Battlefield Park Alliance to host “Philip Schuyler and the Battle of Lake George” presentation

Kayla Whitehouse, Historic Site Assistant at the Schuyler Mansion in Albany, will be presenting “Philip Schuyler and the Battle of Lake George: How the French & Indian War Affected Schuyler’s Revolutionary War Experience.” The program will be held at the Holiday Inn Resort, 2223 Canada Street, Lake George, on Thursday, Nov. 12, at 7 p.m.

While Philip Schuyler may be better known for his role in the American Revolution and was not present at the 1755 French and Indian War Battle of Lake George, author and Curator of the Lake George Battlefield Park Visitor Center Mark Silo explains that,  “Schuyler’s patrician origins, aloof personality, and long history of fragile health plagued his relationships among American military leaders, but the Continental Congress and General Washington recognized his long experience and invaluable abilities in large-scale logistics and supply operations.”

“As a mid-range officer in the French and Indian War,” Silo says of Schuyler, “he worked effectively to supply the numerous British-American expeditions that set forth from Albany to face the French in the Northern theaters of provincial New York.” Additionally, “Schuyler became a zealous patriot, delegate to the Continental Congress, and officer whose efforts were indispensable in support of the American expedition into Canada and the famed Henry Knox mission to haul artillery from Ticonderoga to Boston in the winter of 1775-76.”

“When Schuyler was commissioned a Major General of the Continental Army in 1775,” Whitehouse notes in a press statement, “Congress passed over more seasoned officers, such as Richard Montgomery, who was named a Brigadier General. Montgomery lamented this, wondering in a correspondence with his brother-in-law if Schuyler ‘had the nerve’ for the command.’”

Whitehouse’s presentation will examine how Philip Schuyler’s French and Indian War experience affected his military career during the Revolution. The Lake George Battlefield Park Alliance is hosting the free program. Those interested in attending are asked to reserve seats by email to info@lakegeorgebattlefield.org.