Revolutionary Road Trip: Northern New York and Canada
- Timothy Dusablon
- Jun 7
- 7 min read
In honor of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States, I have created several “Revolutionary Road Trips” in the Champlain Valley and the surrounding areas. These road trips are designed to be done in one day, and to give you time to explore and enjoy the sites. This road trip focuses on Northern New York and Canada. Don't forget your passport!
You may think you need to go to Boston, New York City, New Jersey or Philadelphia to experience the important sites of the Revolutionary War. With all due respect to those locations, if you live or visit in the Champlain Valley, there are PLENTY of sites to keep you on the road and entertained walking in the pathway of one of the most critical theaters in the Revolutionary War.
In the words of Rene Descartes: “Traveling is almost like talking with men of other centuries." With this in mind, these Revolutionary Road Trips are the perfect excuse to get out and experience the places that greatly influenced our country’s founding 250 years ago. See for yourself where our history took place!
Stop 1: Willsboro Falls - Willsboro, NY
Willsboro, New York is one of the oldest European settlements in the Champlain Valley. William Gilliland organized the town in 1765, which had a sawmill and several settlers. The Bouquet River runs through the town and empties into Lake Champlain just down river from the present downtown area. It was at the mouth of the Bouquet River that John Burgoyne issued his proclamation, with several First Nations Warriors joining his 7,000 man force along the river. His proclamation was intended to rally loyalists to support his cause, while simultaneously strike fear into the rebels. He also addressed the First Nations Warriors, forbidding bloodshed unless they were actively in battle. This would be very famously violated at Fort Edward several weeks later, where several civilians were killed, including the famous Jane McCrea.
Stop 2: Battle of Valcour Island - Peru, NY
Perhaps the most criminally overlooked battle of the Revolutionary War, the Battle of Valcour Island, and the delay caused by the battle, caused Guy Carleton and his force to retreat back into Canada for the winter. The leader of the "rag tag" force of naval vessels was Benedict Arnold. His plan was ingenious. He lined up his underpowered force in a crescent moon formation inside the Valcour Island Channel, between the island and the mainland. He knew the British would only move south with a strong wind from the north. By positioning himself in the channel, he forced the British fleet to face the prevailing wind, taking the much larger British vessels out of the fight.
An intense naval battle took place, the likes of nothing seen up to that time in the lakes of North America. Arnold held his own on that October day, and held out until sundown. Virtually trapped in the channel, Arnold took advantage of a miraculous fog, a dark night, and the fire from the Royal Savage beached on the island. He snuck his force out of the channel single file with oars greased to not make any noise. When the British awoke the next morning, the American fleet was gone. Arnold was the hero, who saved the cause of liberty at this critical juncture in the Revolutionary War. Several markers are at the Peru boat launch and along the roadside.
Stop 3: Clinton County Historical Association - Plattsburgh, NY
The Clinton County Historical Association does a fantastic job of telling the amazing story of the area. They have incredible artifacts from the Revolutionary War period, including some impressive exhibits on the Battle of Valcour Island. While in the area, be sure to also check out the War of 1812 Museum to learn more about the critical American victory in 1814, the Battle of Plattsburgh.
Stop 4: Clement Gosselin Gravesite - East Beekmantown, NY
Clement Gosselin was known as George Washington’s Canadian spy. He joined the 2nd Canadian Regiment during the American Invasion of Canada, and showed incredible ingenuity and bravery as a major of the unit. He set up a series of signal fires along the south shore of the St. Lawrence River from near Gaspe all the way to Quebec to warn of the approach of British vessels. This saved many of the American forces. He served throughout the conflict, helping build the Bayley Hazen Military Road, as well as serving in the Battle of Yorktown, where he was severely wounded. After the war, he was not allowed back into Canada and settled in Beekmantown, along with many others, in the Canadian and Nova Scotian Refugee Tract stretching all the way north to Champlain. A monument to Gosselin is at the East Beekmantown Graveyard.
Stop 5: Chazy Landing - Chazy, NY
It was here at Chazy Landing that Benedict Arnold anchored his fleet across the lake to Isle la Motte awaiting Carleton’s invasion from the north in 1776. Arnold eventually moved back to Valcour Island, but had the British invaded in late September, the battle would have taken place here.
Stop 6: Corbeau - Champlain, NY
The area near St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Coopersville, New York was a hamlet once known as Corbeau. Corbeau was a settlement of French Canadians (as well as other refugees from Canada) from the Canadian and Nova Scotian Refugee Tract. Many of their descendants still live in the area to this day. The Catholic church dates back to 1844 to serve the sizable catholic populace. The parish dates back to before the French and Indian War, when French settlers lived near the mouth of the Chazy River.
Stop 7: Point au Fer - Champlain, NY
Point au Fer is quietly one of the most historic sites in the Lake Champlain Valley. On this point in 1760, Robert Rogers and his rangers battled the French and their First Nations allies in the Battle of Point au Fer. In 1773, a fortification was built at the urging of William Gilliland and Philip Skene to protect against any potential invasion from the north. The fortification was called “The White House”. Although it was not a house, it was built of stone and had sentry boxes in each corner. During the American Invasion of Canada, the Americans took over the works. In 1776, General Sullivan added an entrenchment to the north, which is still visible today. The modest creek near the blue New York State historical marker is actually that American entrenchment. During the disastrous American retreat from Canada, over a hundred American soldiers who died from smallpox and other diseases were buried at this spot. They remain there to this day with a modest DAR statue the only testament to their final resting place. The British took control of the site and remained there until the end of the Revolutionary War, and even beyond. This caused tensions after the Treaty of Paris that were not resolved until 1794. That is when the Treaty of Jay finally forced the removal of British forces from Point au Fer and the Royal Blockhouse in North Hero, VT.
Stop 8: Fort Montgomery - Rouses Point, NY
Fort Montgomery was built in 1844 to replace Fort “Blunder”, an American fortification accidentally built in Canada after the War of 1812. Contrary to 95% of what you read online, Fort Montgomery is NOT Fort “Blunder” but a completely separate fortification. It was named after General Richard Montgomery, who led the invasion of Canada from the Champlain Valley and lost his life during the Battle of Quebec on New Years Eve in 1775. The fort today is in sad shape, owing to almost 100 years of unwarranted neglect, and the demolition of much of the fort during the Great Depression to build the first bridge between Alburgh, VT, and Rouses Point, NY. A new owner has given hope that the remnants of the fort will be stabilized at long last.
Stop 9: Lacolle Blockhouse - Lacolle, QC Canada
This blockhouse was built at the tail end of the Revolutionary War and is a beautifully authentic example of the many blockhouses that guarded the Champlain Valley by the British, French, and Americans. This was one of a line of defensive works built during this time to discourage American invasions into Canada. There were two important engagements during the War of 1812 at the blockhouse, and both ended embarrassingly for American forces. On the back end of the blockhouse you can still see an indent from a cannon ball during one of these engagements.
Stop 10: Ile aux Noix - Saint-Paul-de-l’Ile-aux-Noix, QC, Canada
Ile aux Noix was the staging area of the American invasion of Canada in 1775. Prior to the Revolutionary War, the French had fortified the island, and in 1760 the siege of Ile aux Noix marked the last significant stand of New France before the surrender of Montreal. The French commander was Louis Antoine de Bougainville, who would later command the rear of the naval forces during the Battle of Yorktown, the joint American and French defeat of the British that all but ended the Revolutionary War. During the disastrous retreat from Canada in 1776, the sick and defeated 7,000 man force was bottlenecked here owing to a lack of naval vessels for the evacuation. For 10 days of pure living hell, the Americans fell by the hundreds to smallpox. They were buried in mass graves, never returning home. These were the darkest days of the Revolutionary War. During the War of 1812, the British fleet that took on the American Navy at Plattsburgh was built here. Unfortunately, I’ve been notified by Parks Canada that the island and Fort Lennox will not be open in 2026, but the mainland approach gives you an incredible look at the island.
