Well here we go. The very first blog post for Crossroads of a Continent, a blog dedicated to the incredible military and social history of the Lake Champlain Valley. And what a better date to start with this blog than on the anniversary of our nation's founding - Independence Day.
Lake Champlain. One of the most beautiful bodies of water in America. To the west, the towering Adirondack mountain range. To the East, the equally impressive rolling Green Mountains of Vermont. To the south, the breathtaking Taconic mountain range. And to the North, the fertile farmland of the Richelieu River Valley in Quebec. It is no wonder that the Western Abenaki, whose home has been Lake Champlain since time immemorial, called the impressive body of water Bitowbagok, meaning "The Lake Between".
The lake stretches north to south, roughly 120 miles long from Whitehall to Baie Missisquoi and Venise-en-Quebec. On the other side of Alburgh Tongue and Grand Isle County, Lake Champlain empties into the Richelieu River near the border of Rouses Point, NY, and Lacolle, Quebec. At the lake's widest point, it attains a width of 12 miles. Even more impressive, the lake reaches a maximum depth of 420 feet in between Charlotte, VT and Essex, NY.
On this Fourth of July weekend, it will be easy to spot many recreational vessels with folks soaking in incredible views of the lake and surrounding valleys and mountains. Families will be celebrating on the shore, watching fireworks, enjoying barbeques, and swimming at some of the best sand beaches of inland New England and New York. Hopefully for all, the lake is a site for rest and relaxation in 2023. However, almost 250 years ago, things were very, very different on Lake Champlain.
Throughout the 1600's through to the early 1800's, Lake Champlain and the surrounding valley was one of the most contested locations in North America. In fact, at times during this timespan, Lake Champlain was an absolute warzone. This may come as a surprise for those non-history nerds like myself. In fact, kings over 3,000 miles away were keenly intent on fortifying the lake with stone and earth fortifications. King Louis XV of France specifically instructed French forts be built at Point-a-la-Chevelure, today's Crown Point and Chimney Point (more about his in a future post). This lake was one of the most strategic pathways in the "New World". Some historians have gone so far as to call Lake Champlain (especially the area in between Crown Point and Ticonderoga) the Gibraltar Straight of North America. WHY? Why was Lake Champlain so important during this time? To answer that, we need to put things in historical context.
The Champlain Valley region didn't have much in the way of roads. The harsh conditions of this climate made what very few roads there were impassible for most of the year. Yes, mud season existed back then as well! Of course, this was way before air travel, and the first railroads in the area will still about 80 years away. So what was the best means of travel then? Water, of course!
Separating New England and Canada was hundreds of miles of rugged mountainous terrain. Not quite impassable by land, but very, very difficult. But looking at a map, you see a natural water route that can take you from Albany north into the heart of Canada. By travelling north on the Hudson River to the great falls, porting overland to Lake George and north on that magnificent lake to its outlet (the La Chute River), a quick trip overland around the Ticonderoga falls, you are now travelling on Lake Champlain. From the unbelievably historic Ticonderoga peninsula, you simply go north, into the Richelieu River, another quick portage around the rapids of St-Jean and the Chambly rapids, and into the St. Lawrence River just west of Trois-Rivieres. This made Lake Champlain one of the most important waterways of North America, and led to armies of 5,000, 10,000, and even 17,000 routinely using the lake as a pathway to war in the French and Indian Wars, Revolutionary War, and War of 1812.
This is July 4th however - so lets focus on the revolutionary spirit, shall we? We will start at the beginning - the very beginning. 1775. The British have indeed come to America. Their focus is to quell the troublemakers - those damn Bostonians and New Englanders. The Siege of Boston was in full swing. The colonials were looking to put up a fight, but were severely lacking in heavy artillery. Where could they find this type of artillery? How about the forts from the Seven Years War (French and Indian War) on Lake Champlain. Fort Ticonderoga and HIs Majesty's Fort at Crown Point presented a perfect opportunity to gain these valuable weapons of war. Both were still manned by the British, but barely. Both fortifications were quite run-down and extremely difficult to defend, let alone with skeleton crews.
A few of the colonies had the same idea - capture these forts and bring the artillery to Boston. Massachusetts would look to the man whose name is now synonymous with traitor, but this man was one of the most gifted leaders of the early revolution - Benedict Arnold. Connecticut would look to the notorious backwoods brute/philosopher Ethan Allen (who would have his own flirtations with treason later on in the Revolution), and the Green Mountain Boys. After a clash at Castleton of two huge egos, it was decided that they would proceed with joint command. This would be the first major offensive in American military history!
On May 10, 1775, the capture commenced after crossing at Hand's Cove over to Ticonderoga. It was over rather quickly. The story goes that those stationed at Fort Ti were completely caught off guard, and they had no idea there was any conflict going on. The story also goes that Allen, with his sword pointed towards the morning sky, demanded the Fort's surrender in "...the name of the Great Jehovah and Continental Congress". There are a couple of problems with the story as it's been told over the years. Benedict Arnold is almost entirely excluded from the traditional narrative. I guess you can call Arnold the first American victim of Cancel Culture??? Regardless, Arnold would have been right by his side demanding surrender. It is also highly doubtful that Allen said those words, as accounts from other soldiers who were present make no mention of this quote (I don't want to jump on the Ethan Allen hate train, but he did have a tendency to shamelessly self-promote and exaggerate). Lastly, looking at communications from the British side during this time, I find it very hard to believe no one at the fort knew of the conflicts happening in the Boston area. In fact, British military leadership had identified Ticonderoga and Crown Point as a weak point that needed to be addressed, however they did not take action in time. Unprepared - yes. Completely unaware of the conflict - I find that very hard to believe.
But the job had been done. A few days later, Seth Warner would capture Crown Point and its highly valuable cannon. Henry Knox and his "Noble Train of Artillery" would go to Dorchester Heights outside of Boston with artillery from Ticonderoga and Crown Point (The artillery captured at Crown Point tends to get overlooked, but almost half of the artillery that went to Boston was from Crown Point). But there was more work to be done on Lake Champlain. The British were still stationed in Canada at Fort St. Jean on the Richelieu River. What is to stop them from sailing south and reclaiming the forts? Benedict Arnold had a plan.
The Continentals had a nice new sailing vessel to call their own, as the night of the capture, Samuel Herrick led a group that captured Skeenesboro, today known as Whitehall, NY, at the very southern tip of Lake Champlain, where Wood Creek empties into the lake. Phillip Skeene, a veteran of the Seven Years War, owned the land and had a sailing vessel called the Katherine. Herrick and his men had captured this vessel in hopes to help in transport of troops to Ticonderoga, but it was too late. Instead, Arnold had the Katherine outfitted with 4 carriage and 6 swivel guns. From there, the newly christened Liberty and a couple of bateaux made the trek north on Lake Champlain to capture the largest British sailing vessel on the lake. They arrived at Fort St. Jean on May 18th, and quickly captured the surprised troops stationed there. They took several more bateaux, sunk a few they couldn't take with them, captured badly needed supplies, and most importantly, the large British sloop called the Betsey. Arnold would rename the vessel the Enterprise, the very first in a long line of storied naval vessels (and sci-fi spacecraft) called as such.
With these vessels, the Liberty, Enterprise, and the bateaux, we have America's very first war ships!!! That's right, the very first United States naval vessels were on Lake Champlain!
This move by Arnold was a stroke of genius, and is an extremely underappreciated tactical victory. This kept the British at bay in Canada, and allowed for movement of the heavy artillery to Boston. If the British were to have sailed south and retaken both forts, it most likely would have ended the Revolution. Keep in mind that in 1775, very few (maybe 30%) wanted independence, even among the Continental Congress. This was viewed as a disagreement about representation, and once that disagreement was over, we would go back to being good British subjects. The next year, those attitudes would change drastically, giving birth to our nation.
Later in 1775, under the Command of Philip Schuyler and George Montgomery, the Americans would begin a much larger scale invasion of Canada, launching from Isle la Motte. The Americans (Bastonnais as they would be called by the Canadien inhabitants) would take Fort St. Jean, Fort Chambly, and eventually Montreal. Arnold led a group through the wilderness of northern Maine towards Quebec City, and Montgomery would drive east from Montreal. However, the Americans would fail to capture Quebec City, and General Montgomery would lose his life (Arnold would be severely wounded in the leg).
As the year turned to 1776, the tide turned, and the Americans began a very sad retreat back to Lake Champlain. This would produce some of the darkest days of the Revolutionary War. I would argue worse than Valley Forge from a morale perspective. Not only were they defeated and hungry, they were being ravaged by another enemy: smallpox. Hundreds, if not thousands, of Continental troops would lose their life to smallpox. Many are still buried in unmarked graves in the area at Isle Aux Noix, Point au Fur, and Crown Point.
But with the threat of invasion now turning into a looming reality, the Continental Troops on Lake Champlain would have to get to work again. This time in a backwoods naval arms race.
Once again, Schuyler and Horatio Gates would turn to Benedict Arnold to, somehow, build a navy with little supplies, no experienced sailors or carpenters, and very little money. Somehow, Arnold pulled it off. At Whitehall NY, Arnold pieced together a "rag tag" naval fleet with vessels that... well... floated and sailed. Oh yeah, and very few experienced seamen other than Arnold himself. Their task... to take on the greatest navy in the world.
Arnold moved his fleet to the northern part of the lake, where he patiently waited for Sir Guy Carleton, the British Governor General of Canada, to sail south with his impressive fleet. Arnold knew the odds were against, him, so he tried to slightly even things up by yet another stoke of genius. Arnold's "rag tag" fleet consisted of the previously mentioned sloop Enterprise, the cutter Lee, several gondolas including the Philadelphia, Boston, New Haven, Providence, Spitfire, New Jersey, Connecticut, and New York, the schooner Revenge, and row galleys Congress, Washington, Trumbull, and Gates. Arnold would anchor his fleet in a channel in between modern-day Peru, NY, and a small island just south of Plattsburgh called Valcour Island. With the British fleet sailing south with the aid of a northerly wind, the British had to pivot against the winds to engage the fleet. The battle was fierce on October 11th, 1776, but the British had the upper hand as day turned to night. That wasn't the only concern for the Americans - they were almost out of ammunition.
Arnold had one chance to escape, and was aided by an almost miraculous fog that rose over the lake. With the help of the fog and a good escape plan, Arnold and his fleet hugged the mainland shore single-file with greased oars and lamps on the rear of the vessels painted black on three sides to avoid detection. The next morning, Carleton awoke to the improbable sight of the American fleet missing. He was furious. However, the vastly superior British sailing vessels including the HMS Inflexible, HMS Maria, HMS Loyal Convert, HMS Carleton, HMS Thunderer, and several gunboats would eventually catch up to the tattered American fleet near Split Rock Point by present day Essex, NY. From there, the engagement turned into a running naval battle. Realizing that the vessels could not make it back to Crown Point, Arnold ordered the remaining ships of his fleet to run aground in what is now called Arnold's Bay in Panton, VT. He ordered the ships be blown up, with the flags still flying, and made their way back to Crown Point and eventually Ticonderoga.
Carleton's fleet made it to Crown Point, but intelligence of a vast army at Ticonderoga as well as Mount Independence (sticking with the July 4th theme, Rattlesnake Hill was renamed Mount Independence after a copy of the Declaration of Independence was read to the troops) caused hesitation. Being mid-October, the Lake was already starting to freeze over in the northern part of the lake. With a brutal winter fast approaching, Carleton decided to retreat back into Canada for the winter. That in and of itself was a huge victory! The Battle of Valcour Island was a loss, but the delay it caused was a major triumph. It bought the Americans time. That time would lead to the turning point of the Revolutionary War.
Fast forward to 1777. Everyone knew the British would be back to employ their strategy from the year before. William Howe would work his way from New York up the Hudson to Albany. Barry St. Leger would follow the Mohawk River Valley to the west and also converge on Albany. And, once again, the British - alongside their First Nations allies and German Hessian Troops, who were mercenaries for the Crown (though the term mercenary isn't quite accurate, as it wasn't the soldiers themselves who were getting paid by the British to fight against the Colonials, but rather their government leaders who "loaned" the men out to fight).
This time, though, it would not be under the command of Guy Carleton. This time, the honor would go to John Burgoyne. He had smooth talked his way into the leadership role, and believed himself, Howe, and St. Leger would descend upon Albany with ease. How could he not be confident? He had a force of close to 7,000 and a solid game plan.
Burgoyne, the First Nations Warriors, and the Germans descended south on Lake Champlain, stopping at the Bouquet River in Willsboro, NY to meet his First Nations allies and issue a proclamation. It was a stern warning to anyone who continued to act rebellious towards the Crown.
From there, they sailed south to Ticonderoga and Mount Independence. This time, the Continentals had fewer troops stationed between the two than in the previous year. The American line was spread very thin between both sides of the lake. To make matters worse, Fort Ticonderoga was in a decrepit state that made it difficult to defend. To make matters even worse, the Americans failed to fortify nearby Mount Defiance (whose name had been changed from Sugar Loaf Hill). There was some strong disagreement, however, of some (including Benedict Arnold and Thaddeus Kosciuszko) who maintained that Mount Defiance should be fortified. It was thought that Mount Defiance was too steep to bring cannon to the top. The British under Simon Frasier built a road to the top and erected a battery of 6 cannon. Oof... So much for being too steep!
With the top of Mount Defiance fortified by a British battery, the Americans had no choice but to retreat. Major General Arthur St. Clair knew he had a choice to make. In his words, the choice was to abandon Fort Ticonderoga and Mount Independence to save his army, but lose his character. If he chose to defend the fortifications, he would save his character but lose his army. He was correct; in deciding to abandon Fort Ti and Mount Independence, his reputation would be put into question during a court martial in 1778.
Fort Ticonderoga had a reputation for impenetrability dating back to when the fort was actually known as Fort Carillon. The French built Fort Carillon in 1755, and in 1758 it saw one of the most improbable defenses by the French. The French, numbering only 3,500 troops, successfully defended the fort against a British combined force of close to 17,000! This will be the subject of a future post, so stay tuned! Because of this infamous battle, known as the Battle of Carillon, the fort had a distinction for strength and defensibility that it's current state did not warrant. George Washington was furious when he found out that the fort had been abandoned without a fight. King George III apparently awoke in a splendor to the news, waking up his wife and declaring that he had done it! He had beat those Americans! These reactions are a direct result of the reputation of the fort, and not of the actual state it was in.
The British were now back in control of the fort they had given up so much to conquer during the Seven Years War. They chased the Americans all the way to Skeenesboro, and Burgoyne and company were feeling on top of the world. Things would quickly change for Burgoyne though. A portion of the British troops would have a very bloody and costly encounter with the rear American guard at Hubbardton, with the Germans saving the day in that battle. He then made the fateful decision to travel south via the southern portion of Lake Champlain and through Wood Creek, instead of porting at Ticonderoga and going south on Lake George. With Wood Creek and the southern extremity of Lake Champlain so narrow, the Continentals felled trees and took down bridges to slow the British advance to a crawl. Meanwhile, the Americans were being reinforced daily, their numbers growing significantly.
From there, the campaign shifts to the Hudson River Valley, where things would get even worse for Burgoyne. His supplies were dwindling. He tried to gather provisions from nearby Bennington, but the detachment sent that way would be defeated by the continentals in the Battle of Bennington. No provisions, and a huge loss in forces.
Even worse, he found out that Barry St. Leger was defeated at Fort Stanwix and would not be meeting them in Albany. William Howe claims to have never known about the plan to meet Burgoyne in Albany, and instead decided to move against Philadelphia. Burgoyne was on his own and running out of supplies. The two armies would clash at the Battles of Saratoga that ended in Burgoyne surrendering his army to Horatio Gates. Benedict Arnold would once again be a hero, charging the British lines and driving them back, but getting wounded in the same leg he wounded in Quebec.
The Battle of Saratoga is generally agreed upon as the turning point of the Revolution. Delegates in Europe had been trying to court France into the conflict against their long time enemy. However, French delegates were not convinced the continentals could actually win. Then came the victory at Saratoga. French delegates had changed their mind, and were now willing to support the Revolution with troops and finances. French involvement in the war was critical to the favorable American outcome.
So, as you can see from above, the Fourth of July takes on special meaning in and around Lake Champlain, at least for me. Enjoy the barbeques, fireworks, and parades, and know that the very founding of this great nation was due in large part to the actions on Lake Champlain.
Tim Dusablon
Sources:
Russell P. Bellico - Sails and Steam in the Mountains: A Maritime and Military History of Lake George and Lake Champlain.
Michael G. Laramie - By Wind and Iron: Naval Campaigns in the Champlain Valley 1665-1815.
Mark R. Anderson - The Battle for the Fourteenth Colony: America's War of Liberation in Canada 1774-1776.
Richard M. Ketchum - Saratoga: Turning Point of America's Revolutionary War.