Montcalm presents Webb’s letter at the decisive moment in the negotiations for Fort William Henry, turning the garrison’s expectation of relief into proof of abandonment. The episode leads from disclosure to surrender and then to a devastating test of Montcalm’s authority: the negotiated protections do not prevent the attack on the departing British column.

Negotiations and the letter

Montcalm opens the conference by acknowledging that Munro’s resistance has been gallant and sustained as long as hope remained. Munro answers that such praise will mean more when it has been better earned. The exchange places military honor at the center of the discussion even as the fort’s prospects grow increasingly bleak.

When Munro challenges Montcalm to say whether he knows where to expect General Webb’s army, Montcalm offers an open letter and invites him to read Webb’s own words. The letter advises a speedy surrender and states that Webb cannot send a single man to the garrison’s rescue. Duncan verifies the signature and confirms that it is the captured letter. Its contents turn uncertainty into certainty: the garrison has been left without relief.

From shock to capitulation

The disclosure overwhelms Munro. His military pride gives way to chagrin, and he interprets Webb’s conduct as a betrayal that brings disgrace upon his household and his age. Duncan urges him to preserve their honor by continuing to resist, and Munro briefly rallies, declaring that they will return to the ramparts.

Montcalm then makes clear that holding the fort is impossible and that its destruction serves French interests, but offers terms designed to preserve the defenders’ military standing. The garrison may retain its arms, colors, and baggage, and its march will be conducted honorably. Munro, moved by the unexpected generosity, asks Duncan to settle the arrangements. The treaty provides for the fort to be yielded the following morning, with the garrison keeping the specified possessions and, in military terms, its honor.

The surrender has a lasting personal consequence for Munro. The shock of Webb’s letter leaves his proud character changed, and the narrative says he never recovers from it before his early death. The event thus compromises not only the fort’s defense but also the old commander’s remaining hopes and strength.

The limits of the agreement

The negotiated terms are observed in the formal transfer: the French take possession of the works, and Montcalm’s army watches the British departure without taunting the defeated. Nearly three thousand English people move across the plain toward the road to the Hudson, including soldiers, women, children, and the sick and wounded. The column’s exposed passage places the capitulation’s protections under immediate strain.

Montcalm has also tried to restrain his Huron allies. He reminds Magua that the hatchet is buried between the English and the French commander, and insists that the Hurons must treat the departing English as no longer enemies. Magua rejects the peace as incompatible with his own grievance and demands recognition of the injury he has suffered. Montcalm yields to his request for acknowledgment, aware that his influence over the allied warriors depends on concession rather than command.

As the column leaves the fort, disorder gives Magua an opportunity to signal the attack. More than two thousand Indigenous warriors rush from the forest and assault the departing people. The French army remains in formation, and the narrative condemns its failure to stop the violence; Montcalm’s earlier efforts to secure honorable terms cannot substitute for effective protection once his allies act beyond his control. The episode therefore links the letter’s revelation of British abandonment to a second collapse of security: surrender ends the siege, but does not keep the defeated safe.