Battle of Valcour Island - Battle

Battle

Carleton's fleet, commanded by Captain Thomas Pringle and including 50 unarmed support vessels, sailed onto Lake Champlain on October 9. They cautiously advanced southward, searching for signs of Arnold's fleet. On the night of October 10, the fleet anchored about 15 miles (24 km) to the north of Arnold's position, still unaware of his location. The next day, they continued to sail south, assisted by favorable winds. After they passed the northern tip of Valcour Island, Arnold sent out Congress and Royal Savage to draw the attention of the British. Following an inconsequential exchange of fire with the British, the two ships tried to return to Arnold's crescent-shaped firing line. However, Royal Savage was unable to fight the headwinds, and ran aground on the southern tip of Valcour Island. Some of the British gunboats swarmed toward her, as Captain Hawley and his men hastily abandoned ship. Men from the HMS Loyal Convert boarded her, capturing 20 men in the process, but were then forced to abandon her under heavy fire from the Americans. Many of Arnold's papers were lost with the destruction of Royal Savage, which was burned by the British.

The British gunboats and Carleton then maneuvered within range of the American line. Thunderer and HMS Maria were unable to make headway against the winds, and did not participate in the battle, while Inflexible eventually came far enough up the strait to participate in the action. Around 12:30 pm, the battle began in earnest, with both sides firing broadsides and cannonades at each other, and continued all afternoon. Revenge was heavily hit; Philadelphia was also heavily damaged and eventually sank around 6:30 pm. Carleton, whose guns wrought havoc against the smaller American gundalows, became a focus of attention. A lucky shot eventually snapped the line holding her broadside in position, and she was seriously damaged before she could be towed out of range of the American line. Her casualties were significant; eight men were killed and another eight wounded. The young Edward Pellew, serving as a midshipman aboard Carleton, distinguished himself by ably commanding the vessel to safety when its senior officers, including its captain, Lieutenant James Dacres, were injured. Another lucky American shot hit a British gunboat's magazine and the vessel exploded.

Toward sunset, Inflexible finally reached the action. Her big guns quickly silenced most of Arnold's fleet. The British also began landing Indians on both Valcour Island and the lakeshore, in order to deny the Americans the possibility of retreating to land. As darkness fell, the American fleet retreated, and the British called off the attack, in part because some boats had run out of ammunition. Lieutenant James Hadden, commanding one of the British gunboats, noted that "little more than one third of the British Fleet" saw much action that day.