Towards the end of August, General Johnson moved his forces forward more northerly, and pitched his camp at the south end of Lake George. Here he learned that two thousand French and Indians, under the command of Baron Dieskau, had landed at South bay, now Whitehall, and were marching toward Fort Edward for the purpose of destroying the English transports and munitions of war. It was resolved the next morning, in a council of war, to send out a large detachment of men to intercept Dieskau's army on its way. To perform this service, Colonel Ephraim Williams, of Deerfield, was appointed, at the head of twelve hundred troops, two hundred of whom were Indians. Dieskau, who was an able commander, had made an advantageous disposition to receive the English. While he kept the main body of his regulars with him in the center, he ordered the Canadians and Indians to advance on the right and left in the woods, with a view to surround their opponents. When the American troops had arrived considerably within the ambuscade, the Mohawk sachem, Hendrick, who had been sent out too late with his band, was hailed by a hostile Indian, and instantly there commenced a sharp fire. This brought on the action sooner than was intended by Dieskau, who had ordered his flanking parties to reserve their fire till the firing should proceed from the center. It was his design to let the English troops get completely inclosed before the firing commenced, in which case there would have been an entire defeat of the English. The discharge of arms necessarily became general, after the flanking parties had begun; but the advantage was altogether on the side of the ambuscaders. The provincials fought bravely, but finding that they were in danger of being hemmed in from every quarter, they were obliged to retreat. The loss of the Americans was considerable. Colonel Williams was killed. Hendrick and a number of his Indians, who fought with great intrepidity, were left dead on the field. The retreating troops joined the main body, and waited the approach of their now exulting assailants.[25]