Valcour Island, Battle of

The naval Battle of Valcour Island, also known as the Battle of Valcour Bay, takes place on October 11, 1776, on Lake Champlain.

The main action takes place in Valcour Bay, a narrow strait between the New York mainland and Valcour Island.

The battle is generally regarded as one of the first naval battles of the American Revolutionary War, and one of the first fought by the United States Navy.

Most of the ships in the American fleet under the command of Benedict Arnold are captured or destroyed by a British force under the overall direction of General Guy Carleton

However, the American defense of Lake Champlain stalls British plans to reach the upper Hudson River valley.

The Continental Army had retreated from Quebec to Fort Ticonderoga and Fort Crown Point in June 1776 after British forces were massively reinforced

They had spent the summer of 1776 fortifying those forts, and building additional ships to augment the small American fleet already on the lake.

General Carleton has a nine thousand man army at Fort Saint-Jean, but needs to build a fleet to carry it on the lake.

The Americans, during their retreat, had either taken or destroyed most of the ships on the lake.

By early October, the British fleet, which significantly outguns the American fleet, is ready for launch.

On October 11, Arnold draws the British fleet to a position he had carefully chosen to limit their advantages.

In the battle that follows, many of the American ships are damaged or destroyed.

That night, Arnold sneaks the American fleet past the British one, beginning a retreat toward Crown Point and Ticonderoga.

Unfavorable weather hampers the American retreat, and more of the fleet is either captured or grounded and burned before it can reach Crown Point.

Upon reaching Crown Point Arnold has the fort's buildings burned and retreats to Ticonderoga.

The British fleet includes four officers who will later become admirals in the Royal Navy: Thomas Pringle, James Dacres, Edward Pellew and John Schank.

Valcour Bay, the site of the battle, is now a National Historic Landmark, as is Philadelphia, which sinsk shortly after the October 11 battle, and will be raised in 1935.

The underwater site of Spitfire, located in 1997, is on the National Register of Historic Places.

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