocalizing) They drive French forces from the region.

- [Soldier] Come on you, it's all downhill.

- [Soldier] Let's go, move along.

Move along.

- [Graham] The British governor is determined to ensure that the territory remains securely in British hands.

- [Soldier] Come along.

- [Graham] He orders the systematic expulsion of all French-speaking settlers from the region.

- [Soldier] Move it.

- [Graham] Acadians, who had called the land home for a century, are dispossessed of their farms and fishing boats.

(baby crying) Whole villages are emptied and families herded to the coast.

(solemn music) (singer vocalizing) (all chattering) The operation is carried out with chilling efficiency.

- [Soldier] Get over there.

Let's go, move along, move along now.

Let's go, quick now.

- [Graham] Over the next three years, 10,000 of them are shipped to the British colonies.

(women sobbing) Many Acadians make their way to Louisiana, where they become known as Cajuns.

(solemn music continues) But the following year, Britain meets with disaster in the West when they attempt to drive the French from Fort Niagara.

The British head slowly up the Hudson River from New York.

Meanwhile, Montcalm's forces travel to St.

Lawrence from Montreal.

The French stop the British advance at Fort Oswego.

(gun bangs) With the help of 250 Indians, the French capture the fort in just three days.

After the battle, the Indians take the trophies of war.

Plunder and captives are proof to their people that their enemies have been defeated.

What the Indians consider their code of honor, Montcalm regards as savagery, breaking all the rules of European warfare.

He agrees to pay ransom for the British captives and vows to restrain the Indians next time.

(solemn music) The following year, Montcalm mounts an assault on Lake George.

This time, 2,000 warriors go with him.

In August, 1757, 150 Indian canoes accompany an armada of French bateaux gliding down the lake.

It's a formidable force.

Along with the Indians are nearly 6,000 French regulars and Canadian militiamen.

They are surging by land and water toward Fort William Henry, the Fort William Johnson built after the Battle of Lake George.

During the night of August 2nd, lookouts at the fort spot three large bonfires several miles up the shoreline.

(birds calling) In the dawn light, lookouts begin to make out the oncoming armada.

In the middle of the fleet, they see 30 pontoons, bateaux lashed together with planks, each carrying a heavy siege cannon or mortar.

(dramatic music) (soldiers chattering) From the fort, the British realize Montcalm is setting up an encampment near the lake shore, but they don't yet realize that an advance party, 3,000 strong, has already set up two more camps in the woods, close to the fort's provincial encampment and the fort itself.

The British are surrounded.

For the fort's commander, Lieutenant Colonel George Monroe, the situation is desperate.

He writes to his superior General Daniel Webb imploring him to send more troops.

- We know they have cannon, I make no doubt, but that you'll soon send us reinforcement as soon as possible.

The large French force nearby is planning to attack the fort.

Without additional men from Webb, we can only hold out a few more days.

This place was so suddenly surrounded.

The French have not yet erected their batteries, but the Indians have been firing upon us from the woods all day.

(guns banging) (gentle music) (soldiers shouting) - [Graham] Monroe's letter is delivered by courier to General Webb, 16 miles down the road at Fort Edward.

(drum rattling) Meanwhile, both sides gird for a classic European-style siege.

Under a French red flag of truce, Montcalm's aide de camp, Louis Antoine de Bougainville approaches Ford William Henry.

(soldier shouting in French) - To your commanding officer.

From General Montcalm.

- [Graham] In accordance with European military protocol, Montcalm offers Monroe a chance to surrender before the battle begins.

As leverage, he invokes the memory of the Indians' behavior at Fort Oswego.

- I owe it to humanity to summon you to surrender.

At present, I can restrain the natives and make them observe the terms of a capitulation.

As I might not have the power to do under other circumstances.

I demand a decisive answer within an hour.

- Demand a decisive answer within an hour.

(soldiers chattering) - [Graham] Still waiting for reinforcements from Webb, Monroe responds.

- [Monroe] General Montcalm, I'm especially obliged to you for the kind offers that you make me, but I cannot accept them.

I'm little afraid of probability.

- Besides, I am under my orders.

Soldiers who are determined like myself to die or conquer, we will fight to the last extremity.

(solemn music continues) (carts rattling) - [Soldier] Shh, shh, shh.

- [Graham] Montcalm needs to get his cannons into firing range.

He orders his troops to dig a network of trenches.

(solemn music continues) 500 men work round the clock for three days digging their way toward the fort.

(soldiers chattering) - Right, stand back.

- [Graham] By daylight, Monroe's forces do what they can to disrupt the French efforts.

- [Soldier] Handle cartridge, charge cartridge.

Ram cartridge.

Right, advance the piece.

- [Soldier] Ready.

- [Soldier] Fire!

(cannons booming) (solemn music) - [Graham] Monroe continues to expect news of reinforcements at any moment.

The next day, General Webb finally returns the courier with his reply.

(suspenseful music) (gun bangs) (suspenseful music continues) (solemn music) Care had been taken to hide Webb's letter, but its discovery gives the French the upper hand.

(solemn music continues) - [Soldier] Now!

- [Soldier] Hut!

(guns banging) - [Graham] On the morning of August 6th, the siege opens as it had the previous two days, with the British bombardment directed at the French advance.

(cannon booms) (soldiers chattering in French) But Montcalm's trenches are at last within range of the fort.

This time the French answered back with a burst of cannon and mortar rounds.

(soldier squawks) (soldiers shouting in French) From exposed positions just outside the fort walls, Indian snipers harass the British gunners.

(guns banging) (soldier shouting in French) - [Soldier] Fire!

(guns banging) (soldiers shouting in French) (guns banging) (cannons booming) (soldiers chattering) - [Graham] Casualties in the fort are mounting.

(soldiers chattering) (explosion booms) The French artillery proves devastating.

(soldiers shouting in French) At one point, they hit the fort's flag.

When a carpenter attempting to repair it is killed, the symbolism is not lost on either side.

(soldiers shouting in French) (dramatic music) Montcalm chooses this moment to suspend the bombardment.

He again sends Bougainville forward to propose the British surrender.

Bougainville delivers Webb's bloodstained message found on the courier.

Only then does Monroe learn that Webb thought it not prudent to send reinforcements.

Instead, Webb had advised Monroe to get the best surrender terms possible.

- From General Montcalm.

I am sorry for you, sir.

I hope General Webb's letter will persuade you to surrender the sooner.

- I thank you Captain Bougainville for your politeness.

You've been a most generous enemy.

It has been my pleasure.

(soldiers chattering faintly) (dramatic music) - [Soldier] Advance the piece!

- [Soldier] Let's go mates!

- [Soldier] Water, I need water.

(cannon booms) (soldiers chattering) - [Soldier] For God's sake, fire!

(cannons booming) (soldiers screaming) - According to the etiquette of siege warfare, Monroe can surrender with honor only after the fort's walls have been breached.

(gun bangs) (soldiers chattering) (solemn music) (explosion booms) (soldiers screaming) With the walls losing timber, the fort's engineer reports to Monroe.

The structure may not hold for long.

(solemn music continues) More importantly, the morale of Monroe's men is shattered.

Most have had little sleep for five days.

Surrender is Monroe's only choice.

(gasping) Montcalm designs the terms of surrender to avoid repeating the events at Fort Oswego the year before.

To prevent the Indians from taking captives, the British will be granted safe passage from the fort.

Provisions and supplies will go to Canada.

The British may keep their personal effects.

The Indians can take what's left.

Montcalm gathered the war chiefs together.

Then he told them he'd allow them none of the plunder or prisoners they expected.

They listened politely, but they felt betrayed.

Many had died fighting alongside their French allies, and they expected to return to their people with the honors of war.

Then Montcalm further insults the Indian code of honor by sitting down to a banquet with the defeated, to which they are not invited.

- Gentlemen, a toast.

- General Pope.

- To our worthy opponent.

(suspenseful music) (Indians chattering) - [Graham] That afternoon, British officers entertained their French counterparts with an impressive spread of delicacies served with wine and beer.

(Indians chattering) The Indians are quickly beginning to see a European conspiracy.

(Indians chattering) (drum beating) At dawn, on August 10th, the British regulars begin to leave escorted by French grenadiers.

(drum rattling) Trailing the regulars is a long, disorganized line of colonial soldiers and camp followers.

(suspenseful music) The Indians are not about to let what they felt they'd earned simply walk away.

- The savages surrounded us, and even took my horse, which I had given to carry off the gun.

The French advised giving up our effects.

Rather than dispute with the savages.

Plug your weapons gentlemen, offer no resistance.

Surrender all your effects.

Surrender all your effects.

Gentlemen, offer for no resistance.

Soldiers immediately delivered up everything to them.

They took our hats and swords and began to strip us.

(Indians shouting) This unexpected treatment, so contrary to the terms of the capitulation struck so great a panic in the troops who knew not where it would end.

- [Graham] But soldiers in the front are spared the worst of what comes next.

(all shouting) - [Soldier] Savages behind ya!

- [Graham] New England troops at the back are set upon from every side.

- [Soldier] There's no more powder!

There's no more powder.

(women screaming) - The killing, scalping, and looting lasts only a few minutes.

(solemn music) When it was over, wildly exaggerated reports of 1,500 dead fueled outrage among New England colonists.

The truth is, about 75 were killed.

Of the 500 taken captive, many are ransomed back within a few days, most of the Indians go home disgusted and empty handed, threatening to abandon the French.

What should have been a resounding victory, instead leaves Canada in crisis.

Because if the French can't keep their Indian allies, they can't win the war for North America.

(solemn music continues) - To the front, march.

- [Narrator] Next time on "The War That Made America," Britain vows to defeat the French whatever the cost.

But it's the Indians who hold the key to victory.

And young George Washington learns some bitter lessons.

"The War That Made America," it's not the war you think it is.

(solemn music) (solemn music) (solemn music continues) (solemn music continues) (solemn music continues) (solemn music continues) (gentle music) - [Announcer] This program was made possible by Richard King Mellon Foundation, the Heinz Endowments, Eden Hall Foundation, National Endowment for the Humanities, and the following.

(gentle music continues) (cheerful music)