He was questioned, under the threat of being given over to the Indians
to torture, if he did not tell the truth, but the brave fellow,
thinking he should lead the enemy into a trap, told them that the
English army had fallen back to Albany, leaving 500 men at Fort Lyman,
which he represented as being entirely indefensible.
Dieskau at once determined to attack that place, and, with 216 regulars
of the battalions of Languedoc and La Reine, 684 Canadians, and about
600 Indians, started in canoes and advanced up Lake Champlain, till
they came to the end of South Bay. Each officer and man carried
provisions for eight days in his knapsack.
Two days' march brought them to within three miles of Fort Lyman, and
they encamped close to the road which led to Lake George. Just after
they had encamped, a man rode by on horseback. It was Adams, Johnson's
messenger. He was shot by the Indians, and the letter found upon him.
Soon afterwards, ten or twelve waggons appeared, in charge of
ammunition drivers who had left the English camp without orders.
Some of the drivers were shot, two taken prisoners, and the rest ran
away. The two prisoners declared that, contrary to the assertion of the
prisoner at Ticonderoga, a large force lay encamped by the lake.
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