He reported that the principal fort had no cannon on
the side most exposed to attack. Two pieces had been mounted on the
trading-house in the centre; but as the concussion shook down the stones
from the wall whenever they were fired, they had since been removed. The
second work, called Fort Ontario, he had not seen since it was finished,
having been too ill to cross the river. Of the third, called New Oswego,
or "Fort Rascal," he testifies thus: "It never was finished, and there
were no loopholes in the stockades; so that they could not fire out of
the fort but by opening the gate and firing out of that."[410]
[Footnote 410: _Information of Captain John Vicars, of the Fiftieth
(Shirley's) Regiment,_ enclosed with a despatch of Lord Loudon. Vicars
was a veteran British officer who left Oswego with Bradstreet on the
third of July. _Shirley to Loudon, 5 Sept. 1756._]
Through the spring and early summer Shirley was gathering recruits,
often of the meanest quality, and sending them to Oswego to fill out the
two emaciated regiments. The place must be defended at any cost. Its
fall would ruin not only the enterprise against Niagara and Frontenac,
but also that against Ticonderoga and Crown Point; since, having nothing
more to fear on Lake Ontario, the French could unite their whole force
on Lake Champlain, whether for defence or attack.
Towards the end of June Abercromby and Webb arrived at Albany, bringing
a reinforcement of nine hundred regulars, consisting of Otway's
regiment, or a part of it, and a body of Highlanders.
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