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The naval Battle of Valcour Island, also known as the Battle of Valcour Bay, took place on October 11, 1776, on Lake Champlain. The main action took place in Valcour Bay, a narrow strait between the New York mainland and Valcour Island. The battle is generally regarded as one of the first naval battles of the American Revolutionary War, and one of the first fought by the United States Navy. Most of the ships in the American fleet under the command of Benedict Arnold were captured or destroyed by a British force under the overall direction of General Guy Carleton. The American defense of Lake Champlain stalled British plans to reach the upper Hudson River valley.
The Continental Army had retreated from Quebec to Fort Ticonderoga and Fort Crown Point in June 1776 after British forces were massively reinforced. They spent the summer of 1776 fortifying those forts, and building additional ships to augment the small American fleet already on the lake. General Carleton had a 9,000 man army at Fort Saint-Jean, but needed to build a fleet to carry it on the lake. The Americans, during their retreat, had either taken or destroyed most of the ships on the lake. By early October, the British fleet, which significantly outgunned the American fleet, was ready for launch.
On October 11, Arnold drew the British fleet to a position he had carefully chosen to limit their advantages. In the battle that followed, many of the American ships were damaged or destroyed. That night, Arnold sneaked the American fleet past the British one, beginning a retreat toward Crown Point and Ticonderoga. Unfavorable weather hampered the American retreat, and more of the fleet was either captured or grounded and burned before it could reach Crown Point. Upon reaching Crown Point Arnold had the fort's buildings burned and retreated to Ticonderoga.
The British fleet included four officers who later became admirals in the Royal Navy: Thomas Pringle, James Dacres, Edward Pellew and John Schank. Valcour Bay, the site of the battle, is now a National Historic Landmark, as is USS Philadelphia, which sank shortly after the October 11 battle, and was raised in 1935. The underwater site of USS Spitfire, located in 1997, is on the National Register of Historic Places.
For the detailed story:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Valcour_Island
The Battle of Camperdown (known in Dutch as the Zeeslag bij Kamperduin) was a major naval action fought on 11 October 1797 between a Royal Navy fleet under Admiral Adam Duncan and a Dutch Navy fleet under Vice-Admiral Jan de Winter. The battle was the most significant action between British and Dutch forces during the French Revolutionary Wars and resulted in a complete victory for the British, who captured eleven Dutch ships without losing any of their own. In 1795 the Dutch Republic had been overrun by the army of the French Republic and had been reorganised into the Batavian Republic, a French client state. In early 1797, after the French Atlantic Fleet had suffered heavy losses in a disastrous winter campaign, the Dutch fleet was ordered to reinforce the French at Brest. The rendezvous never occurred; the continental allies failed to capitalise on the Spithead and Nore mutinies that paralysed the British Channel forces and North Sea fleets during the spring of 1797.
By September, the Dutch fleet under De Winter were blockaded within their harbour in the Texel by the British North Sea fleet under Duncan. At the start of October, Duncan was forced to return to Yarmouth for supplies and De Winter used the opportunity to conduct a brief raid into the North Sea. When the Dutch fleet returned to the Dutch coast on 11 October, Duncan was waiting, and intercepted De Winter off the coastal village of Camperduin. Attacking the Dutch line of battle in two loose groups, Duncan's ships broke through at the rear and van and were subsequently engaged by Dutch frigates lined up on the other side. The battle split into two melees, one to south, or leeward, where the more numerous British overwhelmed the Dutch rear and one to the north, or windward, where a more evenly matched exchange centred on the battling flagships. As the Dutch fleet attempted to reach shallower waters in an effort to escape the British attack, the British leeward division joined the windward combat and eventually forced the surrender of the Dutch flagship Vrijheid and ten other ships.
The loss of their flagship prompted the surviving Dutch ships to disperse and retreat, Duncan recalling the British ships with their prizes for the journey back to Yarmouth. En route, the fleet was struck by a series of gales and two prizes were wrecked and another recaptured before the remainder reached Britain. Casualties in both fleets were heavy, as the Dutch followed the British practice of firing at the hulls of enemy ships rather than their masts and rigging, which caused higher losses among the British crews than were normally experienced against continental nations. The Dutch fleet was broken as a fighting force, losing ten ships and more than 1,100 men. When British forces confronted the Dutch Navy again two years later in the Vlieter Incident, the Dutch sailors refused to fight and their ships surrendered en masse.
For the detailed story:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Camperdown
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Valcour_Island
A demonstration of two points:
1) One doesn't have to win a battle to win a campaign (but it helps), and;
2) Benedict Arnold got screwed.
1824 - Marquis de Lafayette visits the Washington Navy Yard during his yearlong tour of America. He returned to the yard October 12, to continue his visit.
Benedict Arnold was a traitor......I dont care how wronged he may have been.
Benedict Arnold was a traitor......I dont care how wronged he may have been.
He didn't fall from grace -- he was pushed. If he'd received even a tenth of the credit due him for his services, he'd probably have been POTUS instead of GW.
So he doesnt get credit so he goes to the other side? Thank God he never became President and did not get credit. Sorry, no sympathy from me. He should of manned up and did his job.
He should of manned up and did his job.
He did -- and got screwed, repeatedly. How long do you work at a job, and get backdoored by your bosses and co-workers every day, before you go looking for a different job?
Serving in the army is not a "job". He could have resigned and left to join the British. But by attempting to turn West Point over he endangered the lives of other Americans he swore to protect. They were the ones that got back doored. So he cried over not getting credit. Wow. Same could be said about lots of Americans. You dont see them turning traitor.
Serving in the army is not a "job". He could have resigned and left to join the British. But by attempting to turn West Point over he endangered the lives of other Americans he swore to protect. They were the ones that got back doored. So he cried over not getting credit. Wow. Same could be said about lots of Americans. You dont see them turning traitor.
We only ever see the ones who *get caught*. Think on that for a while....
Then ask yourself how these ones who do end up that way in the first place....
trust me, I think alot about it.....and those who do get caught should pay dearly.
He was such an upstanding guy he was haggling over the price of his information and turning over West Point. He wanted to make sure his payday was big. They should of given him 30 pieces of silver and a rope......
David Manley
10-16-2012, 06:23
"Benedict Arnold was a traitor......I dont care how wronged he may have been. "
So was Washington :)
"Benedict Arnold was a traitor......I dont care how wronged he may have been. "
So was Washington :)
So does that make Arnold a traitor before he was a traitor???????
GW only wore one uniform.....and did not sell out those who followed him.....for money.
Look at it this way: Is it any less disgraceful to deny a man his due for the services he's rendered, and on top of which to blame him for actions he did not take (which could have landed him a jail term, no less); than for that man to react to such treatment by leaving, and taking his services where they might be better appreciated?
The US as a whole owes Arnold far more than any mere apology.
Instead of going down in history for not being recognized, just like Admiral Berry and others, He will be always be remembered for betraying and killing Americans. Ask Colonel Ledyard how he feels about him....o wait Benidicts men murdered him with his own sword....after he surendered....again we only owe him a rope.
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