USA > Vermont > The Lake Champlain and Lake George valleys, Vol. I > Part 21
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Here a temporary halt was made by the soldiers who were phys- ically fit for duty while the sick were being transported. Living on raw pork, flour and wormy bread, the time was consumed by digging large excavations in the earth into which the bodies of the smallpox victims were thrown as fast as they succumbed. Homes and loved ones must have seemed far away to these remnants of Montgomery's army as they stared into the jaws of hell and awaited the whims of the grim reaper. Whose turn would be next, nobody knew. The British seemed a minor menace, as they threw their comrades into the horribly-smelling holes that served as graves. The men were not only sick in body, but in mind and spirit as well, and they unques- tionably were sick of war. Finally, however, they were allowed to leave Isle aux Noix and arrived at Crown Point on July third. Although they remained at that post only about ten days before abandoning it in favor of Ticonderoga, three hundred were buried there, a grim reminder that smallpox was still decimating the tired, starved defenders of the Champlain Valley.
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ATTEMPT TO CONQUER CANADA
The American army certainly afforded an unpleasant contrast to the cocky forces that had advanced down Lake Champlain and to the very gates of Quebec the previous year under the bold Montgomery, or to the men who had helped Arnold to thread his way through the Maine wilderness. In the words of John Adams, it was "disgraced, defeated, discontented, dispirited, undisciplined, eaten up with ver- min, no clothes, beds, blankets, nor medicine, and no victuals but salt pork and flour." Governor Trumbull, of Connecticut, pointed out : "There are now 3,000 sick and about 3,000 well; this leaves near 5,000 to be accounted for; of these the enemy have cost perhaps 1,000-sickness another 1,000-which leaves near 3,000; in what manner they are disposed is unknown. Among those who remain there is neither order, subordination, or harmony; the officers as well as men of one colony insulting and quarrelling with those of another." The smallpox and typhus patients were sent to the head of Lake George where a small garrison was stationed. A large hospital was constructed there where, at one time or another, thousands of men were sent including the enigmatic James Wilkinson, who was destined to be connected with many interesting events in American his- tory, including the Aaron Burr "conspiracy." There was, however, a great lack of the appliances, medicines, and other things which are so necessary for the care of sick people.
Meanwhile conditions at Ticonderoga improved slowly, and grad- ually the morale of the patriot army responded to fresh supplies of beef, mutton and other foods. Rest and other factors also tended to benefit the men. General Horatio Gates was appointed to the command, although there is no disposition on my part to classify this event as an improvement. It was, nevertheless, an important change. This scheming, finicky, introvert was destined to be closely associated with developments in the Champlain Valley and the area around Sara- toga, and the success or failure of patriot policies in this section was to depend upon his emotions and caprice. Naturally his appointment displeased Sullivan, who followed the usual pathway pursued by dis- gruntled officers to New York and Philadelphia. It is said that there was great rejoicing at Fort Ticonderoga when the soldiers learned that Congress had, at last, on July 4, 1776, issued the Declaration of Independence. On that occasion, thirteen guns were fired, and the nearby eminence of Mount Independence was named in celebration.
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It seems strange to ponder over all the warfare and suffering experienced in the Champlain Valley before Congress decided to make hostilities official. The seizure of Fort Ticonderoga by the Green Mountain Boys seemed almost ancient history, yet the war was actu- ally just beginning. It seems almost incredible that all the privations suffered by Arnold's and Montgomery's armies in the campaign against Quebec and in the resulting retreat, hardships which exceeded the suffering endured by Washington's troops at Valley Forge, should have been undergone before the Declaration of Independence. The patriots had certainly struck with vigor and dispatch against the British posts on Lake Champlain, and their spectacular assault on the very important fortress at Quebec had failed only because of an over- dose of extremely bad luck. In spite of the retreat, the Americans had reason to feel confidence in their fighting ability. On the other hand the uniform lack of discipline, the constant quarreling among officers, and the inability of Congress to secure the proper coordination of its resources and iron out the friction that existed everywhere, were rather dark clouds that loomed over the horizon, threatening the future conduct of the war.
CHAPTER XIII
Benedict Arnold and the Battle at Valcour Island
It was natural to believe that the British would make every effort to follow up the advantage they had gained. Quebec had been saved; large reinforcements had arrived from across the seas; and the American army, saturated with disease, buffeted by fate, and rent asunder with jealousy and quarrels, seemed in a poor condition to defend the Champlain Valley. To withstand the impending invasion, two steps became increasingly necessary to the American cause. In the first place, it was evident that Fort Ticonderoga must be strength- ened greatly. Anthony Wayne was assigned to this task, and dur- ing the summer and fall of 1776 the bulk of the patriot army was engaged in this work. Guns were mounted, intrenchments were thrown up and strengthened, while provisions were gathered together for the approaching fray. The second necessity was the construction of a fleet on Lake Champlain, if that region was to remain in Amer- ican hands. The normal method of invasion was by water, inasmuch as a land campaign was beset with all manner of difficulties, not the least of which was transportation. If the patriots could maintain naval supremacy on Lake Champlain, a successful British campaign was almost impossible. Furthermore, Ticonderoga could then be garrisoned with a minimum of soldiers, permitting more strength in the armies of Washington and the other commanders; and any attempt to split the Colonies in two by a seizure of the waterways of New York State was frustrated in the very beginning. General Gates' selection for the supervision of the construction of the proposed fleet was Benedict Arnold.
Later on, at the time of the Battle of Saratoga, when Arnold's rising sun threatened to dull the luster of Gates' prestige, we are fully
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acquainted with the friction existing between these two officers, but at the time that Arnold was commissioned to build the fleet on Lake Champlain he had not yet aroused the jealousy of Gates. The latter wrote on July twenty-ninth to the President of Congress, saying : "General Arnold (who is perfectly skilled in naval affairs) has most nobly undertaken to command our fleet on the lake. With infinite sat- isfaction I have committed the whole of that department to his care, convinced that he will thereby add to the brilliant reputation he has so deservedly acquired. . . . General Arnold, ever active and anxious to serve his country, is just returned from Skenesborough, where he has been to give life and spirit to our dockyard." On another occa- sion he wrote to Washington as follows: "As soon as all the vessels and gondolas are equipped, General Arnold has offered to go to Crown Point and take command of them. This is pleasing to me; as he has a perfect knowledge of maritime affairs, and is, besides, a most deserving and gallant officer."
The importance of the naval control of Lake Champlain was clearly recognized by both contending forces. As a result, a great shipbuilding duel began during the summer of 1776. While Arnold was at Skenesborough, where the patriot fleet was built, General Carleton and Captain Charles Douglas were equally active at St. Johns and neighboring posts performing similar service for the Brit- ish. The rivalry was quite unequal, however, for the English had many advantages. Carleton was able to draw upon the British treas- ury for money and had no difficulty obtaining adequate naval stores and skilled workmen. Two hundred boats were built for him at Montreal and taken, already built, to St. Johns, while larger vessels were taken to pieces below the rapids and rebuilt later for service on the lake. In addition he was given seven hundred experienced sea- men and able officers. In the American camp, the situation was worse in every way. Carpenters had to be trained, or brought through the wilderness from New England seaports. Often it was necessary to sharpen their patriotism by an offer of large bounties to persuade them to assist their brethren at Skenesborough in holding back the British avalanche. Arnold's naval stores had to be brought from the seacoast over wilderness trails or roads that were nearly impassable. Instead of having a rich British treasury at his disposal, he was forced to depend upon an uncertain supply of depreciated Continental cur- rency. Not only were supplies slow in coming, but sailors as well.
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In fact, most of his men were landlubbers. On September eighteenth, Arnold wrote: "I beg at least one hundred good seamen as soon as possible ; we have a wretched motley crew in the fleet. The marines, the refuse of every regiment, and the sailors, few of them ever wet with salt water-we are upwards of one hundred men short." In order to get lumber to build his fleet, Arnold's men were forced to go into the woods and cut down trees and haul them to the mills before any lumber was available, and even then it was green and heavy. Furthermore, Arnold was of course hampered by the usual bickering among officers, and lack of discipline among soldiers, that characterized the remainder of the patriot forces. One of his com- manders, named Captain Wyncoop, flatly refused to obey his orders on the ground that he had received no formal notice of Arnold's appointment to the command which he had evidently expected for him- self. In this case, Arnold recommended that the officer be permitted to return home without the usual penalties, and the request was granted, but it illustrates the difficulties under which American com- manders labored. Needless to say, Carleton was not faced with any such problem as this.
As soon as Arnold had built enough boats to make such a move practicable, he sailed north from Crown Point. After cruising around considerably, he finally anchored his vessels in such a way as to guard the channel opposite Isle LaMotte, through which the British fleet would pass. While here a band of hostile Indians discovered the ships and a skirmish took place between the red men and a boatload of Americans who had been sent ashore. A few casualties resulted, but the Indians fled when the guns from the fleet began to rumble. Fol- lowing this encounter, the British erected batteries on each side of Arnold's position, forcing him to move toward the south. Slightly north of Cumberland Head, as the "Liberty" anchored, a lone Canadian attempted to entice some of the crew ashore on the pretext that he wished to come on board, but with the intention of drawing the Americans into an Indian ambush. The patriots were not to be thus easily fooled, however.
Arnold realized that, because of his great inferiority in ships, guns, and men, it would be foolish to risk an encounter with the enemy on the open lake. Inevitably the units comprising his fleet would then be driven into bays or the extremities of the lake, where they would be bottled up and useless, and probably destroyed. His only chance was
(Courtesy of Chamber of Commerce at Keeseville) A LAKE CHAMPLAIN BEACH, PORT KENT
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to combat the British fleet in some place where the enemy could not make use of its superior strength. After carefully inspecting possible sites for the forthcoming battle, he finally decided to wait for Carle- ton and Pringle in the channel between Valcour Island and the New York shore. This was an admirable anchorage for his purposes. It was small enough so that the superior British fleet could not be used to full advantage, greatly reducing the disparity in strength. It was also hidden from view so that it would be difficult for the enemy to discover it until the channel had been passed. The rear was unap- proachable and since his line of ships extended across the channel, Arnold could be attacked from the front only. In this position, the little American fleet restlessly awaited the appearance of the British lion, which it was to oppose, and which, it should be noted, is the only representative of that species of quadruped noted for its adaptability to fighting on water.
Although the British fleet was accompanied by Sir Guy Carleton, the active command rested on the experienced shoulders of Captain Thomas Pringle. His largest ship was the "Inflexible," which con- tained eighteen guns and which was by far the strongest craft on the lake. In addition he possessed two schooners, twenty gunboats, a floating battery and other boats. They were manned by seven hundred picked seamen in addition to soldiers, artillerymen and Indians. Pringle had forty-two guns of somewhat larger calibre than those of Arnold's ships. The American fleet consisted of one sloop, the "Enterprise," which had been captured at St. Johns during the previ- ous year; three schooners, the "Royal Savage," the "Revenge," and the "Liberty," the latter being the ship which had been seized at Skenesborough by Herrick; while an assortment of galleys and gon- dolas completed the patriot forces. The crew consisted of five hun- dred men, many of them landlubbers, while the cannon were inferior in number and caliber. Bancroft, the American historian, claimed that Pringle had twice as many fighting ships and more than twice the weight of metal possessed by Arnold. Trevelyan, the English histor- ian, stated that "compared with Carleton's vessels, the American sloops and galleys were mere cockboats."
Finally, on October fourth, the British fleet left St. Johns. On the night of October tenth it anchored between Grand Isle and North Hero. The next morning, Pringle continued along the shore of Grand Isle, having heard that Arnold was in that vicinity. Some American
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sentinels reported to their commander that the British fleet was approaching, and it soon appeared off Cumberland Head. Pringle and Carleton came on up the lake, conscious of their superior strength, and feeling so confident of success that they failed to use boats for scouting purposes. Sailing majestically southward in front of a north wind, even the elements seemed to be allied to the British cause, a circumstance that was truly prophetic of the future. As was expected by Arnold, his position was not discovered until Valcour Island had been passed.
General Waterbury and some others among Arnold's officers fool- ishly advocated going out of the channel to meet the British in the open lake where there would be a chance to retreat if defeated, rather than to run the risk of being caught like rats in a trap. A further argument in behalf of this idea was supplied by Indians who seemed to fill the woods on both the mainland and the island and who directed a constant fire against the American ships. Although Arnold was forced to erect barricades on his vessels, the red men did not cause as much damage as would reasonably be expected, however. Arnold realized that no matter how bad his situation in the channel was, it would be still worse out in the open, and vetoed Waterbury's idea. As has been pointed out, a British victory would have been inevitable if an engagement were fought on the broad bosom of the lake. The wise American policy was to inflict the maximum damage on the invad- ing fleet and to delay a British campaign against Ticonderoga as long as possible. In the narrow channel between Valcour Island and the mainland, Arnold and his men were prepared to sell their lives and ships as dearly as possible.
As Pringle's fleet rounded the southern end of the island and attempted to make its way toward Arnold's position against the wind his largest ships fell behind. This situation tempted the American commander to attack the smaller ones in advance before the others could come to their assistance. With the "Royal Savage" and three galleys he went to meet the British. Naturally, the enemy, as soon as they noticed Arnold's maneuver, took immediate measures to thwart him. The "Carleton" was the first of Pringle's larger craft to arrive to assist its smaller brethren and immediately became involved in fierce firing. Her commander was knocked senseless, and due to the destructive hail from Arnold's ships, the command of the "Carleton" devolved upon a youth named Edward Pellew, who was
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then only nineteen years old, and who was destined later to become Lord Exmouth. When the bulk of the British fleet came too close for Arnold's safety, he attempted to return to his line of defense, but met with a great misfortune. The "Royal Savage," which was not only Arnold's flagship, but was also the only American craft which was in a class with the British, was lost. Its crew was mostly com- posed of landlubbers who mismanaged the ship with the result that it went aground on the island. Although the men escaped, the "Royal Savage" was disabled and later set on fire, while all of Arnold's papers were lost. The destruction of this ship was a severe blow to the American cause.
The fighting which had started about eleven o'clock had become general by twelve thirty. All the distance from the New York shore to the island the hostile fleets fired at each other from close musket range. Throughout the afternoon the action was terrific; Arnold, in the "Congress," being anchored in the hottest part of the fire, fight- ing with desperation and pointing the guns himself. As the hours passed, the heavy cannonade continued with undiminished intensity, while from the forests came a constant rain of bullets from the Indians stationed there. All the officers except one were killed on one of the American gondolas. Another ship was so riddled that she sank an hour after the engagement ended. The "Congress" and the "Wash- ington" were also seriously crippled. The dead and the dying seemed everywhere, yet the unequal contest dragged on and on. Finally, at about five o'clock the British ships withdrew without the victory which had seemed so certain in the morning. Although they were, of course, in a better condition than Arnold's vessels, they had encountered con- siderable damage. Two of Pringle's gunboats had been sunk, while another had been blown up. Several of the other ships had been damaged, and many men had given their lives. However, if we sum up the events of the afternoon, the most unusual feature was the fact that Arnold had escaped complete annihilation.
As darkness fell, Pringle posted the British ships across the chan- nel, bottling up the American fleet, and probably looked forward with anticipation to capturing Arnold's ships the next morning. And it is true that he had ample reason to be optimistic. Arnold was seriously crippled; a greatly superior hostile fleet was in front; and in the woods lurked a large number of Indians who blocked escape in that quarter. Furthermore, three-fourths of his ammunition had been used
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up. To continue the fight the following morning meant certain sur- render or defeat. There seemed but one avenue of escape, and that was to slip undetected through the British fleet during the night, a move which, if successful, would enable Arnold to return to Ticon- deroga for ammunition and supplies and provide an opportunity to patch up the battered ships that remained. Upon this course Arnold set his mind.
The American fleet now was favored by the elements. Except for this one example, wind and weather showed great partiality to the British and were to prove as formidable adversaries as Pringle's fleet, but on this occasion, as darkness fell, there came a mist. Along with this mist came improved chances of American success. Arnold's vessels were to steal quietly one by one through the hostile fleet with all lights extinguished except a lantern at the stern, while this was so masked that it could be seen only by the ship immediately following. The idea worked perfectly, and a great sigh of relief pervaded the mist as Arnold, in the "Congress," bringing up the rear, glided undiscovered out of the trap. Not a sound escaped from the battered patriots as the English lights rapidly faded away. Then, as fast as the crippled boats and exhausted crew could permit, they made their way southward in the direction of Crown Point and Ticonderoga. The damage was so great, however, that it was necessary for Arnold to stop when he reached Schuyler Island, near Port Kent, in order to repair leaks and keep his vessels from sinking. Two of the gondolas were so badly damaged that they were abandoned and sunk. The remainder of the ships were repaired as rapidly as possible. The British were too near for comfort and it was essential to continue to Ticonderoga without undue delay. Arnold was not yet saved, but at least he had escaped the noose prepared for him at Valcour Island.
When Sir Guy Carleton awoke on the morning of October twelfth, he was completely surprised and greatly enraged to find that during the night the bird that he had expected to devour now had flown away. The American fleet had completely disappeared. An immediate attempt was made to find it, but without success. Pringle and Carle- ton were compelled to return to their anchorage without locating Arnold's position when night approached. British scouts had had better luck, however, so when the next day dawned, the English com- mander knew just where to look.
In the meantime, Arnold and his men had been working fever- ishly and had repaired the worst leaks, making it possible to con-
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tinue the flight southward on the afternoon of October twelfth, while Carleton was still searching in vain. His crew was exhausted, and many of his followers were wounded. The men had been engaged in herculean efforts for two days and one night without rest and without proper food. They had not slept since before the battle. On top of all this, Arnold was now confronted with a new obstacle. The friendly wind gradually ceased, and soon a breeze began to spring up from the south. It finally assumed ominous pro- portions. The men were forced to pull at the oars without pause as they tried to advance through the angry whitecaps sweeping down the lake. The wind was not only hard; it was also quite cold, and the crew suffered terribly. Yet into the teeth of this hostile gale, the exhausted, starved, shivering men who comprised Arnold's force con- tinued on their way toward safety as darkness descended, and it is well that they did.
The momentous day of October thirteenth, which was Sunday, opened with fog. From the north, the superior and refreshed British fleet was making its way, unknown to Arnold. After a while the fog rose and the sun came out enabling the Americans to see the enemy ships approaching, and also making it possible for Carleton and Pringle to spot the Americans. Arnold's men and ships were in no condition for either fighting or fleeing, and were overtaken south of the outlet of the Boquet River near Split Rock. The Americans did their best to reach the protection of the guns of Crown Point and some of their ships actually arrived within ten miles of their goal, but could not quite accomplish it. The only choice now confronting Arnold was between surrender and destroying his own fleet. The decision was not difficult to make. He determined to sell his ships as dearly as possible. The "Washington" was forced to strike her col- ors; the "Lee" was run ashore and blown up near Split Rock; and the "Congress" and four gondolas were taken into Arnold's Bay on the Panton shore, on the eastern side of the lake, where the water was too shallow for the larger English ships to follow. Here, Arnold removed all the supplies from the vessels, afterwards setting the ships on fire. The commander himself was the last man to leave. When the flames were beyond control he leaped to the shore, and led his men through the woods toward Crown Point, where he arrived about four o'clock the next morning, Monday, October fourteenth. Here he found that, although only a very few American boats had escaped,
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the enemy had only captured one gondola and one galley. The rest had been destroyed. Thus ended the naval conflict which had begun with the battle of Valcour Island on October eleventh.
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