Rogers' Rock Lake George March 13, 1758 A Battle Fought on Snow Shoes _By_ MARY COCHRANE ROGERS Great-Great-Granddaughter of Major Robert Rogers PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR DERRY. N. H., 1917 [Illustration: MAJOR ROBERT ROGERS, _Commander in Chief of the INDIANS in the Back Settlements of_ AMERICA. Publishd as the Act directs Oct. 3 1776 by The Hart.] MAJOR ROBERT ROGERS--1731-1795 COPYRIGHT, 1917, BY MARY COCHRANE ROGERS _Rogers' Rock_ _Lake George_ _March 13, 1758_ A Battle Fought on Snow Shoes _By_ MARY COCHRANE ROGERS Great-Great-Granddaughter of Major Robert Rogers Lake George was frozen and the snow four feet deep in the woods, when on March 10, 1758, Colonel Haviland, commanding at Fort Edward, sent Major Rogers with one hundred and eighty men to reconnoitre the French position at Carillon, or Ticonderoga. Rogers and his Rangers marched from Fort Edward in snow shoes to the half-way brook, in the road leading to Lake George, and there encamped the first night. On the 11th they proceeded as far as the First Narrows on Lake George and encamped that evening on the east side of the lake. At sunrise of the 12th they marched from their encampment. When they had gone some three miles, the Major saw a dog running across the lake. Thinking that the Indians might be lying in ambush, he sent a detachment to reconnoitre the island. None, however, could be seen. To prevent the enemy from discovering his force, Rogers halted at Sabbath-Day Point, on the west side of the lake. From the hills he looked northward over the lake with his perspective glass, but could see no signs of French or Indians. As soon as it was dark the party advanced down the lake. Lieutenant Phillips and fifteen men, laying aside their snow shoes and putting on skates, glided down the lake, as an advanced guard. The main body, flanked on the left by Ensign Ross, marched under the west shore. It was a very dark night and the band of rugged foresters kept close together to prevent separation. In this manner they continued their silent march close to the mountains fringing the lake until within eight miles of the French advanced guards, when they were informed by Lieutenant Phillips, who had hastened back, that a fire had been discovered in the woods on the east shore.