Episode 2 of 6
Arnold chooses his ground at Valcour Island
- When
- September 30, 1776
- Where
- Strait between Valcour Island and the western lakeshore
- Part of
- Battle of Valcour Island
Expecting the British to sail, Arnold retreated to Valcour Island on September 30, choosing a narrow strait to neutralize British advantages.
A former shipmaster, Arnold carefully selected the battle site: the narrow, rocky water between the western shore of Lake Champlain and Valcour Island, where the British would struggle to bring superior firepower to bear and his unskilled sailors' poor seamanship would matter least. On September 30, expecting the British to sail soon, he retreated to the shelter of Valcour Island.
Sources
- Battle of Valcour Island Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-22
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.