After the
Americans left
Canada in sad plight in June, 1776,
Carleton, the governor of
Canada and general of the forces there, appeared at the foot of
Lake Champlain with a well-appointed force of 13,000 men. Only on the bosom of the lake could they advance, for there was no road on either shore.
To prevent this invasion, it was important that the
Americans should hold command of its waters.
A flotilla of small armed vessels was constructed at
Crown Point, and
Benedict Arnold was placed in command of them as commodore.
A schooner called the
Royal Savage was his flag-ship.
Carleton, meanwhile, had used great diligence in fitting out an armed flotilla at
St. John for the recovery of
Crown Point and
Ticonderoga.
Towards the close of August,
Arnold went down the lake with his fleet and watched the foe until early in October, when he fell back to
Valcour Island and formed his flotilla for action without skill.
Carleton advanced, with
Edward Pringle as commodore, and, on the morning of Oct. 11, gained an advantageous position near
Arnold's vessels.
A very severe battle ensued, in which the
Royal Savage was first crippled and afterwards destroyed.
Arnold behaved with the greatest bravery during a fight of four or five hours, until it was closed by the falling of night.
In the darkness
Arnold escaped with his vessels from surrounding dangers and pushed up the lake, but was overtaken on the 13th. One of the vessels, the
Washington, was run on shore and burned, while
Arnold, in the schooner
Congress, with four gondolas, kept up a running fight for five hours, suffering great loss.
When the
Congress was almost a wreck,
Arnold ran the vessels into a creek about 10 miles from
Crown Point, on the eastern shore, and burned them.
Then he and his little force made their way through the woods to a place opposite
Crown Point, just avoiding an Indian ambush, and escaped to the port whence he started in safety.
At
Crown Point he found two schooners,
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two galleys, one sloop, and one gondela— all that remained of his proud little fleet.
In the two actions the
Americans lost about ninety men; the
British not half that number.
General Carleton took possession of
Crown Point on Oct. 14, but abandoned it in twenty days and returned to
Canada.
When the
War of 1812-15 was declared, the whole American naval force on
Lake Champlain consisted of only two boats that lay in a harbor on the
Vermont shore.
The
British had two or three gunboats, or armed galleys, on the
Richelieu, or
Sorel, River, the outlet of
Lake Champlain.
Some small vessels were hastily fitted up and armed, and
Lieut. Thomas McDonough was sent to the lake to superintend the construction of some naval vessels there.
In the spring of 1813 he put two vessels afloat— the sloops-of-war
Growler and
Eagle.
Early in June, 1813, some small American vessels were attacked near
Rouse's Point by British gunboats.
McDonough sent the
Growler and
Eagle, manned by 112 men, under
Lieut. Joseph Smith, to look after the matter.
They went down the
Sorel, chased three British gunboats some distance down the river, and were in turn pursued by three armed row-galleys, which opened upon the flying sloops with long 24-pounders.
At the same time a land force, sent out on each side of the river, poured volleys of musketry upon the American vessels, which were answered by grape and canister.
For four hours a running fight was kept up, when a heavy shot tore off a plank from the
Eagle below water, and she sank immediately.
the
Growler was disabled and run ashore, and the people of both vessels were made prisoners.
The loss of the
Americans in killed and wounded was twenty; that of the
British almost 100.
The captured sloops were refitted, and named, respectively,
Finch and
Chubb.
They were engaged in the battle off
Plattsburg the next year, when
McDonough recaptured them.
For a while the
British were masters of
Lake Champlain.
This loss stimulated
McDonough to greater exertions.
By Aug. 6 he had fitted out and armed three sloops and six gunboats.
At the close of July a British armament, under
Col. J. Murray, attacked defenceless
Plattsburg.
It was composed of soldiers, sailors, and marines, conveyed in two
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The Royal savage.1 |
sloops-of-war, three gunboats, and forty-seven long-boats.
They landed on Saturday afternoon, and continued a work of destruction until ten o'clock the next day.
General Hampton, who was then at
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Burlington, only 20 miles distant, with 4,000 troops, made no attempt to oppose the invaders.
The block-house, arsenal, armory, and hospital at
Plattsburg were destroy-
ed; also private store-houses.
The value of public property wasted was $25,000, and of private merchandise, furniture, etc., several thousand dollars. Many then went on a plundering raid, destroying transport vessels and property on shore.
Such was the condition of naval affairs on
Lake Champlain at the close of the summer of 1813.
