Editing Lake Champlain (section)

====Battle of Valcour Island====
On October 11, 1776, the British and American naval fleets met on the western side of [[Valcour Island]], on Lake Champlain.<ref name=":0" /> American General Benedict Arnold established the location, as it provided the Continental fleet with a natural defensive position. The British and American vessels engaged in combat for much of the day, only stopping due to impending nightfall.<ref name=":1" />

After a long day of combat, the American fleet was in worse shape than the experienced British Navy. Upon ceasefire, Arnold called a council of war with his fellow officers, proposing to escape the British fleet via rowboats under the cover of night. As the British burned Arnold's flagship, the ''Royal Savage'', to the east, the Americans rowed past the British lines.<ref name=":5">{{Cite book |title=Benedict Arnold's Navy: The Ragtag Fleet that Lost the Battle of Lake Champlain But Won the American Revolution |last=Nelson |first=James |publisher=McGraw Hill Professional |year=2006}}</ref>

The following morning, the British learned of the Americans' escape and set out after the fleeing Continental vessels. On October 13, the British fleet caught up to the struggling American ships near [[Split Rock Wildway|Split Rock Mountain]].<ref name=":5" /> With no hope of fighting off the powerful British navy, Arnold ordered his men to run their five vessels aground in Ferris Bay, [[Panton, Vermont]]. The depleted Continental army escaped on land back to [[Fort Ticonderoga]] and [[Mount Independence (Vermont)|Mount Independence]]; however, they no longer controlled the Lake Champlain waterway.<ref name=":5" />

The approaching winter of 1776–1777 restricted British movement along the recently controlled Lake Champlain. As the British abandoned Crown Point and returned to Canada for the winter, the Americans reduced their garrisons in the Champlain Valley from 13,000 to 2,500 soldiers.<ref name=":1" />