The armament continued its progress steadily through the day. When evening fell, Abercromby gave the signal to lie to at a place called Sabbath Point, on the shores of the lake: there the troops landed for a time, and lighted large fires to distract the attention of the enemy. In the dead of night they were suddenly re-embarked, and hurried on to the Narrows, where the waters contract into the stream that communicates with Wood Creek:[123] there they arrived at five o'clock the following morning. An advanced guard of 2000 men was thrown ashore at first dawn under the gallant Bradstreet, and these having encountered no enemy, the remainder of the army was rapidly landed. As the troops disembarked they were formed into four columns, some Light Infantry were sent on to scour the line of march, and the advance was sounded. They soon reached a small encampment which had been occupied by a detachment of the regiment of Guienne, but found it abandoned, the ammunition and provisions destroyed, the camp itself in flames. Ticonderoga,[124] the first object of the British attack, was a fort of some strength, situated on the most salient point of the peninsula between Lakes George and Champlain. To the eastward the rugged shore afforded sufficient protection; to the west and north regular lines of defense had been erected by the French engineers, and an extensive swamp, spreading over nearly all the landward face, embarrassed the approaches of an enemy. The neighboring country was a dense and tangled forest. Early in the summer of this year, the Marquis de Vaudreuil, governor of Canada, had received intelligence of Abercromby's extensive preparations to gain the positions of Ticonderoga and Crown Point,[125] and with them the command of the important chain of waters leading to the River St. Lawrence and the heart of the French possessions. The governor saw the necessity of defeating this enterprise at any cost. He called to his aid Montcalm, already famous by deserved success, and placed at his disposal all the troops that could be spared from every part of the colony: on the 20th of June they reached the position, they were directed to defend.