May to November 1776
The retreat from Canada and Valcour Island
On 6 May 1776 British ships reach Quebec with the first reinforcements, and the American army that has blockaded the city through the winter retreats up the St Lawrence. An American attack at Trois-Rivières on 8 June fails. Weakened by smallpox, the Americans leave Montreal and Fort St Johns in June and fall back along Lake Champlain to Crown Point and Ticonderoga.
Through the summer both sides build ships on the lake. On 11 October Guy Carleton’s flotilla defeats Benedict Arnold’s smaller fleet at Valcour Island. Carleton occupies Crown Point from 17 October, but with winter coming he withdraws to Canada on 2 November and leaves Ticonderoga in American hands.
The battle of Valcour Island, October 1776, watercolour by Henry GilderWikimedia Commons, Henry Gilder (1743-1808), Public domain (Battle of Valcour Island, 1776 RCIN 734022.jpg)
The attack on Benedict Arnold's fleet at Valcour Island, 11 October 1776, map published by William Faden, 1776Wikimedia Commons, William Faden, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Battle of Valcour Island (Oct 11, 1776).jpg)
Sources
- Mark R. Anderson, The Battle for the Fourteenth Colony (2013).
- Robert Middlekauff, The Glorious Cause (2005).
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