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Battle of Valcour Island

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{{Infobox Military Conflict |conflict=Battle of Valcour Island |partof=the American Revolutionary War |image=Image:BattleofValcourIsland.gif 300px |caption=
Position of American ships on Lake Champlain |date=October 11–October 13, 1776 |place=Valcour Island, Lake Champlain, New York |result=British tactical victory
American strategic victory |combatant1=United States |combatant2=Kingdom of Great Britain Britain |commander1=Benedict Arnold |commander2=Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester Guy Carleton
Captain Thomas Pringle |strength1=16 ships
750 sailors |strength2=30 ships
1,670 sailors |casualties1=80 killed or wounded
120 captured
11 ships lost |casualties2=40 killed or wounded
3 small gunboats lost }} {{Campaignbox American Revolutionary War: Canada}} The naval '''Battle of Valcour Island''', also known as the '''Battle of Valcour Bay''', took place on 11 October 1776 on Lake Champlain in a narrow strait between the New York State New York mainland and Valcour Island. It is generally regarded as the first naval battle fought by the United States Navy. Although the American ships under the command of Benedict Arnold were largely destroyed, the campaign delayed by one year the British attempt to Saratoga_Campaign cut the colonies in half and eventually led to the British military disaster at Battle of Saratoga Saratoga in 1777.

Strategic importance of Lake Champlain
Following the failed American Invasion of Canada (1775) invasion of Canada, the British launched a counteroffensive intended to gain control of the Hudson River Valley, which extends southward from Lake Champlain. Control of the upper Hudson would have enabled the British to link their Canadian forces with those in British-occupied New York City, dividing the American colonies of New England from those in the South and Mid-Atlantic, and potentially finishing the revolution. Access to the river's source was protected by American strongholds at Crown Point and Fort Ticonderoga, and elimination of these defenses would require the transportation of troops and supplies from the British-controlled St. Lawrence Valley 150 kilometers to the north. Roads were either impassable or nonexistent, making water transport over Lake Champlain the only viable option, but the only ships on the lake were in American hands, and even though they were lightly armed, they would have made transport of troops and stores impossible for the British. The two sides therefore set about building fleets; the British at Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu St Johns in Quebec and the Americans at the other end of the lake in Skenesborough (now Whitehall, New York). The British had adequate supplies, skilled workmen, and prefabricated ships transported from England, including a 180-ton warship they disassembled and rebuilt on the lake. All told, the British fleet (30 vessels) had roughly twice as many ships and twice the firepower of the Americans' 16 vessels.

Forces assembled
Benedict Arnold's flagship was initially the USS Royal Savage ''Royal Savage'', a two-masted schooner, but he transferred to the https://www.denix.osd.mil/denix/Public/Library/NCR/Documents/GalleyCongressInspectionReport.pdf USS Congress ''Congress'', a row galley. Arnold's fleet included USS Revenge (1776) ''Revenge'' and USS Liberty ''Liberty'', also two-masted schooners, as well as the USS Enterprise (1775) ''Enterprise'', a sloop, and 8 gondolas: USS New Haven ''New Haven'', USS Providence ''Providence'', USS Boston ''Boston'', http://lcmm.org/site/mri/mri_arch_projects/gunboat_spitfire.html USS Spitfire ''Spitfire'', USS Philadelphia ''Philadelphia'', USS Connecticut ''Connecticut'', USS Jersey ''Jersey'', USS New York ''New York'', and the galley USS Trumbull ''Trumbull''. Facing them were the ships of the Royal Navy constructed in Quebec: The flagship HMS Inflexible ''Inflexible'', reassembled from pieces and measuring 80'; the schooners ''Maria'', ''Carleton'', ''Royal Convert'', the two-masted ketch ''Thunderer'', as well as over 20 single-masted gunboats armed with a single cannon.

American tactics
Image:ValcourIslandoverview.gif thumb|300px|Northern [[Lake Champlain, showing area of Valcour Island]] Arnold came from a seafaring Connecticut family. He shrewdly chose to force the British to attack his inferior forces in a narrow, rocky body of water between the coast and Valcour Island, where the British fleet would have difficulty bringing its superior firepower to bear (and where the inferior seamanship of his unskilled sailors would have a minimal effect). The British fleet took up positions at noon around 300 yards in front of the American battle line with the small gunboats forward, and the five main ships around 50-100 yards behind the gunboats. The British then opened up a huge broadside against the American ships which continued for the next five hours. During the exchange of cannon fire, USS Revenge (1776) ''Revenge'' was heavily hit and abandoned. USS Philadelphia ''Philadelphia'', was also heavily hit and sank later at around 6:30 pm. USS Royal Savage ''Royal Savage'', ran aground and was set on fire by the crew to prevent the ship from falling in British hands. USS Congress ''Congress'', and ''Washington'' were heavily damaged, and USS Jersey ''Jersey'' and USS New York ''New York'', were also badly hit. On the British side, casualties began mounting too. HMS ''Carlton'' was heavily hit as it tried to land a boarding party on the grounded USS Royal Savage ''Royal Savage'' and was forced to withdraw under heavy fire. One small gunboat, commanded by Lt. Dufais, blew up and sank from a direct hit. Most of the other small gunboats were also hit, forcing them to withdraw and reform their battle line 700 yards from the American line. Two of the gunboats were so heavily damaged that they were forced to be scuttled after the action. Nonetheless, the battle was not going well for the Americans when the sun set on October 11. Aware that he could not defeat the British fleet, Arnold decided to withdraw. Arnold managed to sneak his fleet past (and through) the British fleet during the night and attempted to run for the cover of the shore batteries situated at the American-held fort at Crown Point at the south end of the lake. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate, and the Americans were caught short of their goal. After sailing only eight miles on October 12, Arnold drove ''Providence'' ashore in the shallow water of Buttonmold Bay off Schuyler Island where the heavier British ships could not follow, and the American ship was then stripped of guns, powder and everything else of use. ''New Jersey'' also ran aground while the crew from the ''Lee'' did likewise. On October 13, the British fleet finally caught up to the American fleet off Split Rock where ''Washington'' was captured and the ''Congress'' sank attempting to flee. Arnold led about 200 men from the lost ships on foot to Crown Point where the remaining ships - ''Trumbull'', ''Enterprise'', ''Revenge'', ''New York'', and ''Liberty'' - finally reached safety. Arnold was forced to burn his remaining ships and withdrew further towards Ticonderoga. Although the British had cleared the lake of American ships, establishing naval control, snow was already falling as Arnold and his men reached Ticonderoga on October 20. The British commander Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester Guy Carleton had no choice but to defer the attacks on Crown Point and Fort Ticonderoga and withdrew to a winter camp in Canada by early November, a decision with profound consequences. The next year in 1777, a better-prepared American army would eventually stop the British advance at Saratoga_Campaign Saratoga and bring France into the war on the American side.

References
* Gardner W. Allen, ''A Naval History of the American Revolution'' (Houghton Mifflin, 1913), chap. 6 * William M. Fowler, Jr., ''Rebels Under Sail: The American navy during the Revolution'' (Charles Scribner's Sons, 1976), chap. 10 * Brendan Morrissey, ''Quebec 1775, The American invasion of Canada'' (Osprey Campaign, 2003) p. 73-86

External links

- James P. Millard's detailed historical charts, list of ships, period images, and modern photographs
- Battle of Valcour Island with pictures
- go to Valcour Bay Research Project at Archaeoligical Projects] Category:1776 Category:Battles of the American Revolutionary War Valcour Island Category:Conflicts in Canada Valcour Island Category:History of New York Category:Naval battles Valcour Island de:Schlacht von Valcour

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