Battle On Snowshoes

The 1757 Battle on Snowshoes was a skirmish fought between Rogers' Rangers and French and Indian troops during the French and Indian War on January 21, 1757.

The battle was given this name because the British combatants were wearing snowshoes.

On January 21, 1757, Captain Robert Rogers and a band of is rangers were on a scouting expedition near Fort Carillon on Lake Champlain when they were ambushed by a mixed troop of French regulars, Canadian militiamen, and Indians. The fighting ended when darkness set in, with significant casualties on both sides. The French in their reports claimed the British had a distinct advantage due to their snowshoes.

Colonel Monckton, in the only real British success that year, successfully captured Fort Beauséjour in June 1755, cutting the French fortress at Louisbourg off from land-based reinforcements. The victory was tarnished by the decision of Nova Scotia's Governor Charles Lawrence afterwards to order the deportation of the French-speaking Acadian population from the area. Monckton's forces, including companies of Rogers' Rangers, forcibly removed thousands of Acadians, chasing down many who resisted, and sometimes committing atrocities. The Acadian resistance, in concert with native allies, including the Mi'kmaq, was sometimes quite stiff, with ongoing frontier raids. The only clash of any size was the 1757 Battle of Bloody Creek near Annapolis Royal.