On this day 250 years on Lake Champlain the row galleys Washington and Congress under the command of Brig. Gen. David Waterbury joined Brig. Gen. Benedict Arnold’s fleet anchored at Valcour Island, New York. The addition of these vessels brings Arnold’s fleet to 15 boats mounting 78 guns capable of firing 600 pounds of shot and manned by about 760 men. Arnold knew that the British have built a fleet and are advancing south on land and water from the Isle aux Noix just north of the Canadian border and that the British have him outnumbered in men. What he did not know was that he was outnumbered and outgunned by the British fleet. Heading his way were 33 British boats including the newly constructed sloop Inflexible. The British fleet mounted 89 guns capable of firing 1000 pounds and was manned by 687 experienced British sailors accompanied by hundreds of Indians in canoes and followed by British soldiers in bateaux and on land. In all the British force numbered 2300 men.
Sources: Nelson, James L., Benedict Arnold’s Navy, The Ragtag Fleet that Lost the Battle of Lake Champlain but Won the Revolution, Camden, Maine: McGraw-Hill (2006) at 284-87, 293; https://www.battlefields.org/learn/revolutionary-war/battles/valcour-island
Today, October 6, 2026, in Plattsburgh, New York, the Clinton County Historical Association kicked off a commemoration of the 250th Anniversary of the Battle of Valcour Island that will continue on October 9 with multiple events over the weekend culminating with a reenactment of the battle, and a Memorial Service for the men who gave their lives in the battle, on October 11, 2026. On that same day at the United States Navy Memorial in Washington, D.C., there will also be a lecture on “Valor at Valcour: Revolutionary War Wrecks in Lake Champlain and a Vision for Exhibiting US Navy’s Underwater Archaeology” that my wife and I will be attending.
https://www.clintoncountyhistorical.org/america250; https://www.adkcoastcultural.org/battle-of-valcour-island-250th-anniversary.html; https://www.navymemorial.org/new-events/2026/10/11/250th-anniversary-of-battle-of-valcour-island
