When the French recruited the Ottowas, Potowatomis and Abenakis to
fight in the battle for the fort, they promised them the opportunity to plunder
the fort after the battle was won. This clause was crucial to the Indians
because a number of devastating forces—-including smallpox and starvation
brought on by the disruptions of European settlers and the war—made every
opportunity to get food, supplies, and money crucial for their survival.
Indians were not usually paid by either the British or the French, except in
gifts of rum, blankets, clothing, and trade goods. Depending on the Indian
nation, "plunder" might be interpreted as including the opportunity to gather
scalps from the enemy. As they had at Oswego, the French usually turned their
backs while the Indians engaged in their scalping.
But at Fort William Henry, the French made other plans. In their
negotiations with the British as to rights of surrender, they allowed the
British to remove most of their personal belongings and goods from the fort. No
Indians were present at these negotiations. As the troops filed out of the fort
with all of their supplies, the Indians grew infuriated. The British were
leaving with their only spoils of war, and it appeared as though the French had
deceived them. The Indians reacted violently, by attacking the helpless sick
and wounded at the end of the train, and chaos quickly broke out.
The Indians who seized scalps from the sick at the back of the train
were indeed punished brutally for their actions—the scalps were infected with
smallpox, which was transferred to the Indians and their communities, further
weakening the Indians. But both the British and colonials used the massacre for
years after the war as an example of the "savagery" of the Indians and a
justification for seizing their lands. The truth, unfortunately, isn't quite so
simple.
