A Military Commander

New York, Fulton County, Johnstown
Hostilities of the Seven Years' War having commenced, Colonel William Johnson was commissioned a Major General of Provincial Forces and assigned to command the Crown Point Expedition against the French, in 1755. After the failure of the other expeditions that year, including the defeat of General Braddock on the Monongahela, Major General William Johnson, at the Battle of Lake George, 8 September 1755, saved the Province of New York from invasion and turned in the only victory for the Crown in British North America that year. George II of Great Britain, to honor Johnson's accomplishment, created him a hereditary baronet of the British Empire on 27 November 1755. Three months later Major General Sir William Johnson was appointed sole Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Northern Zone of British North America and Colonel of the Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy.

In 1759, he captured Fort Niagara and effected control of the Great Lakes area for the Empire during the years 1755 through 1774. He organized the Provincial Militia Forces for Northern New York into an effectual fighting force. His advice was sought by successive military commanders for the Crown in North America, in dealing with problems on the Frontier.

(Colonial Era • War, French and Indian) Includes location, directions, 1 photo, GPS coordinates, map.