On this day 250 years ago, the British fleet of 32 gunships, commanded by Navy Captain Thomas Pringle escorting more than 50 unarmed support vessels and transport bateaux, sailed into Lake Champlain and anchored at Point au Fer, New York. The largest British warship Inflexible, a 27-ton ship that could mount eighteen 12-pounder cannon, was working its way up the Richelieu River from St. Johns, Canada and would catch up with the fleet the next day. British troops commanded by Gen. John Burgoyne were on land at Point au Fer and other British and Hessian troops were at Riviere la Colle just north of the border in Canada with additional troops and Indians in bateaux and canoes in the water and on the banks of the Richelieu River and Lake Champlain. The British invasion of New York was underway.

The smaller American fleet commanded by Brig. Gen. Benedict Arnold was anchored between Valcour Island and the western shore of Lake Champlain waitint to intercept the British fleet sailing south on the Lake.

Sources: James Nelson at 288-93; https://www.battlefields.org/learn/revolutionary-war/battles/valcour-island

Tonight, October 9, 2026, the Clinton County Historical Association will hold a Commemorative Dinner kicked for the 250th Anniversary of the Battle of Valcour Island that will continue this weekend with multiple events 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.facebook.com/events/823980830014757; 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