Service history
September 1776
Trumbull transported a draft of reinforcements to Crown Point, New York, as General Arnold's forces sought to hurry to completion a squadron of small vessels, mostly galleys and cannon-carrying gondolas, or "gun-dalows," to oppose the expected British push down the lake toward Fort Ticonderoga. The Americans sought to retain possession of the lake, which they had controlled since early in the war, and thus engaged in a shipbuilding race with the British, who were also constructing a fleet of specially designed lake craft. Since there were no roads parallel to the lake, the British were forced to launch their invasion southward by water instead of by land. Control of Lake Champlain was thus vital to the success of British plans.
Battle of Valcour Island
Trumbull was among Arnold's vessels that anchored in the lee of Valcour Island, south of Plattsburgh, New York, by early October, to await the British onslaught. With 25 ships, the British outnumbered the Americans by 10; and, in view of this numerical inferiority, Arnold's second-in-command urged a withdrawal. Nevertheless, despite his squadron's inferiority, Arnold bravely stood and fought.
Initially, the Americans' position favored them, as on the morning of 11 October 1776, Capt. Thomas Pringle's 25-vessel "fleet" sailed past Valcour Island and failed to discover Arnold's ships until he was south of them. Then, forced to attack from the leeward, Pringle's ships sailed up to meet Arnold's which were deployed in a crescent-shaped formation, anchored across Valcour Bay. In the resultant action, the Americans suffered heavy damage to Washington, Congress, and New York; and the loss of Royal Savage and Philadelphia. The action ended at nightfall when the British withdrew and anchored, thinking that the Americans could not escape.
Under cover of darkness and fog, the surviving ships in Arnold's squadron muffled their oars to slip past the unsuspecting British. However, before they could reach safety, a contrary wind sprang up and slowed their progress southward. The British weighed anchor, gave chase, and soon overhauled the Americans. In the ensuing battle, Arnold lost his own flagship, the galley Congress, and five other ships.
Trumbull escaped the holocaust, only to be captured by the British the following year, 1777, and was eventually destroyed.
Aftermath of the Battle of Valcour Island
Thus, the Battle of Valcour Island ended in a crushing tactical defeat for the Americans since it all but annihilated Arnold's flotilla and left the British in full control of Lake Champlain. However, the dominance of Arnold's little warships on the lake during the first year and one-half of the Revolutionary War had prevented British troops from invading the newly independent colonies from Canada through the Lake Champlain, Lake George, Hudson River corridor. Then, when the Royal Navy finally did manage to best Arnold's flotilla at Valcour Island in the autumn of 1776, winter was too close to permit English land forces to take advantage of British victory by a thrust down the corridor to attack Washington's army from the rear. This gave the colonies additional time to recruit, train, and arm the forces which the following year stopped a British invasion in a decisive victory at Saratoga, New York, which has been called the turning point of the American Revolution. Thus, while losing on a tactical level at Valcour, the Americans won a strategic victory which ultimately enabled them to achieve independence.
The Battle of Valcour Island, also known as the Battle of Valcour Bay, was a naval engagement that took place on October 11, 1776, on Lake Champlain. The main action took place in Valcour Bay, a narrow strait between the New York mainland and Valcour Island. The battle is generally regarded as one of the first naval battles of the American Revolutionary War, and one of the first fought by the United States Navy. Most of the ships in the American fleet under the command of Benedict Arnold were captured or destroyed by a British force under the overall direction of General Guy Carleton. However, the American defense of Lake Champlain stalled British plans to reach the upper Hudson River valley.
USS Enterprise was a Continental Army sloop-of-war that served in Lake Champlain during the American Revolutionary War. She was the first of a long and prestigious line of ships of the United States or by the combatant forces of the U.S. Revolutionary War to bear the name Enterprise.
USS Julia was a schooner in the United States Navy during the War of 1812. Initially the privately-owned schooner Julia, she was captured at the onset of the war by armed boats looking for violators of President James Madison's embargo of trade with the British. Purchased by the United States Navy, the vessel was armed with two guns and made part of the squadron on Lake Ontario. Julia took part in the Battle of York and the Battle of Fort George. In August 1813, the schooner was captured by the Royal Navy after failing to execute a turn and was put in service as HMS Confiance. The vessel continued as a warship in British service for a couple of weeks before being converted to a troop transport. In October, Confiance was recaptured by the Americans and renamed Julia. No longer considered capable as a warship, the vessel was retired from service.
The first USS Revenge was a Schooner in the Continental Navy. Revenge was built in the summer of 1776 by Colonel Jeduthan Baldwin at Fort Ticonderoga, New York.
The USS Liberty was a schooner built at Skenesboro, New York, on Lake Champlain, for wealthy landowner and former British Army Captain Philip Skene. It was captured on May 11, 1775, during a raid on Skenesboro led by Capt. Samuel Herrick, an early action in the American Revolution.
The first USS New Haven was a gundalow built in 1776 on Lake Champlain, Capt. Mansfield in command, under General Benedict Arnold, who was a native of the ship's namesake city. New Haven took part in the engagement with the British Squadron at the Battle of Valcour Island on 11 and 12 October 1776. The New Haven was among those vessels deliberately grounded and burned preceding the American retreat overland to Crown Point and Fort Ticonderoga.
David Hawley (1741–1807) was a captain in the Continental Navy and a privateer during the American Revolutionary War. He commanded Royal Savage in the 1776 Battle of Valcour Island, which is generally regarded as one of the first naval battles of the American Revolutionary War, and one of the first fought by the United States Navy.
USS Philadelphia is a gunboat of the Continental Navy. She was constructed from July–August 1776 for service during the American Revolutionary War. Manned by Continental Army soldiers, she was part of a fleet under the command of General Benedict Arnold that fought against the British Royal Navy in the Battle of Valcour Island on Lake Champlain. Philadelphia was sunk during the battle on 11 October 1776.
Valcour Bay is actually a strait or sound, located between Valcour Island and the west side of Lake Champlain, four miles south of Plattsburgh, New York. It was the site of the Battle of Valcour Island during the American Revolutionary War. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1961 because of this association. Valcour Bay is located in the Towns of Peru and Plattsburgh, both in Clinton County, New York.
USS Congress was a row galley that served the Continental Navy during the American Revolution.
The first USS Boston was a gundalow built at Skenesborough, New York, in 1776, with a crew of 45 for General Benedict Arnold's short-lived Lake Champlain Fleet. She took part in the Battle of Valcour Island that delayed the British invasion. She was probably commissioned sometime early in August 1776, with a Captain Sumner in command.
USS Washington was a lateen-rigged, two-masted galley in the service of the Continental Congress during the American Revolutionary War. Washington was capable of propulsion by sail or by the rowing of oarsmen. During a battle with British warships, Washington "struck her colors" and was captured by the British.
USS Providence, a gundalow, was built at Skenesboro, New York, on Lake Champlain by the Continental Army for Brigadier-General Benedict Arnold's fleet on Lake Champlain in 1776, during the American Revolutionary War.
USS Lee was a galley built for the Continental Navy during the American Revolution. She participated in the Battle of Valcour Island during which she was grounded and lost. However, her participation in the battle helped delay the British advance on New York City by a year.
USS Spitfire was an American gundalow that operated as a gunboat in 1776 on Lake Champlain. She was part of Benedict Arnold's small, hastily built fleet of ships whose purpose was to counter any British invasion forces passing through the lake from Canada. Her service life was brief; after only a few months patrolling the lake she was lost in the aftermath of the Battle of Valcour Island. The gunboat's wreck was located and documented in the 1990s by the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum.
Vice-Admiral Thomas Pringle was a British officer of the Royal Navy. He served during the American War of Independence, and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.
American colonial marines were various naval infantry units which served during the Revolutionary War on the Patriot side. After the conflict broke out in 1775, nine of the rebelling Thirteen Colonies established state navies to carry out naval operations. Accordingly, several marine units were raised to serve as an infantry component aboard the ships of these navies. The marines, along with the navies they served in, were intended initially as a stopgap measure to provide the Patriots with naval capabilities before the Continental Navy reached a significant level of strength. After its establishment, state navies, and the marines serving in them, participated in several operations alongside the Continental Navy and its marines.
New York (1776) was a gunboat built in 1776 at Skenesboro, New York. It was originally called Success prior to launch for service in General Benedict Arnold's fleet on Lake Champlain. New York may be named after the City of New York, because other ships in the fleet were named after cities, however, it could be named after the State of New York, because at least one or two other ships, Connecticut and Jersey, sometimes referred to as New Jersey, were named after states.
Royal Savage was a two-masted schooner built by the British in the summer of 1775. She was damaged and sunk by soldiers of the United Colonies during the Siege of Fort St. Jean and later raised and repaired after the fort was captured. She then participated in General Benedict Arnold's campaign on Lake Champlain. The British captured and burnt her in October 1776 at Valcour Island.
HMS Maria was a schooner that the Americans captured in 1775 and that the British recaptured on 7 May 1776 at Quebec City and took into the Royal Navy.
United States