Naval History of the American Revolution - Chapters V-VI



CHAPTER V
OTHER EVENTS ON THE SEA IN 1776

Having followed the movements of two fleets in service during 1776, there 
remain to be considered various cruises and actions of a number of single 
vessels, public and private, that went out upon the sea in that year; and 
some other events as well.

The Massachusetts navy began its existence in August, 1775, when the 
Machias Liberty and Diligent were taken into the service of the province 
and Jeremiah O'Brien was put in command of them. The Diligent was 
afterwards commanded by Captain John Lambert. These vessels cruised 
intermittently and with some success for over a year, or until October, 
1776. In February they were at Newburyport and received new crews. In the 
spring O'Brien took two or three small prizes (O'Brien, chs. vii, viii, 
ix; Am. Arch., IV, iv, 1294, vi, 800, V, iii, 384,387; Massachusetts Mag., 
January, April, 1910; Boston Gazette, June 10, July 29, 1776; Mass. Court 
Rec., February 8, March 23, 1776.)

Meanwhile the force had been increased. As a result of the report of the 
committee appointed December 29, 1775, to consider the subject of a state 
navy, ten vessels were authorized by the General Court of Massachusetts in 
February, 1776, the number being shortly afterwards reduced to five. April 
20 it was resolved "that the Brigantine building at Kingston be called the 
Independence, that the Brigantine building at Dartmouth be called the 
Rising Empire, that the Sloop building at Salisbury be called the 
Tyrannicide, that one of the Sloops building at Swanzey be called the 
Republic and the other the Freedom." The Tyrannicide was changed into a 
brigantine a few months later. Another vessel, the brigantine 
Massachusetts, was built at Salisbury in the spring. The Tyrannicide, 
Captain John Fisk, carrying fourteen guns and seventy-five men, seems to 
have been the first of these newly constructed vessels to get to sea. She 
sailed July 8 and four days later captured a prize. Captain Fisk's report, 
dated July 17, says: "This may serve to acquaint your Honours that in 
latitude 40° 26' north, longitude 65° 50' west, I fell in with the armed 
schooner Despatch from Halifax, bound to New York; and after an engagement 
of one-and-a-half hour, she struck to the American arms. I boarded her and 
found on board eight carriage guns and twelve swivel guns, twenty small 
arms, sixteen pistols, twenty cutlasses, some cartridges, boxes, and belts 
for bayonets, nine half barrels powder, all the accoutrement for said 
cannon. The Commander and one man were killed, and seven others wounded. 
The crew consisted of thirty men and one boy. I lost one man killed and 
ten wounded, and my vessel was much shattered, which obliged me to return 
with my prize, which I have at anchor in Salem Harbour, and wait your 
Honours' orders how to proceed with the prisoners. All the Captain's 
papers and orders were thrown overboard." (Coll. Essex Inst., January, 
1906.) Fisk sailed again and during the month of August took four prizes, 
one of which was recaptured by a British frigate which chased and nearly 
caught the Tyrannicide. Upon Fisk's advice his sloop's rig was changed 
after her return from this cruise. October 29, Fisk was ordered on another 
cruise to the eastward of Nantucket Shoals as far as the ninth meridian of 
longitude and south to the twelfth parallel of north latitude. Meanwhile 
the brigantine Independence, Captain Simeon Sampson, whose instructions of 
July 26 were apparently the next issued after those of Captain Fisk, was 
"Directed Imediately to proceed on a Cruize not only against our Unatural 
Enemies, but also for ye Protection of the Trade of the United States, and 
you are directed to Range the Coast of the Province of Main . . . and from 
thence proceed as farr Southward as the Lattitude thirty-four North, and 
not further West than the Shoals of Nantuckett, nor further East than the 
Island [of] Sable, on the Coast of Nova Scotia." The Independence 
accomplished little during the year (Mass. Court Rec., April 20, May 4, 
September 13, 1776; Rec. Mass. Council, July 26, October 29, 1776; Am. 
Arch., V, i, 405, 552; Boston Gazette, August 19, 1776; Massachusetts 
Mag., April, 1908, January, 1909.)

Richard Derby of Salem reported, October 3, that on the previous evening 
the brigantine Massachusetts, "belonging to this State, aryved here." She 
bad been cruising during September under the command of Captain Daniel 
Souther, who, Derby says, "Informs me that a few Days after he sailed he 
fell in with & Took a Brigantine of about 250 Tons from Falmouth in 
England mounting six three pound Cannon & having on board a Captain & 
about 20 Privates of the 16th Regiment of Dragoons, with their Horse 
Accoutrements . . . He parted from the Prize this Day week in a Storm 
which has Continued almost ever since, but as the wind has been favourable 
this Day or two I Expect every moment to see or to hear of her being 
aryved at Boston. The prisoners in all amount to 35 which Cap Souther 
tho't too many to Cary the Cruise with him & therefor tho't best to Return 
& Land them, Espetially as he Expected to Do it in a few Days, but Gales 
of wind have prevented him. The Honble Board I hope will send me 
Directions how to Dispose of the Prisoners . . . They say the People in 
Brittain know Nothing what is passing in America & Capt Souther Informs me 
the Chaplain has told him the People in England begin to grow very weary." 
(Massachusetts Mag., October, 1908; Boston Gazette, October 7, 1776.)

The sloops Republic, Captain John Foster Williams, and Freedom, Captain 
John Clouston, when ready for sea were ordered to Boston. In October the 
Republic was sent on a cruise off Nantucket and soon captured the British 
armed ship Julius Caesar. The Republic was afterwards employed in 
commercial voyages. Captain Clouston's orders are dated September 20, 
1776: "The sloop Freedom under your command, being in all respects 
equipped in a warlike manner and being also well and properly manned, so 
as to enable you to proceed on a cruise, you therefore are directed to 
range the eastern shore of this State laying between the River Piscataqua 
and Machias, in order to clear that coast of any of the enemy's cruisers 
that may be infesting the same; and from thence proceed to the mouth of 
the River St. Lawrence and there cruise until the first of November, in 
order to intercept any of the enemy's vessels that may be passing that 
way; and from thence you must proceed to the coast of Newfoundland and 
there cruise until the middle of November aforesaid, in order to surprise 
and seize such vessels of the enemy as you meet upon that coast or in any 
of the harbours of the same; after which you may proceed upon a cruise as 
far southward as latitude 38° north and continue upon said cruise so long 
as you find it practicable or expedient; and then you are to return to the 
harbour of Boston, always using every necessary precaution to prevent the 
sloop under your command from falling into the hands of the enemy. You are 
to observe and follow such orders and directions as you shall from time to 
time receive from Captain Daniel Souther, provided they are consistent 
with the instructions now given you. And whereas you have received a 
commission by force of arms to attack, seize and take on the high seas all 
ships and other vessels belonging to the inhabitants of Great Britain, or 
others infesting the sea-coast of this Continent, you are therefore 
punctually to follow the instructions already delivered you for regulating 
your conduct in this matter, and in all things conduct yourself consistent 
with the trust reposed in you." (Massachusetts Mag., April, 1909.) These 
instructions were probably not carried out, and after her return from a 
short cruise, the Freedom was altered into a brigantine, being fitted out 
with the masts, sails, and rigging of the Rising Empire. This vessel for 
some reason, after a very short cruise, had been reported by her captain 
to be "totally unflt for the service," and was put out of commission 
(Ibid., April, July, 1909, July, 1911; Mass. Court Rec., October 9, 1776.)

In May, 1776, the Connecticut brig Defence, Captain Harding, captured 
several tories crossing to Long Island. Harding then fitted out three 
small sloops to search for tories, the Defence being too well known to 
them. In a letter expressing well defined opinions of toryism, Governor 
Trumbull of Connecticut acknowledged Harding's reports "communicating 
alarming intelligence of a most unnatural and traitorous combination among 
the inhabitants of this Colony. Possessed of and enjoying the most 
valuable and important privileges, to betray them all into the hands of 
our cruel oppressors is shocking and astonishing conduct and evinces the 
deep degeneracy and wickedness of which mankind is capable. Have laid your 
communication before my Council. They are equally shocked at this horrid 
baseness and will with me be ready to come into any proper measures to 
defeat and suppress this wicked conspiracy to the utmost of our power; and 
in the mean time approve and applaud your zeal and activity to discover 
and apprehend any persons concerned in this blackest treason." (Am. Arch., 
IV, vi, 503.) The Defence afterwards performed valuable service in 
Massachusetts Bay, returning to New London in July, and continued cruising 
during the rest of the year (Am. Arch., IV, vi, 439, 470, 482, 483, 503, 
531; Connecticut Courant, July 22, 1776; Continental Journal, October 10, 
1776; New London Hist. Soc., IV, i, 37.)

Delaware and Chesapeake Bays and the Carolina sounds witnessed a good deal 
of marine conflict during the year 1776. Pennsylvania, Maryland, and 
Virginia maintained many small craft, as well as some large vessels, for 
defense, and a number of captures were made early in the year. Several 
Continental vessels also cruised in these waters. In March the British 
sloop of war Otter, with several tenders and prizes, came up Chesapeake 
Bay nearly as far as Baltimore. The ship Defence, Captain James Nicholson, 
of the Maryland navy, went out to meet the Otter, drove her down the bay 
and recaptured her prizes. Governor Dunmore of Virginia employed a 
considerable fleet in Chesapeake Bay, which in July comprised more than 
forty vessels. Whatever British men-of-war happened to be stationed in the 
bay, and there were generally a few at least, were attached to this fleet. 
A family of tories, John Goodrich and several sons, also cruised about the 
bay in Dunmore's service. The chief function of the state cruisers was to 
check the ravages of these vessels along the shores of the bays and 
rivers. Several of their prizes were recaptured by the navies of Virginia, 
Maryland, and North Carolina, and other captures, some of them important, 
were occasionally made. June 20, Captain James Barron of the Virginia navy 
took the Oxford, one of the fleet of Scotch transports bound to Boston, 
and brought her into Jamestown (Am. Arch., IV, iv, 114, 122, 123, 125, 
126, v, 199, vi, 1559, V, i, 152, 525, ii, 162, iii, 821, 1607; Almon, 
iii, 31; Boston Gazette, February 5, May 20, July 15, 1776; N. E. 
Chronicle, May 23, 1776; So. Lit. Messenger, February, 1857.)

After the departure of Hopkins's fleet for New Providence in February, the 
Marine Committee fitted out other Continental vessels from time to time. 
Those that cruised along the coast of the Middle States were the brigs 
Lexington and Reprisal, of sixteen guns each, and the sloops Independence 
and Sachem, of ten guns each, and Mosquito of four guns. April 7, in sight 
of the Virginia capes, Captain John Barry of the Lexington reported to the 
Marine Committee: "I have the pleasure to acquaint you that at one P.M. 
this day I fell in with the sloop Edward [of eight guns], belonging to the 
Liverpool frigate. She engaged us near two glasses. They killed two of our 
men and wounded two more. We shattered her in a terrible manner, as you 
will see. We killed and wounded several of her crew. I shall give you a 
particular account of the powder and arms taken out of her, as well as my 
proceedings in general. I have the happiness to acquaint you that all our 
people behaved with much courage." (Pennsylvania Gazette, April 17, 1776.) 
Captain Barry was an Irishman by birth and afterwards became a 
distinguished officer of the navy. In July the sloop Sachem captured a 
heavily armed British letter of marque brig (Am. Arch., IV, v, 810, V, ii, 
823; Almon, iii, 81; Griffin's Life of Barry, 30; Barney, 45, 46; N. E. 
Chronicle, April 25, 1776.)

The British man-of-war Roebuck, 44, cruised about the Virginia and 
Delaware capes from the middle of March until June. May 5, in company with 
the Liverpool, 28, and a number of tenders and prizes, she came up 
Delaware Bay. On the 8th these vessels were met below Chester by thirteen 
Pennsylvania galleys and an engagement followed which lasted all the 
afternoon. The Continental schooner Wasp, Captain Alexander, came out of 
Christiana Creek, into which she had been driven the day before by the 
British, and recaptured one of their prizes - a brig. The Roebuck was 
considerably injured in her rigging and, in attempting to get near the 
galleys, grounded on a shoal; the Liverpool anchored near by for her 
protection. During the night the Roebuck got off and the British dropped 
down the river. The galleys followed and another action took place. An 
American prisoner, impressed on board the Roebuck, says that the galleys 
"attacked the men-of-war the second day with more courage and conduct 
[and] the Roebuck received many shots betwixt wind and water; some went 
quite through, some in her quarter, and was much raked fore and aft . . . 
During the engagement one man was killed by a shot which took his arm 
almost off. Six were much hurt and burned by an eighteen-pound cartridge 
of powder taking fire, among whom was an acting lieutenant." (Am. Arch., 
IV, vi, 810.) The British ships then retreated. In his official report to 
the admiral the captain of the Roebuck says: "On the 5th of May I took the 
Liverpool with me, sailed up the River as far as Wilmington, where I was 
attacked in a shallow part of the River by thirteen Row Gallies attended 
by several FireShips and Launches, which in two long Engagements I beat 
off and did my utmost to destroy . . . After having fully executed what I 
had in view, I returned to the Capes the 15th." (Brit. Adm. Rec., A. D. 
487, November 28, 1776.) The presence of the Reprisal and Hornet in the 
bay, or near by, although they took no part in the action, may have 
contributed to the discomfort of the Englishmen's situation (Am. Arch., 
IV, vi, 395, 408, 498, 809-811; Almon, iii, 173; Boston Gazette, May 20, 
1776; Barney, 40-43; Wallace's Life of Bradford, 367.)

The Reprisal, Captain Lambert Wickes, was ordered June 10 to Martinique, 
but she did not sail at once; at the end of the month she was still in the 
Delaware. On the 29th the armed brig Nancy, from the West Indies bound to 
Philadelphia with ammunition and military stores, was chased off the 
Delaware capes by six British men-of-war and tenders; she engaged the 
latter and beat them off. The Lexington and Reprisal came to the Nancy's 
rescue, and under cover of a fog she was run ashore near Cape May and the 
most valuable part of her cargo, including two hundred and seventy barrels 
of powder, was saved. The fog soon lifted and the British were seen to be 
very near and sending in boats. The Nancy's captain and crew then quitted 
her after setting her on fire, a large quantity of powder being still on 
board. Two or three of the British boats then came in, boarded the Nancy 
"and took possession of her with three cheers; soon after which the fire 
took the desired effect and blew the pirates forty or flfty yards into the 
air and much shattered one of their boats under her stern. Eleven dead 
bodies have since come on shore with two gold-laced hats and a leg with a 
garter. From the great number of limbs floating and driven ashore it is 
supposed thirty or forty of them were destroyed by the explosion." (Am. 
Arch., V, i, 14.) According to a British account, which may, however, 
refer to another incident, the boats sent in "boarded amidst a heavy fire 
from the shore, where thousands of people had assembled to protect her. 
Finding it impossible to get her off, we set her on fire, with orders to 
quit her without loss of time, as we found her cargo consisted of three 
hundred and sixty barrels of powder with some saltpetre and dry goods; but 
unfortunately, before we had all left her, she blew up and a mate and six 
men was blown to pieces in her. The oars of the other boats were all 
knocked to atoms and two men had their ribs broke; but considering the 
whole, we was amazingly fortunate, as the pieces of the vessel was falling 
all round for some time." (Navy Rec. Soc., vi, 35, journal of Lieutenant 
(later RearAdmiral) James, in which discrepancies in date and other 
details may perhaps be accounted for by its having been written two years 
later, in prison.) The Americans mounted a gun on shore and opened fire on 
the men-of-war. The fire was returned and Lieutenant Wickes, brother of 
the captain of the Reprisal, was killed (Am. Arch., IV, vi, 783, V, i, 14; 
Mag. Amer. Hist., March, 1878, narrative of Lieutenant Matthewman.)

The Reprisal sailed July 3 for the West Indies, taking out as passenger 
William Bingham, who was to be the American commercial and naval agent at 
Martinique. The Reprisal convoyed thirteen merchantmen to a safe distance 
beyond the Delaware capes. During the voyage she took and manned three 
prizes, which left her very short-handed. As she was approaching the port 
of St. Pierre, July 27, the British sloop of war Shark, 16, came out of 
the harbor. Captain Chapman of the Shark says that at half-past five that 
afternoon a ship was seen coming around the northern point of the bay and 
was suspected of being an American. At seven the Shark slipped her cables 
and made sail. Half an hour later the Reprisal tacked. "We wore and stood 
towards him & haild him twice in French, to which he made no answer; we 
afterwards haild him in English, he continued to make sail from us & made 
no reply. At 9 fir'd a shot ahead of him and haild in English, told him we 
was an English Man of War; he made no answer, but bore down and fired a 
Broadside into us, which we returned immediately and continued engaging 
1/2 an hour, then he back'd his Maintops & dropt astern & afterwards 
tack'd; 1/4 past 10 we tack'd & stood towards him, at 1/2 past 10 they 
fired two shot at us from the shore, which occasioned us to bear away; he 
kept his Wind and anchord in the Bay." (Brit. Adm. Rec., Captain's Logs, 
No. 895 (log of the Shark.) Wickes says that be replied to both the French 
and English hail of the Shark and that the latter fired a shot at ten 
o'clock followed by three others in succession, to which the Reprisal 
returned four, whereupon the English made sail in order to withdraw from 
the contest. A French officer on shore thought that the English fire was 
the more rapid and better delivered. He says that after parting from the 
Reprisal, the Shark chased a schooner, which took refuge under a battery; 
whereupon the battery fired two shot at the Shark. The next day she 
returned to her anchorage in the harbor. The Reprisal went back to the 
United States in September and the sloop Independence, Captain John Young, 
was sent out to take her place. Naval stores were greatly needed at all 
times and the Marine Committee took measures to obtain them in the West 
Indies, the depot for European goods of that kind. Ships of war were 
largely employed for their transportation (Am. Arch., V, i, 180, 249, 609, 
706, 741, ii, 324, 410; Almon, iv, 103; Archives de la Marine, B7 458; 
Pap. Cont. Congr., 78, 23, 293, 295 (Wickes to Committee of Secret 
Correspondence, July 11, 13, 1776); Mar. Com. Letter Book, 20, 26 
(September 20, October 4, 1776); Boston Gazette, August 19, October 7, 
1776; Independent Chronicle, October 3, 1776.)

In the spring of 1776 a British expedition was sent against the southern 
colonies. A fleet of transports with troops under the command of General 
Cornwallis sailed from Cork convoyed by two fifty-gun ships and several 
smaller vessels commanded by Commodore Parker. In May this force arrived 
in North Carolina and was joined by General Clinton, who had left Boston 
with several regiments in January; Clinton now assumed the command. The 
objective point of the expedition having been left to his discretion, he 
determined to attack Charleston, and on June 4 the fleet appeared off the 
bar at the harbor entrance of that town.

Meanwhile the Americans had been making preparations for defense. A force 
of five or six thousand, less than half of them regulars and all raw 
troops, was collected under the command of General Charles Lee. A fort of 
palmetto logs was built at the southern end of Sullivan's Island whichcom 
manded the channel. This fort was garrisoned by about three hundred and 
flfty regular troops and a few militia under Colonel Moultrie. Seven or 
eight hundred men were stationed at the northern end of Sullivan's Island 
to oppose the approach of the British from Long Island. The South Carolina 
navy, at that time consisting of three vessels, probably took some part in 
the defense of the town.

The British met with some difficulty and delay in getting over the bar, 
but by June 27 were ready for the attack. Their naval force consisted of 
the Bristol and Experiment of flfty guns each, the twenty-eight-gun 
frigates Solebay, Syren, Active, and Actaeon, the Sphynx, 20, the 
Friendship, 18, the bomb-vessel Thunder, which carried two mortars, and a 
few smaller armed vessels (For the expedition against Charleston, see Am. 
Arch., IV, vi, 1205-1210; Almon, iii, 142, 189-192, 264-267, 314-319; 
Dawson's Battles of the United States, ch. x; Pennsylvania Gazette, 
September 11, Nov. 20,1776; Penn. Evening Post, April 23,1776; Winsor's 
Narrative and Critical History of America, vi, 168-172, 229; Channing, 
iii, 226-228; Clowes, iii, 371-379.)

On the 28th the attack was made. Commodore Parker says in his report: "At 
half an hour after ten I made the signal to weigh, and about a quarter 
after eleven the Bristol, Experiment, Active and Solebay brought up 
against the fort. Thunder Bomb, covered by the Friendship armed vessel, 
brought the Saliant Angle of the East Bastion to bear N. W. by N. and . . .
threw several shells a little before and during the engagement in a very 
good direction. The Sphynx, Actaeon and Syren were to have been to the 
westward, to prevent fireships and other vessels from annoying the ships 
engaged, to enfilade the works, and if the rebels should be driven from 
them, to cut off their retreat if possible. This last service was not 
performed, owing to the ignorance of the pilot, who run the three frigates 
aground. The Sphynx and Syren got off in a few hours, but the Actaeon 
remained fast till the next morning, when the captain and officers thought 
proper to scuttle and set her on fire." (Almon, iii, 189, 190 (July 9, 
1776.)

The engagement lasted ten hours. The fort was little damaged by the 
bombardment it received from the British, while the fire of the Americans 
was delivered slowly and accurately, and with marked effect upon the ships 
of the enemy. In his report to the President of Congress General Lee says 
the ships "anchored at less than half musket shot from the fort and 
commenced one of the most furious and incessant fires I ever saw or 
heard." About half-past four in the afternoon the fort appeared to the 
British to have been silenced, but this was due to a failure of 
ammunition, and upon the arrival of a fresh supply, an hour and a half 
later, the fire was renewed. The Americans behaved extremely well, and 
Lee, upon visiting the fort, "found them determined and cool to the last 
degree; their behavior would have done honor to the oldest troops." (Am. 
Arch., IV, vi, 1205 (Lee's report, July 2, 1776.) Moultrie became 
thenceforth one of the heroes of the Revolution and the fort was named for 
him. The British troops who had landed on Long Island, to what number is 
uncertain, had intended to cross over to Sullivan's Island and attack the 
fort in the rear, where it was partly open and unfinished. The islands 
were separated by a shallow channel usually passable at low tide, but 
continued easterly winds had so backed up the water that it was too deep 
to be forded.

At about nine o'clock in the evening the British fire ceased and two hours 
later the fleet dropped down to its former anchorage. The Actaeon, after 
she had been set fire to and abandoned by her crew the next morning, was 
boarded by Americans who brought away her colors and some other property; 
half an hour later she blew up. The damage suffered by the British ships 
was heavy, especially by the Bristol and Experiment, and upon these two 
ships also the loss was greatest, which altogether amounted to sixty-four 
killed and a hundred and forty-one wounded, many of the latter dying from 
their injuries soon afterwards. The American loss was twelve killed and 
twenty-five wounded, five of them mortally. The attack was not renewed, 
and after making repairs, the fleet sailed for New York.

Under the encouragement of acts passed by the Continental Congress and the 
various provincial assemblies, privateering flourished during 1776, 
although it came very far from assuming the proportions that it attained 
in later years. Only thirty-four private commissions were issued under the 
authority of the Continental government, but probably a much larger number 
of privateers were sent out by the separate states. Vessels of this class 
cruised at sea, along the Atlantic coast, and in West Indian and European 
waters. The privateersmen were commonly successful, but first and last a 
good many of them fell into the hands of the enemy.

Captain James Tracy was unfortunate enough to fall in with a British 
frigate, mistaking her for a merchantman. Tracy sailed from Newburyport, 
June 7, in the brig Yankee Hero, carrying twelve guns and twenty-six men, 
including officers. He expected to get more men at Boston. Off Cape Ann 
the captain sighted a sail which he determined to chase, and here he 
received a reinforcement of fourteen men who came out from the shore in 
boats; with forty, he still had only a third of his complement. Tracy then 
bore away for the sail, which was five leagues distant, to the east-
southeast; when too late he discovered the chase to be a man-of-war. He 
now put about for the shore with the ship, which turned out to be the 
frigate Milford, in pursuit. The wind, which had been westerly, died away, 
and in an hour and a half the frigate, having taken a fresh breeze from 
the south, was within half a mile and began to fire her bow chasers. The 
wind shifted to the west again. Tracy reserved his fire until the enemy 
should be within close range. She soon came up on the Yankee Hero's lee 
quarter within pistol-shot and the unequal contest became warm. The 
account of the affair was "chiefly collected from those who were in the 
engagement." "After some time the ship hauled her wind so close, which 
obliged the brig to do the same, that Capt. Tracy was unable to fight his 
lee guns; upon this he backed under her stern, but the ship, which sailed 
much faster and worked as quick, had the advantage and brought her 
broadside again upon him, which he could not evade, and in this manner 
they lay not an hundred feet from each other yawing to and fro for an hour 
and twenty minutes, the privateer's men valiantly maintaining their 
quarters against such a superior force. About this time the ship's 
foremast guns beginning to slack fire, Capt. Tracy tacked under his stern 
and when clear of the smoke and fire, perceived his rigging to be most 
shockingly cut, yards flying about without braces, some of his principal 
sails shot to rags and half of his men to appearance dying and wounded." 
The first lieutenant was among the wounded. The frigate having sheared off 
there was a short lull, during which the wounded were carried below and 
the crew began to repair the rigging. They were getting nearer shore and 
Tracy hoped to be able to escape. Before things could be put to rights, 
however, the frigate "again came up and renewed the attack, which obliged 
Capt. Tracy to have recourse to his guns again, though he still kept some 
hands aloft to his rigging, but before the brig had again fired two 
broadsides, Captain Tracy received a wound in his right thigh and in a few 
minutes he could not stand; he laid himself over the arm chest and 
barricadoe, determined to keep up the fire, but in a short time, from pain 
and loss of blood, he was unable to command, growing faint, and they 
helped him below. As soon as he came to, he found his flring had ceased 
and his people round him wounded, not having a surgeon with them, in a 
most distressed situation, most of them groaning and some expiring. Struck 
severely with such a spectacle, Capt. Tracy ordered his people to take him 
up in a chair upon the quarter deck and resolved again to attack the ship, 
which was all this time keeping up her fire; but after getting into the 
air, he was so faint that he was for some time unable to speak and finding 
no alternative but they must be taken or sunk, for the sake of the brave 
men that remained he ordered them to strike to the ship." (Mass. Spy, 
September 11, 1776.) The action lasted over two hours and the Yankee Hero 
lost four killed and thirteen wounded. On the Milford were thirty American 
prisoners who had been impressed and were forced to fight against their 
countrymen. The frigate took her prize to Halifax (Ibid., June 21, 
September 11, 1776; Am. Arch., IV, vi, 746-749; Mil. and Nav. Mag. of U. 
S., May, 1835.)

In May, 1776, the American privateer Camden, 14, fought three hours with 
the brigantine Earl of Warwick, 16. An explosion then took place on the 
Warwick which killed and wounded thirty men and she was obliged to strike 
(London Chronicle, July 13, 1776.) About the same time the privateer 
Cromwell, 20, captured and took into Philadelphia the British sloop of war 
Lynx (Ibid.) The private armed sloop Yankee, Captain Henry Johnson, of 
Boston, cruised in the English Channel, and, having taken two prizes, had 
many prisoners on board. The captain of one of the prizes and one or two 
other British officers, being in Captain Johnson's cabin, seized a cutlass 
which had been carelessly left within reach, and, arousing the other 
prisoners, soon had possession of the Yankee, which they took into Dover 
(Am. Arch., V, i, 684, 755, 750; Boston Gazette, July 15, December 9, 
1776. For other operations of privateers in 1776, see Am Arch., V, i, 588, 
874, 958, ii, 232, 346; Almon, iii, 34, 235, 267, 268, iv, 159, 160, 161; 
Boston Gazette, June 17, August 12, September 2, 16, 30, November 25, 
December 30, 1776; Independent Chronicle, June 13, October 17, November 
14, 28, 1776.)

Several attempts were made during the Revolution to destroy British men-of-
war at anchor. Such an enterprise was discussed in 1775 in reference to 
the British fleet in Boston Harbor, and some preparations seem to have 
been made to carry it out. Samuel Osgood wrote to John Adams from the camp 
at Roxbury, October 23,1775: "The famous Water Machine from Connecticutt 
is every Day expected in Camp; it must unavoidably be a clumsy Business, 
as its Weight is about a Tun. I wish it might succeed [and] the Ships be 
blown up beyond the Attraction of the Earth, for it is the only Way or 
Chance they have of reaching St Peter's Gate." (Adams MSS.) The "Water 
Machine" here referred to was probably the contrivance of David Bushnell 
of Counecticut, which afterward excited great interest; yet just at this 
time John Hancock, President of Congress, wrote to General Washington: 
"Captn. John Macpherson having informed the Congress that he had invented 
a method by which with their leave he would take or destroy every 
ministerial armed vessel in North America, they appointed Govn. Hopkins, 
Mr. Randolph & Mr. J. Rutledge to confer with him on the subject, for he 
would not consent to communicate the secret to any but a committee & you. 
These Gentlemen reported that the scheme in theory appeared practicable 
and that, though its success could not be relied on without experience, 
they thought it well worth attempting on the fleet in & about Boston 
harbour, their destruction being an object of the utmost consequence. The 
Congress have therefore directed Capt. Macpherson to repair immediately to 
Cambridge." (Letters to Washington, 89, 72 (October 20, 1775).)

These projects went no farther at the time, and the British continued to 
ride safely at anchor in the harbor until they saw fit to take their 
departure the next spring. In July, 1776, preparations of a similar nature 
were made. On the night of August 17 two fireships in the Hudson River 
attacked the ships Phoenix and Rose, which had recently been assaulted by 
galleys. One of the fireships ignited the Rose's tender, which was 
"totally consumed." The other approached the Phoenix, whereupon that ship 
opened fire and cut her cable. The English account says: "Ten Minutes 
Afterwards she boarded us upon the Starboard Bow, at which time the Rebels 
set fire to the Train and left her. Set the Fore Topsail and Headsails, 
which fortunately cast the ship and disengaged her from the Fire Ship, 
after having been Twenty Minutes with her Jibb Boom over the Gun whale." 
(Brit. Adm. Rec. A. D. 487, August 17,1776, remarks on board H.M.S. 
Phoenix.) The British then prudently dropped down the river to a new 
anchorage. The most interesting attempt to destroy a British manof-war was 
made in New York Harbor about the same time, with a submarine boat and 
torpedo designed by David Bushnell. The operator succeeded in bringing his 
boat under a British ship, but was unable to attach the torpedo to her 
side, on account of the copper sheathing, then drifted away and lost his 
bearings. The torpedo, left floating in the harbor, afterwards exploded 
with great force; it contained a hundred and fifty pounds of powder which 
was ignited by a time-lock. Two subsequent trials, made in the Hudson 
River, also failed. The next year Bushnell endeavored to draw a torpedo 
against the side of a ship in Black Point Bay, near New London, by means 
of a line. But the line, having been discovered, was hauled in by the crew 
of a schooner near by; whereupon the torpedo exploded, demolishing the 
schooner and killing three men (Am. Arch., V, i, 155, 451, 692; Almon, 
iii, 341, vi, 90; Ford's Washington, iii, 202, iv, 348, x, 504; Clark's 
Naval History, i, ch. v; Mag. Amer. Hist., March, 1893; Boston Gazette, 
August 26, 1776; N. E. Chronicle, August 29, 1776.)

Towards the end of the year 1776 some of the thirteen frigates authorized 
by Congress in December, 1775, were nearly ready for service. The 
Raleigh's keel was laid at Portsmouth March 21 and just two months later 
she was ready to enter the water. "On Tuesday the 21st inst. the 
Continental Frigate of thirty-two guns, built at this place under the 
direction of John Langdon, Esq., was Launched amidst the acclamation of 
many thousand spectators. She is esteemed by all those who are judges that 
have seen her, to be one of the compleatest ships ever built in America. 
The unwearied diligence and care of the three Master-Builders, Messrs. 
Hacket, Hill and Paul, together with Mr. Thompson under whose inspection 
she was built, and the good order and industry of the Carpenters deserve 
particular notice; scarcely a single instance of a person being in liquor, 
or any difference among the men in the yard during the time of her 
building, every man with pleasure exerting himself to the utmost; and 
altho' the greatest care was taken that only the best of timber was used 
and the work perform'd in a most masterly manner, the whole time from her 
raising to the day she launched did not exceed sixty working days, and 
what afforded a most pleasing view (which was manifest in the countenance 
of the spectators) this noble fabrick was compleatly to her anchors in the 
main channel in less than six minutes from the time [of] the run, without 
the least hurt; and what is truly remarkable, not a single person met with 
the least accident in launching, tho' near five hundred men were employed 
in and about her when ran off." (New Hampshire Gazette, May 25, 1776, 
quoted in N. H. General Rec., January, 1907.)

On September 21 the Marine Committee directed that the frigates Boston, 
Captain Hector McNeill, and Raleigh, Captain Thomas Thompson, should be 
fitted out as expeditiously as possible, and these vessels were ordered to 
cruise in Massachusetts Bay and to the eastward, in search of the British 
frigate Milford. October 23 these orders were modified by joining with 
these two vessels the frigate Hancock, and instructions were issued for 
Captains Manley, McNeill, and Thompson: "You are hereby directed to act in 
concert and Cruize together for the following purposes and on the 
following stations. Your first object must be to inform yourselves in the 
best manner possible, if any of the British men of war are Cruizing in the 
bay of Boston or off the Coast of Massachusetts, and all such you are to 
endeavour with your utmost force to take, sink, or destroy. Having 
effected this service you are to proceed together towards Rhode Island and 
there make prize of or destroy any of the enemies Ships of war that may be 
found Cruizing off the Harbour or Coast of Rhode Island. The Prizes you 
make are to be sent into the nearest Port. When you arrive at Rhode 
Island, if Commodore Hopkins should not be already sailed on his Southern 
expedition and the two frigates built in that State should not be ready 
for the Sea, in that case you are to join Commodore Hopkins and proceed 
with him on the said expedition, producing those orders to him to justify 
the measure. But if the Rhode Island frigates should be ready for the sea, 
there will be no Occasion for you or either of you to go Southward. And 
you will then proceed, taking with you any Continental Vessel that may be 
at Rhode Island and ready, if Commodore Hopkins should be sailed before 
you come there, and proceed to Cruize against the enemies Ships & Vessels 
that may be found off the Coast between the Harbour of Newport and the 
Banks of Newfoundland. We have no doubt from your zeal and attachment to 
the cause of America that you will execute this service with all possible 
dispatch and vigor, and so bid you heartily farewell." (Mar. Com. Letter 
Book, 39.) The frigate Randolph, built at Philadelphia, was put under the 
command of Captain Biddle and was expected to sail before the end of the 
year. For one reason or another, however, chiefly, no doubt, the 
difficulty of manning the ships and the British blockade, no Continental 
frigate got to sea in 1776 (Am. Arch., V, ii, 428, 1200, iii, 826, 827, 
1198, 1254, 1332, 1484; Mar. Com. Letter Book, 21, 22, 23, 24 (September 
21, 1776.)

In October the Reprisal was placed at the disposal of the Committee of 
Secret Correspondence of Congress and the Lexington, Andrew Doria, and 
Sachem were put under the orders of the Secret Committee; these were two 
distinct committees. These vessels, in addition to other duties, carried 
important dispatches. The Reprisal was ordered to take Franklin, who had 
been appointed a commissioner to France, to his post; and afterwards to 
cruise in the English Channel. She sailed about the 1st of November and 
anchored in Quiberon Bay a month later; two small prizes were taken during 
the voyage. Franklin went ashore at Auray, and made the best of his way to 
Paris, where he arrived December 22 (Mar. Com. Letter Book, 34, 35 
(October 17, 18, 1776); Pap. Cont. Congr., 37, 75, 83, 95 (October 24, 
1776) ; Am. Arch., V, ii, 1092, 1115, 1197-1199, 1211-1213, 1215, iii, 
1197.)

The Lexington, Captain William Hallock, went to the West Indies in the 
service of the Secret Committee of Congress and on her way back from Cape 
Francois, in December, was captured off the Delaware capes by the British 
frigate Pearl. About this time there were six British ships in this 
vicinity or stationed in the bay, which at the end of the year was closely 
blockaded. A lieutenant and a small prize crew were put on the Lexington 
and seventy of her own crew were left on board. The same evening these 
prisoners recaptured the ship and, though without officers to direct them, 
took her safe into port (Am. Arch., V, iii, 1484, 1486; Mag. Amer. Hist., 
March, 1878, narrative of Lieutenant Matthewman; Port Folio, June, 1814, 
memoir of Commodore Dale.)

Under orders dated October 17, 1776, the Andrew Doria, Captain Isaiah 
Robinson, sailed for the Dutch island of St. Eustatius for a cargo of 
military supplies. Upon arriving at that place and anchoring in the roads, 
November 16, the Andrew Doria fired a salute of eleven guns, which was 
returned by the fort with two guns less, as for a merchantman. This has 
been called the first salute given the American flag in a foreign port, 
but about three weeks before this an American schooner had had her colors 
saluted at the Danish island of St. Croix. In response to a British 
complaint the salute to the Andrew Doria was disavowed by the Dutch 
government and the governor of St. Eustatius was recalled. The Andrew 
Doria, having taken on the stores for which she was sent, sailed for 
Philadelphia. On the return voyage, near Porto Rico, she captured the 
British twelve-gun sloop of war Racehorse after an engagement of two 
hours. A few days later another prize was taken, but was recaptured. The 
Andrew Doria and Racehorse arrived safely in port (Barney, 47-51; Amer. 
Hist. Rev., viii (July, 1903), 691-695; N. E. Mag., July, 1893; Mar. Com. 
Letter Book, 34; Pap. Cont. Congr., 28, 173 (March 28, 1777.)



CHAPTER VI
LAKE CHAMPLAIN, 1776

In the days when the frontier severing Canada from New England and New 
York was a wilderness, the only easy avenue of communication was by way of 
Lake Champlain and the Richelieu River. With the exception of a few miles 
of rapids in the river, the whole distance from the St. Lawrence to the 
head of Lake Champlain was navigable, and as the shores were rough and 
densely wooded, the only practicable route was by water. This natural 
gateway was therefore of great military importance, and a struggle for its 
possession has marked every war involving Canada and the colonies or 
states to the south.

Even before the outbreak of hostilities in April, 1775, it was understood 
that the British had planned to get control of Lake Champlain and Lake 
George and the Hudson River, so as to separate New England from the other 
colonies (MassHist. Soc. Proc., xii (April, 1872), 227 (letter Of Samuel 
Adams, November 16, 1775.) In anticipation of this, Ticonderoga was taken 
by the Americans under Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold, May 10, and Crown 
Point two days later. A schooner had been impressed at Skenesborough 
(Whitehall) at the extreme head of Lake Champlain, and in her Arnold 
proceeded with fifty men, May 14, to St. John's on the Richelieu, at the 
head of the rapids. This place was taken on the 18th. Having found there 
nine bateaux, Arnold destroyed five of them and brought away the other 
four, together with a seventy-ton sloop. He then returned up the lake to 
Crown Point (Am. Arch., IV, ii, 645, 839.) The Americans now had full 
control of the lake. All naval enterprises on these inland waters were 
carried on by the army, which was under the command of General Schuyler.

The British entered upon the construction of two vessels at St. John's in 
the summer of 1775, but this place was again taken by the Americans under 
General Montgomery in November. Montgomery then began his progress through 
Canada, which ended with his death at Quebec on December 31. Meanwhile 
Arnold, having accomplished his remarkable and arduous winter march 
through the wilds of Maine, shared in the unsuccessful assault of 
Montgomery on Quebec. He spent the winter before that stronghold, hoping 
to gain possession of it in the spring; but upon the arrival of a British 
fleet in the St. Lawrence in May, 1776, the Americans were obliged to fall 
back up the river and evacuate Canada, finally withdrawing from St. John's 
to Isle aux Noix June 18. The retreat from Sorel was conducted in an 
orderly manner and with trifling loss by General Sullivan, all the baggage 
and stores being dragged up over the rapids of the Richelieu in bateaux. 
The army was much weakened by the prevalence of smallpox and by disability 
through inoculation as a protection against that disease. Everything that 
could have been of value to the enemy at Chambly and St. John's was 
destroyed. General Schuyler wrote to Sullivan, June 25: "Painful as the 
evacuation of Canada is to me, yet a retreat without loss greatly 
alleviates that pain, not only because it reflects honour upon you, but 
that I have now a confidant hope, that by recruiting your Army and keeping 
up a naval superiority on the Lake, we shall be able to prevent the enemy 
from penetrating into the inhabited parts of these Colonies." (Am. Arch., 
IV, vi, 1107.) Arnold, who had left Montreal June 15 and joined Sullivan 
at St. John's, advised building twenty or thirty gondolas, row-galleys, 
and floating batteries for the defense of the lake, and for this purpose 
believed that three hundred ship carpenters would be needed. Gondolas were 
flat-bottomed boats, difficult to handle, while galleys were larger and 
probably had keels; oars and sails were employed in both (Ibid., iii, 468, 
738, 1208, 1342-1344, 1392-1394, vi, 1101-1108.)

Meanwhile American naval interests on the lake had not been wholly 
neglected. During the preceding twelve months some construction had been 
undertaken and different officers had been from time to time in command of 
the vessels in service. The last of these officers to be appointed 
commodore of the little fleet was Captain Jacobus Wyncoop, who received 
his orders from General Schuyler in May, 1776. After the return of the 
army from Canada in June, ship-building at Skenesborough was pushed with 
vigor, urged on by the restless energy of Arnold, who had had some 
nautical experience and who in August was put in command. He wished to 
build at least one powerful frigate, but that was beyond the resources at 
his disposal. This activity of the Americans compelled the British also, 
as soon as they had recovered possession of St. John's, to begin the 
construction of a fleet. A ship and two schooners were taken apart, 
transported over and around the rapids, and rebuilt at St. John's. Besides 
these large vessels the British had thirty long-boats from the squadron in 
the St. Lawrence, many flat-bottomed boats, a heavily armed radeau, a 
gondola weighing thirty tons which had been left by the Americans at 
Quebec, and more than four hundred bateaux for the transportation of 
troops and supplies. According to Captain Douglas, commanding the British 
squadron in the St. Lawrence, this force included "above thirty flghting 
vessels of different sorts and sizes." In this contest of ship-building 
during the summer of 1776 the British had a great advantage. Their fleet 
of men-of-war and transports in the St. Lawrence furnished them with an 
abundant force of ship carpenters and other artisans, as well as regular 
naval crews for the vessels when finished. It was with the greatest 
difficulty that the Americans procured a sufficient number of mechanics to 
build the fleet with which they were later obliged to meet the greatly 
superior force which the British brought against them. The demand for 
carpenters in the seaport towns for work upon public and private naval 
craft was far beyond the supply (Am. Arch., IV, iii, 4, 11-14, 49, v, 437, 
1397, 1460, 1464, 1694, V, i, 563, 603, 744-746, 747, 797, 937, 969, 1277, 
ii, 1178, 1179.)

On August 7, General Gates issued instructions to Arnold to take the fleet 
as far as Split Rock or to, but not beyond, Isle aux Tetes, and there make 
stand against the enemy; but if the British had decidedly superior force, 
Arnold was to fall back to Ticonderoga. Ten days later, the fleet being at 
Crown Point, an advance of the British was reported. At this time Wyncoop, 
who commanded the schooner Royal Savage, claimed also to be still in 
command of the fleet. The conflicting orders of Arnold and Wyncoop on the 
occasion of this supposed advance of the British naturally caused 
confusion. Gates ordered Wyncoop to be put under arrest and sent back to 
Ticonderoga and thenceforth Arnold's authority was undisputed. The fleet 
left Crown Point August 24, went into Willsborough September 1, having 
encountered a severe storm, and on the 18th was at Isle la Motte. Arnold 
then wrote to Gates: "I intend first fair wind to come up as high as Isle 
Valcour, where is a good harbour and where we shall have the advantage of 
attacking the enemy in the open Lake, where the row-galleys, as their 
motion is quick, will give us a great advantage over the enemy; and if 
they are too many for us, we can retire." (Am. Arch., v, ii, 481.) Arnold 
appears, however, to have remained in the vicinity of Isle la Motte until 
September 23. The American fleet then retreated up the lake to the strait 
between Valcour Island and the New York shore. This locality, which had 
previously been surveyed, afforded an excellent and secluded anchorage in 
a cove on the west side of the island, almost concealed by trees from 
vessels passing up the lake in the channel to the east of Valcour. October 
1, Arnold received intelligence that the British were nearly ready to 
advance from St. John's, and their movement began on the 4th (Ibid., i, 
826, 1002, 1003, 1051, 1096, 1123, 1185-1187, 1201, 1266, 1267, ii, 185, 
186, 481, 834, 835.)

The two fleets were now ready for the conflict, and a statement of their 
comparative strength at the time may be made. The American force under 
Brigadier-General Benedict Arnold consisted of the sloop Enterprise, 
Captain Dickenson, carrying twelve four-pounders, ten swivels, and fifty 
men; the schooners Royal Savage, Captain Hawley, with four six-pounders 
and eight fours, ten swivels, and fifty men, and Revenge, Captain Seaman, 
with four four-pounders and four twos, ten swivels, and thirty- five men; 
the gondolas New Haven, Providence, Boston, Spitfire, Philadelphia, 
Connecticut, Jersey, and New York, each carrying one twelve-pounder and 
two nines, eight swivels, and forty-five men; and the galleys Lee with one 
twelve-pounder, one nine, and four fours, Trumbull with one eighteen-
pounder, one twelve, two nines, and four sixes, Congress with two twelve-
pounders, two eights, and four sixes, and Washington with one eighteen- 
pounder, one twelve, two nines, and four fours, the galleys altogether 
carrying also fifty-eight swivels and three hundred and twenty-six men. 
The American force on the lake likewise included a schooner, the Liberty, 
and a galley called the Gates, but these two vessels took no part in 
subsequent events. The opposing fleet was commanded by Captain Thomas 
Pringle of the British navy, who had with him on his flagship General 
Carleton, commanding the army. The force consisted of the ship Inflexible, 
mounting eighteen twelve-pounders; the schooners Maria with fourteen six-
pounders and Carleton with twelve sixes; the radeau Thunderer with six 
twenty-four-pounders, six twelves, and two howitzers; the gondola Loyal 
Convert, seven nine-pounders; twenty gunboats, each with one twenty-four-
pounder or a nine and some of them with howitzers; four longboats armed 
with one carriage gun each; and twenty-four long-boats loaded with 
provisions and stores. The American fleet of fifteen vessels therefore 
mounted eighty-six guns, throwing a total weight of metal of six hundred 
and five pounds, and a hundred and fifty-two swivels, while the British 
had about the same number of guns, but much heavier ones, discharging a 
total weight of over a thousand pounds. The superiority of heavy guns to 
light ones is much greater than in proportion to the difference in weight 
of projectile, one twelve-pounder being far more effective than two sixes. 
The Inflexible alone was a match for a good part of the American fleet; 
but on the other hand, the powerful battery of the Thunderer was in great 
measure useless because of her slowness and clumsiness. As to men, the 
full complement of the American fleet was eight hundred and twenty-one, 
but the number actually engaged was doubtless much smaller, as only five 
hundred had been obtained by October 1; there may have been about seven 
hundred at the time of the battle, and those in large part at least of 
poor quality, for Arnold had to take what be could get; their conduct in 
the battles that followed, however, could not have been better. The 
British fleet was manned by six hundred and ninety-seven officers and men 
from the regular navy. Arnold hoisted his flag on the galley Congress, and 
the second in command, General David Waterbury, on the galley Washington. 
Pringle and Carleton were both on the schooner Maria (Am. Arch., V, i, 
1123,1201, iii, 834, 1017, 1039, 1179.)

The British fleet anchored during the night of October 10 between Grand 
and Long Islands and got under way the next morning with a northeast wind. 
It was seen at eight o'clock by the Americans off Cumberland Head. 
Waterbury promptly went on board the Congress to consult with Arnold, to 
whom he expressed the "opinion that the fleet ought immediately to come to 
sail and fight them on a retreat in main Lake, as they were so much 
superiour to us in number and strength, and we being in such a 
disadvantageous harbour to fight a number so much superiour and the enemy 
being able with their small boats to surround us on every side, as I knew 
they could, we lying between an island and the main. But General Arnold 
was of the opinion that it was best to draw the fleet in a line where we 
lay, in the bay of Valcour. The fleet very soon came up with us and 
surrounded us, when a very hot engagement ensued." (Am. Arch., V, ii, 
1224.)

Through neglecting to reconnoitre, the British did not discover the 
American fleet until they had passed Valcour Island, and it was then 
necessary to attack from the leeward, at a disadvantage. Arnold, in his 
report of October 12 to General Gates, says that when the British were 
first seen on the morning of the 11th, "we immediately prepar'd to receive 
them, the gallies and Royal Savage were ordered under way, the rest of our 
fleet lay at anchor. At Eleven O'Clock [the enemy] ran under the lee of 
Valcour & began the attack. The schooner [Royal Savage] by some bad 
management fell to lee-ward and was first attack'd, one of her masts was 
wounded & her rigging shot away; the Captain thought prudent to run her on 
the point of Valcour, where all the men were saved . . . At half past 
twelve the engagement became general & very warm. Some of the enemy's 
ships & all their Gondolas beat & row'd up within musket shot of us . . . 
The Enemy landed a large number of Indians on the Island & each shore, who 
kept an incessant fire on us, but did little damage; the Enemy had to 
appearance upwards of one thousand men in batteaus prepared for boarding. 
We suffered much for want of Seamen and gunners; I was obliged myself to 
point most of the guns on board the Congress, which I believe did good 
execution." The enemy "continued a very hot fire with round & Grape Shot 
until five O'Clock when they thought proper to retire to about six or 
seven hundred yards distance & continued [their fire] until dark." (Pap. 
Cont. Congr., 152, 3, 163; Am. Arch., V, ii, 1038.) Arnold's decision to 
hold his ground and fight was wise; retreat would have been demoralizing 
and disastrous.

Captain Pringle's report, dated October 15, says: "Upon the 11th I came up 
with the rebel fleet commanded by Benedict Arnold. They were at anchor 
under the island of Valicour and formed a strong line extending from the 
island to the west side of the continent. The wind was so unfavorable that 
for a considerable time nothing could be brought into action with them but 
the gun boats; the Carleton schooner, commanded by Mr. Dacres, by much 
perseverance at last got to their assistance, but as none of the other 
vessels of the fleet could then get up, I did not think it by any means 
adviseable to continue so partial and unequal a combat. Consequently, with 
the approbation of his excellency general Carleton, who did me the honour 
of being on board the Maria, I called off the Carleton and gun boats and 
brought the whole fleet to anchor in a line as near as possible to the 
rebels, that their retreat might be cut off." (London Chronicle, November 
26, 1776; Am. Arch., V, ii, 1069; Almon, iv, 86. For reports of Douglas 
and Carleton, see Ibid., 84.)

Of the American losses Arnold says: "The Congress and Washington have 
suffered greatly; the latter lost her first Lieutenant killed, Captain and 
Master wounded . . . The Congress reciev'd seven shot between wind and 
water, was hull'd a dozen times, had her main mast wounded in two places, 
& her yard in one; the Washington was hull'd a number of times, her main 
mast shot through & must have a new one. Both vessels are very leaky and 
want repairing . . . The New York lost all her officers except her 
Captain. The Philada. was hull'd in so many places that she sunk about one 
hour after the engagement was over. The whole kill'd & wounded amounted to 
about sixty." After dark the British set fire to the Royal Savage, fearing 
that the Americans would again take possession of her and float her; she 
soon blew up. In concluding his report Arnold says: "I cannot in justice 
to the officers in the fleet omit mentioning their spirited conduct during 
the action." (Pap. Cont. Congr., 152, 3, 163. On the whole campaign, see 
Dawson's Battles of the United States, ch. xiii, with official reports and 
many references; Mahan's account in Clowes, iii, 354-370, and in 
Scribner's Mag., February, 1898; Amer. Hist. Record, October, November, 
1874; Coll. Conn. Hist. Soc., vii (1899), 239-291.)

After the battle was over it was evident that the American fleet could not 
endure another day's contest under such disadvantages. "On consulting with 
General Waterbury & Colo. Wigglesworth," says Arnold, "it was thought 
prudent to return to Crown point, every vessel's ammunition being nearly 
three fourths spent & the Enemy greatly superior to us in Ships and men. 
At 7 O'Clock Col. Wigglesworth in the Trumbull got under way, the Gondolas 
and small vessels followed, & the Congress and Washington brought up the 
rear; the Enemy did not attempt to molest us." (Pap. Cont. Congr., 152, 3, 
163.) Waterbury says that a council was held, "to secure a retreat through 
their fleet to get to Crown Point, which was done with so much secrecy 
that we went through them entirely undiscovered." (Pap. Cont. Congr., 152, 
3, 163.) It is remarkable that thirteen American vessels should have been 
able to pass through the British fleet without detection. Pringle merely 
says that his purpose to cut off their retreat was "frustrated by the 
extreme obscurity of the night, and in the morning the rebels had got a 
considerable distance from us up the Lake." (London Chronicle, November 
26, 1776.) It has been suggested that Arnold led his fleet around the 
north end of Valcour and so avoided the British fleet (Amer. Hist. Rec., 
November, 1874, and Hag. Amer. Hist., June, 1881. The author, W. C. 
Watson, presents strong though not wholly convincing evidence in favor of 
this view.)

The Americans retreated south up the lake, and early in the morning, 
October 12. reached Schuyler's Island, ten miles from Valcour. Here Arnold 
wrote his report to General Gates of the preceding day's battle, adding: 
"Most of the fleet is this minute come to an anchor; the Wind is small to 
the Southward. The Enemy's fleet is under way to Leeward and beating up. 
As soon as our leaks are stopp'd the whole fleet will make the utmost 
dispatch to Crown point, where I beg you will send ammunition & your 
farther orders for us. On the whole, I think we have had a very fortunate 
escape." (Pap. Cont. Congr., 152, 3, 163.) But it was too early to talk of 
escape, with the enemy in hot pursuit. Such repairs as were possible were 
hastily made; two of the gondolas were so much injured that it was 
necessary to abandon them, and they were sunk. "We remained no longer at 
Schuyler's Island," says Arnold in a later report, "than to stop our leaks 
and mend the sails of the Washington. At two o'clock P.M., the 12th, 
weighed anchor with a fresh breeze to the southward. The enemy's fleet at 
the same time got under way; our gondola made very little way ahead." (Am. 
Arch., V, ii, 1079 (to General Schuyler, October 15,1776.) Waterbury says 
of his vessel, the Washington, that she was "so torn to pieces that it was 
almost impossible to keep her above water; my sails was so shot that 
carrying sail split them from foot to head." "In the evening," continues 
Arnold, "the wind moderated and we made such progress that at six o'clock 
next morning we were about off Willsborough, twenty-eight miles from Crown 
Point. The enemy's fleet were very little way above Schuyler's Island. The 
wind breezed up to the southward, so that we gained very little by beating 
or rowing; at the same time the enemy took a fresh breeze from the 
northeast, and by the time we had reached Split Rock, were alongside of 
us. The Washington and Congress were in the rear; the rest of our fleet 
were ahead, except two gondolas sunk at Schuyler's Island." (Ibid.)

Waterbury's story of the retreat on the night of October 12 and the next 
morning gives fuller details. "The enemy still pursued all night. I found 
next morning that they gained upon us very fast and that they would very 
soon overtake me. The rest of the fleet all being much ahead of me, I sent 
my boat on board of General Arnold, to get liberty to put my wounded in 
the boat and send them forward and run my vessel on shore and blow her up. 
I received for answer, by no means to run her ashore, but to push forward 
to Split Rock, where he would. draw the fleet in a line and engage them 
again; but when I came to Split Rock, the whole fleet was making their 
escape as fast as they could and left me in the rear to fall into the 
enemy's hands. But before I struck to them, the ship of eighteen twelve-
pounders [Inflexible] and a schooner of fourteen six-pounders [Maria] had 
surrounded me, which obliged me to strike, and I thought it prudent to 
surrender myself prisoner of war." (Am. Arch., V, ii, 1224.)

Arnold's narrative of the running fight continues: "The Washington galley 
was in such a shattered condition and had so many men killed and wounded, 
she struck to the enemy after receiving a few broadsides. We were then 
attacked in the Congress galley by a ship mounting eighteen twelve-
pounders, a schooner of fourteen sixes and one of twelve sixes, two under 
our stern and one on our broadsides, within musket shot. They kept up an 
incessant fire on us for about five glasses with round and grape shot, 
which we returned as briskly. The sails, rigging and hull of the Congress 
were shattered and torn in pieces, the First Lieutenant and three men 
killed, when to prevent her falling into the enemy's hands, who had seven 
sail around me, I ran her ashore in a small creek ten miles from Crown 
Point, on the east side; when, after saving our small arms, I set her on 
fire with four gondolas, with whose crews I reached Crown Point through 
the woods that evening and very luckily escaped the savages who waylaid 
the road in two hours after we passed." (Am. Arch., V, ii, 1080.)

Pringle's report says: "Upon the 13th I again saw 11 sail of their fleet 
making off to Crown Point, who, after a chace of seven hours, I came up 
with in the Maria, having the Carleton and Inflexible a small distance 
astern.; the rest of the fleet almost out of sight. The action began at 
twelve o'clock and lasted two hours, at which time Arnold in the Congress 
galley and five gondolas ran on shore and were directly abandoned and 
blown up by the enemy, a circumstance they were greatly favoured in by the 
wind being off shore and the narrowness of the lake." (London Chronicle, 
November 26, 1776.) The British loss in killed and wounded was about 
forty. A letter from Albany, dated October 17, says that the second 
engagement was fought "most of the time in musket shot, very warm and 
sharp, in which our men conducted with inimitable spirit and bravery, but 
were obliged to submit to superior strength. In this affair our fleet is 
almost totally ruined; only one galley escaped, with sloop Enterprise and 
two small schooners (One of then must have been the Liberty which was not 
in the action.) and one gondola; the rest all taken, burnt and destroyed." 
The Washington "is the only vessel that the enemy possessed themselves of. 
Col. Wigglesworth in the Trumbull galley is arrived at Ticonderoga." 
(Boston Gazette, October 28,1776.) Arnold concludes his story of this 
series of disasters by recounting that at four o'clock in the morning of 
October 14 he reached Ticonderoga "exceedingly fatigued and unwell, having 
been without sleep or refreshment for near three days. Of our whole fleet 
we have saved only two galleys, two small schooners, one gondola and one 
sloop. General Waterbury with one hundred and ten prisoners were returned 
[on parole] by Carleton last night. On board of the Congress we had twenty 
odd men killed and wounded. Our whole loss amounts to eighty odd. The 
enemy's fleet were last night three miles below Crown Point; their army is 
doubtless at their heels." (Am. Arch., V, ii, 1080.) An early attack on 
Ticonderoga was expected.

Captain Douglas at Quebec, when he learned of the British victory, wrote 
to the Admiralty: "The ship Inflexible with the Maria and Carleton 
schooners, all reconstructions, did the whole of the second day's 
business, the flat- bottomed rideau called the Thunderer and the gondola 
called the Loyal Convert, with the gunboats, not having been able to keep 
up with them." (Ibid., 1178. For Carleton's report, see lbid., 1040.) The 
British ship and schooners, armed with eighteen twelve-pounders and twenty-
six sixes, had the Americans at their mercy, especially in the running 
fight of the 13th. The clumsy gondolas were practically useless and the 
galleys not much better.

Ezra Green, a surgeon in the American army wrote from Ticonderoga, October 
30, to a friend, giving a brief account of the battles on the lake and of 
subsequent events. He says the American prisoners, after their release on 
parole, reported that they had been "treated very kindly by the Indians as 
well as by the King's troops who were at the time at Crown Point within 15 
miles of this place, where they have been ever since the destruction of 
our Fleet. We have lately been alarm'd several times. On Monday morning 
last there was a proper alarm occasioned by a number of the enemies boats 
which hove in sight, and a report from a scouting party that the Enemy 
were moving on; where the Fleet is now I can't learn, or what is the 
reason they don't come on I can't conceive. 'T is thought they are 10 or 
12 thousand strong, including Canadians and Indians. We are in a much 
better situation now than we were fourteen days ago and the militia are 
continually coming in. Our sick are recovering and it is thought we are as 
ready for them now as ever we shall be. There has been a vast deal of work 
done since the fight and we think ourselves in so good a position that we 
shall be disappointed if they don't attack us. However, I believe they 
wait for nothing but a fair wind." (Diary of Ezra Green, 5, 6.)

By the time the British had taken Crown Point the season was far advanced. 
This fact and the presence of a formidable American force deterred them 
from at once attempting the capture of Ticonderoga. They withdrew to 
Canada for the winter, and their purpose of occupying the valley of the 
Hudson and separating New England from the other states was put off. They 
returned the next year under General Burgoyne, but the opportunity had 
passed. Howe had gone to Philadelphia and Burgoyne, unsupported from the 
south, was forced to surrender his army at Saratoga. The French alliance 
followed as a direct consequence. The American naval supremacy on Lake 
Champlain in the summer of 1776 had compelled the British to spend 
precious time in building a fleet strong enough to overcome it. The 
American defeat which followed was a victory. The obstruction to the 
British advance and a year's delay saved the American cause from almost 
certain ruin. It thus came about through a singular instance of the irony 
of fate, not altogether pleasant to contemplate, that we owe the salvation 
of our country at a critical juncture to one of the blackest traitors in 
history.

The end of the year 1776 found the War for Independence well advanced and 
a fair share of the strife had fallen upon the sea forces of the 
Revolutionists. A comparatively few small vessels, mostly converted 
merchantmen, under Continental and state authority, supplemented by 
privateers, had done the enemy a good deal of injury. It would be 
difficult to make even an approximate estimate of the number of American 
privateers at this period. Thirty-our were commissioned by the Continental 
Congress in 1776; probably a much larger number by the various states, as 
Continental letters of marque do not seem to have come into common use at 
this early date (Naval Records of the American Revolution (calendar), 217-
495.)

In 1776 the British navy appears to have had somewhat more than a hundred 
vessels in active service manned by twenty-eight thousand seamen and 
marines. According to the returns of Admiral Shuldham the fleet on the 
North American station comprised forty-three vessels of all classes in 
March and fifty-four in July. Probably forty of these were superior to the 
best ships on the American side in that year. In September, Admiral Howe 
reported a total of seventy vessels on the station. In November, according 
to a letter from London, "the Marine Force of England now in America 
consists of two ships of the line, ten fifties, and seventy-one frigates 
and armed vessels, amounting in the whole to eighty-three ships and 
vessels of war and 15,000 seamen." (Boston Gazette, February 24,1777; 
Brit. Adm. Rec., A. D. 484, March 22, July 6, 1776, A. D. 487, July 28, 
September 18, 1776; Am. Arch., V, i, 463, ii, 1318; Schomberg, iv, 318-
321.)

The British attempted to meet the difficulties encountered in manning 
their ships by impressing Americans that fell into their hands or by 
inducing them to enlist. Their crews were thereby made up in part of 
unreliable material which required close watching. The disadvantages of 
this state of things appear in a letter of Shuldham to the Admiralty 
calling their attention to the many supernumeraries in the ships' 
companies. He says: "I must beg they will please to observe that these 
being composed of Men taken out of the Rebel Vessels, no confidence can be 
placed in them, and although the Captains of His Majesty's Ships under my 
Command have all of them more or less entered Americans to fill up their 
Complements and are now by the Law empowered to do so with regard to Men 
taken in future, yet it deserves to be seriously considered that if, by a 
constant diminution of the British Seamen upon this Service, this measure 
was carried to excess without any Supply from home to be distributed among 
the Fleet, the consequence may be very alarming; their Lordships will 
therefore see the necessity there is of my keeping compleat the parties of 
Marines belonging to the different Ships." (Brit. Adm. Rec., A. D. 484, 
April 25,1776.)

From March 10, 1776, to the end of the year the British took a hundred and 
forty American vessels and recaptured twenty-six, said to be mostly small 
trading vessels. American cruisers made three hundred and forty-two 
captures from the British, of which forty-four were recaptured, eighteen 
released, and five burned at sea, and the rest brought into port. The 
Continental navy alone made over sixty captures (London Chronicle, May 15, 
1777; Am. Arch., V, iii, 1523-1530; Almon, iv, 312, v, 103-107; Neeser's 
Statistical History of U. S. Navy, ii, 24, 284; Clowes, iii, 396, giving 
smaller figures. Probably all the lists are incomplete.) Besides the loss 
inflicted upon commerce, troops and valuable military stores had been 
intercepted, the evacuation of Boston had been hastened, and, most 
important of all, the British advance from Canada had been checked.

The outlook for the next year was full of promise and encouragement for 
the Americans. Besides the smaller vessels of the Continental navy, which 
had already done good service, it was expected that thirteen fine new 
frigates would soon be in commission. Experience and training were 
beginning to tell in greater efficiency, and several of the captains 
showed signs of a capacity for developing superior military and naval 
qualities. October 10, 1776, Congress revised the navy list and 
established the relative rank of twenty-four captains. This difficult and 
delicate task, though doubtless influenced to some extent by political and 
personal considerations, was probably done with as much wisdom and justice 
as could have been expected with the knowledge of conditions possessed by 
Congress at the time. The arrangement caused dissatisfaction, however, on 
the part of some officers, especially John Paul Jones, who as eighteenth 
on the list felt that, having been the senior lieutenant, he should have 
stood much higher upon promotion. Some months later he wrote to Robert 
Morris regarding the qualifications of officers: "I cannot but lament that 
so little delicacy hath been Observed in the Appointment and Promotion of 
Officers in the Sea Service, many of whom are not only grossly illiterate, 
but want even the Capacity of commanding Merchant Vessells. I was lately 
on a Court Martial where a Captain of Marines made his Mark and where the 
President could not read the Oath which he attempted to administer, 
without Spelling and making blunders. As the Sea Officers are so subject 
to be seen by foreigners, what conclusions must they draw of Americans in 
general from Characters so Rude & Contracted. In my Judgement the 
Abilities of Sea Officers ought to be as far Superior to the abilities of 
officers in the Army as the nature of a Sea Service is more complicated 
and admits of a greater number of Cases than can possibly happen on the 
Land; therefore the discipline by Sea ought to be the more perfect and 
regular, were it compatible with short Enlistments." (Jones MSS., July 28, 
1777. See Sands, 59-65, 304-310.)

The last important naval legislation of the year 1776 was passed November 
20, when the Continental Congress resolved to build three ships of seventy-
four guns each, five frigates of thirty-six guns, an eighteen-gun brig, 
and a packet boat. Only four of these vessels were completed, and those 
under modifications of the act generally reducing their size (Jour. Cont. 
Congr., November 20, 1776, July 25, 1777.) These four were the ship of the 
line America of seventy-four guns, the frigate Alliance, and two sloops of 
war, the General Gates and the Saratoga. Only the last three ever served 
in the Continental navy.