Editing Battle of Valcour Island (section)

==Retreat==
[[File:Benedict arnold illustration.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Benedict Arnold]]|alt=A head and shoulders profile engraving of Arnold. He is facing left, wearing a uniform with two stars on the shoulder epaulet. His hair is tied back.]]

When the sun set on October 11, the battle had clearly gone against the Americans. Most of the American ships were damaged or sinking, and the crews reported around 60&nbsp;casualties.<ref name="Miller175"/> The British reported around 40&nbsp;casualties on their ships.<ref name="Allen176"/> Aware that he could not defeat the British fleet, Arnold decided to try reaching the cover of Fort Crown Point, about {{convert|35|mi|km}} to the south. Under the cover of a dark and foggy night, the fleet, with muffled oars and minimal illumination, threaded its way through a gap about {{convert|1|mi|km|spell=in}} wide between the British ships and the western shore, where Indian campfires burned.<ref name=Nelson307_9>[[#Nelson|Nelson (2006)]], pp. 307–309</ref> By morning, they had reached [[Schuyler Island]], about {{convert|8|mi|km}} south. Carleton, upset that the Americans had escaped him, immediately sent his fleet around Valcour Island to find them. Realizing the Americans were not there, he regrouped his fleet and sent scouts to find Arnold.<ref name="Miller176">[[#Miller|Miller (1974)]], p. 176</ref>

Adverse winds as well as damaged and leaky boats slowed the American fleet's progress. At Schuyler Island, ''Providence'' and ''Jersey'' were sunk or burned, and crude repairs were effected to other vessels.<ref name="Miller177"/> The cutter ''Lee'' was also abandoned on the western shore and eventually taken by the British.<ref name="Bratten67">[[#Bratten|Bratten (2002)]], p. 67</ref> Around 2:00&nbsp;pm, the fleet sailed again, trying to make headway against biting winds, rain, and sleet. By the following morning, the ships were still more than {{convert|20|mi|km}} from Crown Point, and the British fleet's masts were visible on the horizon. When the wind finally changed, the British had its advantage first. They closed once again, opening fire on ''Congress'' and ''Washington'', which were in the rear of the American fleet. Arnold first decided to attempt grounding the slower gunboats at Split Rock, {{convert|18|mi|km}} short of Crown Point. ''Washington'', however, was too badly damaged and too slow to make it, and she was forced to [[striking the colors|strike her colors]] and surrender; 110 men were taken prisoner.<ref name="Miller177">[[#Miller|Miller (1974)]], p. 177</ref>

Arnold then led many of the remaining smaller craft into a small bay on the Vermont shore now named Arnold's Bay 2 miles south of [[Buttonmold Bay]], where the waters were too shallow for the larger British vessels to follow. These boats were then run aground, stripped, and set on fire, with their flags still flying. Arnold, the last to land, personally torched his flagship ''Congress''.<ref name="Bratten69">[[#Bratten|Bratten (2002)]], p. 69</ref> The surviving ships' crews, numbering about 200, then made their way overland to Crown Point, narrowly escaping an Indian ambush. There they found ''Trumbull'', ''New York'', ''Enterprise'', and ''Revenge'', all of which had escaped the British fleet, as well as ''Liberty'', which had just arrived with supplies from Ticonderoga.<ref name="Bratten70">[[#Bratten|Bratten (2002)]], p. 70</ref>