Samuel Griffin, 1757 campaign, French and Indian War

The French and Indian War ran from 1754 to 1763. The pivotal years were from 1757 to 1760. 1757 saw the French make their biggest push into the Colonies. In August of 1757 the French captured Fort William Henry, which gave the French a stranglehold over the Lake Champlain waterway and with it control of much of the region. In 1758 the British tried to retake the lost ground with disastrous results. The 1759 campaign saw the British Colonies retake much of the lost ground including the recapture of William Henry, Fort Ticonderoga and beyond. Samuel and his brother James played a part in the 1759 campaign.---------- But Samuel also served during the 1757 campaign season. The records for the Connecticut Militias that served during the French and Indian War are held in the Connecticut State Library. A print version of those records has been created. The records show that Samuel’s Regiment was commanded by Lieut.-Col Nathan Whiting. Col Whiting also had direct command over the Second Company. Samuel was a member of the Fourteenth Company command by Capt. Andrew Ward with Peleg Redfield serving as First Lieutenant. The Fourteenth Company was made up primarily of men from North Killingworth, CT. The pay roll records record Samuel’s time of enlistment as March 29. The records indicate that he served for 37 weeks and 1 day.---------- The Connecticut General Assembly had called for 1,400 troops for 1757. The main effort was to be concentrated in protecting the traditional route from Montreal, Canada to Albany New York. That route ran down Lake Champlain and then on to the waterway that extended south through Lake George. Fort William Henry sat at the southern end of Lake George. Its position made it a critical prize in the war. There were a series of other forts stretching back to Albany. Most of the 1,400 members of the Connecticut Militia were sent to occupy those forts. The remainder of the militia, about 500 men, were sent to Fort No-4 on the Connecticut River. That force was command by Col. Nathan Whiting. Samuel’s company was part of that command.---------- The area of Fort No-4 is now Charlestown, New Hampshire. In 1757 Fort No-4 marked the absolute margin of the frontier. The Connecticut River flows through Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts and on to the sea in Connecticut. The river and its tributaries served as the main artery to this entire region. With the war escalating the Connecticut River Way also became a major military prize.---------- There is very little that has been published describing the duties of the troops at Fort No-4 beyond noting that they were active in scouting and patrolling the region. There is an illustration of Fort-4 drawn by a contemporary of Samuel’s that has survived. There are however a number of accounts of the nature of the conflict with the Indian tribes. The tribes of the region aligned themselves with the French and pursed an active and savage strategy of raiding in the region. The most famous story to survive has been captured in a book published soon after the war titled, A Narrative of the Captivity of Mrs. Johnson. Mrs. Johnson and her family were captured at Fort No-4 and held in captivity for some time. After her eventual escape she published a personal narrative. The book includes allusions to the savage nature of the ”Indian depredations” common to the age and the area.---------- With so little to go on we are left to our imagination for an image of what life was like for Samuel during those 37 weeks. Everything beyond Fort No-4 was untouched wilderness. The first real road was not cut through the area until 1760. What the colonist described as wilderness was home to the Indian tribes. They moved through its vastness with ease. Can we not assume that their opponents, the young Samuel Griffin and his fellow militiamen, were also seasoned frontiersmen also at home in the open spaces? He himself was a weaver while at war did he wear homespun or leather? Did he carry a military issue gun of the Brown Bess model or did he carry one of the hand made long rifles that became the hallmark of the 1776 militiamen? ---------- James Fenimore Cooper was born in 1789 in Cherry Valley, New York an area that had been ravaged in the French and Indian War. He grew up among men, including members of his own family, who survived the events. He is famous for his books set in the French and Indian War time frame. His most famous work, Last of the Mohicans, is a description of the capture of Fort William Henry in 1757. I think it is a fair assumption that he was able to capture a fair amount of the reality of the life and times of the men like Samuel Griffin serving on the American frontier.