Join Bob Lewis to hear about The Battle of Valcour Island on Lake Champlain.
Continental Army Brigadier General Benedict Arnold, a former merchant captain, anticipated that any British invasion southward from Canada to New York City would require command of Lake Champlain. Arnold created a small fleet of gunboats on Lake Champlain to attack the British invasion fleet. Arnold was seriously out-manned and out-gunned, so he hid his fleet until the British fleet had sailed past and then attacked from upwind, a great advantage in the days of sail. Arnold’s efforts delayed the British invasion until the next year, giving the Continental Army time to prepare and defeat the British at Saratoga October 7, 1777.