"The day must shortly come when these facts will be known to the World.”

Join us on the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Valcour Island for a new look at that legendary encounter traditionally credited with stopping the British invasion of 1776 and setting up the Battles of Saratoga the following year. Benedict Arnold's flotilla may have lost, but "never had any force, big or small, lived to better purpose or died more gloriously, for it had saved the lake for that year." At least that's what naval officer and historian Alfred Thayer Mahan boldly declared in his 1913 assessment of American War for Independence naval operations. The outrageousness of his hyperbole aside, is there any truth to Mahan's claim? What could the British have reasonably done differently to successfully retake Ticonderoga that fall? If nothing, how does that impact popular perception of Arnold's Valcour gambit? Park Ranger Eric Schnitzer will attempt to answer these questions and more.