AFFAIRS ON LAKE CHAMPLAIN—GATES AT TICONDEROGA—ARNOLD’S
FLOTILLA—MILITARY PREPARATIONS OF SIR GUY CARLETON AT ST. JOHNS—NAUTICAL
ENCOUNTERS—GALLANT CONDUCT OF ARNOLD AND WATERBURY—CARLETON IN
POSSESSION OF CROWN POINT—HIS RETURN TO CANADA AND WINTER QUARTERS.
During his brief and busy sojourn at Peekskill, Washington received
important intelligence from the Northern army; especially that part of
it on Lake Champlain, under the command of General Gates. A slight
retrospect of affairs in that quarter is proper, before we proceed to
narrate the eventful campaign in the Jerseys.
The preparations for the defence of Ticonderoga, and the nautical
service on the lake, had met with difficulties at every step. At length,
by the middle of August, a small flotilla was completed, composed of a
sloop and schooner each of twelve guns (six and four pounders), two
schooners mounting eight guns each, and five gondolas, each of three
guns. The flotilla was subsequently augmented, and the command given by
Gates to Arnold, in compliance with the advice of Washington; who had a
high opinion of that officer’s energy, intrepidity, and fertility in
expedients.
Sir Guy Carleton, in the mean time, was straining every nerve for the
approaching conflict. The successes of the British forces on the
seaboard, had excited the zealous rivalry of the forces in Canada. The
commanders, newly arrived, were fearful the war might be brought to a
close, before they could have an opportunity to share in the glory.
Hence the ardor with which they encountered and vanquished obstacles
which might otherwise have appeared insuperable. Vessels were brought
from England in pieces and put together at St. Johns, boats of various
kinds and sizes were transported over land, or dragged up the rapids of
the Sorel. The soldiers shared with the seamen in the toil. The Canadian
farmers, also, were taken from their agricultural pursuits, and
compelled to aid in these, to them, unprofitable labors. Sir Guy was
full of hope and ardor. Should he get the command of Lakes Champlain and
George, the northern part of New York would be at his mercy; before
winter set in he might gain possession of Albany. He would then be able
to co-operate with General Howe in severing and subduing the northern
and southern provinces, and bringing the war to a speedy and triumphant
close.
In despite of every exertion, three months elapsed before his armament
was completed. Winter was fast approaching. Before it arrived, the
success of his brilliant plan required that he should fight his way
across Lake Champlain; carry the strong posts of Crown Point and
Ticonderoga; traverse Lake George, and pursue a long and dangerous march
through a wild and rugged country, beset with forests and morasses, to
Albany. That was the first post to the southward where he expected to
find rest and winter quarters for his troops.[128]
By the month of October, between twenty and thirty sail were afloat, and
ready for action. The flag-ship (the Inflexible) mounted eighteen
twelve-pounders; the rest were gunboats, a gondola and a flat-bottomed
vessel called a radeau, and named the _Thunderer_; carrying a battery of
six twenty-four and twelve six-pounders, besides howitzers. The gunboats
mounted brass field-pieces and howitzers. Seven hundred seamen navigated
the fleet; two hundred of them were volunteers from the transports. The
guns were worked by detachments from the corps of artillery. In a word,
according to British accounts, “no equipment of the kind was ever better
appointed or more amply furnished with every kind of provision necessary
for the intended service.”[129]
Captain Pringle conducted the armament, but Sir Guy Carleton was too
full of zeal, and too anxious for the event, not to head the enterprise;
he accordingly took his station on the deck of the flag-ship. They made
sail early in October, in quest of the American squadron, which was said
to be abroad upon the lake. Arnold, however, being ignorant of the
strength of the enemy, and unwilling to encounter a superior force in
the open lake, had taken his post under cover of Valcour Island, in the
upper part of a deep channel, or strait between that island and the
mainland. His force consisted of three schooners, two sloops, three
galleys and eight gondolas; carrying in all seventy guns, many of them
eighteen-pounders.
The British ships, sweeping past Cumberland Head with a fair wind and
flowing sail on the morning of the 11th, had left the southern end of
Valcour Island astern, when they discovered Arnold’s flotilla anchored
behind it, in a line extending across the strait so as not to be
outflanked. They immediately hauled close to the wind, and tried to beat
up into the channel. The wind, however, did not permit the largest of
them to enter. Arnold took advantage of the circumstance. He was on
board of the galley Congress, and, leaving the line, advanced with two
other galleys and the schooner Royal Savage, to attack the smaller
vessels as they entered before the large ones could come up. About
twelve o’clock the enemy’s schooner Carleton opened a brisk fire upon
the Royal Savage and the galleys. It was as briskly returned. Seeing the
enemy’s gunboats approaching, the Americans endeavored to return to the
line. In so doing, the Royal Savage ran aground. Her crew set her on
fire and abandoned her. In about an hour the British brought all their
gunboats in a range across the lower part of the channel, within musket
shot of the Americans, the schooner Carleton in the advance. They
landed, also, a large number of Indians on the island, to keep up a
galling fire from the shore upon the Americans with their rifles. The
action now became general, and was severe and sanguinary. The Americans,
finding themselves thus hemmed in by a superior force, fought with
desperation. Arnold pressed with his galley into the hottest of the
fight. The Congress was hulled several times, received seven shots
between wind and water, was shattered in mast and rigging, and many of
the crew were killed or wounded. The ardor of Arnold increased with his
danger. He cheered on his men by voice and example, often pointing the
guns with his own hands. He was ably seconded by Brigadier-general
Waterbury, in the Washington galley, which, like his own vessel, was
terribly cut up. The contest lasted throughout the day. Carried on as it
was within a narrow compass, and on a tranquil lake, almost every shot
took effect. The fire of the Indians from the shore was less deadly than
had been expected; but their whoops and yells, mingling with the
rattling of the musketry, and the thundering of the cannon, increased
the horrors of the scene. Volumes of smoke rose above the woody shores,
which echoed with the unusual din of war, and for a time this lovely
recess of a beautiful and peaceful lake was rendered a perfect
pandemonium.
The evening drew nigh, yet the contest was undecided. Captain Pringle,
after a consultation with Sir Guy Carleton, called off the smaller
vessels which had been engaged, and anchored his whole squadron in a
line as near as possible to the Americans, so as to prevent their
escape; trusting to capture the whole of them when the wind should prove
favorable, so that he could bring his large vessels into action.
Arnold, however, sensible that with his inferior and crippled force all
resistance would be unavailing, took advantage of a dark cloudy night,
and a strong north wind; his vessels slipped silently through the
enemy’s line without being discovered, one following a light on the
stern of the other; and by daylight they were out of sight. They had to
anchor, however, at Schuyler’s Island, about ten miles up the lake, to
stop leaks and make repairs. Two of the gondolas were here sunk, being
past remedy. About noon the retreat was resumed, but the wind had become
adverse; and they made little progress. Arnold’s galley, the Congress,
the Washington galley and four gondolas, all which had suffered severely
in the late fight, fell astern of the rest of the squadron in the course
of the night. In the morning, when the sun lifted a fog which had
covered the lake, they beheld the enemy within a few miles of them in
full chase, while their own comrades were nearly out of sight, making
the best of their way for Crown Point.
It was now an anxious trial of speed and seamanship. Arnold, with the
crippled relics of his squadron, managed by noon to get within a few
leagues of Crown Point, when they were overtaken by the Inflexible, the
Carleton, and the schooner Maria of 14 guns. As soon as they came up,
they poured in a tremendous fire. The Washington galley, already
shattered, and having lost most of her officers, was compelled to
strike, and General Waterbury and the crew were taken prisoners. Arnold
had now to bear the brunt of the action. For a long time he was engaged
within musket shot with the Inflexible, and the two schooners, until his
galley was reduced to a wreck and one third of the crew were killed. The
gondolas were nearly in the same desperate condition: yet the men stood
stoutly to their guns. Seeing resistance vain, Arnold determined that
neither vessels nor crew should fall into the hands of the enemy. He
ordered the gondolas to run on shore, in a small creek in the
neighborhood, the men to set fire to them as soon as they grounded, to
wade on shore with their muskets, and keep off the enemy until they were
consumed. He did the same with his own galley; remaining on board of her
until she was in flames, lest the enemy should get possession and strike
his flag, which was kept flying to the last.
He now set off with his gallant crew, many of whom were wounded, by a
road through the woods to Crown Point, where he arrived at night,
narrowly escaping an Indian ambush. Two schooners, two galleys, one
sloop and one gondola, the remnant which had escaped of this squadron,
were at anchor at the Point, and General Waterbury and most of his men
arrived there the next day on parole. Seeing that the place must soon
fall into the hands of the enemy, they set fire to the houses, destroyed
every thing they could not carry away, and embarking in the vessels made
sail for Ticonderoga.
The loss of the Americans in these two actions is said to have been
between eighty and ninety men; that of the British about forty. It is
worthy of mention, that among the young officers in Sir Guy Carleton’s
squadron, was Edward Pellew, who afterwards rose to renown as Admiral
Viscount Exmouth; celebrated, among other things for his victory at
Algiers.
The conduct of Arnold in these naval affairs gained him new laurels. He
was extolled for the judgment with which he chose his position, and
brought his vessels into action; for his masterly retreat, and for the
self-sacrificing devotion with which he exposed himself to the
overwhelming force of the enemy in covering the retreat of part of his
flotilla.
Sir Guy Carleton took possession of the ruined works at Crown Point,
where he was soon joined by the army. He made several movements by land
and water, as if meditating an attack upon Ticonderoga; pushing strong
detachments on both sides of the lake, which approached within a small
distance of the fort, while one vessel appeared within cannon shot of a
lower battery, sounding the depth of the channel, until a few shot
obliged her to retire. General Gates, in the mean time, strengthened his
works with incessant assiduity, and made every preparation for an
obstinate defence. A strong easterly wind prevented the enemy’s ships
from advancing to attack the lines, and gave time for the arrival of
reinforcements of militia to the garrison. It also afforded time for Sir
Guy Carleton to cool in ardor, and calculate the chances and the value
of success. The post, from its strength, and the apparent number and
resolution of the garrison, could not be taken without great loss of
life. If taken, the season was now too far advanced to think of passing
Lake George, and exposing the army to the perils of a winter campaign in
the inhospitable and impracticable wilds to the southward. Ticonderoga,
too, could not be kept during the winter, so that the only result of the
capture would be the reduction of the works and the taking of some
cannon; all which damage the Americans could remedy before the opening
of the summer campaign. If, however, the defence should be obstinate,
the British army, even if successful, might sustain a loss sufficient to
cripple its operations in the coming year.[130]
These, and other prudential reasons, induced Carleton to give up all
attempt upon the fortress at present; wherefore, re-embarking his
troops, he returned to St. Johns, and cantoned them in Canada for the
winter. It was not until about the 1st of November, that a reconnoitring
party, sent out from Ticonderoga by General Gates, brought him back
intelligence that Crown Point was abandoned by the enemy, and not a
hostile sail in sight. All apprehensions of an attack upon Ticonderoga
during the present year were at an end, and many of the troops stationed
there were already on their march toward Albany.
Such was the purport of the news from the north, received by Washington
at Peekskill. It relieved him for the present from all anxiety
respecting affairs on Lake Champlain, and gave him the prospect of
reinforcements from that quarter.