Event

In October of 1776 a tiny bay on the eastern shore of Lake Champlain was the site of the final encounter of the three-day Revolutionary War Battle on Lake Champlain which started at Valcour Island. In this location, formerly known as Ferris Bay, five colonial vessels, under the command of Benedict Arnold, were burned to deny their capture by the British fleet. Arnold and his crews escaped overland while under fire from the British vessels. Since 2021 the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum has been conducting a battlefield survey of Arnold’s Bay and the shoreline around it with a goal of refining our understanding of the battlefield and any remaining vessel wreckage through in-water and terrestrial survey. Lake Champlain Maritime Museum Executive Director Chris Sabick will present the background history of the site and a description of previous archaeology work, and present preliminary results of recent excavations.

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